Naturally selecting winners
| 6 September, 2010 | Richard P. Grant |
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Inspired by a question from genegeek, last week I ran a competition to define ‘evolution’ in twitter format. After collecting entries, I came up with a shortlist, which I opened up to you for voting.
And 330 votes later, it’s time to announce the winners!
(FX: drumroll)
A copy of “My life in science” by Sydney Brenner goes to
- dawgscholar for Maximizing mutations to monopolize munching and mating
- noodlemaz for Advantageous gene mutations increase organisms’ survival odds in environment & change further w/ time. Others drift out of existence
The grand prize of a Naturally Selected sweatshirt goes to SFRedSoxGirl and
Random changes; sometimes lucky, usually not. Lucky changes = more offspring = more offspring inherit lucky changes. Time + lucky changes = evolution
The sharp-eyed among you might notice that’s slightly longer than 140 characters, but I could easily cut it down, so I’m letting it stand. I am, however, going to award an Editor’s Special Prize to cromacrox for
Evolution is the interaction between the environment, heritable variation, superabundance and time
.
Congratulations to the winners. Let me know your mailing addresses and required size, and I’ll get these goodies out to you as soon as I can. Commiserations to the rest of you–but rest assured there will be further opportunities to bag some F1000 swag.
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Oh wow!! That’s unexpected 😀
Many thanks. Do we follow on twitter and DM details?
(@noodlemaz)
🙂
Gotcha, thanks
Huzzah! XXXL please. the usual address, third park bench on the left, The Esplanade, Cromer. Thank you.
“I know where you live.”
Technically, this one: “Maximizing mutations to monopolize munching and mating” is wrong. Mutations just happen. Evolution does nothing to maximize mutations. It makes use of them.
It would be correct to say: “Maximizing munching and mating by mutations effects.”
It would be more correct to say: “Maximizing munching and reproduction by mutations effects.”
So you made a competition with specific parameters…and then chose a winner that was outside the parameters. Well done to you. Maybe you were being ironic? Decided your competition should evolve?
Uh, no: I awarded prizes to the winners as chosen by popular vote, as I said I would.
I then awarded a further, ‘special’ prize to the one I thought was best.