ScienceBlogs
Where the world discusses science. 76 blogs, 119,700 posts, and 1,857,562 comments.
What We're Talking About Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Happy Birthday, Origin!
Context By Seed
Charles Darwin's Origin of Species was published 150 years ago today, and it continues to inform, illuminate, and stir up controversy. Of course, some tortoises live longer than that, but Darwin's lasting legacy seems assured. On Gene Expression, Razib Khan tackles a study on the Fore, a cannibalistic people who ate their dead up until 1960. This diet left an imprint on their genes: a deadly prion-caused illness called Kuru led to selection against homozygosity in key alleles. Elsewhere, ERV explores invasive species and their fitness versus native species when both are infected with the same pathogen. In the case of Northern California grasses, although the native perennials are more fit than the invasive annuals, the pathogen hits the natives harder, and so the invaders become more successful. Finally, James Hrynyshyn on The Island of Doubt reviews a new coffee-table book on Darwin that “tells us at least as much about Darwin the man as it does his revolutionary idea.” Get one now, as Hrynyshyn suggests oversize books may be a dying species.
The Conversation
Cannibalism & evolution
Gene ExpressionNovember 23, 2009
The disease spread mostly to women and young children because of the practice of mortuary feasts where the maternal kin of the deceased would dismember and consume the remains. The Fore only eat healthy people who die. Additionally, males above the age of seven were not participants in the feasts.
Viruses and invasive species: I get sick, but you get sicker, sucker
ERVNovember 22, 2009
What?? The 'most fit' grasses arent dominating the landscape?? They arent out-competing the invading European grass??? Evilution is wrong! The Designer changed His mind and doesnt want native grasses growing in Cali anymore! Crumbling! Darwinism is CRUMBLING!!!!
The Ultimate Charles Darwin Coffee-Table Book
The Island of DoubtNovember 24, 2009
It's an important reminder on this, the 150th anniversary of the publication of Origin, that while Darwin's contribution to knowledge was extraordinary, he was just a human being. We are all capable of greatness, and that's a wonderful message to impart to the next generation.
Video
See the slingjaw wrasse live up to its name as it sticks its chin out for a snack on A Blog Around The Clock.
Community
ScienceBlogger Jason Rosenhouse of EvolutionBlog published his book The Monty Hall Problem: The Remarkable Story of Math's Most Contentious Brain Teaser earlier this year, to enthusiastic reviews. Now, Amazon.com has selected The Monty Hall Problem as one of the top 10 science books of 2009.
Congratulations to Jason—check out his book on Amazon today!
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In Conversation
“The Origin of Species was itself a bit like a Noachian flood in that as we look back we often imagine a pre-Origin dark ages of theological misunderstandings washed away by the flood of The Origin which gets it all right. And this is true to some extent from a purely scientific point of view, but in the broader context of the history of good ideas and the still broader context of the history of all ideas (good or bad) it simply isn't close.”
Channel Surfing
Life Science
Book Review: The Tangled Bank
A few months ago, Sci had a secret shame. A secret, secret shame. For Sci is a science...
Attack of the pregnant cannibal fathers
The male pipefish becomes pregnant by sheltering fertilised eggs in a pouch. But not all of his babies make it out alive - he absorbs some of them to get an extra boost of nutrients
A short but glorious rant
Misha Angrist has a very brief but eloquent rant in response to the genomics nay-sayers in this Nature...
The Life Science Channel RSS FeedPhysical Science
Quantum Misc
Some notes for quantum computing people: IARPA will be hosting a Proposers' Day Conference for the Quantum Computer...
For Your Darwin Reading and Listening Pleasure
A podcast from earlier in the year, celebrating Darwin's birthday. A few essays focusing on Darwin's Voyage on...
Book Countdown: T Minus 4 Weeks
The official release date for How to Teach Physics to Your Dog is exactly four weeks from today....
The Physical Science Channel RSS FeedEnvironment
Those CRU emails in full
Anyone who cares has found them by now so I won't trouble you with all the details. James...
Apocalypse 73,000 B.C.
FuturePundit points me to a new paper on the Toba explosion, Environmental impact of the 73 ka Toba...
Another week of GW News, November 8, 2009
Sipping from the internet firehose... This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor....
The Environment Channel RSS FeedEducation
Tenure: Threat, Menace, or Market Failure?
I've been a little too busy to participate, but His Holiness and Eric Weinstein on Twitter have gotten...
UC Protests Cast Light on Higher Ed's Financial Woes
More on the CA tuition thing: What do you think about this news story? It is a product...
A videographic primer on how to respond to reviewer comments
It may have escaped your attention but every so often we try to provide some practical career advice....
The Education Channel RSS FeedPolitics
Also, What If We're Attacked By Beets? What Then?
