In the Anglo-Saxon world Lamarck's name, if it is known at all, is associated with a theory long since discredited - the idea known as the inheritance of acquired characteristics - the idea that traits or attributes acquired or learned in the space of your life time will somehow be inherited by your children at birth.

BBC: Part Three - France and the World

The foursome acquired at the trade deadline still have no idea where they're going when they hop in a car and try to find their way around the city.

WSJ: Confident Penguins ready for surging Islanders

Groupon dispelled the idea that a startup has to be acquired by a giant in order to grow and maintain sector dominance, a move that I believe has inspired the creation of countless new startups.

FORBES: Stand Tall, Groupon

After the site was acquired by Yahoo in 2005 though, little was done to develop the idea to suit wider audiences.

FORBES: Morning Tech Wrap: Amazon, Yahoo, AT&T

The idea of universal agents has been around for a while, and has acquired a reputation as the sort of invention that would transform the Net.

ECONOMIST: Computer viruses need not be all bad

McSherry, who in a former life was the CEO of Android keyboard app Swype, acquired by Nuance in 2011, says that consumers are still getting used to the idea of talking to their smartphones.

FORBES: Nuance Pushes Mobile?Ads That Talk To?You

To test the idea on a grand scale, researchers at Wageningen University and the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute acquired the signal strengths from 2, 400 links operated by T-Mobile NL, over two 12-day periods in 2011.

BBC: Rain tracked with mobile network