July 17, 2008
The third issue of the Open Access journal 'Evolution: Education and Outreach' has been published, and it is again full of good, thought-provoking articles. You can see them (for free, of course) if you click here.
July 17, 2008
What's new in PLoS Computational Biology, PLoS Genetics, PLoS Pathogens and PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases this week? Among else, these papers that caught my eye:
Emergent Synchronous Bursting of Oxytocin Neuronal Network:
When young suckle, they are rewarded intermittently with a let-down of…
July 17, 2008
Skeptics' Circle #91 is up on Sorting Out Science
Carnival of the Liberals LXIX is up on Stump Lane
The Carnival of Education #180 is up on Steve Spangler's Blog
July 17, 2008
New Approach Sheds Light On Ways Circadian Disruption Affects Human Health:
Growing evidence indicates that exposure to irregular patterns of light and darkness can cause the human circadian system to fall out of synchrony with the 24-hour solar day, negatively affecting human health -- but…
July 17, 2008
TOPAZ software, the one that hosts five out of seven PLoS journals (ONE, Pathogens, Neglected Tropical Diseases, Genetics and Computational Biology) has just been upgraded. There is not much new in the terms of functionality visible to readers, but the upgrade should greatly increase the stability…
July 16, 2008
The daily arguments over putting away the toys or practicing the piano defeat us so easily. We see them coming yet they frustrate us time and time again. In many cases, we are mothers and fathers who have managed budgets and unruly bosses and done difficult jobs well through sheer tenacity and…
July 16, 2008
Birds Have A Good Sense Of Smell:
Sight and hearing are the most important senses for birds - this is at least the received wisdom. By studying bird DNA, however, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, along with a colleague at the Cawthron Institute in New Zealand, have now…
July 16, 2008
Olivia Judson is absolutely right - let's get rid of the terms "Darwinist" and "Darwinism". She writes, among else:
I'd like to abolish the insidious terms Darwinism, Darwinist and Darwinian. They suggest a false narrowness to the field of modern evolutionary biology, as though it was the…
July 15, 2008
Welcome to the Firstest, Biggestest, Inaugural Edition of The Giant's Shoulders, the carnival of History Of Science! The carnival grew out of the Classic Papers Challenge by gg of Skulls in the Stars. That was so much fun, several of us thought this is something that should be done regularly,…
July 15, 2008
There are 74 new articles in PLoS ONE today. Browse for your own choices - these are mine:
A 28,000 Years Old Cro-Magnon mtDNA Sequence Differs from All Potentially Contaminating Modern Sequences:
DNA sequences from ancient speciments may in fact result from undetected contamination of the ancient…
July 15, 2008
Oekologie #17 is up on Reconciliation Ecology
Carnival of the Green #136 is up on AIDG blog
Grand Rounds 4.43 are up on Unprotected Text
The 133rd Carnival of Homeschooling is up on Red Sea School
July 15, 2008
Two Extinct Flying Reptiles Compared: One Was A Glider, The Other A Parachutist:
Archaeopteryx is famous as the world's oldest bird, but reptiles were flying about some 50 million years earlier than that (225 million years ago), even before large dinosaurs roamed the Earth. A new study of extinct…
July 14, 2008
Yes, I am one of many SciBlings and other bloggers who got offered to pre-screen Randy Olson's new movie "Sizzle" (check the Front Page of scienceblogs.com for links to all the others). I was reluctant at first, but in the end I gave in and agreed to preview a copy. Why was I reluctant? As a…
July 14, 2008
Avoid Quiet and Placid persons unless you are in Need of Sleep.
- National Lampoon
July 14, 2008
IBY's Island Universe
Podblack blog (new URL)
Tomorrow's Table
49 percent
July 14, 2008
There is now a Sleep and Circadian group on Graduate Junction so if you are a student or postdoc in the field, and enough of you join up, we can see if can get some discussions going....
July 14, 2008
Understanding Hearing, Molecule By Molecule:
Berkeley Lab scientists have for the first time pieced together the three-dimensional structure of one of nature's most exquisite pieces of machinery, a gossamer-like filament of proteins in the inner ear that enables the sense of hearing and balance.…
July 14, 2008
How free access internet resources benefit biodiversity and conservation research: Trinidad and Tobago's endemic plants and their conservation status:
Botanists have been urged to help assess the conservation status of all known plant species. For resource-poor and biodiversity-rich countries such…
July 14, 2008
Interactions with the Mass Media (pdf):
Our analysis shows that interactions between scientists and journalists are more frequent and smooth than previously thought. This five-country survey also suggests that the scientists most involved in these interactions tend to be scientifically productive,…
July 14, 2008
Monday - the day when PLoS Medicine and PLoS Biology publish new articles, among others, these:
Persistent Leatherback Turtle Migrations Present Opportunities for Conservation :
Highly migratory marine animals routinely cross international borders during extensive migrations over thousands of…
July 14, 2008
How To Behave On An Internet Forum
July 14, 2008
What is Web 2.0? Ideas, technologies and implications for education by Paul Anderson:
The report establishes that Web 2.0 is more than a set of 'cool' and new technologies and services, important though some of these are. It has, at its heart, a set of at least six powerful ideas that are changing…
July 14, 2008
Henry Gee has published drafts of his new SF trilogy The Sigil on Lulu.com. Apparently, publishers have no problem with this tactic - the final version will be published by them in the end.
I have ordered the trilogy and all three books arrived here about a week ago. I'll let you know what I…
July 14, 2008
Speaking of educational science videos, how about advertising? Many science bloggers are commenting about this ad by Eppendorf (and I got the link by e-mail a few times as well):
We had manual pipetters, battery-operated pipetters and an automated pipetter in the lab. I have no idea who the…
July 13, 2008
No one who cannot rejoice in the discovery of his own mistakes deserves to be called a scholar.
- Donald Foster
July 13, 2008
Who Dares Sings, And Who Sings Wins: Bold Birds Get The Girl:
Humans often choose partners based on behavioural keys that are displayed during social interactions. The way we behave in different social contexts can reflect personality traits or temperament that may inspire long-term love.…
July 13, 2008
You know I love and often eat at Town Hall Grill in Southern Village. This is where we had our Friday Night Dinner during the last Science Blogging Conference (photographic evidence here, here, here and here) and more recently a little local meetup (see also Lenore's review of the evening, and…
July 13, 2008
Georgia Harper saw an interesting article in USA Today about Open textbooks and, among else, says:
Open access is just one part of a much bigger and more complex picture. I am very optimistic that open access will find its way into the book market (or what we call books today), but again, it's not…
July 13, 2008
Anne-Marie is in Belize, doing some field-work, including chasing jaguars with specially trained dogs (scat-sniffers). Although electricity is rare and sporadic, she manages occasionally to post a quick dispatch on her blog. I wish I was there to see her (and those of you who have met her at the…
July 13, 2008
Here are some old photos of the Ashkenazi synagogue that my grandfather designed and built some time between the two World Wars. This is just one of the many buildings he built in Sarajevo at that time, including the first skyscraper in the Balkans. This is the first time I see these pictures and…
