I am the Online Community Manager at PLoS-ONE (Public Library of Science). My job is to try to motivate you to comment on the papers there. My scientific specialty is chronobiology (circadian rhythms and photoperiodism), with additional interests in comparative physiology, animal behavior and evolution. You can contact me at: Coturnix@gmail.com
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Dictionary of Circadian Physiology
Basic Terms and Concepts in Math and Science
July 31, 2007
Category: Animal Behavior
There is a new study this week about an unusual reproductive strategy in a bird, the Penduline Tit, which, if anthropomorphized, would appear to be an example of some really bad, deceptive parenting. But, Anne-Marie and Kate demonstrate the proper...
Posted by Coturnix at 11:00 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Carnivals
Encephalon #28 is up on Bohemian Scientist. Gene Genie #12 is up on My Biotech Life. Triskaidekaphilia: the 13th Carnival of Mathematics is up on Polymathematics. Carnival of the Green #88 is up on Nicomachus. Grand Rounds, Vol.3, n.45 are...
Posted by Coturnix at 8:14 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Open Science
The Demise of Old-Fashioned Scholarly Journals? (I love the photo on the top of the article!) Thoughts about the sea of information Open Science like the start of Apple? Nonsense, and pernicious nonsense at that. Reading Journals Can Seriously Damage...
Posted by Coturnix at 6:59 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Blogging
What Kevin says....
Posted by Coturnix at 6:20 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Chronobiology
If you are one of the few of my readers who actually slogged through my Clock Tutorials, especially the difficult series on Entrainment and Phase Response Curves, you got to appreciate the usefulness of the oscillator theory from physics in...
Posted by Coturnix at 1:57 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Clock Tutorials
Going into more and more detail, here is a February 11, 2005 post about the current knowledge about the circadian organization in my favourite animal - the Japanese quail....
Posted by Coturnix at 8:57 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Science News
Is there a new Tuberculosis vaccine in the making? Another movie is being made about Ivory-Bill woodpeckers. A new astronomical explanation for the cycles of extinctions....
Posted by Coturnix at 4:32 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Clock Quotes
There are two kinds of people in the world: the Givers and the Takers. The difference between the two is that the Takers eat well, and the Givers sleep well at night. - Joy Mills...
Posted by Coturnix at 3:54 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 30, 2007
Category: Chronobiology
This post, from January 25, 2006, describes part of the Doctoral work of my lab-buddy Chris....
Posted by Coturnix at 4:53 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Books
Now that I have finished reading HP7, I finally let myself go around and see what others are writing. Here is some of the best I found so far, to be read only if you have finished the book (or...
Posted by Coturnix at 3:03 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Science Education
How do air-conditioners and refrigerators work? Scientific explanations for this can be cranky or patient. You choose....
Posted by Coturnix at 1:34 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Clock Tutorials
This post was originally written on February 11, 2005. Moving from relatively simple mammalian model to more complex systems....
Posted by Coturnix at 8:58 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Clock Quotes
It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it. - John Steinbeck...
Posted by Coturnix at 3:53 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Housekeeping
The Primate Diaries Brettleighdicks - Biology Blog Fnord Psych Matters Manifest Destiny Wild Roses...
Posted by Coturnix at 12:20 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 29, 2007
Category: Chronobiology
First written on March 04, 2005 for Science And Politics, then reposted on February 27, 2006 on Circadiana, a post about a childrens' book and what I learned about it since....
Posted by Coturnix at 4:57 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Science News
Sleep-Wake Controls Identified: Implications For Coma Patients And Those Under Anesthesia: How do we wake up? How do we shift from restful sleep to dreaming? Researchers at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) have discovered a new...
Posted by Coturnix at 4:21 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Clock Quotes
His house was perfect, whether you liked food, or sleep, or work, or story-telling, or singing, or just sitting and thinking, best, or a pleasant mixture of them all. - John Ronald Reuel Tolkien...
Posted by Coturnix at 3:52 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Science News
Electronic Eggs Used To Help Save Threatened African Bird: This is an important summer for kori bustards at the Smithsonian's National Zoo. Four chicks of this threatened African bird have hatched in June and July. Along with the bumper crop...
Posted by Coturnix at 3:00 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Balkans
Otpisani ('Written Off') is probably the most popular Yugoslav TV series of all times. It is surprising to me that there were only thirteen episodes - this was a cult production. We played them as kids (instead of cowboys and...
Posted by Coturnix at 2:19 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 28, 2007
Category: Blogging
Why do conferences all tend to happen at the same time, hogging a couple of weekends per year, with vast chasms of free time in-between? So, next weekend, there is going to be a lot of science content, including a...
