gregladen

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Greg Laden

Greg Laden is a biological anthropologist and science communicator. His research has covered North American prehistoric and historic archaeology and African archaeology and human ecology. He is an OpenSource and OpenAccess advocate. Greg's wife, Amanda, is a High School biology teacher, his daughter Julia is a world traveler and his son Huxley is 2.

Posts by this author

November 8, 2007
Lots of people are talking about this latest paper on HIV. It is an "open access" paper in the PNAS, and you can get it here. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that can cause AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). It is a member of a larger group of viruses (the Smian…
November 8, 2007
You roll your head, hoping to loosen the knots in your neck, and shut your eyes. After rubbing them you settle back into staring, hunched inches away from the computer screen. Despite the brief reprise your vision remains cloudy, causing the words on the monitor to blur. At this point, you need to…
November 8, 2007
When discussing global warming (and more broadly, climate change), especially here in the Great White North, it is often quipped that a little global warming is not necessarily a bad thing. So what if cold regions get warmer? That would be good for growing more food, having a warmer winter, and…
November 8, 2007
How the brain works ... what it does, how it does it, and how well it does it ... is a matter of how neurons are arranged in relation to each other, in circuits. But that is only part of the story. These neurons also need to function properly, and the connections between them need to function…
November 8, 2007
Ten years ago, thirteen lucky lemurs were taken from Duke's primate center and the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City, and other facilities, and let loose in their native lands in Madagascar. These were black and white ruffed lemurs, Varecia variegata variegata. They are rain forest dwellers native to…
November 7, 2007
Bill Wenmark, a member of the Minnetonka School Board who supports the teaching of Intelligent Design in High School Cirriculum was ousted in yesterday's election. Bill sent me an email that included a note to his constituents, and he and I have been discussing the possibility of me posting it here…
November 7, 2007
[Reposted without revision from gregladen.com] This is obviously true, and i've been saying this for a long time. And I'm not talking about the butt-slaps and sharing chewing tobacco and stuff. To a certain extent, digit ratios seem to be a reasonable indicator of the kinds of hormonal environment…
November 7, 2007
[Repost with minor modifications form gregladen.com] width="250"/> As indicated in a press release by the National Center for Science Education, the National Council for the Social Studies has released a position statement on Intelligent Design. ...There have been efforts for many decades to…
November 7, 2007
[A repost from gregladen.com, unmodified] There is a ceremonial burial in Britain .. ceremonial because it has some red stuff smeared on bone ... that has now bee dated to a few thousand years earlier than previously thought (to ca 25,000 years old). Age of earliest human burial in Britain…
November 6, 2007
I think this is a great teachable moment: Scientists complete genome sequence of fungus responsible for dandruff, skin disorders from PhysOrg.com Scientists from P&G Beauty announced that they successfully sequenced the complete genome for Malassezia globosa (M. globosa), a naturally…
November 6, 2007
It seems that with every new Halloween there is a new opportunity for some appalling racist act or another. Locally, we had such an event at Hamline University, and nationally, where else: The Bush Administration. The Hamline event ... and my source here is Minnesota Public Radio, something I…
November 6, 2007
Obviously, I have to work this both into tonight's talk in Grand Rapids, and blog about it: Gene governs IQ boost from breastfeeding from PhysOrg.com The known association between breast feeding and slightly higher IQ in children has been shown to relate to a particular gene in the babies,…
November 6, 2007
A new species of peccary has been discovered in the Amazon. It's different from other peccaries in that it appears to be a frugivore. It also lives in pairs or very small family groups. This is, of course, exactly what one might expect. Frugovores eat high quality food, while the other…
November 6, 2007
This is interesting: Doctors began operating today on a 2-year-old girl born with four arms and four legs in an extensive surgery that they hope will leave the girl with a normal body, a hospital official said. Lakshmi is joined to a "parasitic twin" who stopped developing in the mother's womb. The…
November 5, 2007
We shall not be moved. ..." Fifty five of us jammed in a bus designed to hold fourty people plus a driver, rolling down Highway 90 from Upstate New York to Chicago. As a teenager (just turned 15), I was thrilled to be going to Chicago to attend the Fight Back Conference, a thinly disguised…
November 5, 2007
I'm off for two days to the Great White North, Grand Rapids, where I'll give a talk tomorrow night for the area Library Association on the topic of Race and Racism. If you are in the vicinity, please stop by and visit! I'll be "at the lake" for the day prior, taking a few more winterizing steps…
November 5, 2007
I'm pretty sure Amanda and I were abducted by aliens this morning. This is not the first time, for me. I was abducted with two others about 20 years ago in Southern Maine while looking for antiques, back when you could still get them cheap even in antique stores (inexpensive antiques, not aliens…
November 5, 2007
... Oh, wait. brought back to life "in stunning 3D by a scientist at The University of Manchester." I hate those press release writers... This is actually fairly cool despite the fact that no actual spiders were actually brought back to life. Very High Resolution X-Ray Computed Tomography (VHR-CT…