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jlynch | November 8, 2007ID supporters seem to like Antony Flew, the one-time atheist philosopher who has apparently seen the light and become a deist. They have awarded him the Phillip Johnson Award for Liberty and Truth, they have lauded his latest book, and Bill Dembski exclaims "God bless Antony Flew!" But at the risk of raining on the parade, there’s something that Bill needs to realize - the fearless Flew seems to have a very ambivalent attitude (to put it mildly) to eugenics.
Prometheus Books recently published its New Encyclopedia of Unbelief, a work to which I provided an entry on Haeckel and co-wrote (with…
cortex | November 8, 2007Here's an embarassing story. I'm browsing a bookstore in San Francisco, killing a little time before a radio interview, and I can't help but wander over to the table with Proust Was A Neuroscientist on it. I'm actually paging through Exit Ghost, trying to decide if I really need more Roth on the prostate (apparently, I do) when a fellow browser picks up my book. I can't help but observe. I watch her flip through the pages before she looks at the back flap, which has my picture on it. Then she looks back at me and I'm staring right at her. She raises an eyebrow and I turn a crimson red before…
cmcclain | November 8, 2007Kevin was one of the winners of the three prizes in the DSN Fundapoolaza Challenge. Might I say he looks damn fine in that t-shirt! I'm not saying I have a man crush on Kevin just that octopus shirt from the Monterey Bay Aquarium is nice.
gregladen | November 8, 2007
Ten years ago, thirteen lucky lemurs were taken from Duke's primate center and the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City, and other facilities, and let loose in their native lands in Madagascar.
These were black and white ruffed lemurs, Varecia variegata variegata. They are rain forest dwellers native to Madagascar.
Several were almost instantly eaten by predators, which is not at all surprising because the Predator IQ is pretty much determined by environmental factors in primates (as is intelligence in general). Of the original 13, three survive today.
Lemurs being lemurs, there was also…
jjacquet | November 8, 2007Good news from Kazakhstan. Borat says if you can make it past the land mines, there are no dangerous (or any other kind of) marine animals beyond their beaches. From a recent interview for his new book:
Q: Which country to do you prefer -- Kazakhstan or the USA?
A: "I very much preferring Kazakhstan - it nicest place in the world! Please, you must look on my guidings book and then come visit. Bring your whole family and stay at Astana Funworld Resort - it have beautiful beaches, almost totally free of landmines and the sea is guarantee to have no jellyfish, shark, or any other marine life."
cmcclain | November 7, 2007New cool research from Wagner et al. that despite the lack of "day" and "night", deep-sea fish experience daily cycles. What is the trigger? Diurnal changes in bottom currents corresponding to tidal fluctuations. The below graphs shows current direction and velocity on deep-sea floor in the NE Atlantic Ocean indicating 12.5 hour tidal cycles.
The researchers followup by measuring pineal and retinal melatonin in two bottom-dwelling fish, a grenadier Coryphaenoides armatus and a deep-sea eel Synaphobranchus kaupii(below). They additionally quantified the release of melatonin in cultures of…
gregladen | November 6, 2007I think this is a great teachable moment:
Scientists complete genome sequence of fungus responsible for dandruff, skin disorders from PhysOrg.com
Scientists from P&G Beauty announced that they successfully sequenced the complete genome for Malassezia globosa (M. globosa), a naturally occurring fungus responsible for the onset of dandruff and other skin conditions in humans. Results of the genome sequencing are published in today's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
[...]
I mean, think about it. Kids in biology class have a hard time relating to size and…
jlynch | November 6, 2007Is anyone surprised?
Programs that focus exclusively on abstinence have not been shown to affect teenager sexual behavior, although they are eligible for tens of millions of dollars in federal grants, according to a study released by a nonpartisan group that seeks to reduce teen pregnancies.
"At present there does not exist any strong evidence that any abstinence program delays the initiation of sex, hastens the return to abstinence or reduces the number of sexual partners" among teenagers, the study concluded.
The report, which was based on a review of research into teenager sexual behavior…
cortex | November 6, 2007The new epicurean trend has arrived: hydrocolloids:
Despite its imposing name, a hydrocolloid is a simple thing. A colloid is a suspension of particles within some substance. A hydrocolloid is a suspension of particles in water where the particles are molecules that bind to water and to one another. The particles slow the flow of the liquid or stop it entirely, solidifying into a gel.
