Life Science
Will Smith must be stopped
Posted by PZ Myers on May 8, 2013 He has a new movie coming out this summer, After Earth. It looks awful, but then, that’s what I’ve come to expect from Will Smith’s Sci-Fi outings. Jebus. Anyone remember that abomination, I, Robot? How about I Am Legend? I steer clear of these movies with a high concept and a big name star, because…
Bee loss be bad this year
Posted by Greg Laden on May 8, 2013 In the united states, bee keepers lose a certain number of colonies over the winter. This is normal, but bee keepers maintain that losses of about 15 percent or less are “acceptable.” I don’t know what the logical or empirical basis for that number is, however. Yesterday, the results of a report that surveys bee…
New ideas for saving Tasmanian Devils
Posted by ERV on May 8, 2013 I cannot deal with the fact Tasmanian Devils are being driven to extinction by a contagious, untreatable cancer. I cannot deal with it. Click on the first link to see the science behind the tragedy: Numbers arent enough Click on the second link to see why I cannot deal with this, psychologically: Oh no… Cedric…
The first day of the rest of my summer!
Posted by PZ Myers on May 7, 2013 It’s going to be a good season, I can tell already. It’s finals week, so I’ll still have an abrupt pile of grading to do on Thursday, but otherwise, my teaching obligations are done for the semester. Now I’m trapped, trapped I tell you, in Morris for almost (I do have two quick trips to…
Clinging tightly
Posted by Dr. Dolittle on May 7, 2013 Live Science posted a story recently on the sticking power of clingfish. Northern clingfish, like the one shown in the image above, live in turbulent waters off the Pacific Coast of North America. In order to cling to surfaces, the animals have what are called adhesion discs on their bellies that they use to hold…
Mary’s Monday Metazoan: More charismatic megafauna?
Posted by PZ Myers on May 6, 2013 Oh, no. The metazoan curator sent me this photo for this time around, and I groaned a bit: more big furries. I told her, “Where are the tubeworms, the crustaceans, the zooplankton? Why no jellyfish or echinoderms?” And she said, “But they’re so cute!” and gave me that look. That look that means I have…
Honey Bee Colony Collapse Disorder
Posted by Greg Laden on May 6, 2013 
We recently discussed news from the EU on banning neonicotinoid pesticides in order to stem the so called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) among honey bees. Bug Girl has an important guest post on the phenomenon of CCD by bee expert Doug Yanega. This is a must read not only for those interested in bees and…
Friday Cephalopod: Free fallin’
Posted by PZ Myers on May 3, 2013 From a lovely article in the New York Review of Books about octopods:
Wallace, the often forgotten co-discoverer of evolution
Posted by Dr. Dolittle on May 2, 2013 Darwin is the more famous of the two when it comes to thinking about who came up with the theory of evolution. However, a man named Alfred Russel Wallace co-discovered the theory. Alfred Wallace died 100 years ago. In honor of his contribution to the theory of evolution, NPR ran a wonderful story about him…
The Bottleneck Years by H. E. Taylor – Chapter 38
Posted by coby on May 1, 2013 The Bottleneck Years by H.E. Taylor Chapter 37 Table of Contents Chapter 39 Artificial Biology, April 19, 2056 I was beginning to feel like things were slipping out of control. I don’t know that they had ever been in control, but before Edie started Neurolin, before the Group 2 disaster and before Rhamaposa started talking…
