evolgen | April 28, 2006Via Janet comes the ABC meme. To learn a bit about me, click through to below the fold.
Accent: None that I can detect. Of course, no one thinks they have an accent.
Booze: It depends on my mood -- I'll drink pretty much anything. Sometimes I'm in the mood for a good IPA, sometimes a thick stout, and sometimes a Miller Light. If it's wine, it's best if it's from Burgundy. As for liquor, gin is my perfect poison.
Chore I Hate: I agree with Janet; grading sucks.
Dog or Cat: I currently have neither. I have had both. Either one is good.
Essential Electronics: TV + cable box. Computer +…
evolgen | April 26, 2006Ian Musgrave has a good summary of genes appearing from non-coding DNA (ORFans) on the Panda's Thumb. I have written about ORFans here and here (dude's gotta link to himself sometimes). Ian's post is targeted at some claims made by the creationist Paul Nelson, but he focuses more on the science that on the ignorant blowhard.
evolgen | April 26, 2006If you know anything about bioinformatics, you know that programmers love to come up with clever names for their applications. NCBI's BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool) programs are some of the most used tools, but behind every successful program is a stupid acronym or cute name. Do the people who name these programs realize the confusion this may cause?
Many of these bioinformaticians provide list serves for updates on their software and public discussions. TIGR (The Institute for Genomic Research, another acronym) developed a genome annotation tool and named it Manatee. A…
evolgen | April 25, 2006Via BioCurious comes this article on ten "science question[s] every high school graduate should be able to answer." Read the list -- most of the questions are bullshit. Ok, they aren't bullshit, but they are trivia. "What percentage of the earth is covered by water?" "What sorts of signals does the brain use to communicate sensations, thoughts and actions?" "Why is the sky blue?" "How old are the oldest fossils on earth?" I'll take potpourri for $400, Alex. Here are some questions every high school graduate should be able to answer:
What is a hypothesis?
What is a theory?
What is…
evolgen | April 25, 2006Bora has been pushing the idea of publishing original research (hypotheses, data, etc) on science blogs. This post is part of a series exploring the evolution of a duplicated gene in the genus Drosophila. Links to the previous posts can be found below. Part 2 of this series (The Backstory) can be found after the jump.
Previous entries:
Part 1 - Introduction
The Backstory
The enzyme fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolase (hereafter referred to as aldolase) is responsible for splitting fructose-1,6-bisphosphate into glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate and dihydroxyacetone-phosphate during glycolysis.…
evolgen | April 24, 2006Bora has been pushing the idea of publishing original research (hypotheses, data, etc) on science blogs. As a responsible researcher, I would need to obtain permission from any collaborators (including my advisor) before published anything we have been working on together. But what about small side projects or minor findings that I don't expect to publish elsewhere? As it turns out, such a project has been laying dormant since I first started working on it at a class project a few years ago. I will reveal more information about this project in subsequent posts, but suffice it to say this…
evolgen | April 24, 2006Via nodalpoint comes this UPGMA tree of sequence alignment algorithms from this paper. The first thing that comes to mind is that there are way too many sequence alignment methods. The second, it's kinda cool to see one method used to understand another. And Nucleic Acids Research gets mad props for being entirely open access while still being published by the evil empire that is Oxford University Press.
evolgen | April 24, 2006If you read evolgen, you've probably been following the race riots that Wilkins started. It's pretty much died down now, and it was more a debate about semantics rather than an actual scientific disagreement. This is usually the case in evolutionary biology -- take, for example, the neutralist-selection debate or the recent junk DNA fun we had here at evolgen. I have refrained from offering my opinion on Wilkins's post due to my poor understanding of human population genetics (as evidenced by my attempt to discuss marketing BiDil to African Americans), but I have a few comments I would…
evolgen | April 23, 2006Otherwise known as a choloroplast:
The Chloroplast You scored 46 Industriousness, 54 Centrality, and 23 Causticity!
You're the Chloroplast!
Most of the Earth's energy comes from the chloroplast's ability to capture the energy of the sun and fix cabon dioxide for conversion to starch. Like the mitochondria, they have their own DNA and live somewhat independantly from the rest of the cell.
In terms of real life, you have it all! You're the person everyone wants or wants to be. Just watch out for being overconfident, as you may end up alone.
My test tracked 3 variables How you compared…
evolgen | April 21, 2006Janet has a post up on communications between students and faculty. My opinion -- as both a student who must communicate with faculty members and a teaching assistant with whom students must communicate -- is that it's most important to be clear, concise, respectful, and polite. You should always observe proper punctuation, grammar, and spelling or you're liable to misunderstood. It doesn't do much good if your instructor can't answer your question because they can't understand what the hell you're saying. I have a few other comments below the fold.