Cornstarch used as a thickener is a hydrocolloid. So is plain flour. But the properties of hydrocolloids differ widely, depending on their molecular structure and affinity for water.
Today, Grant Achatz, chef of…
cortex | November 6, 2007In case you're interested, I should be on the Brian Lehrer show (no relation) on WNYC tomorrow morning (approximately 10:30ish) talking about (what else?) Proust and neuroscience. I'll also be signing books at the Barnes and Noble at 82nd and Broadway tomorrow evening at 7 PM.
grrlscientist | November 6, 2007tags: book carnival, blog carnival
The latest installment of the Book Carnival is now available for you to read.
cmcclain | November 6, 2007So my current research focuses on the influence of canyon topography on the biodiversity and body size of deep-sea invertebrates. To address this requires lots of cores, sorting, and identification. My current favorite species is this tube-building polychaete (50-70mm). Another great example of the wondrous biodiversity of deep-sea mud.
So far only one individual in all my core samples. Currently, I have no idea what species or genus this guy or gal is so I am tentatively calling it Kraken Worm!. Give me a break! I'm a mollusc man. Post below if you recognize this beast. Click for a…
pharyngula | November 6, 2007It's puzzling: he's a rich and successful engineer, but I don't see any particular virtue to his participation at SfN, and judging by these remarks, he just exposed himself for an ignoramus.
During the time Andrew S. Grove spent at Intel, the computer chip company he co-founded, the number of transistors on a chip went from about 1,000 to almost 10 billion. Over that same period, the standard treatment for Parkinson's disease went from L-dopa to … L-dopa.
Grove (who beat prostate cancer 12 years ago and now suffers from Parkinson's) thinks there is something deeply wrong with this picture,…
gregladen | November 6, 2007A new species of peccary has been discovered in the Amazon. It's different from other peccaries in that it appears to be a frugivore. It also lives in pairs or very small family groups. This is, of course, exactly what one might expect. Frugovores eat high quality food, while the other peccaries eat lower quality food. Higher quality food is rare and dispersed so it is difficult to get into larger groups.
A huge, undiscovered animal lurking in the Amazon rain forest? When pigs fly, you might say.
But recently, Dutch biologist Marc van Roosmalen spotted a new species of peccary--a type…
gregladen | November 6, 2007This is interesting:
Doctors began operating today on a 2-year-old girl born with four arms and four legs in an extensive surgery that they hope will leave the girl with a normal body, a hospital official said.
Lakshmi is joined to a "parasitic twin" who stopped developing in the mother's womb. The surviving fetus absorbed the limbs, kidneys and other body parts of the undeveloped fetus.
[source]
It is believed that in utero, this girl had a twin whom she absorbed, reportedly after that twin's "death." (I'm not so sure about the death part... that sounds like an assumption.)
Various parts…
grrlscientist | November 5, 2007tags: drugs, pharmaceuticals, Drugs and Pharmacology carnival, blog carnival
Hey you guys, the very first edition of the new blog carnival, Drugs and Pharmacology carnival, is now available for you to read. This is a monthly blog carnival that focuses on essays related to drugs -- ranging from the medicinal to the recreational.
cortex | November 5, 2007If I were a philosopher-king, the first thing I'd do is make Michael Pollan Secretary of Agriculture. Sometimes, he makes so much sense it actually hurts. In a Times op-ed yesterday, he assailed the latest version of the Farm Bill making their way through Congress. Although the bill contains essential money for food stamp programs, wetland restoration and local farms, Pollan rightly notes that these programs "are mere fleas on the elephant in the room":
The name of that elephant is the commodity title, the all-important subsidy section of the bill. It dictates the rules of the entire food…
grrlscientist | November 5, 2007tags: writing, Writers from across the blogosphere, blog carnival
The latest edition of the Writer's Block blog carnival is now available for your reading pleasure. This blog carnival focuses on writers and their writing, so be sure to go there to read good prose on a variety of topics.
cortex | November 5, 2007More housekeeping/self-promotion here, but there was plenty of book news this weekend. First, the NY Times ran a nice review of my book written by D.T. Max. (If you haven't read The Family That Couldn't Sleep, you're really missing out on a great science book.) Then the NY Post ran a very kind review. And then I've got an interview in The Toronto Star.
Q: Does your book show the gap between art and science or the link between art and science?
A: I hope my book tried to show they are ultimately bound, that in the end they can be two underlying descriptions of the same thing and neither has a…