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
As always on Friday, there are new article published in the community journals - PLoS Pathogens, PLoS Computational Biology and PLoS Genetics. Here are few of my picks:
Growth of H5N1 Influenza A Viruses in the Upper Respiratory Tracts of Mice
A Single Mutation in the PB1-F2 of H5N1 (HK/97) and…
Fossil Data Plugs Gaps In Current Knowledge, Study Shows:
Researchers have shown for the first time that fossils can be used as effectively as living species in understanding the complex branching in the evolutionary tree of life.
Cilia: Small Organelles, Big Decisions:
Johns Hopkins researchers…
Engineers Study Brain Folding In Higher Mammals:
Engineers at Washington University in St. Louis are finding common ground between the shaping of the brain and the heart during embryonic development.
Fungus Genome Yielding Answers To Protect Grains, People And Animals:
Why a pathogen is a pathogen…
Genes Determine Mate Choice, At Least For Fat Tailed Dwarf Lemurs:
How do we choose our mates? For quite some time now, scientists suspect that it is not for looks or fashion, neither for love or sympathy. It may be the genes that determine our preference for certain males or females. A new study…
I and the Bird #59 is up on Naturalist Notebook
Carnival of Space #23 is up on Advanced nanotechnology
Philosophia Naturalis #14 is up on Dynamics of Cats
The latest Change of Shift is up at Madness: tales of an emergency room nurse
There are already 80 registered participants for the Science Blogging Conference with almost four months still to go! Reserve a place for yourself by registering today!
From Pierre, we hear about a new system for calculating individuals' research impact - Publish Or Perish, based on Google Scholar.
Deepak, Pedro, Mark and Deepak again take a first look at Clinical Trials Hub and like what they see.
Jeff published a paper, but his Mom was more worried (in the…
Karl of Inoculated Mind blog just got a new set of plates for his truck and, of course, the plates read: INOCUL8.
Karl now wants to collect examples of nerdy, sciency licence plates and perhaps make a set on Flickr (similar to Carl Zimmer's Science Tatoo Gallery), so send him the picture of yours (…
Huge New Dinosaur Had A Serious Bite:
The newest dinosaur species to emerge from Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument had some serious bite, according to researchers from the Utah Museum of Natural History at the University of Utah.
New Species Of Frog Discovered: Smallest Indian Land…
Before two papers passed the peer-review and got published, WHO (which was given the data) made its own interpretation of the findings and included it in its press kit, including the errors they made in that interpretation. A complex story - what's your take on it?
I regularly check Anton Zuiker's Sugarcubes, displayed in his sidebar. There, I recently discovered that Ethan Zuckerman and Bruno Giussani put together a booklet that explains how to liveblog a conference - Tips for conference bloggers (choose between a large PDF and a small PDF). Pretty good…
How 'Mother Of Thousands' Makes Baby Plants:
New research shows how the houseplant "mother of thousands" (Kalanchoe diagremontiana) makes the tiny plantlets that drop from the edges of its leaves. Having lost the ability to make viable seeds, the plant has shifted some of the processes that make…
Galilei kicked us out of the Center of the Universe.
Darwin kicked us off the Pinnacle of Creation
Freud kicked the Soul out of our Brains.
Few remain adherents of Geocentrism.
The opponents of evolution are legion and very vocal (in this country, and a couple of Middle Eastern ones), but they have…
There are 37 new articles on PLoS ONE today, breaking the 1000 barrier! Yes, there are now more than a thousand papers on ONE. And this week is again an embarassment of riches - so many bloggable papers! And here are some of my quick picks for this week - read them, rate them, annotate them,…
Journal Clubs are a popular feature on PLoS ONE papers. There were several of them in the spring. Now, after a brief summer break, the Journal Clubs are going live again and they will happen on a regular basis, perhaps as frequently as one per week.
What does it mean - a Journal Club? In short…
Scientiae #12 is up on Wayfarer Scientista
Festival of the Trees #16 is up on Trees if you please
Bio::Blogs #15 is up on Public Rambling
Carnival of the Green # 97 is up on World is Green
Oh, The Grand Rounds you will have! A very creative Dr.Seuss-styled Grand Rounds 4.02 are up on Distractible…
So, I see that several of my sciblings are offering special incentives to their readers who donate through DonorsChoose. So, what could I offer? Should I place my beautiful banner on some Cafe Press merchandise? Give me some ideas.
My picks for today:
Segregation of Odor Identity and Intensity during Odor Discrimination in Drosophila Mushroom Body:
Considerable progress has been made in understanding how olfaction works as the receptor proteins, sensory neurons, and brain circuitry responsible have become increasingly well-…
Danica gave a presentation at the Waag Society conference in Amsterdam on new concepts and ideas of learning. She put up a wiki and her slides (worth checking out):
The focus of this event was on the theme of challenges in contemporary pedagogy, including the use of new media tools, but also…
Back in March or early April, I was interviewed for an article on Science Blogging for BlueSci, the Cambridge University's popular science magazine, produced by students there. The issue is now out and the article by Mica Tatalovic based on that interview is very good. You should read the entire…
Saber-toothed Cat Was More Like A Pussycat Than A Tiger:
In public imagination, the sabre-toothed cat Smilodon ranks alongside Tyrannosaurus rex as the ultimate killing machine. Powerfully built, with upper canines like knives, Smilodon was a fearsome predator of Ice-Age America's lost giants. For…
You did it! Earlier today, somebody on Scienceblogs.com posted the 500,000th comment. It will take a few days for our Seed Overlords to check the counter, contact the winners and make the big announcement. In the meantime, as PZ says, You are encouraged to go on commenting to run the tally up to…
