clock | August 31, 2006Michael Pollan, author of "Omnivore's Dilemma" and other good, thought-provoking books, will be on a speaking tour this Fall. Click on the link for details of your place. He will be in my neck of the woods in October:
October 11, 2006, 7 pm: Chapel Hill, NC; Morehead Planetarium at the University of North Carolina
October 10, 2006, 6 pm: Durham, NC; SEEDS Harvest Dinner
You bet I'll be there.
clock | August 31, 2006Chimpanzees Can Transmit Cultural Behavior To Multiple 'Generations':
Transferring knowledge through a chain of generations is a behavior not exclusive to humans, according to new findings by researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center of Emory University and the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. For the first time, researchers have shown chimpanzees exhibit generational learning behavior similar to that in humans. Unlike previous findings that indicated chimpanzees simply conform to the social norms of the group, this study shows behavior and traditions can be passed along…
clock | August 31, 2006It appears that the Norwegian police found the stolen Munch's "Scream" and "Madonna".
clock | August 31, 2006Richard Hoppe further dissects Jonathan Wells' ideas about Ohio State University mentioned in Chapter 16.
clock | August 31, 2006Now, this is the gene that was meant to be named "hairy" instead of this one:
Hirsute-s You, Sir! Could Super Furry Animals Provide Clues For Baldness?:
The team found that cells given the genetic command to become hair follicles will send out signals to neighbouring cells to prevent them from doing likewise, so producing a specific hair pattern.
They also demonstrated that by hyperactivating the 'hair protein' in embryonic mice, young with considerably more fur than normal were produced.
clock | August 31, 2006What's with manatees in the news lately? First intelligence, and now this:
Manatee Bones Lead To New Insight On Evolution:
"Most research professors spend their days writing grants, teaching and managing graduate students, so when Stanford's David Kingsley, PhD, ventured from his office to his lab, pulled out a scale and started weighing 114 pairs of manatee pelvic bones, it was a sign that something was afoot.
The results of Kingsley's efforts make his departure from the routine worthwhile. He found that in almost every case, the left pelvic bone outweighed the right. Although seemingly…
clock | August 31, 2006Nicotine Up Sharply In Many Cigarettes:
The amount of nicotine in most cigarettes rose an average of almost 10 percent from 1998 to 2004, with brands most popular with young people and minorities registering the biggest increases and highest nicotine content, according to a new study. Nicotine is highly addictive, and while no one has studied the effect of the increases on smokers, the higher levels theoretically could make new smokers more easily addicted and make it harder for established smokers to quit.
clock | August 31, 2006Circus of the Spineless #12 is up on Sunbeam from Cucumbers. I can't believe it's already been a year since this fine carnival started!
clock | August 31, 2006Since Chris Mooney's book has just come out in paperback and the critics often invoke false equivalence between abuses of science on the Right and the Left, I thought this would be a good time to repost this August 05, 2005 post (reposted here on January 16, 2006):
According to Michael Shermer there are:
- science
- borderlands science
- psuedoscience, and
- nonsense
Science is a methodology of figuring out, with as great confidence as possible, how the world works. Evolutionary theory is one of the biggest, strongest and best-supported bodies of all of science.
Borderland Science refers to…
clock | August 31, 2006It does not really apply to everyone, but mostly to A-list political/news bloggers:
No Day at the Beach
I am an obsesssive/compulsive blogger. But on those rare occasions that I get to go out of town for a few days, I decide to enjoy myself in a computer-free zone. Let the traffic drop. It's summer and the traffic is in the doldrums anyway. And here on SB, I can even schedule a few posts (or re-posts of old stuff) in advance to keep the blog running if I want to. Traffic will come back up once I'm back, but I also need some rest and restoration of sanity every now and then. I am not…
clock | August 31, 2006Panta Rei is a new science carnival:
The theme is on thermal sciences related topics, from the purely technical to the academic trivia and gossip. Contributions from science and engineering bloggers with a post that is even remotely related to the above topics and at times, not at all related to but nevertheless a good science post, is also welcome. Self nominations are fine.
Check out the 1st edition on Nonoscience and the 2nd edition on Prashant Mullik's Kyun.
clock | August 31, 2006
You Are Dr. Bunsen Honeydew
You take the title "mad scientist" to the extreme -with very scary things coming out of your lab.
And you've invented some pretty cool things, from a banana sharpener to a robot politician.
But while you're busy turning gold into cottage cheese, you need to watch out for poor little Beaker!
"Oh, that's very naughty, Beaker! Now you eat these paper clips this minute."
The Muppet Personality Test
(Hat-tip: Grrrrlscientist)
clock | August 31, 2006Frist might face fine on M.D. license renewal
The senator, a surgeon, failed to complete continuing education required by Tennessee.
And he lied about it.
clock | August 31, 2006Tangled Bank #61 is up on Epigenetics News.
Skeptic's Circle #42 is up on Immunoblogging.
clock | August 31, 2006Melatonin improves mood in winter depression:
Alfred Lewy and his colleagues in the OHSU Sleep and Mood Disorders Lab set out to test the hypothesis that circadian physiological rhythms become misaligned with the sleep/wake cycle during the short days of winter, causing some people to become depressed.
Usually these rhythms track to the later dawn in winter, resulting in a circadian phase delay with respect to sleep similar to what happens flying westward. Some people appear to be tracking to the earlier dusk of winter, causing a similar amount of misalignment but in the phase-advance…
clock | August 31, 2006The fisking of Chapter 15 of Wells' PIG is now up on Panda's Thumb. It has something to do with church! Wonder, what has church to do with the "science" of Intelligent Design?!
clock | August 30, 2006My SciBling Chris Mooney, as part of his book-signing tour, is finally coming my way. So, if you are from these parts and are interested in the Republican War On Science, make sure to check October 28th and/or 29th on your calendar.
clock | August 30, 2006I already told you that my daughter is crazy about cats as well as getting really good at photography. Occasionaly I break down and post pictures of cats (but never on Friday!) just because she took them. So, you have had the opportunity to meet Marbles and also Biscuit and even both of them together. And she managed to catch me on camera as well. Nobody else wants their pictures online, but we forgot the dog! So, here is the first ever online picture of Millie, our toy poodle. Her real name - Millennium - comes from the date of her birth: just a couple of weeks before Y2K when the…
clock | August 30, 2006Ancient Raptors Likely Feasted On Early Man, Study Suggests:
A new study suggests that prehistoric birds of prey made meals out of some of our earliest human ancestors. Researchers drew this conclusion after studying more than 600 bones from modern-day monkeys. They had collected the bones from beneath the nests of African crowned eagles in the Ivory Coast's Tai rainforest. A full-grown African crowned eagle is roughly the size of an American bald eagle, which typically weighs about 10 to 12 pounds.
Red Fish, Blue Fish: Distinctive Color Keeps Gene Pools Healthy:
Long-running evolutionary…
clock | August 30, 2006I have never seen these birds around here before, yet, over the last few days I saw tons of them all over the place. Where did they come from? Why do they seem to still be paired this late in the summer?
At first, I saw them flying, mostly from the car, and their flight is undulating, almost pulsating. Then, yesterday when I was walking the dog, I followed a pair around, from tree to tree, until I managed to get a good look at one of them for a good minute or so. I was surprised at how much larger they look in flight than when sitting still.
Anyway, after getting a good look, I went home…