clock | July 6, 2007This post has been written in advance and scheduled for automatic posting. At the time this post shows up, I'll be sleeping my first night in San Francisco. A few hours later, I'll be at PLoS offices and will hopefully have online access soon after so I can post my first impressions.
As most of you probably know, I got a job as an Online Community Coordinator at PLoS ONE. Today is my first day at the job! I got the job in an unusual way as well - by posting about it on my blog (and the managing editor posting a comment "Is this a formal application?"). The rest is, as they say, history…
clock | July 5, 2007When we drink, we get drunk. When we get drunk, we fall asleep. When we fall asleep, we commit no sin. When we commit no sin, we go to heaven. Sooooo, let's all get drunk and go to heaven!
- Brian O'Rourke
clock | July 5, 2007...Frisco.
The flights were smooth and uneventful.
I went straight to PLoS, met some people I knew from before and others I knew only over e-mail, did the requisite paperwork, got familiarized with my computer and the beginning of getting familiarized with the 'behind the scenes' of the software used by PLoS journals.
My apartment is gorgeous - the owner must be an artist of some kind (probably pottery, as she is spending this month in North Carolina at Pendletonn school) as the place is so artistically and tastefully furnished and decorated.
SF is a very hilly place - I will get fit and…
clock | July 5, 2007Tangled Bank #83 is up on Aardvarchaeology
64th Skeptics' Circle is up on The Sceptical Alchemist.
clock | July 5, 2007Understanding Smooth Eye Pursuit: The Incredible Targeting System Of Human Vision:
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have shed new light on how the brain and eye team up to spot an object in motion and follow it, a classic question of human motor control. The study shows that two distinctly different ways of seeing motion are used - one to catch up to a moving object with our eyes, a second to lock on and examine it.
Wolves Of Alaska Became Extinct 12,000 Years Ago, Scientists Report:
The ancient gray wolves of Alaska became extinct some 12,000 years ago, and the wolves in Alaska…
clock | July 5, 2007You really think I am going to put this above the fold? No way - you have to click (First posted on July 7, 2006):
Today's lesson is on the reproductive anatomy of the domestic pig (Sus scrofa domestica), which probably applies to the wild species in the pig family as well. Although we may reflexively think about invertebrates when pondering diversity of copulatory organs, mammals are not too bad in that department either. After all, the sperm is delivered in some species into the vagina (e.g., dog), in others into the cervix (e.g., pig) and in yet others into the uterus (e.g., horse), so…
clock | July 4, 2007Be anchored to some ideal, philosophy or cause that keeps you too excited to sleep.
- Brian Koslow
clock | July 4, 2007I am about to go offline now, early to bed, early to rise...travelling to San Fran tomorrow at dawn. Hopefully I'll be able to get back online by tomorrow afternoon.
I have scheduled a lot of reruns of the old posts (twice a day) and new quotes (once per night), but I will post new stuff as well whenever I find time: the first day at PLoS, pictures from various blogger meetups (excluding the pictures of pseudonymous bloggers), pictures of my strange meal at Incanto...and on Monday morning something you'll probably find interesting but it is a secret right now.
clock | July 4, 2007Stressed-out African Naked Mole-rats May Provide Clues About Human Infertility:
A tiny, blind, hairless subterranean rodent that lives in social colonies in the harsh, semi-arid conditions of Africa could shed light on stress-related infertility in humans, the 23rd annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology will hear.
Glimmer Of Hope For Tahitian Tree Snails' Survival:
Despite the mass extermination of Tahiti's unique species of tree snails in recent decades, much of their original genetic diversity can still be found in remnant populations that survive on the…
clock | July 4, 2007This post was a response to a decent (though not too exciting) study and the horrible media reporting on it. As the blogosphere focused on the press releases, I decided to look at the paper itself and see what it really says. It was first posted on August 09, 2005. Under the fold (reposted on July 12, 2006)...
I saw this on Pandagon first - a response to an article on NeuroImage about gender-specific voice recognition. Actually, it was not a response to the article itself (behind the subscription wall), but to the MSM reporting about the article. Soon, other bloggers chimed in, notably…
clock | July 3, 2007# Diary, n. A daily record of that part of one's life, which he can relate to himself without blushing.
- Ambrose Bierce
clock | July 3, 2007Quixote (who some of you may know from Acid Test) has joined the growing stable of brilliant bloggers at Shakesville - check out the introductiory post.
clock | July 3, 2007Interview with Timo Hannay, Head of Web Publishing, Nature Publishing Group
Scientific Communications in Web 2.0 Context
Publishing Versus Posting: Nature Magazine Turns to a Conversational Content Model
clock | July 3, 2007A bunch of papers just went live on PLoS-ONE and, after a quick scan, these three papers caught my eye:
The Durability of Public Goods Changes the Dynamics and Nature of Social Dilemmas:
An implicit assumption underpins basic models of the evolution of cooperation, mutualism and altruism: The benefits (or pay-offs) of cooperation and defection are defined by the current frequency or distribution of cooperators. In social dilemmas involving durable public goods (group resources that can persist in the environment-ubiquitous from microbes to humans) this assumption is violated. Here, we examine…
clock | July 3, 2007Blooking Central
Clear Thinking
History Hunters International
Crappy Graphs
RRRGroup
Average Earthman
Brad Buchsbaum's Blog
clock | July 3, 2007Surprise, surprise - a paper in Science is up there with a free online access (not the PDF, but the Full Text and that is something!):
A Molecular Basis for Natural Selection at the timeless Locus in Drosophila melanogaster:
Diapause is a protective response to unfavorable environments that results in a suspension of insect development and is most often associated with the onset of winter. The ls-tim mutation in the Drosophila melanogaster clock gene timeless has spread in Europe over the past 10,000 years, possibly because it enhances diapause. We show that the mutant allele attenuates the…
clock | July 3, 2007There is a new paper on PLoS-Biology describing a tit-for-tat-like reciprocal behavior in rats: Generalized Reciprocity in Rats:
The evolution of cooperation is based on four general mechanisms: mutualism, where an action benefits all partners directly; kin selection, where related individuals are supported; "green beard" altruism that is based on a genetic correlation between altruism genes and respective markers; and reciprocal altruism, where helpful acts are contingent upon the likelihood of getting help in return. The latter mechanism is intriguing because it is prone to exploitation. In…