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Primitive Dinosaur Feathers

Primitive Dinosaur Feathers

Jan 28 2009 | comment(s)

Show me the science: 30 days of evolution blogging, day 1

Birds are the modern day descendants of dinosaurs, or as paleontologist Kevin Padian likes to say, birds are dinosaurs. But how did birds evolve from grounded, naked reptiles into plumed aviators? Evolutionary biologists have been piecing together the details for nearly 40 years, and this month, a major prediction about feather evolution has been vindicated.

Xing Xu and colleagues at the Chinese Academy of Sciences report the discovery of 120 million-year-old primitive fossil feathers, whose structure matches a prediction about the evolution of feathers made 10 years ago. With this fossil discovery, all major stages of feather evolution predicted by evolutionary biologists have been found in the fossil record.

Xu, et al., Figure 1, copyright PNAS

Did God Short-Change Us On Genes?

Did God Short-Change Us On Genes?

Jan 28 2009 | comment(s)

Via Pharyngula, some non-scientist MD thinks that ~21,000 protein-coding genes aren't nearly enough to make a human (which of course then means that evolution is wrong):

4) The Human Genome Project showed that only 1-2% of Human DNA codes for proteins, or about 25,000 genes. These are not enough to account for the complexity of the organism. What is the other 98% of the genome's function? We don't know.


(BTW, the count of human genes has gone down since the genome sequence was first released; the latest number I hear from my gene-finding colleagues is about 21,000.)

PZ points out the absurdity of this claim that we're short on genes:
Triceratops Horns Not Just For Good Looks

Triceratops Horns Not Just For Good Looks

Jan 28 2009 | comment(s)

Triceratops had three horns but it was not just to impress the females, says a research study led by Andrew Farke, curator at the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology, located on the campus of The Webb Schools.    They used them to settle disputes as wel.   Battle scars on the skulls of Triceratops preserve rare evidence of Cretaceous-era combat, they say.
New Online Belgium Bank Seeks Foreign Bank Partner Or Investor

New Online Belgium Bank Seeks Foreign Bank Partner Or Investor

Jan 28 2009 | comment(s)

NEW YORK, January 27 /PRNewswire/ --

Maurits Paul Rijkeboer announces the launch of Money.Be, a new online bank that operates out of Belgium. The current state of Belgium banks is disastrous, Rijkeboer, the CEO of Money.Be says. That's why we have created Money.Be. We are confident that our foreign bank partner or investor will benefit and customers will be excited about this concept and will flock to us.

As a result, Rijkeboer, who also possesses a master's degree in business administration, is currently seeking an exclusive foreign bank partner or investor for the Belgium market.

Regulatory Flexibility Is Key Factor Of Success In The African Mobile Payments Sector, Pyramid Research Finds

Regulatory Flexibility Is Key Factor Of Success In The African Mobile Payments Sector, Pyramid Research Finds

Jan 27 2009 | comment(s)

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, January 27 /PRNewswire/ --

Regulatory flexibility is a key factor of success for the African mobile payments sector due to the fact that service providers need active central-bank support and flexibility, according to a new report from Pyramid Research (www.pyr.com), the telecom research arm of the Light Reading Communications Network (www.lightreading.com).

Science meets art

Science meets art

Jan 27 2009 | comment(s)

This is so cool (and the original source is here, but you have to scroll down a while to get to it).  Just don't let it get out to those crazy people who think that scientists don't do anything worthwhile.
Cascal N.V. Schedules Third Quarter 2009 Earnings Conference Call For February 10, 2009 At 9 A.m. ET / 2 P.m. GMT

Cascal N.V. Schedules Third Quarter 2009 Earnings Conference Call For February 10, 2009 At 9 A.m. ET / 2 P.m. GMT

Jan 27 2009 | comment(s)

LONDON, January 27 /PRNewswire/ --

Cascal N.V. (NYSE: HOO) (the Company), a leading provider of water and wastewater services in seven countries, has scheduled the release of its 2009 third quarter results after the close of the market on February 9, 2009.

