The Earth's original atmosphere held very little oxygen. This began to change around 2.4 billion years ago when oxygen levels increased dramatically during what scientists call the "Great Oxidation Event." The cause of this event has puzzled scientists, but researchers writing in Nature* have found indications in ancient sedimentary rocks that it may have been linked to a drop in the level of dissolved nickel in seawater.

"The Great Oxidation Event is what irreversibly changed surface environments on Earth and ultimately made advanced life possible," says research team member Dominic Papineau of the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory. "It was a major turning point in the evolution of our planet, and we are getting closer to understanding how it occurred." 

The problem of how to model a biological system has been staring me in the face every day in recent months, and I need a place to indulge in baseless speculation. So if you stick around here at Adaptive Complexity for the next few weeks, you are going to get treated to a dose of half-baked, semi-coherent (at best), partially thought-out musings on what it takes to model a biological system.

There isn't a lot that can pull me away from a hockey game.* Such is the power of Wired magazine, and really freaking cool science.

When people see the optical illusion known as "the hollow mask" - a concave face, like the back side of a hollow mask - they see a normal convex face, according to a Wired Science post (see photo below). But the approximately 1 percent of the population with schizophrenia see the concave face.

Nearly half of all hayfever sufferers are more irritable while they are suffering from hayfever symptoms and that impacts their relationships, according to a new survey published today.[1]  The survey suggests that up to 2 million people with hayfever[2] feel less affectionate in relationships and up to 600,000 people with hayfever have had an argument due to their hayfever symptoms. Even potential new relationships are at risk, with 6% having cancelled a date or prior arrangement because of their symptoms and 75% feeling self conscious about their appearance.(*)

The findings, announced today, arose from a survey of 787 people with hayfever conducted by YouGov on behalf of Schering-Plough last summer.

One more book to pile on my to-read list. Via Carl Zimmer (go follow the link for a bloggingheads video interview), a fascinating book on bioengineering, Learning to Fly, by Rob Carlson, is coming out this fall.

He has some insightful thoughts:

The past few months, it has been difficult to watch TV, browse the internet or any other form of media viewing without some mention of the Octamom. If you are wondering why the villain from Spiderman 2 is on TV so much, then you need to readjust your POV.

In January, Nadya “octamom” Suleman made history when she gave birth to octuplets with the help of in-vitro fertilization (IVF).

ROCKVILLE, Maryland, April 7 /PRNewswire/ --

- New RAC Credential Focuses on General Scope of Regulatory Practice, International Standards

The Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society (RAPS) has announced its newest Regulatory Affairs Certification (RAC), the RAC General Scope (GS). The RAC (GS) credential denotes knowledge related to the general scope of practice of regulatory professionals in the healthcare product sector, regardless of geographic location or in which regions they may be involved. The RAC is the only professional certification specifically for healthcare product regulatory professionals. More than 5,000 have earned the credential to date.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070314/DCW091LOGO)

ATLANTA, April 7 /PRNewswire/ --

Xiocom Wireless announced today that aCure Technology, a value-added reseller and systems integration partner, has deployed a campus-wide indoor and outdoor wireless mesh network solution at Mercedes College in Perth, WA. Students will now be able to work wherever they are on campus, wirelessly accessing all of the college's resources online.

According to Glenn Farrow, Director of aCure Technology, the selection criteria that Mercedes College required included campus-wide coverage, combined with an open architecture that was both upgradeable and scalable. We combined a flexible mesh architecture and a very cost-effective model to achieve their desired end result.

A team of Oregon State University researchers say they have implemented a classroom-based intervention that reduces the amount of violent TV that children watch - by 18 percent among first- through fourth-grade children.  And that's good, they say, because youth violence is a big issue, though not so much as 30 years ago when everyone assumed we would be living out scenarios from either "The Warriors" or "Escape From New York" by now. 

ST. LOUIS, Missouri, April 7 /PRNewswire/ --

- Acquisition Extends the Evolve Testing and Remediation Product Suite

Elsevier, the leading global publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, announced today the acquisition of the assets of Professional Development Software, Inc. (PDS), the provider of Softwarefornurses.com online learning education products. PDS will be integrated into Elsevier's Evolve Testing and Remediation product suite (which includes the 'HESI Test'), bringing additional content to Elsevier's total curriculum solution for nursing.