Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Brain response among systems honed to perfection by evolution | Santa Fe Institute

Brain response among systems honed to perfection by evolution | Santa Fe Institute: "The notion of optimization -- that some elements of biological systems have been honed by evolution to the best, most efficient levels of performance possible -- is gaining wider acceptance among scientists, the article notes.
Examples include photoreceptor cells that detect and respond to a single photon of light, sharks as they find prey by detecting impossibly small electrical fluxes in the water, and our fight-or-flee brain responses.
In each case, biophysicists say, the system couldn’t get faster, more sensitive, or more efficient given their physical constants."

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