February 24, 2009
In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Gonzalo Mucientes has discovered an invisible line in the sea that separates male mako sharks from females. The line runs from north to south with the Pitcairn Islands to its west and Easter Island to its east. On the western side, a fisherman that snags a mako…
February 24, 2009
Following last week's 400th anniversary post, I have another celebratory announcement. A year ago today*, I set foot in ScienceBlogs for the first time.
As previously noted, some things have changed while others are much the same. The posting rate has gone up, and traffic has almost quadrupled…
February 23, 2009
In late 2007, seabirds off the coast of California began to die in record numbers. The waterproof nature of their feathers and been wrecked, and they were soaked to the skin. Without an insulating layer of air trapped within their plumage, the damp birds were suffering from extreme cold. These are…
February 22, 2009
The trauma of child abuse can last a lifetime, leading to a higher risk of anxiety, depression and suicide further down the line. This link seems obvious, but a group of Canadian scientists have found that it has a genetic basis.
By studying the brains of suicide victims, Patrick McGowan from the…
February 21, 2009
When people say that every cloud has a silver lining, they probably aren't thinking about herpes at the time. Herpes may be unpleasant, but the viruses that cause it and related diseases could have a bright side. In mice at least, they provide resistance against bacteria, including the bubonic…
February 20, 2009
When it comes to discussing suicide bombers, the controversial topic of religion is never far behind. Scholars and pundits have proposed several theories to explain why people would sacrifice their lives to take those of others, and conjectures about religious views seem easy to defend. After all,…
February 19, 2009
It's a scene straight out of a horror film - you look around and see dead bodies everywhere. They haven't just been killed either, they've been hollowed out from the inside-out leaving behind grotesque mummified shells. What would you do if you were confronted with such a macabre scene? Flee? Well…
February 18, 2009
As of yesterday, I have written 400 proper articles for this blog.
Woo, and I might add, hoo.
That's excluding random announcements, navel-gazing, chatter or the odd journalistic take-down. Four hundred summaries, each covering one or more new pieces of research. Each one probably represents…
February 17, 2009
Babies can say volume without saying a single word. They can wave good-bye, point at things to indicate an interest or shake their heads to mean "No". These gestures may be very simple, but they are a sign of things to come. Year-old toddlers who use more gestures tend to have more expansive…
February 17, 2009
The mainstream media are just queuing up to fail in their reporting of the propranolol story from a couple of days ago. To reiterate:
Propranolol is commonly used to treat high blood pressure and prevent migraines in children. But Merel Kindt and colleagues from the University of Amsterdam have…
February 16, 2009
The wiping of unwanted memories is a common staple of science-fiction and if you believe this weekend's headlines, you might think that the prospect has just become a reality. The Press Association said that a "drug helps erase fearful memories", while the ever-hyperbolic Daily Mail talked about a…
February 15, 2009
A child in the womb is not just some hapless creature waiting to be born into a world of experience. It is preparing. Through its mother, it senses the conditions of the world outside and its body plans its growth accordingly.
There is strong evidence that people who are under-nourished as…
February 13, 2009
In the summer of 2007, thirty-four travellers left home with backpacks in tow to see the world. But these weren't human students, out to get drunk and pretentious find themselves in foreign lands - they were small songbirds, migrating to tropical climates for the winter.
Their backpacks were light…
February 12, 2009
This is the eighth of eight posts on evolutionary research to celebrate Darwin's bicentennial.
In Virginia, USA, sits a facility called the American Type Culture Collection. Within its four walls lie hundreds of freezers containing a variety of frozen biological samples and among these, are 99…
February 12, 2009
This is the seventh of eight posts on evolutionary research to celebrate Darwin's bicentennial. It combines many of my favourite topics - symbiosis, horizontal gene transfer, parasitic wasps and viruses.
Parasitic wasps make a living by snatching the bodies of other insects and using them as…
February 11, 2009
This is the sixth of eight posts on evolutionary research to celebrate Darwin's bicentennial.
Physically, we are incredibly different from our ape cousins but genetically, it's a different story. We famously share more than 98% of our DNA with chimpanzees, our closest living relatives. Our…
February 11, 2009
This is the fifth of eight posts on evolutionary research to celebrate Darwin's bicentennial.
Life can sometimes be a futile contest. Throughout the natural world, pairs of species are locked in an evolutionary arms race where both competitors must continuously evolve new adaptations just to…
February 10, 2009
This is the fourth of eight posts on evolutionary research to celebrate Darwin's bicentennial.
Charles Darwin was a visionary in more ways than one. In 1862, Darwin was studying a Malagasy orchid called Angraecum sesquipedale, whose nectar stores lie inaccessibly at the bottom of a 30cm long…
February 9, 2009
This is the third of eight posts on evolutionary research to celebrate Darwin's bicentennial.
In our world, there is (roughly) one man for every woman. Despite various social differences, our gender ratio remains steadfastly equal, so much so that we tend to take it for granted. Elsewhere in the…
February 9, 2009
This is the second of eight posts on evolutionary research to celebrate Darwin's bicentennial.
What do you get when one species splits into separate lineages? Two species? Think bigger...
When new species arise, they can set off evolutionary chain reactions that cause even more new species to…
February 8, 2009
This is the first of eight posts on evolutionary research to celebrate Darwin's bicentennial.
If you were a designer tasked with creating a machine for collecting and processing light, the last thing you would come up with is the human eye. Darwin marvelled at the eye as an "organ of extreme…
February 8, 2009
Unless you've been living in a cave for the last few months (and even caves have wi-fi now surely?), you'll have noticed that it's Darwin's bicentennial on February 12. To celebrate, I will be posting a series of eight consecutive articles, each one focusing on a different aspect of evolutionary…
February 7, 2009
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about a dolphin that has mastered the trick of killing cuttlefish and elaborately preparing them for a meal. It was a great story that highlighted just how intelligent and versatile dolphins can be, but it was a bit of a bittersweet report. The cuttlefish didn't…
February 6, 2009
Ants are among the most successful of living things. Their nests are well-defended fortresses, coordinated through complex communication systems involving touch and chemical signals. These strongholds are stocked with food and secure from the outside world, so they make a tempting prospect for any…
February 5, 2009
Having trouble with a word puzzle? Suffering from writer's block? Perhaps you're not looking at the right colour...
We encounter many of the colours in our lives under the same circumstances and as a result, we have come to associate certain colours with specific attributes. Red invokes thoughts…
February 4, 2009
This is sure to be one of the most amazing scientific images of the year. You're looking at vertebrae from two species of snake. The smaller model on the left belongs to the anaconda, a giant serpent that can grow to 7 metres in length and weigh as much as 45kg. It's arguably the largest snake…
February 3, 2009
Nine years ago, a team of fossil-hunters led by Philip Gingerich from the University of Michigan uncovered something amazing - the petrified remains of an ancient whale, but one unlike any that had been found before. Within the creature's abdomen lay a collection of similar but much smaller bones.…
February 3, 2009
Our health isn't just affected by the things we do after we're born - the conditions we face inside our mother's womb can have a lasting impact on our wellbeing, much later in life. This message comes from a growing number of studies that compare a mother's behaviour during pregnancy to the…
February 2, 2009
In the movie Finding Nemo, the eponymous clownfish grows up in the security of his home reef and must find his way back after being fry-napped by an overenthusiastic diver. In reality, the larvae of clownfish spend their early lives adrift in the open ocean and only after weeks, or possibly months…
February 2, 2009
It's snowing pretty heavily in London.
I have therefore built a snow tyrannosaur.
That is all.
Also credit to Julia the Ethical Palaeontologist for her mighty effort.
And yes, I know the posture's all wrong, but it wouldn't stand up otherwise.
