News broke this week about a major scientific discovery that will change the way we live forever. The age-old question of chicken vs. egg has come to an end... and chicken wins! Yes, the chicken does indeed come first so now we can move onto more important issues. 

It seems my meme is catching on. Might as well preview the next one:
 

Actually, the science behind that study, or at least the semantics of it, is pretty wonky. From what I've read, the protein that's being proclaimed as key to answering the question is actually super common in biology and has enough mutative flexibility such that it's pretty inconsequential in the long run. A quick reminder about the mechanics of evolution still provides a solid answer to that question, though. It's still technically the chicken that wins, but not for any of the reasons that particular piece contend. Genetic mutations and evolutionary history dictate that the chicken's ancestors, both birds and prehistoric reptiles, were born via eggs. It just so happens that whatever was the first chicken as we know it happened to come about as a result of a genetic mutation prior to hatching, which then went on to be replicated in additional chickens through eggs until the species has reached the point that it's at today.
 
As a side note, Fragile's chicken seller was pretty surreal for me the first time I bumped into him, since I was playing an import copy way before it ever made its way to English-speaking shores, so I had no idea of what to expect when it happened. It also reminds me that I should probably get around to finishing that game. Or just replaying it. My Japanese has gotten way better since I first bought that game, so I could use the mental exercise.

I've read this news from several different sources, and none of them have explained how the hell this is proof at all. Sure, the ovocledidin-17 is required to make an egg shell, but how the hell do we know that the Chicken's evolutionary ancestors didn't also have ovocledidin-17?
 
Also, I wouldn't say they have way too much time on their hands. There are potential real world applications for this. Understanding how nature forms egg shells can lead to us learning new techniques to make new materials and things.