clock | July 11, 2007
Chad wrote a neat history of (or should we say 'evolution of') clocks, as in "timekeeping instruments". He points out the biological clocks are "...sort of messy application, from the standpoint of physics..." and he is right - for us biologists, messier the better. We wallow in mess, cherish ambiguity and relish in complexity. Anyway, he is talking about real clocks - things made by people to keep time. And he starts with a simple definition of what a clock is:
In order to really discuss the physics of timekeeping, you need to strip the idea of a clock down to the absolute bare…
clock | July 11, 2007Seen on a forum:
I just heard something interesting on the news and I'd like to toss it out to the community for your thoughts....
Forget resumes, job boards, cold calling and even going to the company. The "BIG THING" is Blogging for a Job.
It seems that many recrutiers find YOU by reading your blog.
If this is the way to go, how do you get one started? What do you put into it??
Ha!!!!
clock | July 11, 2007Grand Rounds 3.42 are up on Aetiology.
Carnival of the Green #85 is up on The Ester Republic.
International Carnival of Pozitivities #13 is up on ScribeSpirit eZine.
Four Stone Hearth #18 is up on Clioaudio.
Change of Shift n.2.v.2 is up on Nursing Jobs.
The Carnival Of Education: Week 127 is up on The Education Wonks.
Carnival of the Godless #70 is up on Friendly Atheist.
Carnival of Homeschooling: Week 80 is up on Why Homeschool.
clock | July 11, 2007
This is the third in the series of posts designed to provide the basics of the field of Chronobiology. This post is interesting due to its analysis of history and sociology of the discipline, as well as a look at the changing nature of science. You can check out the rest of Clock Tutorials here.
It appears that every scientific discipline has its own defining moment, an event that is touted later as the moment of "birth" of the field. This can be a publication of a paper (think of Watson and Crick) or a book ("Origin of Species" anyone?). In the case of Chronobiology, it was the 1960…
clock | July 10, 2007There is only one thing people like that is good for them; a good night's sleep.
- Edgar Watson Howe
clock | July 10, 2007
This post is perhaps not my best post, but is, by far, my most popular ever. Sick and tired of politics after the 2004 election I decided to start a science-only blog - Circadiana. After a couple of days of fiddling with the templae, on January 8, 2005, I posted the very first post, this one, at 2:53 AM and went to bed. When I woke up I was astonished as the Sitemeter was going wild! This post was linked by BoingBoing and later that day, by Andrew Sullivan. It has been linked by people ever since, as recently as a couple of days ago, although the post is a year and a half old.…
clock | July 10, 2007Professor Steve Steve (see more of his pictures) is now over his jet lag and decided to go to work with me today. Here he is meeting with Liz Allen, the PLoS Director of Marketing and Business Development:
clock | July 10, 2007This day, Tesla's birthday, is proposed to become the Global Energy Independence Day. Let's make it happen!
If you don't know much about Tesla, my last years' post about him may be of some help....
clock | July 10, 2007
Menaker Awarded Farrell Prize in Sleep Medicine:
Michael Menaker, professor of biology and an international leader in the field of circadian rhythm research, received the Peter C. Farrell Prize in Sleep Medicine from the Harvard Medical School Division of Sleep Medicine during an event there on June 6.
The prize was awarded "in celebration of the life and work of Michael Menaker, trailblazer in circadian biology and prescient illuminator of how Light and Dark, the alternating ancient heritages of our planet, come to govern and synchronize living clocks."
Menaker was cited as a "ground-…
clock | July 10, 2007Such fascinating creatures! If you have missed it so far, don't miss it now - the two-part series by Mark H on DailyKos:
Marine Life Series: Horseshoe Crab Basics
Marine Life Series: Horseshoe Crab Anatomy
One day when I find some time, I'll have to write a long detailed post about the fascinating aspects of the circadian system and vision in the horseshoe crab (oh, some of which was done by Erik Herzog, so you know I like the stuff!).
clock | July 10, 2007I am sometimes not aware that my blogospheric friends know each other well. So, for instance, I had no idea that Sean Carroll of Cosmic Variance blog and the crew at Project Exploration (see the brown square on my left side-bar) are friends. But apparently they are. So, Sean went dinosaur digging and dug out a bunch of bones of a new genus (and took pictures of the process).
clock | July 10, 2007
This is the second in the series of posts designed to provide the basics of the field of Chronobiology. See the first part: ClockTutorial #1 - What Is Chronobiology and check out the rest of them here - they will all, over time, get moved to this blog.
