Power Of Altruism Confirmed In Wikipedia Contributions: The beauty of open-source applications is that they are continually improved and updated by those who use them and care about them. Dartmouth researchers looked at the online encyclopedia Wikipedia to determine if the anonymous, infrequent contributors, the Good Samaritans, are as reliable as the people who update constantly and have a reputation to maintain. X-effect: Female Chromosome Confirmed A Prime Driver Of Speciation: Researchers at the University of Rochester believe they have just confirmed a controversial theory of evolution.…
There are 91 days until the Science Blogging Conference. The wiki is looking good, the Program is shaping up nicely, and there is more and more blog and media coverage already. There are already 95 registered participants and if you do not register soon, it may be too late once you decide to do so (we'll cap at about 230). Between now and the conference, I am highlighting some of the people who will be there, for you to meet in person if you register in time. Helen Chickering is a longtime television health reporter, now working with the NBC News Channel Dan Barkin is the deputy managing…
I am at ConvergeSouth right now. I did my session on Science 2.0 yesterday - it went smoothly. The meeting is fun as always. I am taking pictures and talking to all sorts of interesting people. I will have a more detailed report when I come back home late tonight or tomorrow morning.
There's nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself. - Johann Sebastian Bach
There are 92 days until the Science Blogging Conference. The wiki is looking good, the Program is shaping up nicely, and there is more and more blog and media coverage already. There are already 95 registered participants and if you do not register soon, it may be too late once you decide to do so (we'll cap at about 230). Between now and the conference, I am highlighting some of the people who will be there, for you to meet in person if you register in time. Peter Etnoyer is 'a Graduate Research Associate at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Texas A&M University…
I can't complain, but sometimes I still do. - Joe Walsh
Feeling Sleepy Is All In Your Genes: Genes responsible for our 24 hour body clock influence not only the timing of sleep, but also appear to be central to the actual restorative process of sleep, according to research published in BMC Neuroscience. The study identified changes in the brain that lead to the increased desire and need for sleep during time spent awake. Cringe at the title. Someone please send me the paper itself... Level Of Oxytocin In Pregnant Women Predicts Mother-child Bond: Humans are hard-wired to form enduring bonds with others. One of the primary bonds across the…
Maybe that's why we always wear our hats... Via
I and the Bird #60 is up on Science And Serendipity Change of Shift: Volume Two, No. 10 is up on Emergiblog Carnival of Space #25 is up on Sorting Out Science The 94th Carnival of Homeschooling is up on The Thinking Mother
The new channel landing pages are up and running. The photos on the landing pages will rotate on a weekly basis. The Sb overlords are always on the lookout for new images to appear there and our readers are a great source for such pictures. So, you can have your images dispayed there as well. They say: It's not too hard: the image needs to be at least 465 pixels wide. Readers should send their photos to photos@scienceblogs.com. They should send only photos that they have the rights to (e.g, photos they have taken themselves), and they should include a line of text to the effect that we have…
On the Oxford University Press Blog, two useful articles: Grant Writing: Things That You Can Do To Learn Scholarship Behavioral Science Grants: Surefire Tips and Pointers
Three good talks at Duke this Fall: This year's series explores how advances in neuroscience, genomics, robotics, and artificial intelligence are not only changing our conception of what it is to be human but also creating possibilities for changing 'human nature' in fundamental ways. Monday, October 29, 2007 - 5:00 pm Love Auditorium, Levine Science Research Center How are we to think about Human Nature? Simon Blackburn, Professor of Philosophy University of Cambridge Thursday, November 8, 2007 - 4:00 pm Biological Sciences Building, Room 111 Our Inner Ape: A Leading Primatologist Explains…
Nice interview in Grist magazine: The new book is called In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. It's a book that really grew out of questions I heard from readers after Omnivore's Dilemma, which was basically so how do you apply all this? Now that you've looked into the heart of the food system and been into the belly of the beast, how should I eat, and what should I buy, and if I'm concerned about health, what should I be eating? I decided I would see what kind of very practical answers I could give people. I spent a lot of time looking at the science of nutrition, and learned pretty…
See my brainscanner results Hat-tip: Sandra
There are 93 days until the Science Blogging Conference. The wiki is looking good, the Program is shaping up nicely, and there is more and more blog and media coverage already. There are already 95 registered participants and if you do not register soon, it may be too late once you decide to do so (we'll cap at about 230). Between now and the conference, I am highlighting some of the people who will be there, for you to meet in person if you register in time. Reed Cartwright is a postdoc in Genetics and Bioinformatics. He blogs on De Rerum Natura and makes sure that the server of Panda's…
The trouble with experience is that by the time you have it you are too old to take advantage of it. - Jimmy Connors
Dawn Of Animal Vision Discovered: By peering deep into evolutionary history, scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara have discovered the origins of photosensitivity in animals. The scientists studied the aquatic animal Hydra, a member of Cnidaria, which are animals that have existed for hundreds of millions of years. The authors are the first scientists to look at light-receptive genes in cnidarians, an ancient class of animals that includes corals, jellyfish, and sea anemones. Ecologists Discover City Is 'Uber-forest' For Big Owls: Charlotte has a spooky secret: the North…
My little panda friend is becoming really famous. He was mentioned in a House hearing on global warming yesterday.
Everyone at PLoS has been so busy lately, that we all forgot to check our calendars and note some important anniversaries! PLoS is turning 5 in December. PLoS Biology turned 4 last Saturday. PLoS Medicine is turning 3 this Friday. PLoS ONE passed the 1000-article mark last week. PLoS ONE will be one year old in December. We found this out from a blogger - thanks John for the reminder (I told you those "this day in history" posts were useful!). [image source]