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
It has been known for decades that scheduled meals can entrain the circadian clock. In some species (e.g., in some birds), regular timing of feeding entrains the main circadian system of the body in the suprachiasmatic (SCN) area of the hypothalamus, the retina and the pineal. In other species (e…
Carl tagged me with a Book Meme and, since he is one of my most frequent commenters, I cannot say No. Although I have done four book memes before. This one is different and much harder as it asks for just one book in each answer, so I tried to do that, although each question really has many…
Circus of the Spineless XI is up on Words & Pictures - lots of ambushes and explosions!
And you still have a few hours to send your entries to Roundrock Journal for tomorrow's Festival of the Trees.
I wrote this post back on January 23, 2005. It explains how clock biologists think and how they design their experiments:
So, are you ready to do chronobiological research? If so, here are some of the tips - the thought process that goes into starting one's research in chronobiology.
First, you…
Talking about the need to have popular scientists out there, I think the term "rock-star" was an unfortunate choice. Some people in joking, some people in all seriousness, started looking for people with PhD's who can play musical instruments.
That is, of course, irrelevant. We are not looking…
Chad points to an article about the way book publishers are still clinging to the old ways of doing business and are, thus, suspicious of the whol Long Tail idea.
My copy of the book arrived a few weeks ago and is waiting (in a long line) to be read in the future, but I have read John Anderson's…
Men's sleep apnea found alongside erectile problems:
Men who are sound sleepers have better sex lives.
A study published in a recent edition of Urology says men who suffer from sleep apnea syndrome also suffer a high rate of erectile dysfunction.
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One…
Want this badge?
If you are hot and thirsty, come by the Tar Heel Tavern for a drink or two. This is the 75th meeting and Erin is paying the first round...
In 50 days of its existence, this blog has received 636 comments. The SEED sciencebloggers already promote each other a lot, so I want to give a shout-out to my most regular commenters who are NOT themselves SB bloggers or SEED staff (or myself - after all I posted the most comments while…
Disowning Conservative Politics Is Costly for Pastor:
Sermons like Mr. Boyd's are hardly typical in today's evangelical churches. But the upheaval at Woodland Hills is an example of the internal debates now going on in some evangelical colleges, magazines and churches. A common concern is that the…
You Passed 8th Grade Science
Congratulations, you got 8/8 correct!
Could You Pass 8th Grade Science?
Watch out! One question has a correct answer and a MORE correct answer, and in another question they meant "neutron", not "neuron".
(Hat-tip: John Lynch)
While I am teaching the biology lab, I set this post to show up automatically at the same time. It describes what we do today, the same stuff we did back on March 26, 2006:
This week we had a busy lab, which means I did not have time for much inpired talking like I did last time. We did some…
Here is the forth and final part of the introduction to SEED sciencebloggers. Check out the first part, the second part and the third part if you have missed them before. There ain't no eleven left, so today we have only ten (but I hear there will be a couple more soon....):
Jake Young of Pure…
The media is all excited about the news that Daniel Radcliffe will star as Alan Strang in Peter Schaffer's "Equus" in New York next spring. Of course, they all focus on the fact that there is a naked sex scene at the end, ignoring the fact that this is a difficult role in an excellent play. I am…
As always, animal porn is under the fold:
You have probably heard that a female praying mantis eats her mate's head during the mating process. You may imagine the process to go something like this:
Actually, there are many species of praying mantises and in most of them sexual cannibalism is…
This post from September 09, 2004, was my first education about Rapturists:
Read these articles carefully (some are long, but please persist) and freeze. You'll get goosebumps...at least.
Apocalypse Bush!
Why Care for the Planet When the End Times are Almost Here? Vote Bush and Hop On the…
Here is the third part of the introduction to SEED sciencebloggers, the next eleven (check out the first part and the second part if you have missed them before) of my SiBlings:
Razib of Gene Expression and I go back a long way of .....friendly disagreement on pretty much everything. But he…
In an interview in Time magazine, Morgan Spurlock said, among else (and you should go and read the "else"):
We've started to make science and empirical evidence not nearly as important as punditry--people wusing p.r.-speak to push a corporate or political agenda. I think we need to turn scientists…
The latest AskTheScienceBlogger question is:
"I heard that within 15 years, global warming will have made Napa County too hot to grow good wine grapes. Is that true? What other changes are we going to see during our lifetimes because of global warming?..."
Answer under the fold....
I am not a big…
This post I first wrote on February 28, 2005, then re-posted here on December 10, 2005. About conservative relativism and the assault on academia:
I have hinted several times (here, here, here and here) before that relativism (including moral relativism) is not consistent with the liberal core…
Here is the second part of the introduction to SEED sciencebloggers, the next eleven (check out the first part if you have missed it yesterday). I hope you like them and appreciate the breadth and depth of writing here (so, yes, if you have a blog, and you are registered with Technorati - which if…