Here is a brief overview of the concepts and terms used in the field of chronobiology. I will write much more detailed accounts of various aspects of it in the future.
Seasons of the year, phases of the moon, high and low tides, and alternation between night and day are examples of cyclic changes in the environment. Each presents a different…
clock | July 9, 2007The best bridge between despair and hope is a good night's sleep.
- E. Joseph Cossman
clock | July 9, 2007Considering I've been writing textbook-like tutorials on chronobiology for quite a while now, trying always to write as simply and clearly as possible, and even wrote a Basic Concepts And Terms post, I am surprised that I never actually defined the term "biological clock" itself before, despite using it all the time.
Since the science bloggers started writing the 'basic concepts and terms' posts recently, I've been thinking about the best way to define 'biological clock' and it is not easy! Let me try, under the fold:
A biological clock is a structure that times regular re-occurence of…
clock | July 9, 2007I had a great pleasure recently to be able to interview Senator - and now Democratic Presidential candidate - John Edwards for my blog. The interview was conducted by e-mail last week.
As I am at work and unable to moderate comments, the comment section is closed on this post, but will be open on the previous post (here) where I hope you will remain civil and stay on topic. You are also welcome to comment on this interview at several other places (e.g,. DailyKos, MyDD, TPMCafe, Science And Politics, Liberal Coalition, the Edwards campaign blog as well as, hopefully, your own blogs).
I…
clock | July 9, 2007In a few minutes, I will post the interview with Sen. John Edwards on this blog. All the questions are related to science (and yes, it was not easy to cut down the number of questions and the length of each question - there is so much to ask) so they should be of interest to the readers of this blog.
As I am not a journalist or an analyst who needs to preserve an appearance of 'balance', I have always been unabashedly open about my support for John Edwards, first in 1998 when he ran for the Senate (that was the first election I could vote in after becoming a US citizen), then in 2003/04 when…
clock | July 9, 2007 This is the first in a series of posts from Circadiana designed as ClockTutorials, covering the basics of the field of Chronobiology. It was first written on January 12, 2005:
There are traditionally three approaches to research and teaching of physiology: biochemical, energetic, and homeostatic. The three are by no means exclusive and all good physiologists will include all three in their work and teaching, but each with a different emphasis.
Biochemical approach is typical of human/medical physiology. Physiological mechanisms are described at lower and lower levels, until the molecules…
clock | July 8, 2007Vedran Vucic is a Linux afficionado in Serbia. He and his organization have gone all around Serbia, wired up the schools, taught the teachers and students how to use Linux, taught the teachers and students how to use various online educational resources ranging from blogs to ATutor, etc.
Vedran also gives technical support to about 40 Serbian bloggers whose work he also aggregates.
He is now putting a lot of energy into persuading scientists, especially the young, not-yet-entrenched ones, to go online and to promote Open Access. It is an uphill battle, but he is persistent!
You'll see…
clock | July 8, 2007If it was an overnight success, it was one long, hard, sleepless night.
- Dicky Barrett
clock | July 8, 2007Many Insomniacs Turn To Valerian And Melatonin To Help Them Sleep:
A study published in the July 1st issue of the journal SLEEP finds that large segments of the U.S. population use valerian or melatonin to treat their insomnia.
The study, authored by Donald L. Bliwise, PhD, of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, focused on the data collected from 31,044 individuals from the 2002 Alternative Health/Complementary and Alternative Medicine Supplement to the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).
Dr. Bliwise discovered that, of the survey sample, 5.9 percent used valerian and 5.2 percent used…