Brain & Behavior
Experimental Biology – Sunday
Posted by Dr. Dolittle on April 22, 2013 The Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology section held their Scholander Poster competition for young comparative physiologists today! It was exciting to see all of the students present their work. Here are some of the highlights: Raffaele Pilla, Dominic P, D’Agostino, Carol S. Landon, and Jay B. Dean from Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL.…
Flying in all directions
Posted by Weizmann Science Writer on April 19, 2013 When we navigate through our environment, do we track mostly in two dimensions or in three? Clearly, we can move in all three dimensions, but does our internal map relate to the vertical direction in the same way as it does to the horizontal axes on the ground? That question has not yet been definitively…
Math and Science Are Not Cleanly Separable
Posted by Chad Orzel on April 12, 2013 One of the hot topics of the moment is the E. O. Wilson op-ed lamenting the way math scares students off from science, and downplaying the need for mathematical skill (this is not news, really– he said more or less the same thing a few years ago, but the Wall Street Journal published it to…
Jell-O Brains
Posted by Dr. Dolittle on April 10, 2013 I have to admit I love the science section of The New York Times. The topic today: Dr. Karl Deisseroth and colleagues at Stanford University have developed a technique called CLARITY that uses hydrogel to make the brain look like it is made of Jell-O. They have successfully applied this technique to a whole mouse brain as well as part of…
Mastermind by Maria Konnikova
Posted by Chad Orzel on April 7, 2013 I saw Maria Konnikova’s Mastermind on the book lottery stacks at Science Online, and the subtitle “How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes” practically screamed “This is relevant to your interests!” Not only am I writing a book about how to think like a scientist, one of the chapters I have in mind uses mystery novels…
Conspiracy belief prevalence, according to Public Policy Polling is as high as 51%
Posted by Mark on April 5, 2013 And it may even be more when one considers that there is likely non-overlap between many of these conspiracies. It really is unfortunate that their isn’t more social pushback against those that express conspiratorial views. Given both the historical and modern tendency of some conspiracy theories being used direct hate towards one group or another…
Posted by Dr. Dolittle on April 5, 2013 Last year we talked about how rats can apparently laugh. This year, new research published in PLoS ONE suggests that mice can cough. It actually surprised me to learn this was a controversial topic, since no one has reportedly attempted to tease apart the barely audible sound of a cough from the other sounds mice make. Researchers…
Innovative pest control
Posted by Dr. Dolittle on March 23, 2013 Entomologist Dr. Coby Schal at North Carolina State University studies the chemicals involved in insect communication in an effort to more effectively manage pests. His big interest is in chemical communication using pheromones and how they impact mating and other behaviors. His research has aided the control of cockroaches, bed bugs, mosquitoes and other nuisance…
Registration Opens For European Skeptics Conference
Posted by Martin R on March 21, 2013 Registration has opened for the 15th European Skeptics Conference. Hie thee there and register NOW, because there’s only 400 tickets! Here’s the confirmed (still evolving) line-up: Anna Bäsén (Sweden): Undercover Health Journalism Chris French (UK): Psychological Perspectives on Paranormal Belief and Experience Maria Berglund (Sweden): Våra opålitliga hjärnor: hur fel vi uppfattar världen och hur…
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Posted by Dr. Dolittle on March 16, 2013 Here’s to the physiology of drinking beer on St. Patrick’s Day: Cheers!!
