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
Female Concave-eared Frogs Draw Mates With Ultrasonic Calls:
Most female frogs don't call; most lack or have only rudimentary vocal cords. A typical female selects a mate from a chorus of males and then --silently -- signals her beau. But the female concave-eared torrent frog, Odorrana tormota, has…
The Case of Deborah Rice: Who Is the Environmental Protection Agency Protecting?:
For researchers who operate at the intersection of basic biology and toxicology, following the data where they take you--as any good scientist would--carries the risk that you will be publicly attacked as a crank,…
David Warlick is a local blogger and educator. We first met at the Podcastercon a couple of years ago, then at several blogger meetups, and finally last January at the second Science Blogging Conference where David moderated a session on Science Education.
Welcome to A Blog Around The Clock. Would…
According to the referrers pages of my Sitemeter, a lot of you are excited by strange penises, strange penises, strange penises and strange penises (or something like it). So, today we have to move to a different topic, traffic-be-damned, for those without phallic fixations. So, read on (first…
I will be going to a scientific conference next week. Believe it or not, this will be the first purely scientific meeting I'll attend since I quit grad school and started blogging (all the others had to do with science communication, blogging, technology, journalism, Internet, publishing...). So, I…
Serbs vote for closer ties with Europe in huge turnaround:
Serbs voted for closer ties with Europe instead of isolation for the second time in three months in Sunday's snap parliamentary poll, in a stunning turnaround that negated pre- election surveys. A pro-European coalition led by President…
It takes 38 minutes for the E.coli genome to replicate. Yet, E.coli can bo coaxed to divide in a much shorter time: 20 minutes. How is this possible?
Larry poses the riddle and provides the solution.
The key is that complex biochemical processes are taught sequentially, one by one, because that…
Dying Bats In The Northeast U.S. Remain A Mystery:
Investigations continue into the cause of a mysterious illness that has resulted in the deaths of thousands of bats since March 2008. At more than 25 caves and mines in the northeastern U.S., bats exhibiting a condition now referred to as "white-…
I have finally found the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything. Much better than on this day last year. If I remember correctly, so will Melissa and Jennifer on this exact day as well.
We have recently covered interesting reproductive adaptations in mammals, birds, insects, flatworms, plants and protists. For the time being (until I lose inspiration) I'll try to leave cephalopod sex to the experts and the pretty flower sex to the chimp crew.
In the meantime, I want to cover…
Young People Are Intentionally Drinking And Taking Drugs For Better Sex, European Survey Finds:
Teenagers and young adults across Europe drink and take drugs as part of deliberate sexual strategies. New findings reveal that a third of 16-35 year old males and a quarter of females surveyed are…
Our governor agrees. At least in the print version of this article which has a somehwat different title: "Easley supports college for aliens". I wonder why they changed it for the Web version - is the editorial position that having green or purple skin disqualifies one from higher education?
A special issue of The Independent on local food scene:
The road to real food
Farm to table challenges
Farmers' helpers
One missing link: organic grains
If we think we regulate printing, thereby to rectify manners, we must regulate all regulations and pastimes, all that is delightful to man.
- John Milton
For 9/11 Wall, a Little Support and a Permanent Place:
Steven M. Davis of Davis Brody Bond Aedas, the museum architects, advocated saving a large part of the wall, as did the engineers, Milan Vatovec, of Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, and Guy Nordenson, of Guy Nordenson & Associates. Others…
Legislature wants polar bear study:
The state Legislature is looking to hire a few good polar bear scientists. The conclusions have already been agreed upon -- researchers just have to fill in the science part.
That's how little Johnny Alaska lawmakers think science works, I guess...
The latest issue of Epidemiology features a (only somewhat tongue-in-cheek) article by Miguel A. Hernan: Epidemiologists (of All People) Should Question Journal Impact Factors. Well worth reading and thinking about:
Developing a good impact factor is a nontrivial methodologic undertaking that…
PLoS ONE paper The Herbicide Atrazine Activates Endocrine Gene Networks via Non-Steroidal NR5A Nuclear Receptors in Fish and Mammalian Cells will be one of the topics covered by Science Friday on NPR tomorrow - tune in if you can, or wait until the podcast is posted on the site later tomorrow night…
