Holiday Season

img c/o Dr. David Cox via Telegraph.co.ukYou're looking at the world's smallest snowman, standing a whopping 0.02 mm tall or so, the typical length of Paramecium caudatum (a ciliate protist) or about twice the width of a human hair. OK, to be technical, it's not a "snow" man because it's not made of snow. The snowman figure was created by Dr David Cox, a member of the Quantum Detection group at the National Physical Laboratory in West London, using technology designed for calibrating electron microscope lenses. The body is made of two tin beads wielded together with platinum, while the jolly…
As the holidays come to a close, we generally bemoan the large quantities of junk food we've eaten and all the money we spent. However, there are some reasons we shouldn't be so begrudging of our holiday cheer. Quite a bit of the things we do just for the holidays aren't as bad for us as we think they are. For example, we shouldn't feel so bad about eating all those candy canes. It turns out that peppermint has quite a few health benefits, at least according the the National Institute of Medicine. Most relate to the stomach and digestive system, but there is weak evidence for improvements to…
Now that I have survived the frigid north and have returned to the real world where there is electricity, the sun is shining and there's no such thing as ice storms, I can return to providing you the most up-to-date and important science news and such from around the world. I know, you're all so excited! So personally, I've been spending the past day or so getting myself all jolly for the holidays. Of course, we're talking tree decorating, gift wrapping and the lovely sound of holiday pop songs to set the mood. Apparently, some researchers from Loch Lomond Sea Life Centre in Balloch,…
As the holidays draw ever nearer, I've been trying desperately to put together a Christmas list for my family and friends. After a lot of internet-searching and idea-hunting, I've stumbled upon some great nerdy gifts, and I figured I might as well share them with you all. After all, if you read this blog you're either a science-nerd or a nerd-lover, so these gift ideas just might come in handy. Here's part one of nerdy gift ideas for the holidays, with gifts for any nerd you love A simple gift for any science nerd is a piece of the lab they can use anywhere, like this classic Beaker Mug. It's…