Wave Functional of the Universe and Time

A version of the quantum theory of gravity based on the concept of the wave functional of the universe is proposed. To determine the physical wave functional, the quantum principle of least action is formulated as a secular equation for the corresponding action operator. Its solution, the wave functional, is an invariant of general covariant transformations of spacetime. In the new formulation, the history of the evolution of the universe is described in terms of coordinate time together with arbitrary lapse and shift functions, which makes this description close to the formulation of the principle of general covariance in the classical theory of Einstein’s gravity. In the new formulation of quantum theory, an invariant parameter of the evolutionary time of the universe is defined, which is a generalization of the classical geodesic time measured by a standard clock along time-like geodesics.

Mitochondrial substitution rates estimation for molecular clock analyses in modern birds based on full mitochondrial genomes

AbstracttiMitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is a very popular resource in the study of evolutionary processes in birds, and especially to infer divergence times between lineages. These inferences rely on rates of substitution in the mtDNA genes that, ideally, are specific for the studied taxa. But as such values are often unavailable many studies fixed rate values generalised from other studies, such as the popular “standard molecular clock”. However the validity of these universal rates across all bird lineages and for the different mtDNA has been severely questioned. Thus, we here performed the most comprehensive calibration of the mtDNA molecular clock in birds, with the inclusion of complete mitochondrial genomes for 622 bird species and 25 reliable fossil calibrations. The results show variation in the rates between lineages and especially between markers, contradicting the universality of the standard clock. Moreover, we provide especific rates for every mtDNA marker (except D-loop) in each of the sampled avian orders, which should help improve future estimations of divergence times between bird species or populations.

Working Time on Mars

The constancy of clock time as an effective work support technology has made it almost impossible to imagine a modern organization where time, specifically standard clock time, is not a component of the organizational infrastructure. Demonstrating the degree to which clock time has become embedded within the organizational sphere are the ways in which clock time operates as though it were a natural phenomenon, rather than a human-built technology (Adam, 1990; Anderson, 1964; Bluedorn, 2002; de Grazia, 1964; Zerubavel, 1981). The naturalization of clock time within organizations is evidenced by the reified assumption technology of clock time is fixed and cannot be modified to support contextually based temporal rhythms of work. The opportunity to challenge particular notions about the relationship between time and work is found in the organization of NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers mission (MER). In addition to standard clock time, the MER mission employed an extra-terrestrial version of standard clock time, known as “Mars time,” to track the presence and absence of sunlight on Mars. Drawing on empirical data, I foreground the inadequacies of the time support technologies that led me to question the use of standard clock time as a way of ordering the experience of time on Mars. I argue that the naturalization of clock time within post-industrial organizations contributed to this occasion in which the scientific exploration of Mars was conducted according to an agrarian era temporal rhythm but for which work support was organized around an industrial era time/work relationship.