clock | December 15, 2008This guy compiled a list of Top Three Twitter Accounts from a number of different countries. Of course, it is impossible to make such a list perfectly - many people never put their country when registering, others have moved, others have multiple accounts, etc., but nonetheless, it is a nice list of people you may want to check out and follow if you want to broaden your international horizons.
A number of countries are missing, though. There is no Serbia, for instance. But you can find a full deck of cards of Twitter users just from Belgrade, Serbia here.
clock | December 15, 2008The next Sigma Xi Pizza Lunch -- noon, Wednesday, Dec. 17 -- is a chance to learn more about climate change's expected environmental toll. UNC-Chapel Hill marine biologist and ecologist John Bruno will discuss recent research on links between coral disease outbreaks and warming waters.
The Pizza Lunch speaker series is free and open to science journalists and science communicators of all stripes. Feel free to forward this invitation to anyone you would like to see included. RSVPs are required (so we can get a reliable slice count) to cclabby@amsci.org.
Directions to Sigma XI: http://www.…
clock | December 15, 2008Jeff Cohen was one of the people interviewed for this article in Raleigh News & Observer today about the Future of the Internet:
In 2020, powerful mobile phones will rule, privacy will erode further and the line between work and home life will be faint, if not obliterated.
That's what 578 technology gurus see in their crystal balls, according to a new report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. The survey, "Future of the Internet III," conducted by Pew and Elon University, envisions amazing advances in mobile devices, virtual reality, voice and touch technology -- possibly…
clock | December 15, 2008Practice As Well As Sleep May Help Birds Learn New Songs:
Practice as well as sleep may help birds learn new songs. The reorganization of neural activity during sleep helps young songbirds to develop the vocal skills they display while awake, University of Chicago researchers have found.
Snoring Or Soaring? Strength Of Fruit-fly Immune System Varies:
A fruit fly's immune system can tell time, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have found, and how hard it punches back against infections depends on whether the fly is snoozing or cruising. The discovery could have…
clock | December 14, 2008I guess you will have to go to jail. If that is the result of not understanding the Income Tax Law I shall meet you there. We shall have a merry, merry time, for all of our friends will be there. It will be an intellectual center, for no one understands the Income Tax Law except persons who have not sufficient intelligence to understand the questions that arise under it.
- Senator Elihu Root
clock | December 14, 2008This is a little tongue-in-cheek, on purpose, but it is also thought-provoking.
Perhaps we are not there yet, but in 5 years it will be completely correct. Power outages are keeping some of the older, analog technologies surviving on the back burner (FM radio, landline phone).
This will also happen in waves - technology pioneers first, middle-class folks in industrialized countries next, the youngsters, of course, and then the rest.
The developing world is a special case - in some cases they HAVE to use outdated tech due to unreliable source of electrical power, lack of infrastructure, etc…
clock | December 14, 2008
This, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Exploring the ecology of insects, The Descent of the Dinosaurs, Where the Woolly Rhinos Roam: A natural history of Ice Age animals and more at Pulse Project.
clock | December 14, 2008Molecular and Cell Biology Carnival #4 is up on The Daily Transcript
Gene Genie #41: Carnivalome - is up on ScienceRoll
clock | December 14, 2008This EurekAlert title got my attention this morning: Immunity stronger at night than during day:
The immune system's battle against invading bacteria reaches its peak activity at night and is lowest during the day.
Experiments with the laboratory model organism, Drosophila melanogaster, reveal that the specific immune response known as phagocytosis oscillates with the body's circadian rhythm, according to Stanford researchers who presented their findings at the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) 48th Annual Meeting, Dec. 13-17, 2008 in San Francisco.
"These results suggest that immunity…
clock | December 14, 2008Perhaps we should buy this: No Limit Texas Dreidel - Jewish Gift Pack Family Entertainment:
Let My People Go All In!! Take Dreidel, combine it with poker, and you've got a new dreidel experience that is truly fun, and a game that is the talk of the Jewish community. You'll check, bet, raise, or fold depending on the strength of your dreidel hand (or how much you like to bluff). Standard edition game is for 2-4 players (not suitable for children 3 and under/choking hazard). Each set includes 4 shakers, a "spinner" button, 4 small dreidels and 3 large dreidels, and comes in a heavy quality…
clock | December 14, 2008More Than Just Being A Sentimental Fool: The Psychology Of Nostalgia:
In the 17th and 18th centuries, nostalgia was viewed as a medical disease, complete with symptoms including weeping, irregular heartbeat and anorexia. By the 20th century, nostalgia was regarded as a psychiatric disorder, with symptoms such as insomnia, anxiety and depression and was confined to a few groups (e.g. first year boarding students and immigrants). Only recently have psychologists begun focusing on the positive and potentially therapeutic aspects of nostalgia, report University of Southampton psychologist…
clock | December 13, 2008Beauty depends on size as well as symmetry. No very small animal can be beautiful, for looking at it takes so small a portion of time that the impression of it will be confused. Nor can any very large one, for a whole view of it cannot be had at once, and so there will be no unity and completeness.
- Aristotle
clock | December 13, 2008New York Times has compiled a whole slew of essays about the interesting ideas that people have come up with during 2008. And three of them are written by Rebecca Skloot, who is the special speaker at the WiSE event (on Friday night) at ScienceOnline09.
Her three essays are:
Avian Dancing:
If you aren't one of the millions who have already done so, go immediately to YouTube and search for "Snowball the Dancing Cockatoo." There you will see a large white bird balanced on the back of an office chair, bobbing his head, stomping his feet and doing something that -- until now -- scientists…
clock | December 13, 2008While these gifts for geeks don't really excite me, I wouldn't mind putting my giant hamsters into one of these (more cool images, including of stuff one may want to own - here):
clock | December 13, 2008
This is one of ten Best Science Images of 2008 as chosen by National Geographic:
Little Shop of Horrors fans may see a resemblance to the bloodthirsty plant from the 1986 movie in the above electron micrograph image.
Drexel University doctoral student Jessica Schiffman won an honorable mention in photography in the 2008 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge for capturing what's actually an array of suckers found on the tentacles of a long-finned squid.
Each sucker--about 400 micrometers wide, or a little smaller than the width of a human hair--is surrounded with "…
clock | December 13, 2008This one is good and thorough - by Colin Purrington, Department of Biology, Swarthmore College. Short excerpt from the beginning:
Why a poster is usually better than a talk
Although you could communicate all of the above via a 15-minute talk at the same meeting, presenting a poster allows you to more personally interact with the people who are interested in your research, and can reach people who might not be in your specific field of research. Posters are more efficient than a talk because they can be viewed even while you are off napping, and especially desirable if you are terrible at…
clock | December 13, 2008Have you written something about the world of/in science since November 15th? Next edition of Praxis will be on Effortless Incitement on December 15th.
Have you written a History of Science post lately? Next edition of The Giant's Shoulders will be on Rigorous Trivialities also on December 15th.