retrospectacle | November 4, 2006Although I wasn't initially aware of this myth, a technician in my lab informed me that an oft-quoted scientific myth is that a duck's quack doesn't echo. Now, as a student of acoustics, I found that hard to believe. And indeed, a research team at the University of Salford decided to actually test this theory by putting a duck named Daisy in a sound chamber and making it quack.
After recording the quack (and any echos that might have arisen) they came to the conclusion that a duck's quack DOES echo, its just usually too soft for most people to hear. Therefore, the myth probably arose that…
retrospectacle | November 3, 2006Sometimes being a blogger really amazes me: the community which exists not only between ScienceBlogs, but throughout the blogging community is really nothing less that awesome. I just wanted to thank everyone who has endorsed me for the Student Blogging Scholarship, because it really just means a lot to me!
Friends of Charles Darwin
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A Blog Around the Clock (both me and Jenny)
Good Math, Bad Math
Effect Measure
Adventures in Ethics…
retrospectacle | November 3, 2006A review I wrote with my mentor, Dr. Yehoash Raphael, hit advanced e-publication today in the journal Hearing Research. Check it out! Abstract below.........
Transdifferentiation and its applicability for inner ear therapy
During normal development, cells divide, then differentiate to adopt their individual form and function in an organism. Under most circumstances, mature cells cannot transdifferentiate, changing their fate to adopt a different form and function. Because differentiated cells cannot usually divide, the repair of injuries as well as regeneration largely depends on the…
retrospectacle | November 3, 2006
We've been talking a lot about life span here on ScienceBlogs, and on Retrospectacle. So, thought for this week's Grey Matters I'd talk a bit about the life span of African Grey parrots. In a nutshell, they live a long time--about 60-80 years. Although, there have been a few accounts of captive Greys living past 100 years of age! This fact is often a huge surprise to people looking into buying a Grey parrot, and should be weighed very heavily before making the jump to buy. Seriously, your getting a life partner more than a pet. Will you still want your bird when you are 70? (I know I will!)…
retrospectacle | November 3, 2006So, the news has been a-flurry with research breakthroughs related to aging and longevity. To add to the pile is a recent study which suggests that lowering core body temperature will also lengthen life span.
Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., report in tomorrow's issue of Science that solely by lowering the core body temperature of mice, they could extend the lives of their experimental subjects by as much as 20 percent. They accomplished this feat--conferring an extra three months of life to the animals, which typically live just over two years--without varying diet.
To…
retrospectacle | November 3, 2006Afarensis gives me a reason to gloat, despite the Tigers embarrassing loss to the Cardinals.
retrospectacle | November 2, 2006Better preventive care, innovative surgical techniques, improved nutrition, and accessible pharmaceuticals have all had a hand in increasing the lifespan of Americans. Recently, research on caloric restriction and Resveratrol has provided science with additional tools to increase longevity. But what guarantee do we have as to the quality of that longer existence? Do we really want to live long, only to end up in cognitive decline in a rest home or mental facility? A study published in this month's PLoS Medicine examines the incidence of dementia at the end of life.
From Yahoo news:
It's…
retrospectacle | November 2, 2006In the spirit of making this seem even more like a popularity contest than it already is, I though I'd give new readers a little taste of the "Best of Retrospectacle" and a few reasons they should vote for me for the Student Blogger Scholarship. (Vote here.)
I'm a PhD student studying a cure for deafness. My thesis is related to the regeneration of the sensory cells in the inner ear, which people lose as they age, in response to noise, or are born without. Deafness and hearing loss is a very serious and prevalent disability in America, and my research and education will have a significant…
retrospectacle | November 1, 2006A Nature podcast today details new fascinating research about a pill that may extend lifespan by up to 20%. Resveratrol, a compound found in red wine, is the only compound that has lengthened the life of every organism its been given to: yeast, worms, flies, and now mice. And, most recently, David Sinclair of Harvard University has results that show that this compound can also combat the ill health effects of a high-fat ("McDonald's") diet in mammals. Mice that were given a high-fat diet as well as Resveratrol lived as long as mice that were fed a healthy balanced diet. Even more interesting…
retrospectacle | November 1, 2006This morning I received a one-in-a-million phone call from a friend:
"Shelley, you're going to hate me if you don't get this. Your one and only love of your life is at Angelo's right now."
Now, Angelo's is a little cafe across the street from my lab. But, could it be? Could my one true love REALLY be there?
