clock | March 14, 2007Today is a big day on Plos-Biology for the Oceanic Microbial Diversity Genomics. Last night they published not one, not two, but three big papers chockfull of data.
Accompani\ying them are not one, not two, not three, not even four, but five editorial articles about different aspects of this work.
James has already homed in on one important part of the discovery: the preponderance and diversity of proteorhodopsins - microbial photopigments that are capable of capturing solar energy in a manner different from photosynthesis. As always, light-sensitive molecules are thought to be tightly…
clock | March 14, 2007Albert Einstein was born at Ulm, Germany on this day in 1879. It's unlikely you need much background on the author of today's quotes, so I'll keep this short. Given how intelligent the man was, it shouldn't come as a surprise that he had a number of choice comments on the fools around him.
Anger dwells only in the bosom of fools.
Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage - to move in the opposite direction.
Before God we are equally wise - and equally foolish.
Common sense is the collection of prejudices…
clock | March 14, 2007A Rarity Among Arachnids, Whip Spiders Have A Sociable Family Life:
Whip spiders, considered by many to be creepy-crawly, are giving new meaning to the term touchy-feely. In two species of whip spiders, or amblypygids, mothers caress their young with long feelers and siblings stick together in social groups until they reach sexual maturity. This is surprising behavior for these arachnids, long-thought to be purely aggressive and anti-social, according to a Cornell researcher.
New Species Of Snapper Discovered In Brazil:
A popular game fish mistaken by scientists for a dog snapper is actually…
clock | March 14, 2007Paul announces that the finalists for the 2007 Lulu Blooker Prize have been announced.
Unfortunately, The Open Laboratory was finished after the deadline for submission. Perhaps we can submit it for the 2008 Prize!
clock | March 14, 2007The next edition of The Tar Heel Tavern will be held at The View From The Cheap Seats
The theme will be "According to..."
The idea will be to post something prominently featuring another's work. Preferably that of another Carolina blogger; but it could be of a national blogger, a book, an MSM article, etc. Send your stuff to: justin AT cabarruscheapseats DOT com
clock | March 14, 2007We are starting this summer's Foodblogging series of events early - on April 21st & 22nd. We'll start where it all begins - at the farm! We will rent a couple of vans and do a tour of local farms, most of them organic and/or sustainable. I am assuming we'll get to sample some local fare at each farm. Bring your boots - it can still be quite muddy at the farms in April in NC.
Get more information about the FoodBlogging series and sign up for various events at the wiki.
clock | March 13, 2007Lindsay Beyerstein, aka Majikthise, needs and deserves your help. So go now and hit her PayPal button. Help Lindsay become a pro blogger. She is one of the best there is.
clock | March 13, 2007You'll have to work fast - there are only five days left - but you can win some nice big prizes if you make the winning design for the Threadless T-shirts with the theme "Science Is Culture".
clock | March 13, 2007Here's an educational program worth supporting - Oceans Wide gets kids involved in marine science up in Maine. Craig, over on Deep Sea News has all the details. I wish there were programs like this when I was a kid! I had to learn all my science on my own, from dusty books!
clock | March 13, 2007If, like me, you don't give a rat's behind for the basketball tournaments and brackets but are interested in science, then go ahead and make your predictions in the Science Spring Showdown 2007 tournament over on World's Fair. Various Sciencebloggers will write "Basics"-style posts in defense of one concept or another, you will vote for winners and if you correctly guess all the winners - well, I don't know what will happen, but you will certainly become immensely famous around these parts, at least.
So, donwload the brackets, fill out your choices and follow the tournament at the Press…
clock | March 13, 2007Hsien reports that the CEO of b5media (organization that hosts her blog) left a comment on Panda's Thumb (why not on her blog which is, after all, a b5media blog?) in which he states that:
All it takes for us to issue bloggers accreditation is that we - are you ready for this? - issue them press badges and register those badges with one of the two dozen journalist associations in north america.
That's not how it sounds from what the AAAS person said, but OK, we'll see how it all develops.
So, if I want to get a paper that is under the embargo in order to have sufficient time to read it and…
clock | March 13, 2007If you think my blog is boring as it is, you should try using Dialectizer or Gizoogle, so you can read it in jive or redneck dialect, or a few more....
clock | March 13, 2007Go here to get the code to put on your sidebar so your visitors can donate to the Beagle Project:
clock | March 13, 2007Encephalon #18 is up on Pharyngula
Grand Rounds 3.25 are up on ScienceRoll
Carnival of the Green #68 is up on Green Fertility
clock | March 13, 2007Male Reindeer Inflate Their Air Sac To Make Sexually Enticing Hoarse Rutting Calls:
A group of European scientists have determined that a male reindeer's air sac, influencing vocal sound and neck contour, may contribute to his sexual prowess and reproductive success. The results of this research have recently been published in Journal of Anatomy.
Laying Sleeping Sickness To Rest:
The parasite that leads to sleeping sickness can be lulled to sleep itself using a newly discovered pathway, according to research published online in EMBO reports (http://www.nature.com/embor/). Trypanosoma brucei…
clock | March 12, 2007A man with a watch knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never sure.
- Segal's Law