July 13, 2008
Now that the spirited debate about the comparative business models of Nature and PLoS has died down, it is nice to take a little break from it all, and then start a new round - this time about publishing models, not business, and what it means for the future of the scientific paper - how the peer-…
July 13, 2008
Picture taken by cell-phone, by my son, two weeks ago when we went to NYC:
July 12, 2008
Chocolate is the greatest gift to women ever created, next to the likes of Paul Newman and Gene Kelly. It's something that should be had on a daily basis.
- Sandra Bullock
July 12, 2008
There is an interesting discussion on [edit: Richard's blog on] Nature Network about the usefulness of science videos, like those published in JoVE, where methods and protocols are performed in front of the cameras and intentionally designed to be educational.
If you are a cell biologist, learning…
July 12, 2008
The deadline for your entries for the first edition of The Giant's Shoulders is the end of July 15th (deadline is midnight EDT). Your posts should cover one of the following:
Classic Papers - your blog post should describe what is in a paper that is considered to be a classical paper, or…
July 12, 2008
Triggered by noticing who was very obviously missing from the most recent Dawkins' book that collects the best essays in modern science writing, Larry has been writing recently about other people who are excellent science writers. I have been a fan, for a long time, of the writings by Richard…
July 12, 2008
Nick Matzke wrote an excellent update on what we know about the Origin of Life:
Here is a short list of things we have discovered or confirmed in the last 50 years or so pertaining to the origin of life. In my opinion all of these points have reached high enough confidence that they are unlikely to…
July 12, 2008
Voters Care About Science!:
Scientists and Engineers for America just released the results of a poll of over 1,000 Americans on how likely they would be to support candidates based upon their positions on key science and technology issues. SEA anticipated a positive reaction to the questions, but…
July 12, 2008
Abbie and PZ chat about the recent discoveries in biology, how exciting those discoveries are, and how annoying it is when Creationists try to put a damper on such excitement:
July 12, 2008
I was busy, so I did not have time to take a look until now at what is new this week in PLoS Genetics, Computational Biology, Pathogens and Neglected Tropical Diseases. Go take a look at these papers and others:
Evolution of Evolvability in Gene Regulatory Networks:
A cell receives signals both…
July 12, 2008
Children Are Naturally Prone To Be Empathic And Moral:
Children between the ages of seven and 12 appear to be naturally inclined to feel empathy for others in pain, according to researchers at the University of Chicago, who used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) scans to study responses…
July 11, 2008
To St. Paul, stripes, stones, shipwrecks, and thorns in the flesh were religious experiences; to Judas Iscariot, the daily companionship of Jesus of Nazareth was not.
- Leonard Hodgson
July 11, 2008
I guess it is unlikely you have not already heard about the big brouhaha that erupted when Bill Donohue targeted PZ Myers for showing disrespect towards a belief that made some religious nuts go crazy and violent against a child (yes, Eucharist is just a cracker, sorry, but that is just a factual…
July 11, 2008
Friday Ark #199 is up on Modulator
Only four more days for your submissions to the Giant's Shoulders!
July 10, 2008
Many great writers have been extraordinarily awkward in daily exchange, but the greatest give the impression that their style was nursed by the closest attention to colloquial speech.
- Thornton Niven Wilder
July 10, 2008
The first video:
July 10, 2008
This is very cool - African Bushmeat Expedition is a project which takes high school students to Africa where they both learn the techniques and at the same time do something very useful - track the appearance of wild animal meat in the market:
Although illegal wildlife poaching is conducted…
July 10, 2008
Antony Williams, who I had a great time with over coffee yesterday, alerted me to his blog post about a new chemical with some amazing properties - shining UV light onto the solution turns the liquid green instantaneously, and removal of the UV source results in instant change of color from green…
July 10, 2008
I and the Bird #79: The Third Anniversary Edition is up on 10000 Birds and the celebratory topic is "Why are you still bird blogging?"
Change Of Shift - the Second Anniversary Edition is up on Emergiblog and the celebratory topic is explained by Kim: "In celebration, I asked nurse bloggers to send…
July 10, 2008
Do We Think That Machines Can Think?:
When our PC goes on strike again we tend to curse it as if it was a human. The question of why and under what circumstances we attribute human-like properties to machines and how such processes manifest on a cortical level was investigated in a project led by…
July 9, 2008
The thing is plain. All that men really understand, is confined to a very small compass; to their daily affairs and experience; to what they have an opportunity to know, and motives to study or practice. The rest is affectation and imposture.
- William Hazlitt
July 9, 2008
Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency
July 9, 2008
Jim Evans, my friend here at UNC, says Yes, in an interview with NYTimes, and again on NPR's People's Pharmacy. He teaches a course on genetics to judges:
A lot of judges report that they did prelaw in college because it did not involve science. One of my favorite judges, a brilliant man, is fond…
July 9, 2008
Tangled Bank #109 is up on Greg Laden's blog
The 132nd Carnival of Homeschooling is up on SuperAngel's blog
July 9, 2008
Welcome Juno!
July 9, 2008
Marbles, R.I.P.
July 9, 2008
Graduate Junction is a new social networking site designed for graduate students and postdocs. I looked around a bit and found it clean, easy-to-use and potentially useful. This is how they explain it - give it a try and let me know what you think:
The Graduate Junction is a brand new website…
July 9, 2008
Language Log (new address)
Marmorkrebs
Dinosaur Home
thinkevolution.net
July 9, 2008
Big Brains Arose Twice In Higher Primates:
After taking a fresh look at an old fossil, John Flynn, Frick Curator of Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History, and colleagues determined that the brains of the ancestors of modern Neotropical primates were as small as those of their early…
July 9, 2008
What a delightfully obvious and visually compelling example of a transitional fossil! A flatfish in which the eye migrates from one side to another, but not quite as much as in the modern flounder. Carl Zimmer and Ed Yong have the details and explanation.
