October 31, 2007
Category: Neuroscience
Researchers from Harvard University have developed a remarkable genetic technique that enabled them to visualize complete neuronal circuits in unprecedented detail, by using multiple distinct colours to label individual neurons.The technique, called Brainbow, works in much the same way...
Posted by Mo at 6:30 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Neuroscience
Fear, that most primitive of emotions, is good, at least when it is kept under control. It is essential for survival, allowing an organism to detect a potential threat to its life. Too much fear, however, can lead to pathological...
Posted by Mo at 1:31 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 30, 2007
Category: Medicine & Health
An article about Oliver Sacks, from the current issue of Seed magazine, has just just been made available online.Author Jonah Lehrer, who met with Sacks to research the article, provides interesting biographical details about the neurologist, including how he started...
Posted by Mo at 6:47 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Blogging
My post on the ethnobiology of voodoo zombification has just been translated into Greek. As far as I know, this is the second time something I've written has been translated into another language. (There's also an Italian translation of my...
Posted by Mo at 6:10 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Miscellaneous
European reseasrchers, led by David Penny of the University of Manchester, have used a medical imaging technique called Very High Resolution X-Ray Computed Tomography to digitally dissect and reconstruct a 1mm-long 53 million-year-old spider that is preserved in a piece...
Posted by Mo at 1:22 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 29, 2007
Category: Neuroscience
Bertalan has found the Virtual Labs Series, a fantastic educational resource produced for science teachers and students by researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The series includes the Transgenic Fly Virtual Lab, the Bacterial Identification Lab, the Cardiology...
Posted by Mo at 8:01 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
I'm very flattered to have been given two Intellectual Blogger Awards (first by Eric and then by Kate; thank you both). Now, after hard deliberation, I can name five other intellectuals upon which the same honour should be bestowed. All...
Posted by Mo at 6:51 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 28, 2007
Category: Animal Behaviour
A new paper about the reproductive behaviour of the spiny anteater, to be published in the December issue of American Naturalist, makes for fascinating - if slightly disturbing - reading.The spiny anteater (Tachyglossuss aculeatus) is a primitive mammal with an...
Posted by Mo at 4:02 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Politics
The New York Times Magazine contains a long article about the close ties between evangelical Christians and the Republican party....
Posted by Mo at 3:42 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