I feel that that every child in America, or wherever they live in the US, should be exposed to science, although only for brief periods and only while wearing a protective lead suit.
The people who like Obama more are smarter, female, non-white, not-Southern, not 'twix poor and rich, liberal dems godless and unmarried.
Modally speaking of course. And those are utterly different modes so the title of this post is of...
I Told You CDC (and HHS) Would Take the Fall for TEH SWINEY FLOO!!
I told you this would happen
The Politics Channel RSS FeedMedicine & Health
Cannabis and cancer cachexia
One of the most frightening symptoms of advanced cancer is "cachexia", or severe, unintentional weight-loss and wasting. It's...
Really? This guy is conscious?
You may have heard the recent news about a Belgian man who was diagnosed as being in a...
Researchers’ nightmares
This excellent article in the Chicago Tribune documents the abuses of science by quacks. Legitimate researchers identify certain...
The Medicine & Health Channel RSS FeedBrain & Behavior
What your Facebook page says about who you "really" are
Recently a woman had her sick leave benefits based on a diagnosis of clinical depression terminated because of...
The Open Laboratory 2009 - the deadline is looming!
Reminder: Deadline is December 1st at midnight EST! Here are the submissions for OpenLab 2009 to date...
Lying and Creativity
Via Vaughan Bell, comes this wonderful essay by Tom Stafford on confabulation and creativity: In those patients with...
The Brain & Behavior Channel RSS FeedTechnology
Solar Plane: First Runway Test
The test saw the Solar Impulse take some slow steps down the runway using four solar-powered electric motors....
Twitter: as in actual science jargon (something to do with marmosets and shrews)
Twitter: (technically) contains several short duration notes, ranging from 6 kHz up to 26 kHz and of relative low amplitude. How's that for science jargon.
Chips in brains will control computers by 2020
Is this the new "Flying Car" .... a technology that we are promised again and again but never...
The Technology Channel RSS FeedInformation Science
Peer review, data quality, and usage metrics
Another case of things connecting up oddly in my head— "How do we know whether a dataset is...
Confessions of a Science Librarian
Best Science Books 2009: Strategy+Business
Obviously, Strategy+Business is not going to be core science books, but I've always included social media, technology and...
Peer-review - nothing has changed since 1945 (video)
The Information Science Channel RSS FeedJobs
Tenure: Threat, Menace, or Market Failure?
I've been a little too busy to participate, but His Holiness and Eric Weinstein on Twitter have gotten...
Quantum Misc
Some notes for quantum computing people: IARPA will be hosting a Proposers' Day Conference for the Quantum Computer...
The 1/6th People
@EricRWeinstein is at it again in twitterland, this time on the subject of the funding of science. For...
The Jobs Channel RSS Feed
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ScienceBlogs Super Photos
Top Lists
- 1Reflections on the Origin of Species : Greg Laden's Blog
- 2How light or dark is Barack Obama's skin? Depends on your political stance... : Not Exactly Rocket Science
- 3'The Secret World of Naked Snakes': a ZSL event : Tetrapod Zoology
- 4How light or dark is Barack Obama's skin? Depends on your political stance... : Not Exactly Rocket Science
- 5Monday Musings: Evacuations near Galeras and we continue to not cause Campi Flegrei to erupt : Eruptions
- 1Really? This guy is conscious?
PZ Myers 11.24.2009
- 2Happy Anniversary, Origin…some bad news
PZ Myers 11.24.2009
- 3Sorteio: evolução de Darwin!
Carlos Hotta 11.24.2009
- 4Dumbass Quote of the Day
Ed Brayton 11.24.2009
- 5"Even the tobacco companies never tried to slander legitimate cancer researchers"
Tim Lambert 11.23.2009
From Futurity.org
Research news | More at Futurity.org
From NYTimes.com
Latest science stories | More at nytimes.com
SB Basics
Hurricanes
As the 2009 hurricane season picks up speed after a remarkably mild beginning, we look to the ScienceBlogs archives for the science behind the storms.
The Island of DoubtJuly 25, 2006
The real story of the hurricanes
Neuron Culture September 11, 2008
Hurricanes & Climate Change: A Round-Up Says Maybe More, Definitely Hotter
Corpus Callosum September 12, 2008
What Ike Really Means; Introducing Integrated Kinetic Energy
Humanities & Soc. Sciences
Thus Spake Zuska
Lives of the Saints of Science: Darwin
Part of my socialization into the world of science and engineering was, of course, the worship of great...
Uncertain Principles
Congratulations to Lauren Uroff and tcmJOE
During this year's DonorsChoose fundraiser, I promised books as prizes to people who contributed to my challenge. Now...
Transcription and Translation
Map that Campus L
A special edition of Map that Campus.
The Social Sciences Channel RSS Feed