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Evading MicroRNA Control By Differential Poly-Adenylation Patterns-

Evading MicroRNA Control By Differential Poly-Adenylation Patterns-

Jun 07 2012 | comment(s)

A major function of microRNAs is to inhibit messenger RNA (mRNA) translation by binding to a specific 3’ untranslated region (UTR) through sequence complementation. In a recent study published in the March 2012 issue of Cell Stem Cell, Boutet et al. discovered that Pax3 transcripts in muscle stem cells in vivo can have both long and short 3’UTRs, an effect controlled by differential poly-adenylation patterns during the course of development. While Pax3 transcripts with long 3’UTRs are susceptible to translational inhibition by miR-206, transcripts with short 3’UTR are profoundly resistant to miR-206. 
The Issue Is Fructose. Period.

The Issue Is Fructose. Period.

Jun 07 2012 | comment(s)

In the last few weeks there has been a sugar tsunami in the media. CBS reported about sugar toxicity. Mayor Bloomberg banned the serving of sugary drinks greater than 16 fluid ounces in New York City. The FDA turned down a request from the Corn Industry to re-name high fructose corn syrup as "corn sugar". And then there is that huge advertising campaign that denies that sweetened beverages are driving the obesity epidemic.
I think I've got it.

I think I've got it.

Jun 07 2012 | comment(s)

I think I've got it.

The reason why we, as evolutionists have such difficulty in speaking to creationists is because the idea of it is so far removed, so abstract - indeed, so patently wrong - that we have literally no idea where to start.

[This stems from a comment that I was writing which has spiralled out of control. I thought I'd siphon it off into another blog post, as the other thread is bloated enough as it is]
17th Century Thoughts

17th Century Thoughts

Jun 07 2012 | comment(s)

Browsing, as I do from time to time, recent German news in thelocal.de, I came across

Schoolboy cracks age-old maths problem

Plastics: What Goes Around... Gets Stuck In The Middle

Plastics: What Goes Around... Gets Stuck In The Middle

Jun 07 2012 | comment(s)

AUCKLAND, NZ – Twelve hours after liftoff from San Francisco airport, fifteen hours after my roommate dropped me off at the international terminal, I was hauling my luggage toward my connecting gate when the strap of my laptop bag abruptly tore off.  Fortunately, somewhere in the back of my sleepy brain, I remembered that I’d packed a backup for the cheaply made bag, which hadn’t looked quite up to the task I’d asked of it.  I re-packed books and electronics in a canvas tote, and ditched the ruined mess of plasticy fabric at the next trashcan.
Computer viruses, Bio-warfare, and Hank

Computer viruses, Bio-warfare, and Hank

Jun 06 2012 | comment(s)

It appears that Hank may have become infected with a virus that originated from his computer.  If so, this would represent the first instance of a computer virus capable of acting on a biological host.  It has been speculated [mostly by me in an IM] that this could be the result of a biological weapons test.  Hank seems to be at a complete loss to explain this virus' origins.

Given the amount of time Hank spends connected to the internet, he is clearly at higher risk than most for such infections, so despite the normal precautions to ensure the computer system doesn't get "infected", apparently no such precautions were in place to protect Hank, himself.  
NASA Does It Better

NASA Does It Better

Jun 06 2012 | comment(s)

The winner picture of the Venus transit must be the one below, whose original version can be found here. Thanks Bente Lilya Bye for posting the link on her Facebook page!



The picture was taken by Hinode, a joint JAXA-NASA mission to study the Sun's magnetism in and around sunspots.
Before The Globe: Remains of Shakespeare’s Older Curtain Theatre Found

Before The Globe: Remains of Shakespeare’s Older Curtain Theatre Found

Jun 06 2012 | comment(s)

Archaeologists have discovered the remains of the Elizabethan theatre where some of William Shakespeare’s plays were first performed. The Curtain Theatre was the venue immortalized as “this wooden O” in the prologue to “Henry V.”

The remains of the polygonal structure, typical of 16th-century theatres were found behind a pub on a site marked for redevelopment.  They uncovered part of the gravel yard and gallery walls of the 435-year-old Curtain Theatre in Shoreditch, just east of London’s business district.

The Curtain opened in 1577 and was home to Shakespeare’s company, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, from 1597 until the Globe Theatre was built across the river two years later.
Person-First Language Police: Behind The Times

Person-First Language Police: Behind The Times

Jun 06 2012 | comment(s)


Miss Wombles,

1. Person first language. Learn about it. This is the first clue that indicates to me that you are not equipped to have this type of discussion. --part of a new comment on a two-year-old post

The post, in itself, and the remainder of the person's comment aren't what's important here. Plenty of folks have tackled this issue of person-first language. Lydia of Autistic Hoya has done so several times. Stuart Duncan has covered it. I'm pretty sure there are few long-term bloggers in autism-land who haven't handled this issue.

Direct Realism falling in Wittgenstein’s Silence

Direct Realism falling in Wittgenstein’s Silence

Jun 06 2012 | comment(s)

Direct Realism falling in Wittgenstein’s Silence: Accelerating the Paradigm Change that Renders Relativistic Quantum Mechanics Natural
In case you ain't seen it yet

In case you ain't seen it yet

Jun 06 2012 | comment(s)

Well, so as predicted Venus passed over the disk of our Sun yesterday (this morning, if you live in Europe), and it produced quite a show, as many pictures and videos available around testify. To make the view more pleasing, our Sun was showing a discrete amount of solar spots, betraying the fact that we are approaching Solar Max (there is a 11-year cycle of solar activity, which manifests itself visually with black spots appearing on the disk, and on the Earth with auroras and electromagnetic disturbances).

