Featured Articles

Your chance to name a species!

Your chance to name a species!

Jun 12 2011 | comment(s)

Usually, you have to be insanely, insanely lucky to name a species. Not only that, after the ages spent finding and researching your animal, you then have the laborious process of getting your new species published.

Well, here is your chance to cut out all that boring crap, and moreover, dispense with the latin pleasantries, and personally bestow a common name on a species. But not just one - there are 10 species names up for grabs, and it couldn't be easier to submit your name: simply post your name in the comments section of the relevant Guardian article. Last years organisms finally to be bestowed names were...

Blue pepper-pot beetle
Entropic Gravity Snatches Spinoza Prize

Entropic Gravity Snatches Spinoza Prize

Jun 11 2011 | comment(s)

The British have their Copley medals, the French the CNRS Gold medals, the Germans have Leibniz awards, and the Dutch... they have their Spinoza prizes. Each year three to four Spinoza laureates split a total of ten million euros (14.3 mln US$). In the Netherlands the prize, named after the Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza, is often referred to as the 'Dutch Nobel Prize'. No other Dutch science prize comes close, neither in monetary amount nor in prestige. 

Amongst the three winners of this year's Spinoza prize is theoretical physicist Erik Verlinde.* A well-known name for readers of this column.

Variation In Recombination Rate

Variation In Recombination Rate

Jun 11 2011 | comment(s)

Recombination, the process by which a molecule of (usually) DNA is broken and joined to another one, is one of the main sources of genetic diversity in sexual organisms. Meiotic recombination takes place during the meiotic division (which gives rise to the gametes), and through the process chromosomes show crossover (see figure 1).

Figure 1: An illustration of crossing over during the meiotic division. 
People for the Ethical Treatment of Squid

People for the Ethical Treatment of Squid

Jun 11 2011 | comment(s)

At the beginning of the year I mentioned this European cephalopod conference, where they were going to talk about new laws regulating the use of squids, octopuses, etc. in experiments. Sadly, I couldn't go myself, but fellow cephaloblogger Mike Lisieski attended and posted a nice summary of the event.

Now Nature News is reporting on the legislation:
Monkey Menstruation On Meth Or The

Monkey Menstruation On Meth Or The "Biblical Power To Cure" Of The NIH?

Jun 11 2011 | comment(s)

Science can't catch a break this week.   A site devoted to ridiculing Democrats is faux outraged that the NIH funded $3.6 million to study the menstruation cycles of rhesus monkeys on any number of addictive drugs.    
Did the Woolly Mammoth interbreed with elephants?

Did the Woolly Mammoth interbreed with elephants?

Jun 10 2011 | comment(s)

Woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) roamed the planet for more than a million years, ranging from Europe to Asia to North America. Nearly all of these giants vanished from Siberia by about 10,000 years ago.

The Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) preferred the more temperate regions of southern and central North America. The Columbians were much larger than woollies, with Columbian males reaching one-and-a-half to two times that of woolly males.

Researchers have discovered the mitochondrial genome of the Columbian mammoth was nearly indiscernible from that of its northern woolly counterparts.   Woolly mammoth may have interbred with elephants.
 
Did the Chinese come to East Africa before the Europeans?

Did the Chinese come to East Africa before the Europeans?

Jun 10 2011 | comment(s)

Did the Chinese come to East Africa before the Europeans?

China says yes and, to prove it, Chinese and Kenyan archeologists are now searching the African coast for the fabled wreck of a Ming dynasty junk, an ancient Chinese sailing vessel, from the fleet of legendary 15th-century explorer Zheng He.

 Researchers have identified several shipwrecks of interest off the Kenyan coast near the World Heritage site of Lamu but after years of excitable hype by China’s state media, the underwater archaeologists involved in the search are warning that the newly discovered wrecks could be from any era or country — and even if a sunken Chinese ship is found, it may no longer be intact or even identifiable.
Fly Away: One Look At A Family Impacted By Autism, One Really Good Look

Fly Away: One Look At A Family Impacted By Autism, One Really Good Look

Jun 10 2011 | comment(s)

We’ve just finished a documentary on Stephen Hawking and I hand Bobby the dvd and ask him to put it in. “What now, Mama?”  

“Wait and see,” I tell them.

As  the  film starts, my three children, all at various points in the spectrum, all engaged in their own private worlds, perk up and stop to look at the tv where sounds of a person humming begin spontaneously upon the dvd loading.

All three set aside their cards or books and watch. Lily peppers me with questions as music plays and a child(?) draws people in vibrant markers.

Anonymous Tells NATO - 'This Is No Longer Your World'

Anonymous Tells NATO - 'This Is No Longer Your World'

Jun 10 2011 | comment(s)

Anonymous, the proper name given to a secret, loose band of Internet hackers famous for taking out sites they do not like (here's hoping they like Science 2.0) didn't think much of a NATO report on their activities.

"Can one invoke Article 5 of the Washington Treaty after a cyber attack? And what response mechanisms should the Alliance employ against the attacker? Should the retaliation be limited to cyber means only, or should conventional military strikes also be considered?"
Not Just Organic Food - Raw Milk Is An E. Coli Risk In America

Not Just Organic Food - Raw Milk Is An E. Coli Risk In America

Jun 10 2011 | comment(s)

The organic food crisis in Europe has caught popular attention even in America - dozens dead and thousands sickened due to another E. coli occurrence in organic produce - but America has another issue that could harm people who have been educated by advertising into believing that raw and organic is nutritionally different and just as safe.