Posted by Coturnix at 9:44 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Chronobiology
Being out of the lab, out of science, and out of funding for a while also means that I have not been at a scientific conference for a few years now, not even my favourite meeting of the Society for...
Posted by Coturnix at 4:52 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Fun
Last night I went all the way to Alameda to meet my SciBling Chris Hoofnagle at a place called Lucky Juju. That was great fun! Lucky Juju is a warehouse full of pinball machines. In addition to Chris' interns at...
Posted by Coturnix at 4:24 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Clock Quotes
It depends on your definition of asleep. They were not stretched out. They had their eyes closed. They were seated at their desks with their heads in a nodding position. - John Hogan...
Posted by Coturnix at 3:59 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 27, 2007
Category: Blogging
You can now register for the third ConvergeSouth conference in Greensboro, NC, October 19-20, 2007. Among many others, you will be able to meet me there. Keep and eye on the blog for new developments....
Posted by Coturnix at 5:56 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Carnivals
Carnival of Space #13 is up on LiftPort Staff Blog Friday Ark #149 is up on The Modulator...
Posted by Coturnix at 4:07 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Fun
Last night, Professor Steve Steve took off work a little earlier and went to Oakland to see the offices of the National Center for Science Education, then went to Berkeley for dinner with the NCSE staff and fans at Eugenie...
Posted by Coturnix at 3:52 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Fun
The Science Idol: The Scientific Integrity Editorial Cartoon Contest by the Union of Concerned Scientists is over and the winner has been announced. Read the interview with the winner, Jesse Springer....
Posted by Coturnix at 3:36 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Science News
There are 31 new papers published on PLoS ONE this week, and here are some of my first, quick picks of titles that got my attention, but you should go and see them all, then rate, annotate and comment on...
Posted by Coturnix at 1:47 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Clock Tutorials
This February 06, 2005 post describes the basic elements of the circadian system in mammals....
Posted by Coturnix at 9:02 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Clock Quotes
I sleep better at night knowing that scientists can clone sheep. - Jeff Ayers...
Posted by Coturnix at 3:59 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 26, 2007
Category: Chronobiology
Hypotheses leading to more hypotheses (from March 19, 2006 - the Malaria Day):...
Posted by Coturnix at 4:57 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Animal Behavior
Bjoern Brembs is at the ICN meeting and is blogging about the talks he saw. If I went, I would have probably attended a completely different set of talks, e.g., on birdsong, memory in food-caching birds, aggression in crustaceans, strange...
Posted by Coturnix at 4:53 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Science Education
Tara of Aetiology, after reviewing Danica McKellar's book "Math Doesn't Suck", posted an exclusive blog interview with Danica, which you can (and should) read here....
Posted by Coturnix at 2:40 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Blogging
Yup, there is a Wikipedia page about Scienceblogs.com, but it has practically nothing on it. If you go to the Discussions page, you will see some more. Be a Wikipedian - edit, add, remove and write stuff there. It is...
Posted by Coturnix at 2:36 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Science Reporting
Michael Hopkin interviewed Al Jean, the executive producer of The Simpsons show, about math and science, sometimes central, sometimes hidden, in the episodes of everyone's favourite show......
Posted by Coturnix at 2:20 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Books
It is certainly possible. Compared to some people I know, I am definitely not. I have read each of the books once (more than halfway through the 7th - so do not give me spoilers yet!) and I have seen...
Posted by Coturnix at 2:12 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Carnivals
Harry Potter Carnival #51 is up on The Pensieve. I and the Bird #54 is up on The Egret's Nest Change of Shift: Volume Two, Number Three is up on Musings of a Highly Trained Monkey Grand Rounds, Vol. 3,...
Posted by Coturnix at 2:07 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Politics
Laurie Garrett has the whole story (or as whole as anyone has it)....
Posted by Coturnix at 1:48 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: History of Science
Mo is really spoiling us with exciting, well-researched posts from the history of science and medicine (remember the trepination post from a month ago?). And here he does it again: The rise & fall of the prefrontal lobotomy, the most...
Posted by Coturnix at 11:59 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Blogging
From pandagon.net to http://pandagon.blogsome.com/. Adjust your bookmarks....
Posted by Coturnix at 10:52 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Clock Tutorials
I wrote this post back on February 02, 2005 in order to drive home the point that the circadian clock is not a single organ, but an organ system comprised of all cells in the body linked in a...
Posted by Coturnix at 8:59 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Clock Quotes
Remorse sleeps during a prosperous period but wakes up in adversity. - Jean Jacques Rousseau...