One big concern for students is how to…
evolgen | April 21, 2006Pharyngula has a good summary of the new Sean Carroll Drosophila wing dot paper. Eventually Sean's gonna try to mess around with a hawaiin species and blow the roof off this mother.
evolgen | April 21, 2006It's not the best way to kick of a new blog theme -- on Friday night with a half-hearted entry -- but I promised last week that I would begin Phylogeny Fridays today, so I need to deliver. For the first ever Phylogeny Friday, we have the greatest phylogeny of them all, the Tree of Life. Go explore the site, it's freakin' awesome.
evolgen | April 21, 2006Nature has a news article on the resignation of Teri Markow from her position as president of the Society for the Study of Evolution. I don't know much about what happened other than the stuff in the Nature piece, but apparently Markow was frustrated by the treatment of women within the administrative ranks of scientific professional societies. I have some quotes and comments below the fold.
I hardly know Markow -- I have met her and a few of her students briefly -- so I am in no position to evaluate her personally. She does excellent research in a top notch department. She is also the…
evolgen | April 20, 2006The evolution of John McCain:
It was not random. It's further evidence of natural selection. The new form is more fit at tricking voters. But keep in mind, natural selection favors the phenotypes best adapted for a previous environment. This means McCain may actually be less fit in 2008.
evolgen | April 18, 2006Read this article. It deals with scientific literacy, politics, and religion in the United States, focusing on stem cells and evolution. Here's a taste:
To measure public acceptance of the concept of evolution, Miller has been asking adults if "human beings, as we know them, developed from earlier species of animals" since 1985. He and his colleagues purposefully avoid using the now politically charged word "evolution" in order to determine whether people accept the basics of evolutionary theory.
To find out what I think about rephrasing the question and substituting "develop" for "evolve…
evolgen | April 15, 2006I can't draw very well. That's actually an overstatement. I'm a shitty drawer. To say I ain't no Carl Buell would be an insult to Carl Buell and his artistic brethren. I'm worse than the dude who draws toothpaste for dinner. I wouldn't know art if jumped up and bit me in the face. Find out why I bring this up after the jump.
Here is an example of my artistic 'talent'. It's a classic stick figure in the third grade style. I really capture the expression of joy in the character's face. What's the reason for posting this picture? Let's ask a different question: What's in a name? I think…
evolgen | April 15, 2006From the London Times:
In a series of Good Friday meditations that he will lead in Rome, the Pope will say that society is in the grip of a kind of "anti-Genesis" described as "a diabolical pride aimed at eliminating the family". He will pray for society to be cleansed of the "filth" that surrounds it and be restored to purity, freed from "decadent narcissism".
Yo, bro, if you want to free society from "decadent narcissism" you could start by moving out of that huge mansion. I've been there. The place is awesome, but the dresses, funny hats, and some sort of special connection to God sure…
evolgen | April 14, 2006After a short, and dirty, run, the evolgen Double Entendre Friday has shuffled off its mortal coil. I just can't keep it up week after week (double entendre not intended). Of course, if I do come across something particular distasteful with a dash of sexual innuendo I'll include it in the list of double entendres. But there is no way I could continue this as an every Friday tradition.
As in network TV, whenever one series gets cancelled another steps in to take its place. At the old evolgen we had the Friday Random Ten. That was replaced by Double Entendre Fridays for the past month.…
evolgen | April 13, 2006William Harris came to my university to perpetuate misconceptions last September. I intended to write a summary of the experience, but I could never muster enough anti-venom to deal with his poison. In lieu of a formal treatment of Harris's bullshit, I've decided to (quite tardily) present a short description of what makes a discipline science. This is inspired by my inability get Harris to acknowledge that all scientific disciplines invoke observable causes to the events they attempt to explain. More after the jump.
I will refrain from comparing supernatural and naturalistic explanations…
evolgen | April 13, 2006I tend to blog in spurts. When I have nothing interesting to say (or lack the motivation to put together one of the 'BIG POSTS' I have waiting in the queue) I don't try to fill my blog with, well, filler posts. That's just the way I am. Inspiration tends to come in one big surge, at which point I'll write a bunch of entries in a matter of days. That's why this blog has laid dormant for nearly a week while the rest of the ScienceBlogs army trudges onward.
Despite what I said above, I felt a bit of an obligation to post something, regardless of how filler-esque it seems. So, I give you a…