Cascal will host a conference call at 9 a.m. Eastern Time / 2 p.m. GMT on February 10, 2009. On the call, Stephane Richer, CEO of Cascal, and Steve Hollinshead, CFO, will discuss the Company's results, and review operational highlights and other business developments.

The Company invites you to participate on the call at the following telephone numbers:

+1-877-375-4189 (local) +1-404-665-9923 (international) +0800-032-3836 (UK Freephone)

What Was The First Computer Game?

What Was The First Computer Game?

Jan 27 2009 | comment(s)

Do you know the name of the first computer game?   I confess I didn't and I learned programming on a Univac 1100/62 so I am a lot closer to the origination date of computer games than most people who will read this.

I assumed it was a kind of punchcard-loaded word game, like a 1960s Leather Goddesses of Phobos only without the divine genius of Dostoevsky that game possessed, but the history of video games is much more elaborate than that.
Waving the social misfit banner

Waving the social misfit banner

Jan 27 2009 | comment(s)

"It is in the realm of the public interest for society to help support our efforts," Harold Varmus, Nobel laureate and one of the co-chairs of Obama's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, said during an interview on NPR's All Things Considered.
Are Gribble Guts The Secret For Biofuel?

Are Gribble Guts The Secret For Biofuel?

Jan 27 2009 | comment(s)

Yours truly has been watching telly again!  (I hope no-one will get the idea that the couch potato might be a significant source of starch.) 

This time, on our local BBC news service, we hear how researchers at the University of Portsmouth Institute of Biomedical and Biomolecular Science are cooperating with their Institute of Marine Sciences to harness the Gribble.  
Patients To Have A Say In Decisions About Their Medicine

Patients To Have A Say In Decisions About Their Medicine

Jan 27 2009 | comment(s)

LONDON, January 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Up to 50 per cent of medicines prescribed for long-term conditions are not taken as recommended. This can have dire consequences for patients leading to treatment failure and a worsening of their condition.

The pharmacy bodies have jointly welcomed the new guidance published by NICE, aiming to help all health professionals to engage with patients and to ensure that patients are involved in decisions about their treatment. Pharmacists have a key role to play in helping patients to understand more about their medicines and the options that they have.

Medusa Medical Technologies Announces Integration Of Siren EPCR Suite(TM) With Philips HeartStart MRx Monitor/Defibrillator

Medusa Medical Technologies Announces Integration Of Siren EPCR Suite(TM) With Philips HeartStart MRx Monitor/Defibrillator

Jan 27 2009 | comment(s)

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, January 27 /PRNewswire/ --

Medusa Medical Technologies Inc. (Medusa) announced today that its flagship electronic patient care reporting software, the Siren ePCR Suite(TM), now has an interface with the Philips HeartStart MRx monitor/defibrillator. This integrated solution is available worldwide and enables an easier workflow for patient care and reporting in the pre-hospital setting.

Summer Street Research Partners Closes Two More Healthcare Company Financings

Summer Street Research Partners Closes Two More Healthcare Company Financings

Jan 27 2009 | comment(s)

BOSTON, January 27 /PRNewswire/ --

Glassbeam Chooses Vertica Analytic Database To Boost Performance, Lower Storage Costs For On-Demand Product Analytics Offering

Glassbeam Chooses Vertica Analytic Database To Boost Performance, Lower Storage Costs For On-Demand Product Analytics Offering

Jan 27 2009 | comment(s)

BILLERICA, Massachusetts, January 27 /PRNewswire/ --

- SaaS provider says unique columnar, MPP database superior to traditional, open source approaches

After comparing the merits of traditional database technology, Glassbeam, the first company to provide a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution for product analytics, has chosen the Vertica Analytic Database to keep storage costs low and performance high.

