clock | June 14, 2007I and the Bird #51 is up on Birdchaser. If you answer 20 questions correctly, you may win a nice prize!
clock | June 14, 2007Why Was The Racehorse Eclipse So Good?:
Scientists from the Royal Veterinary College and the University of Cambridge are researching what made the undefeated 18th Century horse, Eclipse, such a great champion. The genetics research is giving insights into the origins of the world's thoroughbred racing stock, including the sensational 1867 Derby winner, Hermit.
'Divorce' Among Galapagos Seabirds Investigated:
Being a devoted husband and father is not enough to keep an avian marriage together for the Nazca booby, a long-lived seabird found in the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador.…
clock | June 13, 2007The first day of spring was once the time for taking the young virgins into the fields, there in dalliance to set an example in fertility for Nature to follow. Now we just set the clock an hour ahead and change the oil in the crankcase.
- Elwyn Brooks White
clock | June 13, 2007More stuff from SLEEP 2007, the 21st Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies:
Sleep Deprivation Affects Eye-steering Coordination When Driving:
Driving a vehicle requires coordination of horizontal eye movements and steering. Recent research finds that even a single night of sleep deprivation can impact a person's ability to coordinate eye movements with steering.
Extra Sleep Improves Athletes' Performance:
Athletes who get an extra amount of sleep are more likely to improve their performance in a game, according to recent research.
Going To Bed Late May Affect The…
clock | June 13, 2007The 123rd edition of The Carnival of Education is up on The Education Wonks.
The latest Carnival of Homeschooling is up on Kris' Eclectic Homeschool.
clock | June 13, 2007Matt at Berkeley has just moved his Behavioral Biology Blog from the old URL to a new URL. Please change your bookmarks, blogrolls and feeds accordingly.
clock | June 13, 2007Attila (read the entire transcript of our chat) alerted me to a new book review of 'The Open Science 2006' science blogging anthology.
MC and Reed have already blogged about the review.
Let me know what you think. And keep the submissions for the 2007 edition flowing in.
clock | June 13, 2007Probably not. You are not one of Pavlov's dogs, after all. Or a Pavlov's cat for that matter. Or a Pavlov's sea slug. But, see what's your salivary response to reading a brand new paper on Pavlov's cockroaches and report your findings in the comments.
clock | June 13, 2007"Fine in practice, but how does it work in theory?"
This headline (in a French paper, of course), prompted Sally Green to pen a fine, fine post - an Obligatory Reading of the Day - about class, education, the psychology of class, the difference between academia and the real world, the difference between theory and practice, and the difference between the people who fight for the equality of opportunity and the people who oppose it (and their rhetoric).
clock | June 13, 2007China finds new species of big, bird-like dinosaur:
Eight meters (26 ft) long and standing at twice the height of a man at the shoulder, the fossil of the feathered but flightless Gigantoraptor erlianensis was found in the Erlian basin in Inner Mongolia, researchers wrote in the latest issue of Nature.
The researchers said the dinosaur, discovered in April 2005, weighed about 1.4 tonnes and lived some 85 million years ago.
According to lines of arrested growth detected on its bones, it died as a young adult in its 11th year of life.
What was particularly surprising was its sheer size and…
clock | June 13, 2007Children With Sleep Disorder Symptoms Are More Likely To Have Trouble Academically:
Students with symptoms of sleep disorders are more likely to receive bad grades in classes such as math, reading and writing than peers without symptoms of sleep disorders, according to recent research.
Slow Wave Activity During Sleep Is Lower In African-Americans Than Caucasians:
Slow wave activity (SWA), a stable trait dependent marker of the intensity of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, is lower in young healthy African-Americans compared to Caucasians who were matched for age, gender and body weight,…
clock | June 13, 2007There are a lot of people blogging about their kids. But when Kate writes about parenting issues, it is pure science. After attending a meeting on parental behavior, she's been churning out post after post on this fascinating topic:
Cheetah Infidelity and the Bruce Effect
Bird brains and sex reversal
Thanks, Dad - the paternal brain and his selfish genes
Thanks, Dad - footage of a paternal eagle
Perhaps there will be more over the next few days, so stay tuned...
clock | June 12, 2007The other day, Anton Zuiker and I met at Weaver Street Market in Southern Village to do some planning for the Science Blogging Conference and Anton took this picture of me holding the brand new promotional postcards (want one? e-mail me) that he has designed and printed:
clock | June 12, 2007Literally. If you want to know how to figure out what your slug has eaten today, just ask Aydin.
clock | June 12, 2007No Time, spoke the clocks, no God, rang the bells,
I drew the white sheet over the islands
And the coins on my eyelids sang like shells.
- Dylan Thomas
clock | June 12, 2007The history of trepanation. An utterly amazing post!
And, Bioephemera posted an appropriate illustration to go with it....
clock | June 12, 2007Sheril Kirshenbaum has officially joined Chris Mooney on "The Intersection" (the first science blog I have ever seen in my life, almost three years ago). Hey, one more North Carolina SciBling can't hurt!
Inkycircus has moved: The Brit ScienceBlogging Trio Fantasticus has moved from here to here. Fix your blogrolls, bookmarks and feeds.
clock | June 12, 2007About a month ago, Ruby Sinreich quit her job and posted about looking for a new one. And today, she reveals that she landed a perfect job, telecommuting from Carrboro, working for the Fellowship of Reconciliation. They were smart to hire her!
clock | June 12, 2007
Lizard Moms Dress Their Children For Success:
Mothers know best when it comes to dressing their children, at least among side-blotched lizards, a common species in the western United States. Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have found that female side-blotched lizards are able to induce different color patterns in their offspring in response to social cues, "dressing" their progeny in patterns they will wear for the rest of their lives. The mother's influence gives her progeny the patterns most likely to ensure success under the conditions they will encounter as…
clock | June 12, 2007An e-mail from Ron Hudson just popped up in my mailbox:
Dear Friends of the International Carnival of Pozitivities (ICP):
The 13th consecutive and first edition of Year Two of the ICP will be hosted at ScribeSpirit eZine. We, myself and the hosts Jody and Jolen, are now seeking submissions for this first edition of the new year.
Please visit our last edition and the ICP Homepage to read the details of this project. All twelve existing editions are available via links from the homepage.
If you are living with, working to treat or cure, or concerned about HIV/AIDS and its potential effects…