Scientia Pro Publica 10, The Science, Nature and Medicine Blog Carnival

tags: Scientia Pro Publica, Science for the People, biology, evolution, medicine, earth science, behavioral ecology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, blog carnival

Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power)
-- Sir Francis Bacon.

The summer has caused the carnival contributions to be reduced to a minimal number, but as always, all of the contributions are valuable and interesting reading. I am sure that the number of submissions will increase as soon as school begins soon.

Astrophysics

This thoughtful analysis describes cloud & atmosphere data collected from the public domain by Mike Malaska, a keen amateur based in the USA, using Google Mars, ESA's Mars Webcam and NASA/JPL. A super good example of science in the public domain!

Mathematics

To teach mathematics, mundane applications like measuring farmland, adding up prices, etc., are used. No wonder people think math is boring, writes Glowing Face Man. But this essay describes three applications of higher math, applications that are a little more amazing and surprising than usual: making CDs scratch-resistant; calculating search-engine results; and modern encryption.

Geology and Climate Change

Seattle and the Pacific Northwest are frying under a heat wave this summer. In New York, it's so cool that the New York Times has called it "the summer that isn't." And Texas is suffering under the most severe drought since the 1950s. What does this all mean for climate change? Absolutely nothing. In short, this article published on the Smithsonian blog, Surprising Science, explores and describes the difference between weather and climate.

Biology and Evolution

This essay, "Stages of Design", is described by Lab Rat as a colorful look at the stages he went through to design a gene for synthesis. Hrm. This looks like intelligent design to me, what do you think?

Knuckle-walking is a pretty special mode of locomotion. Amongst primates, only the African apes do it habitually, and anteaters are the only other mammal who does it. It would seem, then, that the most parsimonious explanation for such a specialized form of locomotion would be that the African apes all share a common ancestor who was also a knuckle-walker. An addendum to this explanation would be that humans, since they fall within that nested African-ape clade, also share an ancestor who was a knuckle-walker. The thing about parsimony, though, is that when a "parsimonious" explanation is met with conflicting evidence, it is no longer parsimonious!

This essay examines a research paper that describes a new integrative theory for cortical pyramidal neurons with revolutionary implications. The author first explains the implications and then the workings of the specific mechanisms involved -- Calcium and NMDA spikes -- at a level that is hopefully accessible to the informed layman. Be sure to leave your feedback on this piece in the comments section for the author.

In this essay, a translation of a research paper discussing evolution across fitness landscapes, Darwin's worries about evolution of asexual populations were unfounded. Yes, it's comfortable to imagine that evolution proceeds by ever so many slightly beneficial steps, but the fact that it doesn't always do that does not mean that Darwin's theory breaks down. At least not the way the Theory of Evolution is understood in this century.

Chemistry & Biochemistry

This is the second part in a series of really interesting essays that describe state-of-the-art DNA sequencing technology. In this essay, the author, who writes the blog Genetic Interference, looks at the Second Generation Sequencing machines that are currently sequencing thousands of genomes-worth of DNA per year throughout the world. Of course, it includes lots of colorful pictures and some useful references to help provide a clear explanation to the reader.

Human and Veterinary Medicine

A new study published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine finds that, on average, physicians fail to report clinically significant abnormal test results to patients -- or fail to document that they had informed them -- in one out of every fourteen cases. In some practices, the failure-to-inform rate is as high as an astonishing one in five abnormal results, writes the blog author, Walter Jessen. The take-home message? Follow up with your physician to find out about test results, even if it means calling yourself. Never assume 'no news is good news'.

Scientist and Society

This is an interesting essay by Richard Rifkind, M.D., Chairman Emeritus of the Sloan-Kettering Institute and founding Chairman of the New York Structural Biology Center, and his adventures involved with the making of a video to make biomedical research more transparent to the public. Includes videos.

This ends the tenth issue of Scientia Pro Publica. The next edition will be hosted on the first Monday in September (7 September) by Andrew, author of Southern Fried Science. To send submissions to the next issue of Scientia Pro Publica, either use this automated submission form or send it directly to ScientiaBlogCarnival at gmail. Be sure to include the URL or "permalink", the essay title and please, please, please include a brief summary of what you've written.

There are several of you who are interested to host this carnival, but I need more, more, MORE! I have only one more host after Andrew, so I need more people to volunteer, or you'll all be stuck with me as your host starting in October, and I am sure that none of you want that!

I also welcome your creative efforts for Scientia Pro Publica: logos and artwork for advertising and publicity purposes, and even a 500-pixel wide Scientia Pro Publica banner and other images (perhaps one for each category?) that hosts might wish to use to promote and decorate their editions.