Stem cells only grow up properly in the right environment
Category: Medicine & health
Stem cells choose which cell type to turn into by measuring how elastic their surroundings are.
Posted by Ed Yong at 2:00 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Not Exactly Rocket Science
My small attempt to celebrate science and to make it interesting and fun by giving jargon, confusion and elitism a solid beating with the stick of good writing.
Profile
Ed Yong is an award-winning science writer based in London. Not Exactly Rocket Science is his attempt to make the latest scientific discoveries interesting to everyone by beating jargon, confusion and elitism with the stick of good writing. He finds writing about himself in the third person strange and unsettling.
"One of the best sites for in-depth analysis of interesting scientific papers" - The Times
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Recent Posts
- People who think they are more restrained are more likely to succumb to temptation
- Leaf beetle protects itself with a mobile home made of faeces
- South African wildlife - Wait, that's not a trunk...
- Discriminating butterflies show how one species could split into two
- Native language shapes the melody of a newborn baby's cry
- Mid-continent earthquakes are often aftershocks of centuries-old tremors
- Even without practice, sleep improves memory of movements
- In a pandemic climate, public sneezing increases fears of unrelated risks
- How many people did the man-eating lions of Tsavo actually eat?
- South African wildlife - Elephant encounter
Recent Comments
- A. willow on People who think they are more restrained are more likely to succumb to temptation
- complex field on Mid-continent earthquakes are often aftershocks of centuries-old tremors
- Chris on Mid-continent earthquakes are often aftershocks of centuries-old tremors
- Crystal on Leaf beetle protects itself with a mobile home made of faeces
- Nick Johnson on Leaf beetle protects itself with a mobile home made of faeces
- nn on South African wildlife - Wait, that's not a trunk...
- terry on Mid-continent earthquakes are often aftershocks of centuries-old tremors
- The Baldchemist on South African wildlife - Wait, that's not a trunk...
- Speedy on Prehistoric carving is oldest known figurative art
- DrYak on South African wildlife - Wait, that's not a trunk...
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Blogroll
Science blogs
- Adventures in Ethics and Science
- Aetiology
- The Artful Amoeba
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- Beyond the Short Coat
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- Built on Facts
- Cancer Research UK Science Update Blog
- The Chicken or the Egg
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- Just a Theory
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- Living the Scientific Life
- Loom
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- Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice and Sunsets
- The Millikan Daily
- Mind Hacks
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- Myrmecos
- Neurologica
- Neurophilosophy
- Neurotopia 2.0
- Null Hypothesis
- Observations of a Nerd
- Oh for the Love of Science
- On Becoming a Domestic and Laboratory Goddess
- Oyster's Garter
- The Primate Diaries
- Professor Olsen @ Large
- Quackometer
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- Save Your Breath for Running Ponies
- Science Punk
- Seeds Aside
- Sex, Drugs and Rockin' Venom - Confessions of an Extreme Scientist
- Skepchick
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- Terra Sigillata
- Tetrapod Zoology
- The Flying Trilobite
- The Fuzzy Biologist
- The Inverse Square Blog
- The Other 95%
- The Reef Tank
- This Week in Evolution
- The Evilutionary Biologist
- Thus Spake Zuska
- Ugly Overload
- Virginia Hughes
- Voyages Around my Camera
- Weird Bug Lady
- White Coat Underground
- Wired Science
- Words of Science
- Zooillogix
- Cafe Philos
- Just Above Sunset
- May's Machete
- Millard Fillmore's Bathtub
- Miss Cellania
- Ombudsben
- Stop and Wander
- The 800lb Gorilla
- The Silent LOL
- Unspeak
Bric-a-brac
My inspiration
Badges
May 31, 2008
May 29, 2008
Computer predicts brain activity associated with different objects
Category: Neuroscience
Predictive programme reveals how the brain represents the meaning of different concrete nouns
Posted by Ed Yong at 2:00 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 28, 2008
Monkey see, monkey control prosthetic arm with thoughts
Category: Neuroscience
Monkeys can now feed themselves with a prosthetic arm using only electrodes implanted in their brains.
Posted by Ed Yong at 1:00 PM • 11 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 27, 2008
'Wolverine' frogs pop retractable claws from their toes
Category: Amphibians
Some frogs defend themselves by popping bony claws through the skin of their toes.
Posted by Ed Yong at 7:00 PM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 24, 2008
Hatena - when two cells are better than one
Category: Cooperation
An alliance between two single-celled organisms provides a snapshot into the evolution of complex cells.
Posted by Ed Yong at 12:00 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 22, 2008
Gut bacteria reflect diet and evolutionary past
Category: Bacteria
Both diet and evolutionary history influence the make-up of the communities of bacteria in our guts.
Posted by Ed Yong at 2:00 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 21, 2008
Snake proteins have gone through massive evolutionary redesign
Category: Evolution
During snake evolution, the structure of heavily conserved mitochondrial proteins have been dramatically overhauled.
Posted by Ed Yong at 8:00 AM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 20, 2008
Carbon nanotubes could behave like asbestos
Category: Medicine & health
Carbon nanotubes can cause similar damage to asbestos if injected into mice
Posted by Ed Yong at 1:00 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 19, 2008
Feeling powerless impairs higher mental abilities
Category: Psychology
A lack of power impairs abilities to plan, pursue goals and ignore distractions, and keeps hierarchies stable.
Posted by Ed Yong at 12:00 PM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 17, 2008
Aphids get superpowers through sex
Category: Animals
Through sex, aphids trade beneficial bacteria that helps them fight off parasitic wasps and withstand high temperatures
Posted by Ed Yong at 12:00 PM • 12 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
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