Now on ScienceBlogs: The Galaxy's Biggest Valentine

ScienceBlogs Book Club: Inside the Outbreaks

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.jpg Come and visit Ed Yong’s blog Not Exactly Rocket Science in its new home at Discover Blogs.

What others are saying...

"One of the best sites for in-depth analysis of interesting scientific papers" - The Times

"A consistently illuminating home for long, thoughtful, and thorough explorations of science news" - National Association of Science Writers

"Ed Yong... is made of pure unobtanium and rides TWO Toruks." - Frank Swain

"Ed Yong is better than chocolate, fairy lights, and kittens chasing yarn. That is all." - Christine Ottery

Sign up

Twitter.jpg

Facebook.jpg

Feed.jpg

Book.jpg

Why I blog
An interview with me
The original site • Tell me about you: Part 1 Part 2

Creative Commons License
This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.

140-character ramblings

My wife, who makes it all possible

Alice.jpg

Search

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Blogroll


Science blogs Other blogs

July 31, 2009

Foul-tasting ant parasitises the colonies of other species

Category: Animals

Some ants scrounge off other species by mimicking their chemical odours. But the shampoo ant doesn't bother - it relies on the simple strategy of tasting really, really bad.

Read on »

July 30, 2009

An entire bacterial genome discovered inside that of a fruit fly

Category: Horizontal gene transfer

Bacteria have the ability to transfer genes to one another. Now, scientists have found that one species, Wolbachia, has managed to transfer its entire genome into that of a fruit fly. These extreme gene transfers could be more common than we thought, and they have important consequences for genome-sequencing projects.

Read on »

July 29, 2009

Fruit flies have a taste for fizzy drinks

Category: Animal behaviour

Humans can detect five different taste sensations. Now scientists have found the first animal with a sixth type. Fruit flies, it seems, love the taste of the carbon dioxide dissolved in fizzy water.

Read on »

July 28, 2009

A brief hiatus

Folks, I'm taking a bit of a breather from blogging for a week. My wife and I are celebrating our second-year anniversary and I'm lavishing her with attention for a week. It's also a busy time at my day job,...

Read on »

Virtual reality illusions produce out-of-body experiences in the lab

Category: Psychology

Using virtual reality illusions, two groups of scientists have managed to simulate out-of-body experiences in the lab - by convincing volunteers that they were actually sitting or standing outside of their own bodies, watching themselves from behind.

Read on »

July 27, 2009

Noise pollution drives away some birds, but benefits those that stay behind

Category: Conservation

Urban noise drowns out the calls that birds use to attract mates and defend territories. But while noise pollution reduces the diversity of bird communities, it actually helps those that remain by scaring away predators that feed on bird eggs.

Read on »

July 24, 2009

Snails get sexy when parasites are around

Category: Evolutionary arms races

Snails in a New Zealand lake are more likely to reproduce via sex rather than cloning if they live in shallow waters that are rife with parasites.

Read on »

July 23, 2009

Toucan play at reducing the heating bill

Category: Animal behaviour

The massive bill of the toucan is a radiator, like an elephant's ears but much more effective. When it's warm, widened blood vessels within the bill allows heat to radiate into the atmosphere.

Read on »

Your brain on Oprah and Saddam (and what that says about Halle Berry and your grandmother)

Category: Brain

From the scientists who brought you the infamous 'Halle Berry neuron' and the 'Jennifer Aniston neuron' come the 'Oprah Winfrey neuron' and the 'Saddam Hussein neuron'.

Read on »

July 22, 2009

Pacman-like game shows how the best-laid plans give way to instinct as danger approaches

Category: Neuroscience

When danger approaches, do you consider your options and plan the best possible escape, or switch off and rely on instinct? A Pacman-like game shows that the answer is both. You flick from one to the other depending on how far away the threat is.

Read on »

ScienceBlogs

Search ScienceBlogs:

Go to:

Advertisement
Follow ScienceBlogs on Twitter

© 2006-2011 ScienceBlogs LLC. ScienceBlogs is a registered trademark of ScienceBlogs LLC. All rights reserved.