clock | November 6, 2008NC Press Asociation's front pages from Wednesday.
Due to narrow margin - about 12,000 in Obama's favor - the state has to count all the provisional ballots (which usually favor Dems) and all the mail-in ballots (mostly from the military personnel abroad - who knows who that favors any more!). There is little chance, though, officials and statisticians say, that the additional counting will reverse the order, but the official business has to be done in an orderly way. Unofficially, North Carolina went Blue this year. This will become official in a couple of days, I guess. How? Large influx…
clock | November 5, 2008Freedom is a powerful animal that fights the barriers, and sometimes makes people wish for higher fences.
- Lance Morrow
clock | November 5, 2008Ecologists Say Metabolism Accounts For Why Natural Selection Favors Only Some Species:
Why are some species of plants and animals favored by natural selection? And why does natural selection not favor other species similarly? According to a UC Riverside-led research team, the answer lies in the rate of metabolism of a species - how fast a species consumes energy, per unit mass, per unit time.
Genes That Prevent Changes In Physical Traits Due To Environmental Changes Identified:
New York University biologists have identified genes that prevent physical traits from being affected by…
clock | November 5, 2008There were 15 new articles in PLoS ONE published last night but I was too busy watching the election returns. As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. Here are my own picks for the week - you go and look for your own favourites:
Historical Mammal Extinction on Christmas Island (Indian Ocean) Correlates with Introduced Infectious Disease:
It is now widely accepted that novel infectious disease can be a leading cause of serious population decline and even outright extinction in some invertebrate and vertebrate groups…
clock | November 4, 2008If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
- Barack Obama, President-Elect
clock | November 4, 2008Protect Your Vote: Avoid Election Machine Errors:
Of all the conceivable problems that could lead to a miscount Election Day, there's one possibility that voters can do something about - avoid making election machine-related errors, says a University of Maryland researcher who led a comprehensive study of voter problems using touch screen and paper-based machines.
Seasonal Affective Disorder May Be Linked To Genetic Mutation, Study Suggests:
With the days shortening toward winter, many people will begin to experience the winter blahs. For some, the effect can be devastating. About 6 percent…
clock | November 4, 2008
You already know that the Program for ScienceOnline09 contains several sessions that look, from different angles, at the question of reputation and authority in science, online and offline.
Related to this, as a recent lively discussion on science blogs demonstrated, is the question of the use of language. So, it is quite fitting that we have a session planned just about this topic:
Rhetoric of science: print vs. web:
This session is moderated by Christian Casper and Neil Caudle:
There is no doubt that online communication environment is changing the way we use language. LOL. Scientific…
clock | November 4, 2008
If you are wondering why I posted this picture and what it all (including the title of this post) means, you need to read the comment threads on these posts:
The Transition to Daylight Savings Time and the Risk of Myocardial Infarction
The Response from Janszky and Ljung -- Dr. Isis Defends the Blogosphere
What is 'the normal way to debate and discuss scientific findings' anyway?
Spring Forward, Fall Back - should you watch out tomorrow morning?
Notes of importance
Bora is the Most Brilliant Man Ever and I Love Him
Pseudonimity, scientific criticism and respect on the blogs...
Discourse give…
clock | November 4, 2008Low-Hanging Fruit is a website which collects data about drug/compound screens against parasitic organisms.
Michelle Arkin and James McKerrow explain:
The apples on the tree at the website represent links to data for the parasites indicated. In some cases, this data is a simple list of hits to be viewed by those individuals and agencies interested in rapid follow-up. In other instances, a more complete database can be accessed under "protocols and statistics" as compiled by Pipeline Pilot (Accelrys) software.
clock | November 4, 2008This is an uber-liberal enclave in NC, so more than 80% excited voters already voted early. Still, it was hard to find parking this morning.
clock | November 4, 2008The next Sigma Xi lunch pizza in RTP will be noon MONDAY, Nov. 17. Come hear Rob Dunn, assistant professor of zoology at NC State, talk about "Climate Change and the Neglected Majority." Dunn, among other things, is interested in insects and how changes in their distribution affect ecosystems.
Sigma Xi's Pizza Lunch speaker series is free and open to science journalists and science communicators of all stripes (feel free to forward this message to anyone you would like to be included). RSVPs are required to cclabby@amsci.org.
clock | November 3, 2008Those disputing, contradicting, and confuting people are generally unfortunate in their affairs. They get victory, sometimes, but they never get good will, which would be of more use to them.
- Benjamin Franklin
clock | November 3, 2008Totally cool:
Phase Coupling of a Circadian Neuropeptide With Rest/Activity Rhythms Detected Using a Membrane-Tethered Spider Toxin:
The regulation of the daily fluctuations that characterize an organism's physiology and behavior requires coordination of the cellular oscillations of individual "clock" neurons within the circadian control network. Clock neurons that secrete a neuropeptide called pigment dispersing factor (PDF) calibrate, or entrain, both the phase of organismal rhythms and the cellular oscillations of other clock neurons. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that phase of…
clock | November 3, 2008
Continuing with the series of posts highlighting sessions in the Program at the upcoming ScienceOnline09, here are some sessions that deal with collaboration and networking between scientists and between their data.
Community intelligence applied to gene annotation:
This session is moderated by Andrew Su and John Hogenesch:
Despite identification of the ~25,000 genes which comprise the "parts list" of the human genome, researchers continue to largely study previously-studied genes, leaving half of the genes in the human genome virtually unannotated. Moreover, there is growing recognition…
clock | November 3, 2008Mendel's Garden #25 is up on evolgen
The Last Edition of the Carnival to Replace Michele Bachmann. Ever. is up on Tangled Up in Blue Guy
Carnival of the Green # 152 is up on Real Central VA
clock | November 3, 2008This is a website worth spending some time on and looking at every page:
This website is linked to a British Academy funded research project on the post-World War Two memorialisation of one of the main sites of the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Serbia, the Semlin Judenlager. Established by Nazi Germany in December 1941 on the outskirts of Belgrade, Semlin (also known by its Serbian name SajmiÅ¡te) was one of the first concentration camps in Europe, created specifically for the internment of Jews. Between March and May 1942, approximately 7,000 Jewish women, children and the elderly (almost half…