The change did not pass to their offspring, but moving a single cell in the embryo of a Lymnaea stagnalis snail altered its handedness, causing it to spiral in the opposite direction the species normally grows.
Lymnaea stagnalis Altered Handedness by Moving a Single Cell
Credit: Kuroda lab
A short, challenging article in the Economist dealing with the growing trend of food waste in America, how, despite making economic sense, is offensive to many and may be connected to rising rates of obesity, as cheap food is also food easily throw away.
Despite passing through its first Senate committee, the Climate Change Bill will have to wait until Spring 2009 as it’s stuck behind Health Care in the Legislation.
Not often considered in environmentalism is the fact that conservationism conflicts with the livelihood of indigenous tribes, but a new form of conservationism in Gabon Africa enrolls the indigenous tribes in the effort to maintain the nation’s nature preserves.
Meiosis:
The shape of a hammerhead shark’s head, with the eyes spaced incredibly far apart, gives the fish extraordinary depth perception.
Hammerhead Shark
Credit: * cris *
Astronauts on shuttle Atlantis got a suprise turkey dinner on their flight home, apparently snuck onboard their flight by some generous members of the ISS.
While the mainstream media have been reporting uncritically about Rom Houben’s misdiagnosis as being in a coma while supposedly actually being conscious and trapped in his body for the last 23 years, scientists observing video of him believe his “conscious” communication to be a hoax as the claims supposedly being made by Houben are being directed by the hand of his nurse, similar to the way psychics get messages out of quiji boards.
Check out the images of the first particle collision in the LHC, which occurred on the 23rd of November.
Check out this collection of David Attenborough’s favorite moments on the BBC:
The UK has launched a National Science Learning Centre to encourage STEM education via grants, conferences, and hands-on activities for students; however, as the editor of New Scientist, Roger Highfield, notes in his address to the House of Commons, more needs to be done on the political front for science advocacy and has launched The S Word blog to cover science policy in the UK.
National Science Learning Centre
Researchers at the University of California’s School of Medicine have found that keeping children too clean impairs the ability of their skin to heal, as the naturally-occurring bacteria on the skin’s surface provide lipoteichoic acid, which acts on skin cells to promote healing. This research further supports the “hygiene hypothesis“, which argues that children who live in sterile environments are more susceptible to allergies. The organization Parents Outloud works to educate parents on the dangers of “over-sanitizing” their children (among other things).
Very young children who ask “Why?” repeatedly are making an honest proactive attempt at learning about the world around them and they can tell when they are given a non-explanation response, making them more likely to ask a follow-up “Why?”
A thought-provoking perspective on why cable TV is so hard to kill despite being able to find almost everything it provides online. The author considers the fact that watching TV online is an active experience, that the web does not easily enable passive channel-surfing, and how the popular, collective viewing-experiences like the last episode of Seinfeld or the Superbowl have been replaced by smaller, niche-groups of fans around specific shows who try to recruit others into their shared media experience.
Pearl Jam, Do the Evolution:
Escolar is a type of deep-sea bottom-feeding fish served on sushi menus as “white tuna”, which has become popular as new fishing techniques allow fishermen to haul them in; however, the fish contains indigestible oils that can lead to anal seepage.
Top: Roudi’s Escolar
Bottom: Escolar + Coppa
Credit:
NOAA
Credit:
LookatLao
While the Wall Street Journal and Fox News are going batty overhyping the significance of the leaked Climate Scientist e-mails, Scientific American correctly points out that the science is still impeccable and that the e-mails reflect a frustration with the political opponents of the scientific consensus.
People who agree with President Obama’s political views choose photos of him with lighter skin, while those who disagree with him choose photos where his skin was darkened. Combined with the fact that the same effect did not translate to photos of John McCain, the study appears to demonstrate that racial bias is still with us even if we don’t know it.
Researchers have uncovered a molecular motor that navigates RNA strands powered by chemical energy. Video at the link.
Rebecca Goldstein’s book 36 Arguments for the Existence of God points out the flaws in every single one of them, all of which are summarized at the link.
Normally ants use pheromones to find their way out and back to the nest, but in the desert, the wind blows the scent away, so scientists attached stilts to each of the six legs of desert ants on their way home or clipped their legs short and found that the ants appear to count the number of steps they took out to figure out how far to walk back. Check it out:
