retrospectacle
Posts by this author
November 16, 2006
More on bears today: go vote for the name of the newest member of the Atlanta Zoo, a panda cub.
I wonder if its part of China's policy that all the baby pandas have to be named Chinese names. Cause I haven't ever heard of a panda named Fred or Joe.
And speaking of China, I'm spending Xmas there…
November 16, 2006
The forests of Siberia are full of insomniac bears, scaring the locals, as the weather has been staying too warm for them to go into hibernation. Usually Siberian bears sleep six months, beginning in October or November, but the Kemerovo region where they live has currently gotten no snow.
Hunters…
November 14, 2006
Today seems to be the day of weird religious-blogging.
A toy company called one2believe in Los Angeles offered to donate 4,000 bible-quotin' Jesus dolls to Toys for Tots, but was told "thanks, but no thanks." The reason was that children from all faiths (and lack thereof) participate in the…
November 14, 2006
The Flying Spaghetti Monster would not be pleased to learn that the world's first (and I desperately hope, only) Creationist museum will soon open in a bustling part of backwood Kentucky. This $25 million Disney-fied, anamatronic monstrosity is dedicated to presenting the biblical creation story as…
November 13, 2006
Every spring, the University of Michigan Neuroscience program has a symposium with invited speakers, usually eminent people in the field who have been influential in some regard. This year one of the speakers we've settled on is linguist/philosopher/famous guy Steven Pinker, and I've been charged…
November 13, 2006
Some news from my old stomping grounds at Mote Marine Lab in Sarasota, Florida. Back in undergrad I worked there with the manatees Hugh and Buffet to test their visual acuity (its bad), now the marine observatory is attempting to test the hearing of manatees. This is essential, as the most likely…
November 13, 2006
The Queen of England recently visited the frigate HMS Lancaster, however one usual crew member was not on board---the resident pet, an African Grey named Sunny. It was feared that Sunny's foul mouth--who swears like a sailor, literally-- might offend Her Highness, so the parrot was put into "…
November 10, 2006
I suppose he was 87, and had been looking 87 for the past 20 years. But still. He did one-armed push-ups on stage. At the Oscars.
November 10, 2006
I was perusing the blogs that were included in the latest edition of the International Carnival of Pozitivities when I cam across the heart-breaking blog of an AIDS worker in Botswana called Where in the World is Connor MacEachern. From his blog:
AIDS has infiltrated every facet of Botswana's…
November 10, 2006
The natural world has been a-buzz lately with new things---new island, now a new parrot? Apparently an Australian bird enthusiast, John Young, has made the claim of discovering a new type of parrot, which he has named the blue-browed fig-parrot. The Queensland Environmental Minister Lindy Nelson-…
November 10, 2006
A newborn voclanic island has been identified in the South Pacific near Tonga, according to the reports of two vessels that have passed nearby.
The crew of the Maiken, a yacht that left the northern Tongan islands group of Vava'u in August, reported on their Web log on August 12 that they saw…
November 10, 2006
The 5th International Carnival of Positivities, a carnival about HIV and AIDS founded by Ron Hudson, is up over at A Blog Around the Clock. Quite a few ScienceBloggers, myself included, contributed. Check it out!
November 8, 2006
Missouri voters have narrowly approved a measure sanctioning embryonic stem cell research in the state. The amendment to the state constitution received 51% of yesterday's vote after supporters waged a $30 million advertising campaign that included celebrities such as Michael J. Fox. Elsewhere,…
November 8, 2006
At the Society for Neuroscience meeting last month, there was a special symposium regarding the current NIH funding situation that was supposed to be given by the current director of the NIH, Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni. Due to his plane being delayed, he was a no-show, although the talk was instead…
November 7, 2006
Check out this really interesting study over at Cognitive Daily, which explores the differences in acoustic and visual processing times. The authors of the study used a very elegant, simple protocol to demonstrate how accurate people are at reporting synchrony and "dis-synchrony."
One side note was…
November 7, 2006
According to a suit brought by two cops in New Mexico, they were served hamburgers that had been laced with marijuana.
The lawsuit says Mark Landavazo and Henry Gabaldon, officers for the Isleta Pueblo tribal police, were in uniform and riding in a marked patrol car when they bought meals at the…
November 7, 2006
I'm sure you've heard about "Borat." Like Snakes on a Plane, its been the object of a huge amount of hype and word-of-mouth style promotion. I went to go see the movie Sunday night, and I gotta say, I thought it was hilarious. Although, several people walked out of the theater about 15 minutes into…
November 6, 2006
Don't forget to vote tomorrow! There are a few ballot initiatives here in Michigan, and here's a bit of info on the proposals so you can be well-informed before the polling starts.
PROPOSAL 06-1
A PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO REQUIRE THAT MONEY HELD IN CONSERVATION AND RECREATION FUNDS CAN…
November 6, 2006
Great news! I won $1000 in the Blogging Scholarship!
Although Stephen Yellin of DailyKos took first place (and $5000), me and Paul Stamatiou both won $1000, and the rest of the bloggers won $100. What a great surprise, as I had completely written off winning anything. Thank you all for voting, no…
November 5, 2006
Looks like a lost cause, but I always was a sucker for a lost cause.
Voting for the Student Blogging Scholarship ends tonight at midnight, eastern time.
So, its your last chance to vote for me to get $5000 to help pay for my PhD.
And thanks to all that have already voted!
November 4, 2006
Although I wasn't initially aware of this myth, a technician in my lab informed me that an oft-quoted scientific myth is that a duck's quack doesn't echo. Now, as a student of acoustics, I found that hard to believe. And indeed, a research team at the University of Salford decided to actually test…
November 3, 2006
Sometimes being a blogger really amazes me: the community which exists not only between ScienceBlogs, but throughout the blogging community is really nothing less that awesome. I just wanted to thank everyone who has endorsed me for the Student Blogging Scholarship, because it really just means a…
November 3, 2006
A review I wrote with my mentor, Dr. Yehoash Raphael, hit advanced e-publication today in the journal Hearing Research. Check it out! Abstract below.........
Transdifferentiation and its applicability for inner ear therapy
During normal development, cells divide, then differentiate to adopt their…
November 3, 2006
We've been talking a lot about life span here on ScienceBlogs, and on Retrospectacle. So, thought for this week's Grey Matters I'd talk a bit about the life span of African Grey parrots. In a nutshell, they live a long time--about 60-80 years. Although, there have been a few accounts of captive…
November 3, 2006
So, the news has been a-flurry with research breakthroughs related to aging and longevity. To add to the pile is a recent study which suggests that lowering core body temperature will also lengthen life span.
Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., report in tomorrow's issue of Science…
November 3, 2006
Afarensis gives me a reason to gloat, despite the Tigers embarrassing loss to the Cardinals.
November 2, 2006
Better preventive care, innovative surgical techniques, improved nutrition, and accessible pharmaceuticals have all had a hand in increasing the lifespan of Americans. Recently, research on caloric restriction and Resveratrol has provided science with additional tools to increase longevity. But…
November 2, 2006
In the spirit of making this seem even more like a popularity contest than it already is, I though I'd give new readers a little taste of the "Best of Retrospectacle" and a few reasons they should vote for me for the Student Blogger Scholarship. (Vote here.)
I'm a PhD student studying a cure for…
November 1, 2006
A Nature podcast today details new fascinating research about a pill that may extend lifespan by up to 20%. Resveratrol, a compound found in red wine, is the only compound that has lengthened the life of every organism its been given to: yeast, worms, flies, and now mice. And, most recently, David…