clock | July 9, 2008When I go around proselatizing for Open Access, I always try to remember to point out that the potential users are not just scientists and physicians in the developing world, or researchers at low-tier or community colleges, but also high schools. So, I was very happy to hear about the existence of Real Science, a website that uses the latest freely available research to use in classrooms:
Imagine teaching the latest science on the same day it appears in the newspapers.
Imagine the kick the kids will get when they say to their parents watching the news on TV: "We did that in school today. It…
clock | July 9, 2008There is a new (temporary) blog on scienceblogs.com - Next Generation Energy:
For the next three months, Seed editors and a hand-picked team of guest bloggers will delve into energy policies of all kinds--from carbon capture to windmills.
Every Wednesday, we'll post a new topic or question about alternative energy on the blog. In the days following, our expert guess bloggers will post their answers to the question, and respond to questions and comments from readers.
So without further ado, here's our first week's question:
Our oil supplies are down. And with rising concerns of global food…
clock | July 9, 2008You can watch John Edwards give a keynote address about "The Challenge of Reducing Poverty" at the 2008 Campus Progress National Conference in Washington, DC. on C-Span3 and hear him talk about campaign and about poverty on NPR's Talk of the Nation.
clock | July 8, 2008The prizes go to those who meet emergencies successfully. And the way to meet emergencies is to do each daily task the best we can.
- William Feather
clock | July 8, 2008There are 57 new articles in PLoS ONE this week, and it is hard to choose which ones to highlight!
Superfast Vocal Muscles Control Song Production in Songbirds:
Birdsong is a widely used model for vocal learning and human speech, which exhibits high temporal and acoustic diversity. Rapid acoustic modulations are thought to arise from the vocal organ, the syrinx, by passive interactions between the two independent sound generators or intrinsic nonlinear dynamics of sound generating structures. Additionally, direct neuromuscular control could produce such rapid and precisely timed acoustic…
clock | July 8, 2008The first installation of Hourglass, a blog carnival devoted to the biology of aging, is up on Ouroboros
Carnival of the Blue #14 is up on Blue Economy
Carnival of the Green #135 is up on Greentime
Grand Rounds, Vol 4, No 42 are up on The Blog That Ate Manhattan
clock | July 8, 2008
Rare Microorganism That Produces Hydrogen May Be Key To Tomorrow's Hydrogen Economy:
An ancient organism from the pit of a collapsed volcano may hold the key to tomorrow's hydrogen economy. Scientists from across the world have formed a team to unlock the process refined by a billions-year old archaea. The U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute will expedite the research by sequencing the hydrogen-producing organism for comparative genomics.
Are Hands-free Cellphones Really Safer?:
Since April 1 when Nova Scotia outlawed the use of hand-held cellphones while driving, sales of hands…
clock | July 7, 2008Do each daily task the best we can; act as tough the eye of opportunity were always upon us.
- William Feather
clock | July 7, 2008Several people e-mailed me to alert me to the new blog post on BibliOdyssey that depicts several old maps of Belgrade, some very intriguing, some very beautiful.
clock | July 7, 2008As you probably know by now, we have monthly themes in PLoS ONE. This month, the topic is Gene Expression, where there are more than 140 articles already, mainly looking at genome-wide expression and epigenetics. Of course, we want more. And I am still looking for a group to do a Journal Club on one of the related papers, so if you are interested, let me know.
clock | July 7, 2008A Gene Wiki for Community Annotation of Gene Function:
Gene portals (e.g., Entrez Gene [1] and Ensembl [2]) and model organism databases (e.g., Mouse Genome Database [3], Rat Genome Database [4], FlyBase [5]) are popular and useful tools for researching gene annotation and enforcing data standards. These databases provide a large volume and diversity of information on each gene, including protein and transcript sequences, genome location, genomic structure, aliases, links to literature, and gene function. These sites are considered to be the definitive sources for these types of gene…
clock | July 7, 2008My friend, neighbor and uber-blogger Pam Spaulding, has an article about her in today's New & Observer. Very nice! Good read. And also, Happy Birthday, Pam - what a great present you got from the corporate media today ;-)
clock | July 7, 2008Oh, how I hate this (mis)use of the term!
Male Biological Clock Also 'Ticking': Fertility Problems Greater For Men Over 35:
Pregnancy rates decrease and miscarriages increase when a father is over 35 years of age, a scientist will tell the 24th annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology on July 7. Dr. Stéphanie Belloc, of the Eylau Centre for Assisted Reproduction, Paris, France, will say that this is the first time that such a strong paternal effect on reproductive outcomes has been shown.
Nature Reserves Attract Humans, But At A Cost To Biodiversity:…
clock | July 7, 2008Encephalon #49 is up on Neuroscientifically Challenged
The 61st Carnival of Space is up on The Bat Page
Carnival of the Godless #95 is up on The Atheist Blogger
The 68th edition of Carnival of the Liberals is up on Globally Rational
clock | July 6, 2008Character isn't inherited. One builds it daily by the way one thinks and acts, thought by thought, action by action. If one lets fear or hate or anger take possession of the mind, they become self-forged chains.
- Helen Gahagan Douglas
clock | July 6, 2008Circadian Phase Resetting via Single and Multiple Control Targets:
The robust timing, or phase, of the circadian clock is critical in directing and synchronizing molecular, cellular, and organismal behaviors. The clock's failure to maintain precision and adaption is associated with sleeping disorders, depression, and cancer. To better study and control the timing of circadian rhythms, we make use of systems theoretic tools such as sensitivity analysis and model predictive control (MPC). Sensitivity analysis is used to identify key driving mechanisms without having to fully understand or…
clock | July 6, 2008This snake was sighted about a week ago in Burlington NJ by one of my readers. Can anyone here identify the species? Please place your guesses in the comments:
clock | July 5, 2008I like the man who faces what he must,
With steps triumphant and a heart of cheer;
Who fights the daily battle without fear.
- Sarah Knowles Bolton
clock | July 5, 2008Too busy all week to write about this, but last weekend we went on a family trip to NYC. Old-timers here may remember that we took the kids there two years ago, so they were eager to visit again. We spent four days there, flying JetBlue (always happy with their service), and generally having great fun. We did touristy things, mainly whatever the kids wanted to do. No online access at all!
So we shopped at F.A.O.Schwartz and at Macy's:
We ate a chocolate-based lunch at Max Brenner:
We traveled by Underground, where I tried to do what Grrrl does and took pictures of the subway art:
We…