Posts
May 21, 2013
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By Jennifer Bussell The message is loud, clear, and has reached cultural saturation: women are underrepresented at the top of highly-competitive professions because they cannot reconcile the amount of time needed for such careers with the time they want to spend raising children. Just acknowledging this point has been a recent watershed moment for feminism, [...]
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Disease Sniffing Super Dogs!
Episode 47 - by Agatha Jassem (Click here to directly access the MP3)
(Access the full text transcript)
Think you only look bad when you’re sick? Well it turns out you stink too. That distinctive sick smell, however, could just save your life. Medical detection dogs are a new breed of canine workers, with Cliff the C. diff sniffing dog being the latest pioneer.
Listen to the podcast to learn more.
For more info:
Dog Sniffs Out Deadly C. diff Infection - Web
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11:49 AM | Why penguins can’t fly
Penguins can’t fly because their wings have become adapted for swimming. The guillemot, which is very closely related, can only just fly, but like the penguin is excellent at diving.
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The paper by Desbonnet and colleagues* (open-access) asks some intriguing questions about how our gut bacteria - those trillions of passengers which we all carry in our deepest, darkest recesses - might have the propensity to affect the behavioural development of a mouse specifically focused on social development.Whilst to some people this might not sound like a particularly exciting finding, to others such a suggestion might potentially signal the start of a whole new way of looking at how our […]
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If I had to hatch a murder plot with a science writer, Deborah Blum would be my first choice. Like Agatha Christie, Blum’s work frequently references poisons, skulduggery and murder most foul. Unlike Christie, Blum’s work is nonfiction. An award-winning journalist, Blum has written about issues ranging from primate research to the science of sex. But in recent years her focus has been on, broadly speaking, the science of murder. Her 2010 book, “The Poisoner’s Handbook,” chronicles an […]
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Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in. OK, I know I use that line entirely too much, but I also don’t really care. When something fits, wear it. And if it doesn’t fit, you must acquit. Sorry, I’ll stop. I’m in a weird mood as I write this. But it’s…
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First of all, this tornado was not the biggest and strongest tornado ever recorded on Earth, as one Oklahoma City weather-caster said. We don’t know the wind speeds yet, and until then it cannot be given an EF Scale rating. I’ve seen some things (on the video of the damage) that make it clear that this was very likely an EF 4, and I’ve seen one thing that makes me …
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4:06 AM | Small Talk
I hate small talk. It’s not that I’m not good at it, in fact I think I can fake it with the best of them. I just don’t get it. It’s a waste of my time and yours. I like to talk about substantial things, mind-blowing things. I will begin tutoring with a company in … Continue reading →
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Meet Mr. Camouflage, one of the special stars of sea life in the Lembeh Strait. I literally said “Whaaaaaaaat the f…” when I saw that amazing color change.
Isn’t evolution grand?
Check out more from the Sea’s Strangest Square Mile in this post.
Here’s a feature from Science Friday on octopus and cuttlefish camo skills.
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3:13 AM | Leftover Links for 20 May 2013
Pretty slow news day. But I threw these in as leftovers. The Exorcism Series: Part II – A case for mental illness or possession – Arts & Leisure – Jamaica Gleaner – Sunday | May 19, 2013. Encountering the psychic universe of Edgar Cayce | Washington Times Communities. Antievolution bills die in Missouri | NCSE. Day care ban for unvaccinated children ‘heavy handed’, says expert. When forests glow green in the night. Proof of heaven popular, […]
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The Sea’s Strangest Square Mile
Sit back and let your eyes soak up this goggle-fogging journey to the Lembeh Strait near Indonesia by Shark Bay Films. It’s known as one of the richest homes of odd coral reef creatures on Earth.
Lightning-quick eels! Coral-colored, pregnant frogfish stuffing their bellies with wriggling prey! Baby cuttlefish!! BABY CUTTLEFISH!!!
(via kottke)
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We have just started a Pinterest page – follow it, and let us know how you like it. - Patrick Mustain – Dear American Consumers: Please don’t start eating healthfully. Sincerely, the Food Industry - Gayle Sulik – Angelina Jolie and the One Percent - Kacy Karlen – Sharing Science Research in the [...]
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12:43 AM | A year of dragons and damsels
I have been known at times as the spider lady. I'm also the vulture lady and now the mother of a budding ornithologist (more on that later). But Arizona offers more than amazing birding and fodder for my nocturnal adventures. Dragonfly and damselfly watching has been growing, much like birding took off (har har) before it. Places like Boyce Thompson Arboretum do regular dragonfly walks in the summer, Chandler's Environmental Education Center holds days celebrating dragonflies, they're studied […]
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I am doing advocacy on Open Access in India and following the activities related to Open Access around the world online. After writing a blog post on ‘Open Access India’, I thought of writing a series of country specific Open Access [...]testThe post Open Access in Australia: An Outsider’s Account appeared first on Australian Science.
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A new record. Nearly 19 foot python caught in S. FL – Fox29 WFLX TV, West Palm Beach, Florida-. A Burmese python found in Miami set records as the largest such snake ever captured in the Florida , according to the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission. The python was 18 feet, 8 inches long and weighed 128 pounds. The female python was not carrying eggs, according to University of Florida scientists who examined the snake. The latest big snake was captured and killed on May […]
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12:02 AM | Cheap fountain pen comparison
For the past few years I've been carrying around a small notebook to jot down notes from talks, research ideas, expenses, etc. (I guess I could do it on my phone but I prefer pen and paper.) I like writing with fountain pens, but don't care to carry around an expensive one: I don't feel I need to impress people with how much I spend on accessories, and I don't want to worry about losing it. I had been using disposable Pilot Varsity pens, but occasionally (especially if I took them on airplanes) […]
May 20, 2013
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11:04 PM | What am I on about?