Raw food, in particular unpasteurized milk and juice, poses a very specific public safety risk that is unrelated to dietary concerns. Consuming a diet loaded with fat and salt is unhealthy, but the government has no business regulating that. Raw milk, however, is different. Unpasteurized milk has a greater chance of being contaminated with disease-causing bacteria than pasteurized milk.
For Content, The Internet Is Not The Great Equalizer?

For Content, The Internet Is Not The Great Equalizer?

Jun 10 2011 | comment(s)

Everyone is a journalist due to the modern Internet, we are told.   Not so, says a University of Georgia analysis.    Instead, 2 percent of people who start discussions attract about 50 percent of the replies and that is good news for traditional journalism.

The downside is they used Internet newsgroups to validate this belief - if you aren't familiar with newsgroups, that's because Web-based interfaces killed their popularity but throughout much of the 1990s newsgroups were popular and even Google makes the newsgroup interface more attractive.
IBM Building Facebook for Scientists

IBM Building Facebook for Scientists

Jun 10 2011 | comment(s)

That whole "Facebook of..." thing is a pretty common description these days.  It makes sense, Facebook is wildly popular (even we have a Facebook page) and 4 years ago we were called Facebook for Scientists, which didn't make a lot of sense at the time since writing science on the Internet existed before Facebook.

And if scientists were that social they would be on the actual Facebook more.  They just aren't, as a bloc.   Regardless, IBM thinks if they build it, scientists will come and their sweetener is it will help researchers get funding.  
EPA Too Powerful? 5 More Power Plants To Close

EPA Too Powerful? 5 More Power Plants To Close

Jun 10 2011 | comment(s)

The EPA believes it has the ability to impose new regulations aimed at limiting greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants including mercury and arsenic without Congressional approval.

Oddly, both Republicans and Democrats are against a sweeping power grab by unelected officials who have no accountability and no oversight.   Regardless, until it is resolved, new rules are driving power plants out of existence.

If you think energy prices are too high, wait until more power plants close.     American Electric Power said yesterdsy that it will shut down five coal-fired power plants and have to spend billions of dollars to comply with a series of pending Environmental Protection Agency regulations.  Who's going to pay for that?   Consumers.
DZERO Refutes New CDF Dijet Resonance!

DZERO Refutes New CDF Dijet Resonance!

Jun 10 2011 | comment(s)

And here they come. Much awaited (and anticipated), today the DZERO collaboration presents their findings in the search of the same dijet resonance which made it to the New York Times as well as to several physics blogs around the web, and which brought frantic theorists back to the blackboard to try and figure out a model that could allocate the cumbersome new find.
Killer sprouts?

Killer sprouts?

Jun 10 2011 | comment(s)

While shopping earlier today, I came across these:

 
Many of you will, I expect, have heard of the recent E.Coli outbreak in Germany.  Today, we learn from BBC news

German tests link bean sprouts to deadly E. coli
New data released in Germany strongly suggests that locally produced bean sprouts were, as suspected, the source of the deadly E. coli outbreak.
NSF Stopping Death Of Science Content?

NSF Stopping Death Of Science Content?

Jun 10 2011 | comment(s)

Did science in newspapers die?  By 2009, USA Today, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal ended their Science sections, leaving just the New York Times as a major paper with a dedicated science section.  CNN cut their entire science and tech team.

Dana Topousis of the NSF discussed the role of the National Science Foundation in the new media landscape at a DCSWA workshop in 2009.  She noted that the NSF.gov's "Discoveries" gets the most traffic of the NSF site.  NSF sees its role as protecting scientist's free speech.  One venture they launched is Science360.gov, as a 1-stop shop for any science news.
A Review Of Offit And Moser's Vaccines And Your Child & Thoughts On Reducing Parental Fears

A Review Of Offit And Moser's Vaccines And Your Child & Thoughts On Reducing Parental Fears

Jun 10 2011 | comment(s)

Before getting to the review, I thought I'd share some of the lighter side of what comes from actively engaging people who think vaccines are responsible for all of today's ills. 

You know you've spent too much time on the internet when you dream that  Seth Mnookinborg (fascinating combination, no idea why, except for anti-vaccine folks linking all of the science-based writers together in various combinations that have me as a minion, an accolyte, or even Orac-in-a-skirt) is advising you on something related to blogging about vaccines.
Meet the Earless Fukushima Bunny

Meet the Earless Fukushima Bunny

Jun 10 2011 | comment(s)

A cute little bunny has sparked renewed radiation fear in Japan. The rabbit was (allegedly) born near the severely damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant and has no ears (see video).

 

However, attributing this to the accidental radiation release after the tsunami, might be a little too presumptuous. There is no reason why it couldn't be a brith defect caused by other factors than the radiation release at the Fukushima nuclear plant. 
Ancient Analogies For Global Warming?

Ancient Analogies For Global Warming?

Jun 10 2011 | comment(s)

Most people know that we have tried to judge what may happen during global warming by creating gigantic models of the Earth system, and see how it responds to forcing from different factors.

Another way that we approach the problem, is, (in my opinion) a much more interesting line of research, and that is looking in the geological record to see how the Earth responded in the past to global warming events, and to use these to inform us about what may happen now.
The Leper Warrior: Racial Terminology in Biological Anthropology

The Leper Warrior: Racial Terminology in Biological Anthropology

Jun 10 2011 | comment(s)

Mauro Rubini and Paola Zaio studied skeletons from 234 graves in an early Medieval (6th-8th century) cemetery in Molise (south-central Italy). Based on grave goods, they suggest that the people buried in the cemetery were of different ethnic backgrounds - the Eurasian Avars, Lombards, and indigenous Italians - and were semi-nomadic. Three of the skeletons appear to have warfare-related wounds, and one of the three also suffered from leprosy in life.