In case you want a quick link to a nice slideshow showing Venus crossing the Sun's disk in a set of some thirty images, please visit this flicker site.
Taking Headhunters To The Woodshed

Taking Headhunters To The Woodshed

Jun 06 2012 | comment(s)


I started a new job this spring. After a long search in a tough market, I landed my dream job as a senior professor and administrator at a top research university – a university that did not retain a headhunter for its search.

Talks at other schools had progressed to first or second interviews before fizzling, and they fizzled due to the ineptitude of the universities’ search firms. The headhunters deserve a whipping, and this column administers ten lashes.
One view of Venus's transit of the Sun streamed live... I hope.

One view of Venus's transit of the Sun streamed live... I hope.

Jun 05 2012 | comment(s)

This afternoon I will attempt to stream the transit of Venus live on an embedded stream on this website. 

Meanwhile here are some resources on observing the transit.  



First a personal opinion, don't bother with using a so called "pinhole projector".  The image of the sun projected is a point of light, you are then looking for a tiny tiny point of dark on a tiny point of light.  


The technique I will use is to use a telescope with the eyepieces removed to project an image which a webcam can then focus on.  NEVER LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN ESPECIALLY THROUGH A TELESCOPE WITH YOUR EYEBALLS.  It could well be the last thing you ever see. 

Global warming vs local warming

Global warming vs local warming

Jun 05 2012 | comment(s)

There is debate on whether global warming is taking place or not ? On World Environment day CHEC India organised valuable national seminar under leadership of President Professor H. S. Sharma. 
So A Biologist And An Evolutionary Psychologist Walk Into A Coffee Shop...

So A Biologist And An Evolutionary Psychologist Walk Into A Coffee Shop...

Jun 05 2012 | comment(s)

Biology is tricky and evolutionary biology even trickier - in the modern age, with insights into epigenetics, that trickiness and general complexity means virtually any stance you want to adopt on any issue can claim to be 'biological' if you just say something pithy like 'It's a combination of nature and nurture', which is the biology equivalent of amateur political scientists who say 'If only people would talk to each other we could all get along' about foreign relations.
When Kids Need Meds: A Must Have For Parents Of Special Needs Kids

When Kids Need Meds: A Must Have For Parents Of Special Needs Kids

Jun 05 2012 | comment(s)

Parents of children with neurological conditions and disorders and mental health issues are often faced with the frightening and difficult decision of whether to medicate for specific issues and behaviors. Parents are already stressed, worried, and expecting the worst when they walk into a psychiatrist's office, and it doesn't help when they've already been through the gamut of pediatricians, psychologists and other health professionals who have an opinion on the diagnosis of mental health issues in children and the role medication should play in the treatment.
Did Infectious Disease Gene Changes Conquer The Human Evolution Bottleneck?

Did Infectious Disease Gene Changes Conquer The Human Evolution Bottleneck?

Jun 05 2012 | comment(s)

Around 100,000 years ago, human evolution was in a rut, modern human ancestors consisted of 5-10,000 individuals living in Africa.

Yet modern humans somehow emerged from this population bottleneck, expanding dramatically in both number and range, and replacing all other co-existing evolutionary cousins, like Neanderthals. What caused this bottleneck in the first place?  Answers range from gene mutations to cultural developments like language to climate-altering events, like a massive volcanic eruption. 

Maybe there is another possible factor: infectious disease.
Enough Luminosity For A Higgs Discovery!

Enough Luminosity For A Higgs Discovery!

Jun 05 2012 | comment(s)

The LHC collider has been producing proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV for two months now, and the integrated luminosity collected by the CMS experiment has surpassed the mark of 4 inverse femtobarns (see figure below). That's already about 80% of the total bounty of 2011!
Technology’s Invasion, it’s Role in “1984” and the Haunting Similarities to our World

Technology’s Invasion, it’s Role in “1984” and the Haunting Similarities to our World

Jun 05 2012 | comment(s)

“1984” is a novel by George Orwell, set in dystopian Londonunder the rule of the totalitarian government named simply “The Party” and takes place after a cataclysmic nuclear war that decimated the planet. The Party creates a terrifying living environment for its members in which it is impossible to have any privacy and enforces its will through the use of technology. In every home there is a “telescreen”, a version of a flat screen television with a built in camera and microphone to observe the occupants and where the telescreens cannot see there are hidden microphones. This world is one where every action and thought is monitored and analyzed for any anti-Party actions, thoughts or tendencies and if any are expected you can be arrested and “reeducated” at anytime.

Scalars, Vectors, and Quaternion [Scalars and Quaternion Vectors]: Definitions (1 of 2)

Scalars, Vectors, and Quaternion [Scalars and Quaternion Vectors]: Definitions (1 of 2)

Jun 05 2012 | comment(s)

[Clarification: I tweaked the title because the focus of this blog was intended to be quite small.  While scalars and vectors are used in a dizzying array of areas in many dimensions, quaternions are constrained to work in one plus three dimensions.  One could say one plus three equals four, which is true, but I say one plus three because with quaternions, the one has different math properties from the three.  What happened in the comments was the first two folks admitted they were looking for a blog with a different subject, one that might have me linking quaternions to objects that transform like 4-vectors.  That really is beyond the scope of this blog which doesn't confront how anything transforms.