clock | May 29, 2007Young 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 known about the development of the features that encode such information.
Tropical Birds Have Slow Pace Of Life Compared To Northern Species, Study Finds:
In the steamy tropics, even the birds find the pace of life a bit more relaxed, research shows. Tropical birds expend less energy at rest than do…
clock | May 28, 2007Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
- Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx
clock | May 28, 2007Duas Quartuncias
Peanut Butter Cabal
Incoherently Scattered Ponderings
Twisted Bacteria
ChiliConDarwin
A Tiny Revolution
clock | May 28, 2007You 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
clock | May 28, 2007...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....
clock | May 28, 2007Sex 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.
------------------
Insects' Nervous Systems May Provide Clues On Neurodegenerative Diseases:
By studying the addition of sugars to proteins -- a process called glycosylation -- in the nervous system of insects, Temple University researcher Karen Palter believes she may be able to better understand neurodegenerative diseases in humans…
clock | May 27, 2007When you're following your energy and doing what you want all the time, the distinction between work and play dissolves.
- Shakti Gawain
clock | May 27, 2007Go and read this excellent interview with Leo Lincourt on Pollyticks.com. Great stuff about blogging, politics and the Carnival of the Liberals.
clock | May 27, 2007First, 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 in a Big Picture and place stuff in broader historical and/or geographical context, thus, I really liked contributions by Laelaps and Greg Laden. They are optimistic, though. The view from outside, from Europe, can be much more pessimistic.
Also, some of the comments on this post remind me of my…
clock | May 27, 2007These 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 what she would find.
She figured that any discrepancies in compensation rates for the building blocks of assisted reproduction could be explained by either market forces or the biological differences between female egg donors, who must undergo hormone therapy and outpatient surgery, and their male…
clock | May 26, 2007Ah, 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 natural day,
That Faustus may repent and save his soul!
'O lente, lente currite, noctis equi!'
The stars move still, time runs, the clock will strike,
The devil will come and Faustus must be damn'd'
The tragical History of Dr Faustus, Philip Marlowe, 1604
(Thanks to Peter for this quote)
clock | May 26, 2007Larry 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 Have So Few Genes?
Alex Palazzo, madhadron, Ricardo Azevedo and PZ Myers add thoughtful commentary as well.
Of course, this is something that has been debated and studied (yes, in the laboratory) for a long time by people like Dan McShea so the issue is not going to be solved any time soon with a few…
clock | May 26, 2007An 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 join the European Union within the next decade. "Serbia's aspiration to become a full member of the EU is a clearly declared commitment of every party in this coalition," Kostunica told the parliament prior to confirmation.
However, Serbia's refusal to compromise on any plan for the future of Kosovo…