As I walked past Angelo's and looked into the window, my young heart skipped a beat. Imposing profile.......well-shined head.....booming Shakespearean voice???? It was him! Jean-Luc Picard!
Well, actually, Patrick Stewart. Ever since I was a kid I made no bones about the enormous crush I…
retrospectacle | October 31, 2006Vote for Pedro, oops I mean ME!
Yes, for some odd reason I've been selected as a finalist in the College Blogging Scholarship, but now I need some votes.
Please, I'm a poor broke college student and could really use the scholarship! Vote for me, would ya???
And if you're a blogger, and blog for people to vote for me, I promise that Pepper will personally send you some karma.
Thank you!
retrospectacle | October 31, 2006Halloween has been branded satanic by some, but those of us who have all our marbles know that its just spooky fun revolving around old legends and trappings of fall.
As a kid I loved watching "The Great Pumpkin" episode of Peanuts that was ubiquitous around this time of the year. It never got old, never got stale. But here are some real great pumpkins.
Think there's no evidence for ghosts? Think again! Why, in fact just last year the Met in New York hosted an exhibition of "spirit photography." 19th century photographer William H. Mumler convinced many people of the existence of ghosts…
retrospectacle | October 30, 2006More shameless self-promoting!
Go check out some of my poetry, based on the Fibonacci sequence, now published in the Science Creative Quarterly (SCQ)!
SCQ is an amalgam of science, creativity, spontaneity, beauty, and absurdity reflected in the written word, operated under the auspices of our very own David Ng of the World's Fair.
retrospectacle | October 30, 2006First it was the World Series, now this? Adding insult to injury, Detroit must follow St. Loius yet again in the rankings, this time for most disgustingly crime-ridden city. I would have thought that "the D" as we fondly call it, would have had THIS competition in the bag. But no. The one thing, the only thing that Detroit had going for it, and we are shamed yet again.
Perhaps it has something to do with the mayor of St. Louis' name being Francis SLAY?
The safest city was Brick, N.J. With a name like that, it HAS to be boring as hell.
Despite Detroit coming in second, we can at least console…
retrospectacle | October 30, 2006The "split-brain studies," done by Gazzaniga, Sperry, and others, long ago confirmed the lateralization of language and handedness. New research at the University of Michigan suggests that certain senses may be tied to handedness as well. In right-handed people, the dominant hand is more dependent on vision for guidance while the non-dominant (left) hand is more attuned to the sense of proprioception and touch from muscles, joints, and skin.
In the first task, which assessed visual control over movement, subjects were shown a lighted target to their left or right for less than a second. Then…
retrospectacle | October 28, 2006I was stunned as I scrolled through this short Powerpoint presentation composed by the CDC, published in JAMA over the years. Its a compliation of obesity rates beginning in 1985, going up until 2005. What might be the cause for the surge in obesity rates? Possibly the over-availability of cheap oils and starches, says the International Task Force on Obesity.
Makes this recent news release regarding the risk of polycystic ovary syndrome even more important.
Want better gas miliage? Some suggest shedding the pounds. A new pill from a Belgian group, called Rimonabant, may speed the process.
retrospectacle | October 27, 2006Just thought I'd post this picture of me and Pepper as a sort-of Friday Grey Matters. And was afraid he might have felt a little left out lately. Sup fool!
retrospectacle | October 27, 2006The father of the Malawi orphan that Madonna wishes to adopt now says that he is entirely in favor of Madonna taking full permanent custody. This is in contrast to a statement he issued only a few days ago, where he said he wished to retain parental rights. But, in an entirely predictable turn of events, the father says he was goaded into making the statement (against the adoption) by non-governmental child rights organizations who are suing to prevent the adoption. He has now fled to his sister's residence to avoid the media attention.
What a ridiculous situation, where a child-rights…
retrospectacle | October 27, 2006In addition to cruelty, the replacement of whale products, meat toxicity issues, and conservation, fellow SciBling the Island of Doubt brings up another great point against whaling:
For more than a decade now, genetic analysis of whale meat on Japanese markets has shown evidence of widespread fraud. The simple truth is, unlike pork and beef, it's not so easy to tell the meat of one species of whale from another, a situation that allows whalers to catch just about anything from the order cetacea, and call it whatever the law allows them to catch.
Remember that whaling is an opportunistic…
retrospectacle | October 26, 2006In a shameless act of self promotion, I direct you all to this week's ScienceBlogger interview on Page 3.14, which features meeeeeee!