clock | May 22, 2009Although you may remain somewhere for a long time,
It is certain that you will have to leave;
Whatever may be the manner of parting,
The actual going cannot be avoided.
- Nagarjuna
clock | May 22, 2009Some 47 million years ago, Ida suffocated in the volcanic ashes. I feel the same way at the end of this week - I need to get some air. And some sleep.
But watching the media and blog coverage of the fossil around the clock for a few days was actually quite interesting, almost exhilarating - and there are probably not as many people out there who, like me, read pretty much everything anyone said about it this week. Interestingly, my own feel of the coverage was different if I assumed an angle of a scientist, an angle of an interested student of the changes in the media ecosystem, and an angle…
clock | May 22, 2009Go say Hello to Christina Pikas at Christina's LIS Rant - yes, we got another librarian! w00t! You can check the archives of her old blog here.
clock | May 22, 2009Genital Stimulation Opens Door For Cryptic Female Choice In Tsetse Flies:
By snipping off parts of male genitalia and reducing genital sensation in both male and female tsetse flies, researchers induced a suite of changes in female reproduction, including reduced ovulation, reduced sperm storage and increased re-mating attempts by the females.
Bird Songs Change With The Landscape:
When the going gets rough, the tough apparently sing slower. As vegetation reclaimed formerly cleared land in California, Oregon and Washington over the last 35 years, male white-crowned sparrows have lowered their…
clock | May 21, 2009There was a definite process by which one made people into friends, and it involved talking to them and listening to them for hours at a time.
- Rebecca West
clock | May 21, 2009
Here are the submissions for OpenLab 2009 to date. As we have surpassed 130 entries, all of them, as well as the "submit" buttons and codes, are under the fold. You can buy the 2006, 2007 and 2008 editions at Lulu.com. Please use the submission form to add more of your and other people's posts (remember that we are looking for original poems, art, cartoons and comics, as well as essays):
A Blog Around The Clock: Why social insects do not suffer from ill effects of rotating and night shift work?
A Blog Around The Clock: Circadian Rhythm of Aggression in Crayfish
A Blog Around The Clock: Co-…
clock | May 21, 2009Earlier today I went up the street to Town Hall Grill and saw their white-board where they write the descriptions of Dinner Specials....and there is a new one today with the name "Special for Bora"! Wow! The perks of being a regular customer!
Well, of course I got one, brought it home, re-arranged it on one of my plates and took a picture:
Deliciously tender fried chicken, corn on the cob and fresh (probably locally grown) vegetables: carrots, squash. onions and broccoli. A very summery, light and delicious meal! Yum!
clock | May 21, 2009Just in case you missed them, there were other papers published in seven PLoS Journals this week besides Ida ;-)
Here are my own picks for the week - you go and look for your own favourites. As always, and for the first time this applies to all seven journals, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. You can now also easily place articles on various social services (CiteULike, Mendeley, Connotea, Stumbleupon, Facebook and Digg) with just one click.
Effects of Nocturnal Light on (Clock) Gene Expression in Peripheral Organs: A…
clock | May 21, 2009Four Stone Hearth #67 is up on Sorting Out Science
Grand Rounds Vol. 5 No. 35 are up on Healthcare Technology news
The 111th Meeting of the Skeptics Circle is up on Action Skeptics
Carnival of the Liberals, Number #91 is up on Crowded Head, Cozy Bed
clock | May 20, 2009Climate Change Odds Much Worse Than Thought:
The most comprehensive modeling yet carried out on the likelihood of how much hotter the Earth's climate will get in this century shows that without rapid and massive action, the problem will be about twice as severe as previously estimated six years ago - and could be even worse than that.
Some People Really 'Never Forget A Face:' Understanding Extraordinary Face Recognition Ability:
Some people say they never forget a face, a claim now bolstered by psychologists at Harvard University who've discovered a group they call "super-recognizers": those…
clock | May 20, 2009Despite the warnings of the ancient Greeks - nothing in excess - there are a few things in the world that you just can't have too much of. In addition to currency, I would mention, in no particular order, health, warm weather, ice-cream flavors, free time, second chances, and good taste.
- Joe McGarvey, Inter@ctive Week
clock | May 20, 2009Now that we have a real librarian on board, perhaps this is the perfect timing to post these two videos:
Hat-tip to CogSci Librarian who is right now live-tweeting her drive down to North Carolina.
clock | May 19, 2009Sleep is that golden chain that ties health and our bodies together.
- Thomas Dekker
clock | May 19, 2009There are 25 new articles in PLoS ONE today and there were 21 yesterday. As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. You can now also easily place articles on various social services (CiteULike, Connotea, Stumbleupon, Facebook and Digg) with just one click. Here are my own picks for the week - you go and look for your own favourites:
Predicting Visibility of Aircraft:
Visual detection of aircraft by human observers is an important element of aviation safety. To assess and ensure safety, it would be useful to be able to…
clock | May 19, 2009Another super-cool day at PLoS (one of those days when I wish I was not telecommuting, but sharing in the excitement with the colleagues at the Mothership) - the publication of a very exciting article describing a rarely well-preserved fossil of a prehistoric primate in a lineage to which we all belong as well:
Complete Primate Skeleton from the Middle Eocene of Messel in Germany: Morphology and Paleobiology by Jens L. Franzen, Philip D. Gingerich, Jörg Habersetzer, Jørn H. Hurum, Wighart von Koenigswald and B. Holly Smith
The fossil, named Ida (the scientific name is Darwinius masillae, a…
clock | May 18, 2009Never try to tell everything you know. It may take too short a time.
- Norman Ford
clock | May 18, 2009Fossil Of 'Giant' Shrew Nearly One Million Years Old Found In Spain:
Morphometric and phylogenetic analyses of the fossilised remains of the jaws and teeth of a shrew discovered in a deposit in Gran Dolina de Atapuerca, in Burgos, have shown this to be a new species (Dolinasorex glyphodon) that has not previously been described. The extinct animal had red teeth, was large in size compared with mammals of the same family, and was more closely related to Asian than European shrews.
Komodo Dragons Even More Deadly Than Thought: Combined Tooth-venom Arsenal Key To Hunting Strategy:
A new study…
clock | May 18, 2009It is a great pleasure to welcome an old friend, John Dupuis, to Scienceblogs.com. As you may recall, John and I interviewed each other last year - first I interviewed John, then shortly after, John interviewed me.
This morning, Confessions of a Science Librarian moved from blogspot to Scienceblogs.com - so go and say Hello!
clock | May 18, 2009Scientia Pro Publica #4 - In Memory of Stephen Jay Gould - is up on The Primate Diaries
Carnival of the Green #180 is up on Ethical superstore