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October 10, 2012

2:01 PM | How the brain does “attention” is still unknown

Humans can focus on one thing amidst many. “Searchlight of attention” is the metaphor. You recall a childhood friend’s face one moment, then perhaps the dog you loved back then, and then…what you will. Your son’s face on stage rivets your attention; the rest of the cast is unseen. No “ghost” in the brain aims [...]

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TMI Friday: Batteries should NOT be included

There are some days when you have to ask yourself, just what is the deal with men. I don't mean our general demeanour, or the pretensions of superiority over other genders. No, I'm talking about the strange things that men decide to do when left alone for too long.The men who happily dangle their members inside bottles, or in reach of the spinning blades of a vacuum cleaner not thinking of the consequences. With this in mind, we arrive at a case study by Bedi et al, where they […]

Bedi N., El-Husseiny T., Buchholz N. & Masood J. (2010). 'Putting lead in your pencil': self-insertion of an unusual urethral foreign body for sexual gratification, JRSM Short Reports, 1 (2) 18-18. DOI: 10.1258/shorts.2010.010014

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“Race, Intelligence, and Genetics For Curious Dummies”

Last week, a cicada-like re-emergence of “Bell Curve” claims of a genetic determinacy between intelligence and race surfaced in a Heritage Foundation special report on immigration. The report drew on Jason Richwine’s Harvard dissertation, “IQ and Immigration Policy.” Amid the furor, the Atlantic’s Ta Nehisi Coates was ready with the history. He wrote in [...]

Zakharia, F., Basu, A., Absher, D., Assimes, T., Go, A., Hlatky, M., Iribarren, C., Knowles, J., Li, J., Narasimhan, B. & Sidney, S. (2009). Characterizing the admixed African ancestry of African Americans, Genome Biology, 10 (12) DOI: 10.1186/gb-2009-10-12-r141

Mountain, J. & Risch, N. (2004). Assessing genetic contributions to phenotypic differences among 'racial' and 'ethnic' groups, Nature Genetics, 36 (11s) DOI: 10.1038/ng1456

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Beta Decay and Neutrinos over Cocktails

This was going to be so much longer and more detailed, but as you may or may not be aware, seven month olds occasionally decide of their own volition to pull all nighters, (much like grad students). So, I leave you with a few somewhat less than scattered thoughts, and an incredible video on the topic of neutrinos. After yesterday's post on the possibility of the variation of radioactive decay rates with neutrino activity from the sun, I spent my free time today reading about beta decay […]

Cowan C.L., Reines F., Harrison F.B., Kruse H.W. & McGuire A.D. (1956). Detection of the Free Neutrino: a Confirmation, Science, 124 (3212) 103-104. DOI: 10.1126/science.124.3212.103

(1971). First neutrino event in a hydrogen bubble chamber, Physics Today, 24 (1) 21. DOI: 10.1063/1.4725747

Reines F. (1979). The Early Days of Experimental Neutrino Physics, Science, 203 (4375) 11-16. DOI: 10.1126/science.203.4375.11

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All lobsters are mortal

This appeared earlier today on the Facebook feed I Fucking Love Science: Argh! I remember seeing a shark documentary as a kid, hosted by Burgess Meredith, if I remember correctly. It made the same basic claim about great white sharks: too big to have predators, nobody had ever seen them die except by accident or by human hands, blah blah blah, therefore “some have suggested” they are immortal. That I can remember the end of the show all these years later shows you what a terrific close […]

Bodnar A.G. (2009). Marine invertebrates as models for aging research, Experimental Gerontology, 44 (8) 477-484. DOI: 10.1016/j.exger.2009.05.001

Klapper W., Kühne K., Singh K.K., Heidorn K., Parwaresch R. & Krupp G. (1998). Longevity of lobsters is linked to ubiquitous telomerase expression, FEBS Letters, 439 (1-2) 143-146. DOI: 10.1016/S0014-5793(98)01357-X

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Microbial Misadventures: Exploits in Botulism & Pruno In Our Prison Population

I am partial to the odd tipple and, as a resident of the licentious, enabling city that is New Orleans, I’m fortunate to be adequately supported in my booze-seeking ways by the high number of bars and restaurants within stumbling distance of my front porch. But what to do for those of us prohibited from indulging [...]

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2013). Notes from the field: botulism from drinking prison-made illicit alcohol - Arizona, 2012., MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report, 62 (5) 88. PMID: 23388552

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October 10, 2012

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