Now on ScienceBlogs: "Investigative science journalism" and books I like to read [All of My Faults Are Stress Related]
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
…and this is a pharyngula stage embryo.
• a longer profile of yours truly
• my calendar
• Nature Network
• RichardDawkins Network
• facebook
• MySpace
• Twitter
• Atheist Nexus
• the Pharyngula chat room
(#pharyngula on irc.synirc.net)
Someone with a fresh mind, one not conditioned by upbringing and environment, would doubtless look at science and the powerful reductionism that it inspires as overwhelmingly the better mode of understanding the world, and would doubtless scorn religion as sentimental wishful thinking. Would not that same uncluttered mind also see the attempts to reconcile science and religion by disparaging the reduction of the complex to the simple as attempts guided by muddle-headed sentiment and intellectually dishonest emotion?
[P.W. Atkins, "The Limitless Power of Science" essay in "Nature's Imagination", John Cornwell, ed.; 1995 Oxford University Press, p.123]
A complex regulatory network in a diploblast
Evolution of sensory signaling
Category: Lindau
Yesterday was my last day in Lindau, I'm sorry to say — it was also the day of the closing ceremonies on the island of Mainau, in case you were wondering why it was so quiet on the blog. I...
Posted by PZ Myers at 10:48 AM • 61 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Lindau
This talk has me a little concerned: it's proposing something rather radical, for which Arber is going to have to show me some unambiguous evidence to convince me, and I'm coming into it with a very skeptical mindset. Here's...
Posted by PZ Myers at 5:48 AM • 74 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Lindau
Uh-oh. I'm trying to follow this talk, but it's one for the chemistry purists: I don't understand the words he's saying, starting with "olefin" and continuing with "metathesis". You'll have to look to one of the other Lindau bloggers...
Posted by PZ Myers at 5:32 AM • 35 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Lindau
The difference between biology and chemistry: biologists ask how natural systems and molecules work, while chemistry wants to know how to artificially re-synthesize natural biomolecules. Tsien favors a synthetic approach, asking hwo to build new molecules that will perform...
Posted by PZ Myers at 4:52 AM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Lindau
Chalfie is interested in sensory mechanotransduction—how are mechanical deformations of cells converted into chemical and electrical signals. Examples are touch, hearing, balance, and proprioception, and (hooray!) he references development: sidedness in mammals is defined by mechanical forces in early...
Posted by PZ Myers at 4:11 AM • 12 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Science
Bioluminescence is common, especially in marine organisms. Shimomura classified thes into a couple of types: luciferain, photoprotein, and an undefined "other". Luciferin requires an enzymatic (luciferase) reaction, and luminescence is proportional to the concentration of the substrate. The photoprotein...
Posted by PZ Myers at 3:28 AM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Science
This is a wonderful video: it's Richard Dawkins interviewing Craig Venter and getting a tour of his amazing sequencing facility. It also reveals how much the technology is changing....
Posted by PZ Myers at 8:53 PM • 48 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Science
I am in awe — they did it without anyone noticing. They just infiltrated nations all around the planet, smuggling in individuals to form vast new colonies of billions, all loyal to the overlords back home. Of course, these are...
Posted by PZ Myers at 12:55 PM • 75 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Lindau
This morning was a long session broken into two big chunks, and I'm afraid it was too much for me — my recent weird sleep patterns are catching up with me, which didn't help at all in staying alert. Robert...
Posted by PZ Myers at 9:27 AM • 20 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Lindau
I'm here for another long session of talks. Unfortunately, this is Big Chemistry day, and I'm struggling to keep up with the unfamiliar. I need more biology for it all to make sense! Rudolph Marcus: From 'On Water' and...
Posted by PZ Myers at 6:06 AM • 27 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
11:27 AM, 07.05.2009
9:07 AM, 07.05.2009
8:30 AM, 07.05.2009
7:15 AM, 07.05.2009
2:26 AM, 07.05.2009
Latest science stories | More at nytimes.com
12:40 AM, 07.04.2009
2:24 AM, 07.03.2009
6:21 AM, 07.04.2009
2:50 PM, 06.30.2009
2:26 PM, 06.30.2009
