My scientific specialty is chronobiology (circadian rhythms and photoperiodism), with additional interests in comparative physiology, animal behavior and evolution. I am not an MD so I cannot diagnose and treat your sleep problems. As well as writing this blog, I am also the Online Discussion Expert for PLoS. This is a personal blog and opinions within it in no way reflect the policies of PLoS. You can contact me at: Coturnix@gmail.com
Why don't *You* organize a conference?
A scientist should behave as a good citizen in the scientific community. You cannot expect that other colleagues perform all the unpleasant jobs and that you can spent all your time on science. I am referring to low-reward activities like reviewing papers,…
...but I have not seen even one minute of the DNC convention this year. I cannot escape some commentary on blogs and FriendFeed, though, and feel I have enough information.
Btw, I may be on TV tonight. News at 11 (literally). Stay tuned.
There are 13 new articles in PLoS ONE today. As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. Here are my own picks for the week - you go and look for your own favourites:
Observing Virtual Arms that You Imagine Are Yours…
Bone Parts Don't Add Up To Conclusion Of Hobbit-like Palauan Dwarfs:
Misinterpreted fragments of leg bones, teeth and brow ridges found in Palau appear to be an archaeologist's undoing, according to researchers at three institutions. They say that the so-called dwarfs of these Micronesian islands…
We are under tornado watch all day. Barely got the kids to school in the heavy rain this morning. Parts of Chapel Hill flooded, I hear. Not here as Southern Village is on a hill.
I knew this for quite a long time and it was hard to keep my lips sealed about this as the news were so exciting. But today, it's official. So, go say Hello to Blake Stacey at Science After Sunclipse, the newest acquisition by The Borg!
In about a week, Deep Sea News will move to Discoverry blogs:
Congratulations to Craig, Peter and Kevin! We'll miss you here, but we will still read you at your new digs.
Thanks Bill for drawing my attention to iNaturalist which has the makings of an awesome site!
What is it?
It is essentially a Google Map where people can add pins every time they see an interesting critter: a plant, fungus, animal, etc. What is recorded is geographical coordinates and time when it…
Continuing with asking for your help in fixing my Blogroll:
Every couple of days or so, I will post here a list of blogs that start with a particular letter, and you add in the comments if you know of something that is missing from that list.
See so far:
Numbers and Symbols
A
B
C
D
Today brought to…
Exploring The Function Of Sleep:
Is sleep essential? Ask that question to a sleep-deprived new parent or a student who has just pulled an "all-nighter," and the answer will be a grouchy, "Of course!" But to a sleep scientist, the question of what constitutes sleep is so complex that scientists are…
I was lost but now I live here
Academic Productivity
Victoria Stodden
Leftward Ho
Mind Surfing With Shecky
NeuroWhoa!
Neurotonics: a PT team blog
Rationale Thoughts
Small Scattered Fragments Do Not a Dwarf Make: Biological and Archaeological Data Indicate that Prehistoric Inhabitants of Palau Were Normal Sized:
Current archaeological evidence from Palau in western Micronesia indicates that the archipelago was settled around 3000-3300 BP by normal sized…
Grand Rounds, Volume 4, #49 are up on Rural Doctoring
Carnival of the Green #142 is up on Life Goggles
The 139th Carnival of Homeschooling is up on Life Nurturing Education
From SciFoo 08:
Victoria Stodden discusses her efforts to create a new license for scientific research which covers both publication and data. She discusses the motivations behind the new license and the issues brought up by releasing scientific research and data under and open source license.…
Jean-Claude Bradley reviews Happy Accidents: Serendipity in Modern Medical Breakthroughs by Morton A. Meyers. Morton says:
An applicant for a research grant is expected to have a clearly defined program for a period of three to five years. Implicit is the assumption that nothing unforeseen will be…
Judge Rules That Content Owners Must Consider Fair Use Before Sending Takedowns:
A judge's ruling today is a major victory for free speech and fair use on the Internet, and will help protect everyone who creates content for the Web. In Lenz v. Universal (aka the "dancing baby" case), Judge Jeremy…
For those of you interested in the science publishing business, there is an interesting paper out about Impact Factors, where they do the math to try to explain why the IFs are apparentluy always rising from year to year, and to figure out the differences between disciplines. They remain agnostic…
Cells In Eye Could Help Control Sleep:
A set of nerve cells in the eye control our levels of sleepiness according to the brightness of our surroundings, Oxford University researchers have discovered. The cells directly regulate the activity of sleep centres in the brain, providing a new target for…
Science promotion is not science outreach, damn it!:
We've all encountered this: the science communication department at a large university is usually devoted to marketing the research of that particular university. The so-called "outreach" products of such departments - the public talks,…
Monday night - time to check out the new articles in PLoS Biology and PLoS Medicine:
Is Sleep Essential?:
Everybody knows that sleep is important, yet the function of sleep seems like the mythological phoenix: "Che vi sia ciascun lo dice, dove sia nessun lo sa" ("that there is one they all say,…
There are 12 new articles in PLoS ONE today. As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. Here are my own picks for the week - you go and look for your own favourites:
Individual Differences in the Amount and Timing of…
How 'Secondary' Sex Characters Can Drive The Origin Of Species:
The ostentatious, sometimes bizarre qualities that improve a creature's chances of finding a mate may also drive the reproductive separation of populations and the evolution of new species, say two Indiana University Bloomington…
[Comic strip taken from Unshelved]
The anti-technology curmudgeons are back. Not just worrying about technology in classrooms (for which Dave has a great response), but culture in general.
Nice to see a couple of good responses to the doom-and-gloom crowd.
First we: DIGITAL_NATIVES by Jonathan…
It is so nice teaching biology to adults when there are no (obvious) Creationists in the classroom. It does not always happen that way - I have had a couple of cases in the past - but this time it was really nice as I could freely cover all topics deeply within an evolutionary framework (not…
Tiny Cellular Antennae Trigger Neural Stem Cells:
Yale University scientists today reported evidence suggesting that the tiny cilia found on brain cells of mammals, thought to be vestiges of a primeval past, actually play a critical role in relaying molecular signals that spur creation of neurons…