Strong Inference And The Distinction Between Soft And Hard Science

Strong Inference And The Distinction Between Soft And Hard Science

Jan 27 2009 | comment(s)

In doing some research for my next book (on the differences between science and pseudoscience), I re-read this rather stunning piece of writing: “Scientists these days tend to keep up a polite fiction that all science is equal. Except for the work of the misguided opponent whose arguments we happen to be refuting at the time, we speak as though every scientist's field and methods of study are as good as every other scientist's, and perhaps a little better. This keeps us all cordial when it comes to recommending each other for government grants.”
Ducking the flu

Ducking the flu

Jan 27 2009 | comment(s)

Has anyone else had that cold that lasts about three or four weeks? It's going around out here and I'm finally starting to get over it. Too bad I didn't know about the wonder flu cure Oscillococcinum, or as everyone chatting online about herbal remedies likes to mispell it, occicillium.

What is Oscillococcinum, you ask? As one completely uniformed consumer opined, "Basically Occicillium is some kind of antibiotic, or something like that, in a granular form." Wrong, my easily-duped e-friend.

New AAAS President to Scientists: Stop Complaining and Step Out of the Lab

New AAAS President to Scientists: Stop Complaining and Step Out of the Lab

Jan 27 2009 | comment(s)

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is getting a new president as well: Nobel laureate Peter Agre. He tells the New York Times that scientists need to get involved as citizens is they are concerned about good science policy:

Q. RESEARCH AMERICA, THE WASHINGTON ADVOCACY GROUP, HAS BEEN TRYING TO GET SCIENTISTS TO RUN FOR OFFICE. IS THAT REALISTIC?
Fujirebio Diagnostics And Abbott Agree To Develop New Ovarian Cancer Test For Abbott's Architect(R) Analyzers

Fujirebio Diagnostics And Abbott Agree To Develop New Ovarian Cancer Test For Abbott's Architect(R) Analyzers

Jan 27 2009 | comment(s)

MALVERN, Pennsylvania and ABBOTT PARK, Illinois, January 27 /PRNewswire/ --

- Test may help physicians identify effective treatment earlier

Fujirebio Diagnostics, Inc. and Abbott have signed a license agreement to develop a new ovarian cancer test for use on Abbott's automated ARCHITECT(R) diagnostic analyzers. Under the agreement, Fujirebio Diagnostics will develop and manufacture for Abbott the HE4 biomarker, a simple blood test that may help in the risk stratification of women at high risk for ovarian cancer, a difficult disease to detect in its early stage.

Global Crossing Broadens Access And Ethernet Portfolios With New EtherExtend(SM) Flex Access Service

Global Crossing Broadens Access And Ethernet Portfolios With New EtherExtend(SM) Flex Access Service

Jan 27 2009 | comment(s)

FLORHAM PARK, New Jersey, January 27 /PRNewswire/ --

Global Crossing (Nasdaq: GLBC), a leading global IP solutions provider, today announced that it has introduced Global Crossing EtherExtend(SM) Flex Service to provide its customers with cost-effective and flexible Ethernet access to IP-based services.

EtherExtend(SM) Flex lowers a user's cost of access and matches the access Level of Service to the application's needs. It uses local access vendors to provide the last-mile Ethernet connection to Global Crossing's end-user customer. However, rather than forwarding the customer's traffic over a physical connection to Global Crossing, the traffic is forwarded via a logical connection as a Virtual Local Area Network over a physical Network to Network Interface.

The Publisher's Pushback Against NIH's Public Access And Scholarly Publishing Sustainability

The Publisher's Pushback Against NIH's Public Access And Scholarly Publishing Sustainability

Jan 27 2009 | comment(s)

The dying light of the George W. Bush presidency was marked by, among other things, a legislative move to derail recent gains in the federal government's opening of science. In particular, the innocuous sounding “Fair Copyright in Research Works Act” (HR 6845) introduced into the House by John Conyers, Jr. (DEM-MI), on 9 September 2008 [1] was poised to shut down the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Public Access Policy [2], as well as forestall the spread of this open-access spirit to other areas of federally sponsored research and scholarship. Hearings were held, but the bill did not make it through the House.

End of story? Not quite.