amillikan | November 24, 2008Technology
The evolution of iPods. From Flickr, by D'Arcy Norman
“As sciencey and research driven as this was, you can tell the guy with the remote is totally having so much fun with his new toy.“
Zelly on Scientist 'Spy' on Whales Using Tiny Helicopters
amillikan | November 23, 2008Over the next four weeks, ScienceBlogs will explore some of the most controversial and increasingly relevant issues in biotechnology on a new blog, What's New in Life Science Research. The blog is sponsored by Invitrogen and will feature writings on stem cell research, cloning, biodefense and genetically modified organisms from both experienced bloggers and biotechnology experts new to the blogging game.
amillikan | November 23, 2008Brain & Behavior
An African gray parrot. From Flickr, by The G-tastic 7
“Imagine you wake up and have a new sense. No, you can't imagine! If you try, you'll be trapped thinking in terms of your existing senses.“
Rafael C. P. on Can a blind person whose vision is restored understand what she sees?
amillikan | November 21, 2008Medicine & Health
Krayzie pillz? From Flickr, by Dvortygirl
“If two minute men and late age male inability to perform aren't enough reasons [to end male circumcision], I don't know what are. But maybe the good MD has some $Viagr$ to pimp you with.“
The real Cool Maleorgan Freedom on Why male circumcision and female genital mutilation are not morally equivalent.
amillikan | November 20, 2008From the well-preserved remains of a woolly mammoth that was buried by Siberian winters about 18,545 years ago, scientists were able to extract viable DNA and sequence the majority of an extinct species' genome for the first time. The mammoth's genome is currently about 70 percent sequenced, and researchers estimate the size of the genome to be 40 percent larger than the human genome—approximately the same size as the modern day elephant, which scientists could theoretically use to birth a cloned anachronistic creature.
amillikan | November 20, 2008Education & Careers
"Inspecting an optical circuit after the wafer dicing saw step. Many labor tasks - from retail to security to manufacturing - seemed to go for triple redundancy." From Flickr, by jurvetson
“The double-talk: We won't fund you if you have been around since the first ice-age, but we don't take that into account, but having a big name PI on your grant helps'.AGGHH...its enough to make your head spin.“
Dr. Zeek on Is this affirmative action for younger investigators or something else?
amillikan | November 20, 2008Politics
President and Vice President Elect Barack Obama and Joe Biden on election night. From Flickr, by Barack Obama
“The US economy is now at risk of losing between 7 and 13 million jobs by the end of 2009. This means Obama's #1, #2, and #3 priorities will have to be to stop the bleeding.“
negentropyeater on Let's see NASA change
amillikan | November 19, 2008The FDA may soon join forces with personal genomics companies like 23andMe and CIMR in order to draw associations between genotypes and adverse drug reactions. ScienceBlogger Revere from Genetic Future posted that before such a collaborationis considered, genomics companies must recruit more—and more diverse—participants and improve methodology to gather "extremely accurate and detailed" clinical data about them and their drug regimens. "Any genome-wide association study is only as good as the clinical data it's based around," he wrote.
amillikan | November 19, 2008Humanities & Social Sciences
"This image was designed and uploaded as an illustration for the flickr censorship campaign that happened globally in June 2007."From Flickr, by Mr.Enjoy
“Funny that [Creationists] are so concerned with a perceived lack of evidence when it comes to evolution, yet completely ambivalent about that complete lack of evidence for, and huge stacks of evidence against, creationism.“
Louis Irving on The root of the problem.
amillikan | November 18, 2008Environment
Environment channel photo. A corn field under a blue sky coated with clouds of the cumulo nimbus. From Flickr, by Kables
“Sounds great to me. Where do I throw my nuclear waste? Flush it down the toilet? Better still can I use it to power my Batmobile?“
Phil on A case of technology out of sync with politics.
amillikan | November 18, 2008When hundreds of thousands of soldiers returned from the Gulf War in 1991, epidemiologists like Revere from Effect Measure insisted that the neurological and other symptoms afflicting a large number of the veterans was not due to stress—as many U.S. government departments alleged—but rather widespread exposure to toxic chemicals. Now, a federally mandated panel of independent scientists has issued a report confirming the epidemiologists' claims—not only is Gulf War Illness real, it afflicts approximately 25 percent of Gulf War veterans.