Seriously, what on earth am I going on about?When trying to get your point across, have a debate or tell a story it is very important to say the right words. Communication is all about language and used well can be an incredibly powerful tool. First some common words I wanted to have a look at the language I've been using on this blog and see if I'm saying the right things or in fact (more likely) saying some very strange things. I thought that a quick trip over to Wordle, a nice website for
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You may not think of private gardens as wildlife refugia, but an
increasing body of scientific evidence suggests that these habitats can
host a variety of species and act as stepping stones across landscapes
that are otherwise dominated by human structures. To increase the
effectiveness of gardens as havens for wildlife, many researchers have
touted a management technique variously known as "wildlife gardening,"
"ecological gardening," and "naturalistic gardening." Whatever you call
it,
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May 20 2013 - 4:45pm
By: Chris Gorski
Credit: CASASCIUS | Rights info: http://bit.ly/10hd0CG
A web pioneer has speculated that the digital currency Bitcoin was invented under a pseudonym by a Japanese mathematician, who, oh by the way, just may have cracked a famously difficult topic in math called the ABC conjecture.
Neither of these claims seems to
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I owe a lot to self-publishing technology. If I had been born before the age of blogs and inexpensive scanners, there is no way anyone outside of my immediate family would have ever seen any of my work. Since the beginning of my online blogging and illustrating, I’ve wanted to take my science storytelling and [...]
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Our Atmosphere is Escaping!
Oh gahd! Quick! Take a deep breath!! Someone save Minute Earth!!!
What’s that? Oh … we have nothing to worry about? It’s only losing hydrogen and helium? And it will take billions of years to lose that stuff? Whew.
Bonus: Check out my YouTube vid about just how small (and shared) our atmosphere really is.
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8:23 PM | Organism : Genes :: Forest : Trees
Decades of focus on genes may have led the scientific community away from a balanced exploration of the organisms that those genes define - whether they be plants, animals or microorganisms - and more toward gene-focused directions: inward, toward the world of cellular and molecular biology, and outward, toward the broad-scale evolutionary issues of population and quantitative genetics. We've become too genetic variation heavy.
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Five old coins that were found are 1000 years old. How did they get there? Ancient discovery set to rewrite Australian history. Five copper coins and a nearly 70-year-old map with an ‘‘X’’ might lead to a discovery that could rewrite Australia’s history. Australian scientist Ian McIntosh, currently Professor of Anthropology at Indiana University in the US, plans an expedition in July that has stirred up the archaeological community. The scientist wants to revisit the location where […]
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Ever wonder how these spooky, 3D images of life beyond the macro are taken? Step inside the lab of the world’s foremost electron microscope photographer: David Scharf.
From the early days of film and hand-coloring to today’s more advanced digital microscopy images, Scharf is truly gifted. And he does it all out of his own home.
My favorite part is him explaining how he mounts his insect samples by putting them to sleep in the fridge. They have a surprise when they wake up:
“That usually
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No summary available for this post.
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Ne xt month, the US and Europe would like to make some progress in tearing down trade barriers, an archaic notion left over from the Colonial period in history.(1)Special trade agreements with blocs, like The Hanseatic League of the 12th century, were always common, but restrictions enjoyed a popularity boom after the collapse of the East India Trade Company in 1799 became the poster child for the perils of free trade - 18th century globalization hysteria.
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A parasitic wasp on the prowl for fruit fly larva to inject with her eggs. By Carol ClarkParasitic wasps switch off the immune systems of fruit flies by draining calcium from the flies’ blood cells, a finding that offers new insight into how pathogens break through a host’s defenses.“We believe that we have discovered an important component of cellular immunity, one that parasites have learned to take advantage of,” says Emory University biologist Todd Schlenke, whose lab led the […]
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A standard “wow” story about a psychic. The way it is told you are led to believe that she has these astounding powers. There is a test for this and you are obligated to give us actual evidence before you make such pronouncements that you can do these things. Mass. psychic has message for those who lost child. [Ruth] Larkin is a psychic medium who offers free readings to parents who have lost a child. Larkin also is in the process of starting a psychic network to help search for […]
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NASA’s 19-Gigapixel Filmstrip of the Earth
With the newest generation of Landsat satellites up and snappin’, in orbit over 400 miles above us, NASA continues a mission over a generation in the making: Observing a beautiful and changing planet from above.
This video features 56 photos stitched together in a continuous 19-gigapixel image that stretches from Russia to South Africa. Dig in to the interactive “Long Swath” at NASA’s Earth Observatory. This image covers almost 1.7 million
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6:09 PM | The bravery of librarians
Two things caught my attentions over the past few days. The first was the text of a Graduation Address from Dorothea Salo to the graduating students of the Library and Information Sciences Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The second was a keynote from Chris Bourg, whose blog is entitled “Feral Librarian”, gave at The Acquisitions Institute.
Both focus on how the value of libraries and the value of those who defend the needs of all to access information are impossible […]