Posted by Coturnix at 3:58 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 25, 2007
Category: Science Education
SPARC just announced the Mind Mashup: A Video Contest: SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) today announced the launch of the first annual SPARC Discovery Awards, a contest to promote the open exchange of information. Mind Mashup, the...
Posted by Coturnix at 6:38 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Animal Behavior
In this post from April 06, 2006, I present some unpublished data that you may find interesting....
Posted by Coturnix at 4:54 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Clock Tutorials
This post (written on August 13, 2005) describes the basic theory behind photoperiodism and some experimental protocols developed to test the theory....
Posted by Coturnix at 8:55 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Clock Quotes
I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent...
Posted by Coturnix at 3:57 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Fun
Just came back home from a very pleasant dinner with Matt Nisbet. What luck that our trips to San Francisco coincided so well! Oh, and of course, Profesor Steve Steve was there as well......
Posted by Coturnix at 1:28 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 24, 2007
Category: Science News
The US Anti-Prostitution Pledge: First Amendment Challenges and Public Health Priorities by Nicole Franck Masenior and Chris Beyrer: In order for an HIV organization to receive funding from the United States, grantees must explicitly oppose prostitution. Male Circumcision for Prevention...
Posted by Coturnix at 7:42 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Chronobiology
This April 09, 2006 post places another paper of ours (Reference #17) within a broader context of physiology, behavior, ecology and evolution. The paper was a result of a "communal" experiment in the lab, i.e., it was not included in...
Posted by Coturnix at 4:50 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Balkans
People have been cooking in Belgrade, Serbia, for weeks now. Last time I am aware of that the temperature was this high was when I was in pre-school. Today's pictures:...
Posted by Coturnix at 3:59 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Science News
Did Pterosaurs Feed by Skimming? Physical Modelling and Anatomical Evaluation of an Unusual Feeding Method by Stuart Humphries, Richard H. C. Bonser, Mark P. Witton and David M. Martill: Just because a component of an extinct animal resembles that of...
Posted by Coturnix at 12:51 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Science News
Paleontologists Study A Remarkably Well-preserved Baby Siberian Mammoth: University of Michigan paleontologist Daniel Fisher just returned from Siberia where he spent a week as part of a six-member international team that examined the frozen, nearly intact remains of a...
Posted by Coturnix at 12:48 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Politics
Tripoli Six are free, at home in Bulgaria! Revere has the whole scoop. This is, in no small way, the result of tenacious efforts by Declan Butler of Nature and the hundreds (thousands) of bloggers who kept the story alive...
Posted by Coturnix at 12:29 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Books
One more book is off my amazon.com wish list, thanks to one of my readers - Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan. Thank you so much! It is going straight up to the top of my "to read" stack, as...
Posted by Coturnix at 12:18 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Personal
Yesterday, I extricated myself from PLoS for lunch, because I really wanted to go and meet one of my most regular readers and commenters, who goes around here as Michelle. We had a most delightful conversation over lunch at Jack...
Posted by Coturnix at 12:09 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Clock Tutorials
This post (click on the icon) was originally written on May 07, 2005, introducing the topic of neuroendocrine control of seasonal changes in physiology and behavior....
Posted by Coturnix at 8:52 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Clock Quotes
A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book. - Irish proverb...
Posted by Coturnix at 3:56 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 23, 2007
Category: Clock News
I got several e-mails yesterday about a new study about the molecular mechanism underlying circadian rhythms in mammals ("You gotta blog about this!"), so, thanks to Abel, I got the paper (PDF), printed it out, and, after coming back...
Posted by Coturnix at 4:58 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Clock Tutorials
This is the sixth post in a series about mechanism of entrainment, running all day today on this blog. In order to understand the content of this post, you need to read the previous five installments. The original of this...
Posted by Coturnix at 8:52 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Clock Quotes
Even where sleep is concerned, too much is a bad thing. - Homer...
Posted by Coturnix at 3:55 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 22, 2007
Category: Fun
I guess I am the cheapest of all my sciblings - better get me while I am still alive, as I appear to be pretty worthless as a corpse: $3540.00The Cadaver Calculator - Find out how much your body is...
Posted by Coturnix at 4:56 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Personal
Well, if one stays in San Francisco for a month, it is bound to happen one day... On Friday early morning (just before 5am) I woke up to an earthquake. I've been through a bunch of earthquakes before - Balkans...
Posted by Coturnix at 3:31 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Chronobiology
This is an appropriate time of year for this post (February 05, 2006)......
Posted by Coturnix at 8:56 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks