Science News
clock | May 6, 2007Three out of ten Republican presidential candidates raised hands in the recent debate indicating they do not believe in evolution. Jason has an excellent round-up of responses (Arianna Huffington rocks!) with some good comments by readers as well. How can you help combat scientific ignorance? If your blog is NOT a science blog, try to do what Mike suggests and link to five science-related posts every week.
There is plenty of stuff here at scienceblogs.com, but you can also use this page when you are looking for science posts, especially the science-related carnivals listed at the very…
clock | May 4, 2007Sleep Deprivation Can Threaten Competent Decision-making:
Gambling is a risky activity that can potentially result in the loss of a significant amount of money. A study published in the journal SLEEP finds that sleep deprivation can adversely affect a person's decision-making at a gambling table by elevating the expectation of gains and making light of one's losses following risky decisions.
Coral Reef Fish Make Their Way Home:
Coral reef fish hatchlings dispersed by ocean currents are able to make their way back to their home reefs again to spawn, says a groundbreaking study recently…
evolgen | May 3, 2007Sorry, dude, but it has to be said. In a feature from the March issue of Seed Magazine (one that doesn't appear to be available online), Jonah Lehrer profiles six young scientists dubbed "The Truth Seekers". In his description of Pardis Sabeti, Jonah makes the common error of conflating evolution with natural selection.
Sabeti has helped develop algorithms that use linkage disequilibrium (LD) in DNA sequence polymorphism data to detect evidence for natural selection acting on those regions. She was also involved in a study that identified signatures of natural selection in the malaria…
clock | May 2, 2007Corals -- More Complex Than You?:
The humble coral may possess as many genes - and possibly even more - than humans do. And remarkably, although it is very distant from humans in evolutionary terms, it has many of the immune system genes that protect people against disease. In fact, it is possible some of these were pioneered by corals.
Lizards Prefer Islands, At Risk With Climate Change, Survey Suggests:
A comprehensive survey of lizards on islands around the world has confirmed what island biologists and seafaring explorers have long observed: Animals on islands are much more abundant than…
clock | May 1, 2007Famous Galapagos Tortoise, Lonesome George, May Not Be Alone:
"Lonesome George," a giant Galapagos tortoise and conservation icon long thought to be the sole survivor of his species, may not be alone for much longer, according to a multinational team of researchers headed by investigators at Yale University. New research led by biologists Adalgisa Caccone and Jeffrey Powell in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale, with the strong support and cooperation of the Galápagos National Park and Charles Darwin Research Station, has identified a tortoise that is clearly a first…
clock | May 1, 2007...because weird sex does not only happen on Fridays....
Remember this? Many have asked themselves (I did) where does it go, i.e., what kind of female genital tract can accomodate such a large penis. But one person actually did not stop at wondering but set out to find out. You can find out who and how and why in Carl Zimmer's today's NYTimes article about today's PLoS-One paper.
clock | April 29, 2007Wing Morphing Of The Swift Could Inspire New Aircraft Designs:
A swift adapts the shape of its wings to the immediate task at hand: folding them back to chase insects, or stretching them out to sleep in flight. Ten Dutch and Swedish scientists, based in Wageningen, Groningen, Delft, Leiden, and Lund, have shown how 'wing morphing' makes swifts such versatile flyers. Their study, published as cover story in Nature on April 26, proves that swifts can improve flight performance by up to three-fold, numbers that make 'wing morphing' the next big thing in aircraft engineering.
Female Ticks Have…
evolgen | April 28, 2007In a round-up of some of the coverage of Shelley's run-in with Wiley, Scientific American's Nikhil Swaminathan wrote the following:
Anyway, on Tuesday, over at the ScienceBlog Retrospectacle, neuroscience PhD student Shelley Batts (who based on her pictures alone seems to be both attractive and avian-friendly) posted an analysis of a study appearing in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, which suggested that the antioxidants properties in fruits were boosted by alcohol.
So, Nik wants to hit that shit. This is, like, two steps away from passing Shelley a note in homeroom that…
clock | April 27, 2007Dogs Copy Other Dogs' Actions Selectively, The Way Humans Do:
A distinguishing feature of human intelligence is our ability to understand the goals and intentions of others. This ability develops gradually during infancy, and the extent to which it is present in other animals is an intriguing question. New research by Friederike Range and Ludwig Huber, of the University of Vienna, and Zsofia Viranyi, of the Eötvös University in Budapest, reveals striking similarities between humans and dogs in the way they imitate the actions of others. The phenomenon under investigation is known as "…
evolgen | April 26, 2007Ever wonder what biobloggers are blogging about on their blogs? Here's what:
Razib posts part of a paper by Jerry Coyne and others (which I can't seem to track down) which questions the role cis regulatory elements play in adaptive phenotypic evolution. This all part of Coyne's war on evo-devo.
Another post at GNXP (this one by p-ter) describes a polymorphic deletion that is associated with resistance to retroviral infection. P-ter tries to throw me a bone by mentioning the relevance of Drosophila research, but ends up shooting himself in the foot (how's that for mixed metaphors?).
Orac's…
clock | April 26, 2007Horses Suffer From Obesity, Just Like Humans:
Horses are inheritably couch potatoes. An overeating, slothful horse leads to an obese horse. Unlike humans, however, horse owners often don't see the dangers of an obese horse. Caretakers may see no harm in giving their horses rich foods, but obesity in horses is just as unhealthy as obesity in humans and can lead to fatal diseases.
The Power Of Speaking Ladylike:
Does gender make a difference in the way politicians speak and are spoken to? This is the question posed in a new study¹ by Dr. Carmelia Suleiman and Daniel O'Connell from Florida…
evolgen | April 26, 2007
The recent Scientific American article on junk DNA (discussed here) has instigated a quite a furor in the bioblogosphere. Here is a collection of links:
ERV linked with a tone of disgust.
I restated my frustration with the term junk DNA.
JR Minkel, the author of the Scientific American article, responded to my criticisms.
Ryan Gregory replied to Minkel's SciAm blog post, introducing the term "junctional DNA" to replace junk DNA describe sequences with unknown function. Gregory also tells us how a genome is like an onion (let me count the ways), or something of the sort wonders why onions…
clock | April 25, 2007High Melatonin Content Can Help Delay Aging, Mouse Study Suggests:
A study carried out by researchers from the University of Granada's Institute of Biotechnology shows that consuming melatonin neutralizes oxidative damage and delays the neurodegenerative process of aging. In this study researchers used normal and genetically-modified mice which were subjected to accelerated cell aging. Researchers believe their results can also be applied to humans.
Hibernating Bears Conserve More Muscle Strength Than Humans On Bed Rest Do:
A new study in the journal Physiological and Biochemical Zoology…
evolgen | April 24, 2007Would I write about junk DNA? No. Never. Not me. Not even when Scientific American publishes sub par articles on junk DNA. Well, they're at it again.
The most recent junk DNA article describes a study by Gill Bejerano of Stanford University which I can't find published anywhere (neither can ERV). Is Scientific American describing unpublished research on their website? Either way, they're doing it poorly. The study described in the article identified non-coding sequences that were conserved across all sequenced mammalian genomes but missing from the chicken genome. Five percent of the…
clock | April 24, 2007Earth's First Rainforest Unearthed:
A spectacular fossilised forest has transformed our understanding of the ecology of the Earth's first rainforests. It is 300 million years old.
Repressing Genes:
Researchers report that most genes are repressed through a mechanism by which methyl molecules are attached to DNA. The cells of a given tissue can express only certain genes while others are silenced. This process, called gene repression, allows cells to perform specialized tasks that are different among various organs. Previous studies have shown that genes are repressed when methyl molecules are…
clock | April 24, 2007Oh, that explains it why Superman did not intervene in the recent Balkan wars!
clock | April 23, 2007Similar Brain Chemicals Influence Aggression In Fruit Flies And Humans:
Serotonin is a major signaling chemical in the brain, and it has long been thought to be involved in aggressive behavior in a wide variety of animals as well as in humans. Another brain chemical signal, neuropeptide Y (known as neuropeptide F in invertebrates), is also known to affect an array of behaviors in many species, including territoriality in mice. A new study by Drs. Herman Dierick and Ralph Greenspan of The Neurosciences Institute in San Diego shows that these two chemicals also regulate aggression in the fruit…
clock | April 22, 2007I am sure that other science bloggers (on or off the Seed scienceblogs) will have to say more about all of these studies over the next few days:
To Understand The Big Picture, Give It Time - And Sleep:
Memorizing a series of facts is one thing, understanding the big picture is quite another. Now a new study demonstrates that relational memory -- the ability to make logical "big picture" inferences from disparate pieces of information -- is dependent on taking a break from studies and learning, and even more important, getting a good night's sleep.
The Origin Of The Brain Lies In A Worm:
The…
clock | April 21, 2007New Genus Of Frogmouth Bird Discovered In Solomon Islands:
Your bird field guide may be out of date now that University of Florida scientists discovered a new genus of frogmouth bird on a South Pacific island. New genera of living birds are rare discoveries -- fewer than one per year is announced globally. David Steadman and Andrew Kratter, ornithologists at the Florida Museum of Natural History, turned up the surprising new discovery on a collecting expedition in the Solomon Islands. Theirs is the first frogmouth from these islands to be caught by scientists in more than 100 years. They…
clock | April 19, 2007Voracious Grasshoppers Puzzle Texas Entomologists:
They're not afraid of heights, they're voracious, and Dr. Spencer Behmer wants to know if you've seen them hanging out in oak trees or on your house. They're post oak grasshoppers, and Behmer, a Texas Agricultural Experiment Station entomologist, wants to research their life cycle and behavior. If you haven't heard of them, don't feel alone. Until recently, most Texans hadn't. "I didn't see them for the first 25 years of my career," said Dr. John Jackman, Texas Cooperative Extension entomologist. "I would have told you there weren't any…