Princeton Team Adds Twist to Darwin's Theory

Princeton scientists say they have found evidence that organisms can essentially control their own evolution, a finding that could provide a fundamental shift in our understanding of Darwin's theory, reports the university's news service. The research suggests that evolution isn't entirely random, as Darwin believed. Rather, proteins within organisms constantly make self-correcting adaptations to bring about the fittest being.

The theory jibes with one in 1858 by Alfred Wallace, who articulated the theory of evolution independently of Darwin. "The discovery answers an age-old question that has puzzled biologists," said one researcher. "How can organisms be so exquisitely complex, if evolution is completely random, operating like a 'blind watchmaker'? Our new theory extends Darwin's model, demonstrating how organisms can subtly direct aspects of their own evolution to create order out of randomness."

Study Paves Way for 'Entrepreneur Pill'

A study that links entrepreneurial success to risky decision-making, a trait less prevalent among buttoned-up business managers, has scientists pondering whether a pill could boost enterprising behavior. Riskiness is associated with the hormone dopamine, which could inject chutzpah into hesitant managers, the Telegraph reports. Critics doubt chemicals are solely responsible, pointing out that older entrepreneurs—whose dopamine is depleting—remain risk-takers.

Meet Mikaeel: Jackson Converts to Islam

Michael Jackson has followed the path of fellow entertainer Cat Stevens in converting to Islam, a source tells the British tabloid the Sun. Jackson—now called Mikaeel—recently went through a ceremony at a friend’s Hollywood Hills home, after being swayed by pals who said the faith had made them better people. Stevens, now Yousef Islam, stopped by to offer his congratulations.

Teen survives 4 months without heart

MIAMI – D'Zhana Simmons says she felt like a "fake person" for 118 days when she had no heart beating in her chest.

"But I know that I really was here," the 14-year-old said, "and I did live without a heart."

As she was being released Wednesday from a Miami hospital, the shy teen seemed in awe of what she's endured.

Since July, she's had two heart transplants and survived with artificial heart pumps — but no heart — for four months between the transplants.

Last spring D'Zhana and her parents learned she had an enlarged heart that was too weak to sufficiently pump blood.

They traveled from their home in Clinton, S.C. to Holtz Children's Hospital in Miami for a heart transplant.

But her new heart didn't work properly and could have ruptured so surgeons removed it two days later.

And they did something unusual, especially for a young patient: They replaced the heart with a pair of artificial pumping devices that kept blood flowing through her body until she could have a second transplant.

Dr. Peter Wearden, a cardiothoracic surgeon at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh who works with the kind of pumps used in this case, said what the Miami medical team managed to do "is a big deal."

"For (more than) 100 days, there was no heart in this girl's body? That is pretty amazing," Wearden said.

The pumps, ventricular assist devices, are typically used with a heart still in place to help the chambers circulate blood.

With D'Zhana's heart removed, doctors at Holtz Children's Hospital crafted substitute heart chambers using a fabric and connected these to the two pumps.

Although artificial hearts have been approved for adults, none has been federally approved for use in children.

In general, there are fewer options for pediatric patients.

That's because it's rarer for them to have these life-threatening conditions, so companies don't invest as much into technology that could help them, said Dr. Marco Ricci, director of pediatric cardiac surgery at the University of Miami.

He said this case demonstrates that doctors now have one more option.
"In the past, this situation could have been lethal," Ricci said.

And it nearly was. During the almost four months between her two transplants, D'Zhana wasn't able to breathe on her own half the time. She also had kidney and liver failure and gastrointestinal bleeding.

Taking a short stroll — when she felt up for it — required the help of four people, at least one of whom would steer the photocopier-sized machine that was the external part of the pumping devices.

When D'Zhana was stable enough for another operation, doctors did the second transplant on Oct. 29.

"I truly believe it's a miracle," said her mother, Twolla Anderson.

D'Zhana said now she's grateful for small things: She'll see her five siblings soon, and she can spend time outdoors.

"I'm glad I can walk without the machine," she said, her turquoise princess top covering most of the scars on her chest.

After thanking the surgeons for helping her, D'Zhana began weeping.

Doctors say she'll be able to do most things that teens do, like attending school and going out with friends.

She will be on lifelong medication to keep her body from rejecting the donated heart, and there's a 50-50 chance she'll need another transplant before she turns 30.

For now, though, D'Zhana is looking forward to celebrating another milestone.

On Saturday, she turns 15 and plans to spend the day riding in a boat off Miami's coast.

Congress Is Ready to Accept a Single Mom

Rep. Linda Sanchez worries Washington may frown on her pregnancy because she isn’t married, but Patt Morrison, in the Los Angeles Times, thinks things have changed. “Twenty years ago, it simply wouldn't have been possible—pregnant, single and a member of Congress? Oh, the scandal! But the culture wars have been fought to a truce of exhaustion, and ‘unwed mother’ has been recast as ‘single mom.’”

“Who do we have to thank for that? Thousands, from Madonna to Dan Quayle,” Morrison argues. “And, of course, Bristol Palin. She and her boyfriend shushed a censorious chorus that appeared to believe the only thing more morally dangerous than unplanned single parenthood was Planned Parenthood.” The 39-year-old California Democrat, due May 21, says her pregnancy was planned, and she’s “unofficially” engaged to the baby’s daddy.

Scientists Identify Body of Copernicus

More than 400 years after Copernicus determined man's place in the universe, scientists returned the favor by pinpointing his grave in an old Polish cathedral. Using DNA from a tooth and a bone, scientists identified a 70-year-old man buried in an unmarked grave as the astronomer who determined that the Earth revolves around the sun, and not vice versa, Discover reports.

Scientists matched the DNA with a strand of hair found in one of the astronomer's books. Researchers knew he was buried among the many anonymous graves in the cathedral and used radar to scan all the bodies. When they found one of a man buried around age 70, they extracted DNA and found an old friend. Plans are in place for a tomb more befitting one of the world's scientific giants.

Blink-182 Makes Up After Travis' Close Call

The Blink-182 boys are hanging out again, ending a nearly 4-year hiatus after drummer Travis Barker dodged death in a fiery plane crash, E! reports. The trio met up for what vocalist Mark Hoppus calls “positive conversations,” deciding recent events trump the past. As for a reunion, “None of us know,” he writes on his blog. “Life is too short.”