clock | February 6, 2009This month's Science Cafe (description below) will be held on February 17th at The Irregardless Cafe. We will be meeting Dr. Yvette Cook from the Rex Hospital Sleep Disorders Clinic. She will be talking with us about sleep patterns and why people may have trouble getting a good night's sleep. I have attached an article Dr. Cook recently wrote for a Rex Healthcare newsletter that you may find of interest. I hope that many of you can come - it should be a very interesting and informative discussion.
Sleep and Sleep Disorders
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
6:30-8:30 pm with discussion beginning…
clock | February 6, 2009The latest edition of Encephalon is up on Of Two Minds
Friday Ark #229 is up on Modulator
18th Cancer Research Blog Carnival is up on Science and Reason
clock | February 6, 2009Ecologists Report Quantifiable Measures Of Nature's Services To Humans:
The idea of ecosystem services is a promising conservation concept but has been rarely put into practice. In a special issue of the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, researchers use novel tools to report some of the first quantifiable results that place values on nature's services to humans.
15-year-old Theory About The Nervous System Disproved:
A delay in traffic may cause a headache, but a delay in the nervous system can cause much more. University of Missouri researchers have uncovered clues identifying…
clock | February 5, 2009It is not at all uncommon for someone to arrive at a scene of brutality or injustice and, with a sympathetic murmur or heroic flourish, attack the victim. It happens all the time.
- Renata Adler
clock | February 5, 2009Apparently, the Washington DC press corps is peeved at the Obama White House because Press Secretary Gibbs is stonewalling them. They thus equate Gibbs to Fleischer/Perino/McClellan and equate Obama to Bush.
But they are myopic and wrong. And Jay Rosen explains why.
Bush dissed the press by suppressing information. Obama disses the press by giving information directly to the people (just you wait, these are early days, but they are preparing for some serious two-way communication between the WH and the people).
From press' point of view - both are dissing them. From the point of view of…
clock | February 5, 2009So, let's see what's new in PLoS Genetics, PLoS Computational Biology and PLoS Pathogens this week. As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. Here are my own picks for the week - you go and look for your own favourites:
Social Contact Networks and Disease Eradicability under Voluntary Vaccination:
Interest in infectious disease models that incorporate the effects of human behavior has been growing in recent years. However, most of these models predict that it should never be possible to eradicate a disease under…
clock | February 5, 2009I and the Bird #93: The Compelling Nature of Birds - now up on Vickie Henderson Art
The latest Change of Shift: Welcome to The Fishbowl is up on Digital Doorway
clock | February 5, 2009There are 15 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 click. Here are my own picks for the week - you go and look for your own favourites:
Web Queries as a Source for Syndromic Surveillance:
In the field of syndromic surveillance, various sources are exploited for outbreak detection, monitoring and prediction. This paper describes a study on queries…
clock | February 5, 2009That was last week, but I had no time to listen until now - check out the podcast (in the upper left corner of the page):
In 1989, Dr. Harold Varmus won a Nobel Prize for his cancer research. He was director of the National Institutes of Health during the Clinton administration, and now heads the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Recently, President Obama named him to co-chair his Council of Advisers on Science and Technology. And he's written a new book, "The Art and Politics of Science." In this segment, Ira talks with Harold Varmus about his work, biological research, and the…
clock | February 5, 2009Scientific American podcast for February 4th, 2009:
Scientific American Editor in Chief John Rennie talks about the content of the February issue, including naked singularities and the greenhouse hamburger. N.Y.U. journalism professor Jay Rosen discusses social media. Plus, we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Web sites related to this episode include www.sciam.com/sciammag; journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink
clock | February 5, 2009Gary Mitchell will be playing and singing at La Vita Dolce, in Southern Village (610 Market St, Chapel Hill NC), this Friday at 7pm. Bring 3 friends and get some items free.
clock | February 5, 2009Tinkering With Circadian Clock Can Suppress Cancer Growth:
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have shown that disruption of the circadian clock - the internal time-keeping mechanism that keeps the body running on a 24-hour cycle - can slow the progression of cancer.
How Your Body Clock Avoids Hitting The Snooze Button:
Scientists from Queen Mary, University of London have discovered a new part of the mechanism which allows our bodyclocks to reset themselves on a molecular level. ---------- Professor Stanewsky explains: "A circadian photoreceptor called Cry is…
clock | February 4, 2009Most people are mirrors, reflecting the moods and emotions of the times; few are windows, bringing light to bear on the dark corners where troubles fester. The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.
- Sydney J. Harris
clock | February 4, 2009From Michigan Daily: University professors turn to the blogosphere, for classes and recognition:
In recent years, academics across the country have started using blogs to relay information and ideas. Many are now incorporating the medium into their classes, asking students to take to their keyboards and post thoughts or resources on course material.
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The time commitment means professors need to prioritize when it comes to blogging. Those who write personal blogs do so outside of their teaching requirements, but as blogs become more popular, the question of their role in…
clock | February 4, 2009There are 16 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 click. Here are my own picks for the week - you go and look for your own favourites:
Climate Change and Trophic Response of the Antarctic Bottom Fauna:
As Earth warms, temperate and subpolar marine species will increasingly shift their geographic ranges poleward. The endemic shelf fauna of Antarctica…
clock | February 4, 2009Carnival of Evolution #8 (Part Two) is up on Biochemicalsoul
Mendel's Garden, 28th Edition, is up on Quintessence of Dust
clock | February 4, 2009Personal Touch In Farming: Giving A Cow A Name Boosts Her Milk Production:
A cow with a name produces more milk than one without, scientists at Newcastle University have found. Drs Catherine Douglas and Peter Rowlinson have shown that by giving a cow a name and treating her as an individual, farmers can increase their annual milk yield by almost 500 pints.
Wild Boar Given Plenty Of Food And Shelter Do Not Live As Long As Struggling Wild Boar:
Lack of shelter and the large amount of food available from crops in the mid-valley of the Ebro reflect primarily how human beings influence the…
clock | February 3, 2009 If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack.
- Winston Churchill
clock | February 3, 2009When I was a little kid, almost nothing was known about evolution of whales. They were huge, they were marine and they were mammals, but their evolutionary ancestry was open to speculation. Some (like Darwin himself) hypothesized that the terrestrial ancestor of whales looked like a bear. Others favored the idea of a hippo-like or even a pig-like ancestor.
Over the decades, two things happened. First, the revolution in molecular biology and computing power allowed scientists to compare many genes of many mammals and thus infer genealogical relationships between whales and other groups of…