clock | February 11, 2007Yup, like Amanda, Atrios and Ed, I hate the telephone.
That is why I don't have the cell phone. That is why my landline phone has an answering machine.
If you call and the machine picks up and I actually want to talk to you at that particular moment, I'll pick up. If not, leave a message and I'll get back with you....by e-mail.
And if you use a phone with me, stick to the brief exchange of information. Business only. Chatting over the phone is reserved for my mother and my brother only.
I prefer to communicate on my own time, in my own way and do not like the tyranny of the phone ring.
clock | February 11, 2007Influence Of The Menstrual Cycle On The Female Brain:
What influence does the variation in estrogen level have on the activation of the female brain? Using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Jean-Claude Dreher, a researcher at the Cognitive Neuroscience Center (CNRS/Université Lyon 1), in collaboration with an American team from the National Institute of Mental Health (Bethesda, Maryland) directed by Karen Berman, has identified, for the first time, the neural networks involved in processing reward-related functions modulated by female gonadal steroid hormones. This result, which was…
clock | February 10, 2007Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save.
Will Rogers (1879 - 1935), New York TImes, Apr. 29, 1930
clock | February 10, 2007There are several journals dedicated to biological rhythms or sleep. Of those I regularly check only two or three of the best, so I often miss interesting papers that occur in lower-tier journals. Here is one from December 2006 that caught my eye the other day:
Mammalian activity - rest rhythms in Arctic continuous daylight:
Activity - rest (circadian) rhythms were studied in two species of Arctic mammals living in Arctic continuous daylight with all human-induced regular environmental cues (zeitgebers) removed. The two Arctic species (porcupine and ground squirrel) lived outdoors in large…
clock | February 10, 2007It is midnight, Day 10, so the contest is officially over. The winner will be announced tomorrow. But that does not mean that you should abandon reading the Beagle Project blog or helping the Beagle Project get advertised and funded.
clock | February 10, 2007
Hold the dates: October 19-20, 2007 for ConvergeSouth '07 at NC A&T State University. Things are brewing on two coasts to make sure that the 2007 ConvergeSouth is more special than ever.
The Web site and blog will be online by March 1 (crossing fingers).
We are seeking proposals for interactive discussions, DEMOs and how-to sessions in these areas:
1. New media and journalism
2. New creative online models and tools
3. Blogger how-to and blog improvement
4. Music performance (evenings)
5. Original video and film
This year's ConvergeSouth features a new track: screening original video and…
clock | February 10, 2007OK, I have a huge sleep debt to pay back this weekend after a long, tough week of sleep deprivation.
I taught my lab this morning which is always exhilarating yet exhausting.
Today is always a sad day - this is the fourth anniversary of my Dad's death. I'll have a sip of slivovitz before bed in his honor and memory.
Regular programming will return whenever I recover, likely by Monday.....
clock | February 10, 2007This is interesting:
Study: Sleep linked to brain cell creation:
The Proceedings of the National Academy of Science research on rats found that the hippocampus portion of the brain was directly affected by a lack of sleep for a long period, the BBC reported.
By depriving rats of sleep for 72 hours, the researchers found that those animals consequently had increased amounts of the stress hormone corticosterone, and produced significantly fewer new brain cells in the hippocampus.
When the rats' sleep patterns were returned to normal a week later, their levels of nerve-cell production remained…
clock | February 10, 2007This book, Darwinian Reductionism by Alex Rosenberg, arrived in the mail today. I do not recall ordering it, and I know it used to be on my amazon.com wishlist, so the only explanation is that this is a gift from one of my readers who chose to remain anonymous.
I happen to know Alex Rosenberg and think that he has vastly evolved in his thinking about biology since he joined the Duke faculty several years ago (at which time he was a very genocentric Dawkinsian). He is also a wonderful person, and I hear a great teacher and advisor. I am really looking forward to reading this book.
Thank you!
clock | February 10, 2007Your results:You are Poison Ivy
Poison Ivy
77%
Dr. Doom
73%
Apocalypse
63%
The Joker
62%
Magneto
61%
Lex Luthor
61%
Riddler
54%
Mr. Freeze
54%
Juggernaut
49%
Dark Phoenix
46%
Catwoman
46%
Mystique
41%
Kingpin
30%
Green Goblin
29%
Venom
28%
Two-Face
17%
You would go to almost any length for the protection of the environment including manipulation and elimination.
Click here to take the Super Villain Personality Test
clock | February 9, 2007This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)
clock | February 9, 2007The very first edition of the Carnival of Mathematics is up on Abstract Nonsense
clock | February 9, 2007Children's Sleep Problems Can Lead To School Problems:
It is obvious that young children who have difficulties sleeping are likely to have problems in school. A new study shows that African-American children and children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds fare worse than their counterparts when their sleep is disrupted. The study offers one of the first demonstrations that the relationship between children's performance and sleep may differ among children of different backgrounds. Conducted by researchers at Auburn University and Notre Dame University, it is published in the January/…
clock | February 9, 2007Alliance For Science is starting the First Darwin Day Essay Contest for high school students. Go to Neurotopia for all the details about it. I am assuming that this is going to become an annual event.
On the other hand, the rebuilding of the HMS Beagle is going to happen only once, for the Darwin Bicentennial in two years. Of course, once the ship is built and is done with its maiden voyage with all the media spotlight on it, the ship will continue to be used for scientific exploraiton and education for many years to come. [Day 9]
clock | February 9, 2007The call for submission has been issued:
This week's Tarheel Tavern (#103 for those of you keeping score) comes on the Sunday before Valentines Day. In a declaration of vitality and ecstasy, the theme of the Tavern is Utter Transformative Joy. While all submissions will be received like family, take the opportunity to gush your gushiest goodness for our readers all over North Carolina.
This week's Tavern will be a week to get your blogfriends and neighbors involved. Invite new voices and feel free to submit the work of other NC bloggers. I'm ready for a deluge.
This week's Tavern will…
clock | February 9, 2007Mendel's Garden #11 is up on Genetics and Health Blog: We Love Genetics... We Love Genetics Not!
clock | February 8, 2007Time is not like pocket money that you can spend because time is the person spending the pocket money and the pocket money is you.
from "The Dead Fathers Club" by Matt Haig
clock | February 8, 2007Ah, why do I have to be so busy on a news-filled day (no, not Anna Nicole Smith)? I barely saw the computer today. I'd get home, have about 5 minutes before I have to go out again and so on. NPR did not mention Edwards until 4pm or so (that I heard in the car), so when I first got home I only had time to open e-mail, scan about 50 new messages, home in to the one that had the news, open it, get the links and quickly post without more than a quick skim of the statements by Edwards and others, let alone any time to add commentary (except for what the title implied I felt at the time). And…