Any question answered...

it doesn't Know or intuit anything, it's all a matter of random variation in the DNA that produces a change in way the plant looks or functions. If that change confers a selection advantage, the genes will survive and spread throughout the population.

See above

Probably

Possibly, possibly not. If the spots conveyed a selection advantage, then yes. But bear in mind the multitude of potential genetic mutations that were either entirely neutral in terms of survival or negative. If spotty buds happened to have a selection cost then they would disappear.

That's the bit I find difficult to understand? How many in 100 will mutate? And by how wild a mutation? Is any mutation possible?

The randomness of it is perplexing.

love biology, found this which makes for an interesting read.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_defense_against_herbivory

Any links for possible stockists of replacement axle for v. obsolete Dura Ace FH-7800/7801 or WH-7801 hub in UK/EU/USA?

Madison UK say no and Japanese stores seem to be only place stocking the £30 axle vs £100 complete axle set when I google the part number

Looked on SJS for a compatible one?

That's the bit I find difficult to understand? How many in 100 will mutate? And by how wild a mutation? Is any mutation possible?

The randomness of it is perplexing.

If we knew this kind of stuff it'd be far easier to predict the spread of viruses and we could pre-emptively create viruses for strains of, for example, bird flu which do not exist yet.

^^^ http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/shimano-dura-ace-wh-7801-sl-front-hub-axle-assembly-4bn-9801-prod31428/

Front hub only, any good?

I just can't get my head around calculating dividend tax.

Any accountants on here who can explain it to me like I'm a five year old?

FH-7800/7801 = rear hub unfortunately

That axle was only used in those hubs, they changed it again on the 7850 so nothing before or after or in Ultegra etc. works.

What is the 100% best way to clean a proper filthy oily bike chain.

I have one in a plastic bag right now and I'm scared to take it out.

Rather than linking to the Sheldon Brown method (but you should look it up) the way I do it is with a chain cleaner. The Park Tools one is robust (others I've had have broken quite quickly) and with some degreaser in it it works wonders. From filthy to almost spotless in two passess. And you do not need to take it off the bike.

Can anyone find a Dura Ace 7970 rear wiring harness for sale in the UK?

I'm striking out for some reason.

CRC has an internal one here and an external one http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-dura-ace-di2-frame-cable-sets-external-/rp-prod34567 here.

I've also got an external one sitting on my desk here, but you're not having it.

That's the bit I find difficult to understand? How many in 100 will mutate? And by how wild a mutation? Is any mutation possible?

The randomness of it is perplexing.

The frequency of mutations will vary from organism to organism and from environment to environment so there's no simple answer there. Mutations will generally be fairly subtle - you won't go from having no eyes to suddenly having eyes, for example - but the process is incremental with each beneficial mutation conferring a benefit over and above existing mutations.

And in organisms which reproduce sexually, there's not only mutations but the creation of new genotypes on each sexual reproduction cycle, which can give rise to new and beneficial phenotypes not previously seen using a new combination of existing genotypes.

well, your genetics have miraculously survived thus far

<<< Finest human speciman ever to walk the Earth.

A bud is an embryonic shoot or leaf and so the plants would be producing them anyway. As soon as a random mutation that conveys even a minor selection advantage (in this case through the mimicry of butterfly eggs) arrises it will begin to spread through the population.

As for how long, E.O. Wilson says it better than I could (typos are my error):

"A dominant gene whose phenotype enjoys a 40% advantage in survival or reproduction over the recessive phenotype can largely replace it within the population in twenty generations, passing from a frequency of 5% to a frequency of 80% in that interval. Twenty generations amount to as little as four or five hundred years in humans, forty years or less in dogs and one year in fruit flies. A recessive gene with the same degree of advantage requires sixty generations to traverse the same frequency range, still a very short period by geological standards." (The Diversity of Life pp. 76-77 in my edition)

In the case of these particular egg-buds, there are any number of ways that the adaptive phenotype might have gained traction. On the one hand there might have been a completely coincidental advantage to yellow buds (eg. many young leaves look yellowish as an accidental consequence of the plant investing less energy in producing chlorophyl while they are growing). An alternative is that there could have been an random genetic mutation that resulted in the production of a yellow pigment which conferred a selection advantage in the regions where the plant co-occurred with this particular species of butterfly.

If the 'yellow pigment gene' had arisen in an area where the butterflies laid pink polka dot eggs then there would have been no selection advantage and the 'yellow gene' would likely have simply disappeared as it was swamped by regular 'green bud' genes in the population.

Yeah, yeah, or maybe a bearded man who floats around in the sky got his zombie son to sort it out?

What is the most likely reason for my trackpad having gone weird on my laptop?

Macbook? Mine went to shit after latest software update. Tries to scroll side-to-side and flips itself out when it obviously can't on most websites.

love biology, found this which makes for an interesting read.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_defense_against_herbivory

There was a caterpilar that cut the leaf, folded it over to make a shelter and then stripped all the leaf off underneath, hidden from birds. Craze E.

Bike mounts questions are over yonder:
http://www.lfgss.com/thread2077.html

CRC has an internal one here and an external one http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-dura-ace-di2-frame-cable-sets-external-/rp-prod34567 here.

I've also got an external one sitting on my desk here, but you're not having it.

The internal one that you link to is 9070- eTube, in other words, and therefore not going to work with the older 7970.

I can't find a 7970 rear wiring harness (internal) anywhere - I wonder if Shimano have stopped making them?

That'd be a fairly blunt way of making people upgrade.

thx hippy

The internal one that you link to is 9070- eTube, in other words, and therefore not going to work with the older 7970.

I can't find a 7970 rear wiring harness (internal) anywhere - I wonder if Shimano have stopped making them?

That'd be a fairly blunt way of making people upgrade.

You're right, the EW-7975 kits do seem a bit thin on the ground. Plenty of external ones around.

That's the bit I find difficult to understand? How many in 100 will mutate? And by how wild a mutation? Is any mutation possible?

The randomness of it is perplexing.

I'll get back to you... at work now.

Yeah, yeah, or maybe a bearded man who floats around in the sky got his zombie son to sort it out?

Yeah, that was pretty much my conclusion too.

Has anybody tried Madison Track Bibshorts? Looking for something cheap to use on the rollers, for obvious reasons searching for reviews is turning up 400,000,000 results related to everything but the rather generically named product.

^ i am eagerly awaiting the arrival of mdcc_tester to see him answer this question

Come to my shop and we'll order one in for you to try out.

fnar.

I can buy them for £18, probably cheaper than driving to your shop :-)

Just get them. If they're shit it's only 18 quid and you can bung on em ebay and probably get back a tenner or so + P+P