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
I know, I know, it's middle of February, but I was busy and neglected my duties. So, to catch up with the monthly feature, here is the best of January at A Blog Around The Clock:
Of course, the entire month was dominated by ScienceOnline'09, so the rest of posts were mostly quick links, cartoons…
Hamsters On Treadmills Provide Electricity Through Use Of Nanogenerators:
Could hamsters help solve the world's energy crisis? Probably not, but a hamster wearing a power-generating jacket is doing its own small part to provide a new and renewable source of electricity. And using the same…
Life is action and passion; therefore, it is required of a man that he should share the passion and action of the time, at peril of being judged not to have lived.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes
...the next edition of Praxis will be up on Mudphudder on February 15th 2009. This edition will be a thematic one - "I wish that I knew what I know now".
...the next edition of The Giant's Shoulders will be up on Greg Laden's blog, also on February 15th 2009.
...the first inaugural edition of…
Nanny Goat Gruff and the Internet Trolls:
Once upon a time, there was a nanny goat who lived to wander from field to field, tasting the grass and bushes as she went. It was a simple life: wander, taste, chew, wander again. Sunshine and air and a million flavors were her world. The only problem was…
A sixth of a GCSE in 60 minutes?:
Later this year, pupils from Monkseaton high school will file into their new lozenge-shaped school and take their seats before a giant video wall in a multipurpose hall. Here, they will receive a unique lesson: an intense PowerPoint presentation, repeated three…
If so, don't worry. GOP has a solution for all your problems. Just describe your problem to the GOPProblemSolver and you will get the straight answer how to solve it:
On Thursday, for Darwin's 200th birthday, I went down to Raleigh to the Museum of Natural Science to hear Carl Zimmer's talk. The room was packed - I got the last empty seat and there were people standing in the back. A very mixed audience, as Museum talks usually are - there were evolutionary…
John McKay has been blogging his research on the early days of mammoth discoveries in Asia and it is an amazing read! Who ever said that academic writing has to be dull!?
Fragments of my research - I:
Studying early knowledge of mammoths presents two problems. The first, is that the people who…
Linneaus Legacy #16 is up on Seeds Aside
Skeptics' Circle #105: The Shakespeare Edition, is up on It's the Thought that Counts
Friday Ark #230 is up on Modulator
Republicans: Spare Me Your Newfound 'Fiscal Responsibility':
At his press conference on Monday, President Barack Obama had to remind Mara Liasson of Fox News and NPR that it was the Republicans who doubled the national debt over the past eight years and it's a little strange to be hearing lectures…
From TechDirt:
This is wrong on so many levels it's hard to know where to begin. Google doesn't devalue things it touches. It increases their value by making them easier to find and access. Google increases your audience as a content creator, which is the most important asset you have. It takes a…
Greensboro News & Record was one of the first and most innovative newspapers when it comes to the use of the Web, blogs, etc. Now Les Alexander takes a look at the experiment:
I'd love to say we made it all happen. We didn't. We did, however, learn some lessons. A lot of what we learned is…
How religion generates social conservatism:
You could make a reasonable case that pencils have a purpose, but pencil shavings just exist. But what about elephants? Religious people and children are, of course, more likely than non-religious adults to say that animals exist for a purpose. But what…
I was listening to NPR in the car yesterday when David Brooks came on and started blathering in his usual vein, revealing with every word his love for the establishment in Washington and his disdain for the proles, and pushing Broderism with all his might. So I was very pleased to see Glenn…
Well deserved:
The Carrboro Citizen won six awards including two first-place awards in the 2008 North Carolina Press Association's News, Editorial and Photojournalism contest. The awards were presented Thursday evening at the press association's banquet in Cary.
Also check their blog. And, they…
High-tech Tests Allow Anthropologists To Track Ancient Hominids Across The Landscape:
Dazzling new scientific techniques are allowing archaeologists to track the movements and menus of extinct hominids through the seasons and years as they ate their way across the African landscape, helping to…
The smile that flickers on baby's lips when he sleeps; does anybody know where it was born? Yes, there is a rumor that a young pale beam of a crescent moon touched the edge of a vanishing autumn cloud, and there the smile was first born.
- Rabindranath Tagore
This was a busy week for me (hence light posting) so I was amiss somewhat with pointing out cool new PLoS articles. So, let's see what's new in PLoS Genetics, PLoS Medicine, PLoS Computational Biology, PLoS Biology, PLoS Pathogens, PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases and PLoS ONE this week. As always…
Why Sleep Is Needed To Form Memories:
If you ever argued with your mother when she told you to get some sleep after studying for an exam instead of pulling an all-nighter, you owe her an apology, because it turns out she's right. And now, scientists are beginning to understand why.
Did Burst Of…
Why Fruits Ripen And Flowers Die: Scientists Discover How Key Plant Hormone Is Triggered:
Best known for its effects on fruit ripening and flower fading, the gaseous plant hormone ethylene shortens the shelf life of many fruits and plants by putting their physiology on fast-forward. In recent years…
The Officers all seemed very weary of this place I am not surprised at it: it must be to them a place of exile: Last year there had been plenty of Quail to shoot, but this year they have not appeared; this resource exhausted, the last tie which bound them to existence, seemed on the point of being…
There are 17 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. You can now also easily place articles on various social services (CiteULike, Connotea, Stumbleupon, Facebook and Digg) with just one…