amillikan | November 17, 2008Physical Science
Physical Science channel photo. An image from the Hubble Space Telescope of Fomalhaut b, the first planet outside of the Sun's solar system viewed from Earth. From Flickr, by bobster1985
“Lack of peer review is a unifying feature of pseudosciences. In this regard creationism is indistinguishable from astrology , homeopathy, etc. Effective peer review would cause all these "fields" to quickly disappear.“
Phil on Entropy and evolution
amillikan | November 17, 2008Technology
Technology channel photo. Nam June Paik's "Electronic Superhighway" at the National Portrait Gallery - Smithsonian - Washington DC. From Flickr, by frozenchipmunk
This week's reader reaction quote on the Technology channel comes from a discussion on Gene Expression about the rise of communication technologies over the past few years and how our behavior (and our expectations) has changed along with it.
ScienceBlogger Razib wrote about an experience he had 3-4 years ago:
I recall a woman loudly talking about her boyfriend leaving her, and the consequent emotional devastation…
amillikan | November 16, 2008With the announcement of Barack Obama's plan to deliver a weekly YouTube address, speculations are arising of how the new administration will make use of "facebook age" technologies to communicate with the public. ScienceBlogger Coturnix from A Blog Around the Clock discusses this and the potential clash between traditional policies requiring the president to abstain from informal communications—because everything is recorded—and modern inclinations to use networking programs and technological devices.
amillikan | November 13, 2008Using the Hubble Telescope, scientists have successfully viewed a planet revolving around a different star than our beloved Sun for the first time. The planet has been dubbed Fomalhaut b and revolves around the star Fomalhaut, the brightest star in the constellation Piscis calculated to reside about 25 light years away. ScienceBlogger Steinn Sigurðsson broke the news on Dynamics of Cats, and has posted multiple images of the planet.
amillikan | November 13, 2008Welcome to another Channel Update. In this post, you will find the large versions of the Medicine & Health and Brain & Behavior channel photos, and also the contextualized versions of the reader reactions from the aforementioned channels.
Medicine & Health
Medicine & Health channel photo. Image captured with an electron microscope of a six-day-old human embryo implanting in a womb. From Flickr, by LoreleiRanveig
Often in the scientific world, work and play intermingle. In this case, it appears to be especially so. Putting in the time to learn a specialty science can be…
amillikan | November 3, 2008Greetings ScienceBlogs readers. In this post: The large versions of the photos on the Education & Careers and Politics channels, and a recap of the channel quotes.
Education & Careers
Education & Careers channel photo. An enthusiastic submarine driver pops his head out of the hatch to smile for the camera. From Flickr, by jurvetson
Often in the scientific world, work and play intermingle. In this case, it appears to be especially so. Putting in the time to learn a specialty science can be incredibly rewarding.
This week's reader reaction quote on the Education & Careers…
amillikan | October 30, 2008
If you don't think you are a brain in a vat, then there are certain things in life you regard as true—things that are also accepted as true by most other people. When events happen, there are generally highly efficient methods to convey information to the public so that the first-hand information gathered by a select few is transformed into "common knowledge" in an increasingly short period of time. But because currently accepted methods of establishing a consensus on scientific claims are lengthy and inaccessible to the public, "most of the knowledge in science is uncommon," according to…
amillikan | October 28, 2008Hello again, ScienceBlogs enthusiasts. Today we will be taking a look at this week's hot posts in the Environment and Humanities & Social Science channels. I'm Arikia Millikan, your ScienceBlogs intern, and I'll be your guide.
Environment channel photo. The PPL-owned nuclear cooling towers in Conyngham and Salem Townships, Luzerne County. As seen from the Council Cup scenic overlook.
From Flickr, by Nicholas T
Environment
October 27, 2008—There is perhaps no image more awesome and terrifying than that of the atomic bomb. It is the one thing (that we know of... LHC black hole dragons…
amillikan | October 27, 2008Greetings ScienceBlogs readers, and welcome to this week's edition of the Life Science and Physical Science Channel updates! I'm Arikia Millikan, your local Sb intern, and I'll be providing commentary on today's "best of."
Life Science channel photo. A model representing the molecular structure of a DNA double helix. From Flickr, by net_efekt
Life Science
October 27,2008—Ed Yong from Not Exactly Rocket Science is back from vacation! As a souvenir to readers, he has posted a bit on peer-reviewed research into a unique cave-dwelling bacteria that exists in isolation of all other species,…