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
Moths Mimic Sounds To Survive:
In response to the sonar that bats use to locate prey, the tiger moths make ultrasonic clicks of their own. They broadcast the clicks from a paired set of structures called "tymbals." Many species of tiger moth use the tymbals to make specific sounds that warn the bat…
Anton has done some work on the website for the second NC Science Blogging Conference. The homepage/portal is now here (which makes it easy for linking by everyone) and the wiki has moved here.
You can sponsor the conference, or donate, or sign up to volunteer or help shape the program by adding…
The practical success of an idea, irrespective of its inherent merit, is dependent on the attitude of the contemporaries. If timely it is quickly adopted; if not, it is apt to fare like a sprout lured out of the ground by warm sunshine, only to be injured and retarded in its growth by the…
Seed Magazine and Honeywell are having a writing contest. Unfortunately, for legal reasons, the contest is restricted to US residents over 18. The deadline is July 1st, the length limit is 1200 words and the topic is:
What does it mean to be scientifically literate in the 21st century?
How do we…
Carnival of the Blue:
World Ocean Day is June 8, and blogfish will host an ocean blog event. Please send links to some of your best recent work, and I'll post a list of links together with a brief comment.
This is a chance for all of you ocean bloggers out there to come together in one place. I've…
Another wonderful reader dipped into my amazon wish list and picked Hidden Camera by Zoran Zivkovic (no relation).
Zoran was the first person in former Yugoslavia to get a PhD with science-fiction as a topic of his Dissertation. Soon after he was the first one to teach SF at the University of…
Remember back in November, when everyone got excited about JoVe (the Journal of Visulized Experiments)?
Well, it is not alone in its niche any more. There is now another site similar to that: Lab Action.
Of course I homed in onto videos of scoring lobster aggression and Drosophila aggression,…
It happens to many bloggers sooner or later, and now it happened to Danica - someone is completely stealing and mirroring her blog (and of course earning money from adSense while doing it).
Unfortunately for the guy, he (I am assuming it's a he) chose the wrong person to infuriate. Danica is an…
I And The Bird is not the only carnival coming soon. You should also send your submissions to Panta Rei, Mendel's Garden, Encephalon, Circus of the Spineless, Festival of the Trees, Oekologie and Gene Genie very soon...
Young Meerkats Learn The Emotion Before The Message In Threat Calls:
It is well known that human speech can provide listeners with simultaneous information about a person's emotions and objects in the environment. Past research has shown that animal vocalizations can do the same, but little is…
You have only about a day and half to send me your entries for the 50th edition of the wonderful carnival I And The Bird. The deadline is tomorrow night, May 29th at 11:59pm EDT. E-mail: coturnix AT gmail DOT com
...but I am teaching tonight! No rest on Memorial Day for speed classes. Furthermore, I am giving the first exam (the hardest of the three). Ah, how the students are going to love me....
Sex In The Morning Or In The Evening?:
Hens solicit sex in the morning to avoid sexual harassment in male-dominated groups of chickens, shown in a new study by Hanne Løvlie of Stockholm University, Sweden, and Dr Tommaso Pizzari of the University of Oxford, UK.
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Insects' Nervous…
First, as I reported earlier, Archy persuaded PZ Myers to host a one-time carnival about the opening of the Creation Museum - and here is the carnival - a lot of good stuff to read.
I especially liked the only (so far) on-the-scene report by Martha Heil.
I also tend to prefer posts that try to take…
These are always more controversial than articles about "hard sciences" so have a go at them:
Sperm Donors Valued Less Than Egg Donors:
When Sociologist Rene Almeling decided to look into the operations of U.S. sperm banks and egg agencies, the UCLA Ph.D. candidate in sociology thought she knew…
Ah, Faustus, now hast thou but one bare hour to live
And then thou must be damn'd perpetually!
Stand still, you ever moving spheres of heaven.
That time may cease, and midnight never come;
Fair nature's eye, rise, rise again and make
Perpetual day; or let this hour be but
A year, a month, a week, a…
Larry just won the Triple Crown (or a trifecta, betting on the Triple Crown) with the third post in a trio of posts on a very important topic:
Facts and Myths Concerning the Historical Estimates of the Number of Genes in the Human Genome
The Deflated Ego Problem
SCIENCE Questions: Why Do Humans…
An interesting poll came out of Gallup yesterday:
Despite Kosovo Intervention, Serbians Favor EU Membership
On May 15, the Serbian parliament approved a new coalition government led by Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and President Boris Tadic, both moderates who would like to see their country…