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Biology's Getting Crowded

Biology's Getting Crowded

Jan 06 2010 | comment(s)


The biomedical field is feeling crowded. I blame women. And the data back me up:



This slide is from FASEB, which compiled a bunch of helpful graphs based on various sources of data about the biomedical sciences job market.

Jan 06 2010 | comment(s)

Ah haz teh bestest toyz.
Three Top Quarks: A Door To New Physics ?

Three Top Quarks: A Door To New Physics ?

Jan 06 2010 | comment(s)

Today's visit to the Cornell Arxiv, the repository where scientific papers on physics, astrophysics, mathematics, and a few other disciplines are made publically accessible before getting published on paper, was a productive one. Some casual browsing allowed me to learn a few random things on topics I know little or nothing about; but what really made my day was reading study by a few distinguished theorists (Vernon Barger, Wai-Yee Keung, and Brian Yencho), who considered a collider signature I had been fantasizing about in the past.
Ethanol has a future as biofuel.

Ethanol has a future as biofuel.

Jan 06 2010 | comment(s)

Ethanol is the way of the future. Although hydrogen power is the talk of the world, in truth it is a distant solution, possibly as far away at fifty years. Ethanol/Gasoline will be available in mass production in 10 to 15 years, and a major source will be Brazilian ethanol plants.


Bio-diesel Brazil experience.

Bio-diesel Brazil experience.

Jan 06 2010 | comment(s)

Bio-diesel is an alternative fuel derived from either Soy or Jatropha, and it is big in Brazil. By 2012, the Brazilian government will mandate an 8% blend of bio-diesel. The prospect of this increased demand for bio-diesel is causing a large ramp up in the bio-diesel industry.

Brazilian Soy farms for bio-diesel are very big business. Bunge is the largest soy grower in Brazil, followed by ADM and Cargill – all are foreign companies. To make bio-diesel, soy is mechanically processed and separated into oil (used to make the bio-diesel) and soy meal (used for animal feed). Soy farming is very profitable - in addition to the 150 gallons of bio-diesel produced per hectare, farms also produce valuable animal feed as a byproduct.

Morning Science Quote

Morning Science Quote

Jan 06 2010 | comment(s)

There may remain theorems whose confirmation is technologically infeasible; thes can be assigned to the category of "harmless." Theorems for which confirmation is logically impossible should be discarded as meaningless.

- Foster Morrison, The Art of Modeling Dynamic Systems (2008), p. 19





Read the feed:

Learning to read - from age five or seven?

Learning to read - from age five or seven?

Jan 06 2010 | comment(s)

Research finds no advantage in learning to read from age five


says a press release from the world's southernmost university, the University of Otago in New Zealand.

Comparing children from Rudolf Steiner schools, who usually start learning to read from age seven, and children in state-run schools, who start learning to read at five, Dr Sebastian Suggate found that the later learners caught up and matched the reading abilities of their earlier-reading counterparts by the time they were 11, or by Year 7.  Of his third series of experiments, he says:
US Biofuels Policy Should Be Scrapped, Researchers Argue

US Biofuels Policy Should Be Scrapped, Researchers Argue

Jan 06 2010 | comment(s)

The U.S. government's biofuels policy needs a makeover, according to researchers from Rice University. In a new study published by the university's Baker Institute for Public Policy, the team says that the economic, environmental and logistical basis for the billions of dollars in federal subsidies and protectionist tariffs that go to domestic ethanol producers every year is seriously flawed and urge lawmakers to fundamentally rethink the policy of promoting ethanol to diversify America's energy sources.
Earth-Like CoRoT-7 B Likely A Volcanic Wasteland

Earth-Like CoRoT-7 B Likely A Volcanic Wasteland

Jan 06 2010 | comment(s)

Despite astronomers hopes, the rocky planet CoRoT-7 b that was discovered circling a star some 480 light years from Earth last October is likely a forbidding place that doesn't harbor life. Upon its discovery, experts said that was because the planet is so close to its star that
temperatures might be above 4,000 degrees F (2,200 C) on the surface lit by its star and as low as minus 350 F (minus 210 C) on its dark side.
Exercising More And Eating Less: Still The Only Ways To Lose Weight

Exercising More And Eating Less: Still The Only Ways To Lose Weight

Jan 06 2010 | comment(s)

Though it seems entirely obvious at this point, eating less and exercising more are the only reliable ways to lose weight. The reason for repeating this advice ad nauseum? An international team of researchers says it's because a body of scientific literature has arisen in recent years suggesting that fat oxidation – burning the fats we eat as opposed to the carbohydrates – is enough to promote fat loss. It isn't.

In a new paper published in Cell Metabolism,  scientists say they have demonstrated that mice genetically altered to burn fats in preference to carbohydrates, will convert the unburned carbohydrates into stored fat anyway, and their ultimate weight and body composition will be the same as normal mice.
Darwin's Finches Take On Alien Parasites

Darwin's Finches Take On Alien Parasites

Jan 06 2010 | comment(s)

University of Utah biologists have found that finches – the birds Charles Darwin famously studied – develop antibodies against two parasites (a pox virus and a nest fly) that moved to the Galapagos, suggesting the birds can fight the alien invaders.

With the discovery that the medium ground finches produce antibodies aimed specifically at the parasites "the next step is to determine if this immune response is helping the birds or hurting the birds," says University of Utah biology Professor Dale Clayton, who led the new study published online Wednesday, Jan 6. in PLoS ONE.
Lousy Phys Ed Teachers To Blame For Inactivity?

Lousy Phys Ed Teachers To Blame For Inactivity?

Jan 06 2010 | comment(s)

Did you have a pushy physical education teacher that made you loathe exercising at school? If so, you're not alone. New research suggets that many people may have been persuaded to permanently avoid exercise as a result of the humiliation they experienced in physical education class.

In a study published in Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise,  Billy Strean, a professor in the U of A's Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, says a negative lifelong attitude towards physical activity can be determined by either a good or a bad experience, based on the personal characteristics of the coach or instructor. For example, negative experiences may come from a teacher who has low energy, is unfair and/or someone who embarrasses students.
From Crickets To Whales, Animal Calls Controlled By Metabolic Rates

From Crickets To Whales, Animal Calls Controlled By Metabolic Rates

Jan 06 2010 | comment(s)

Researchers from the University of Florida and Oklahoma State University have found common denominators in the calls of hundreds of species of insects, birds, fish, frogs, lizards and mammals that can be predicted with simple mathematical models. Compiling data from nearly 500 species, scientists say the calls of a whole host of creatures are ultimately controlled by their uptake and use of energy,  or their metabolic rates.

The finding, reported in today's Proceedings of the Royal Society B, will help scientists understand how acoustic communication evolved across species, uniting a field of study that has long focused on the calls of particular groups of animals, such as birds.
An Even Stranger Gas

An Even Stranger Gas

Jan 05 2010 | comment(s)

When Dmitri Mendeleev first published his table of elements in 1869 (picture), only 60 of these were known. One group in particular was absent, namely the inert gases.  Now you may have heard this song:

"All these gases are inert
  Helium, neon, argon.
I’ll sing this song until it hurts
  Krypton, xenon, radon." **
Best New Astronomy Books?

Best New Astronomy Books?

Jan 05 2010 | comment(s)

What are the best new astronomy books?  I just got asked this question, and thought I'd hit up all you Bloggies for your opinions.  I'll also make sure to check with publishers at the ongoing 215th AAS Meeting to get their recommendations, and post updates as they arrive.

My recommendations so far would be:

1) Laika, by Nick Abadzis (2007)