This research paper, published in the journal Science, demonstrates that yes, it is possible to begin a scientific paper with a colorful thought. The very first sentence begins with these words: “Gears are found rarely in animals…”
Tag: biology
A Feminist Science Reading of Dr. Bodnar’s Ig Nobel Prize-Winning Emergency Bra
A coming event: Public Health Striptease: A Feminist Science Reading of Dr. Bodnar’s Ig Nobel Prize-Winning Emergency Bra Baltimore Under Ground Science Space, Baltimore, MD Friday, November 15, 2013 from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM (EST) Well up pops Dr. Clare Jen, a researcher at UMd College Park based at Denisen U, wanting to interview the women […]
A classic 24/7 lecture: Dany Adams — BIOLOGY
Dany Adams delivered one of the very first 24/7 Lectures. A 24/7 Lecture is a lecture in two parts: first a complete technical description in 24 seconds; then, a simple description anyone can understand in 7 words. At the 2001 Ig Nobel Ceremony, Professor Adams spoke on the topic: BIOLOGY. Her seven-word summary has become a classic definition of […]
Four-headed worms, six-legged frogs, and other new fauna
“We have four-headed worms, six-legged frogs, and many other unusual creatures here as part of our work on bioelectricity and organ regeneration.” Biologist Michael Levin said that. Charles Choi explains, in an article in LiveScience under the headline “Mutant tadpoles sprout eyeballs on their tails“. BONUS: “What the Frog’s Eye Tells the Frog’s Brain” BONUS: “Two legs, […]
Octopus goes twice as fast, with a wheel
How fast does an octopus typically run in an exercise wheel? That has yet to be determined. But one value is reported in the study: “Cutaneous Respiration in Octopus Vulgaris,” J.J. Madan and M.J. Wells, Journal of Experimental Biology, vol. 199, pp. 2477–2483 (1996). The authors, at the University of Cambridge, UK, explain, citing two […]
Hank says that’s why carbon is a tramp
Hank Green is pretty good at explaining things, with clear language, lots of metaphors, quick talk with varied pacing, hints of naughtiness, and bits of this and that. Here he talks about carbon, and how and why it matters to living things, then zips through other chemical gossip: (HT metafilter)
Effect of zebra stripes on horseflies
In a relative sense, zebra stripes repel horseflies. That’s the latest discovery reported by Gábor Horváth [pictured here], who discovered that white horses attract fewer flies, and that Vikings knew a thing or two about how to use light for ship navigation. For details, see the study: “Polarotactic tabanids find striped patterns with brightness and/or polarization modulation least […]
A little worm humor
If, like many people, you don’t knowingly work with nematodes, you may not have had the opportunity to partake of the best in little worm humor. The community of scientists who study these tiny worms gathers every year for a big meeting — and in the meeting, some of them perform The c. elegans Worm […]
Where faces come from (a new view)
Dany Adams gave one of the first 24/7 Lectures (the Lectures are now a featured annual part of the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony). It was also one of the most memorable, culminating in Adams’s seven-word definition of BIOLOGY: “If it can get infected, it’s biology.” This week Adams [pictured here] published a study together with […]
I am an eye, if I am an urchin, says Sam
Biology continues to prove itself weird almost (but not quite) beyond imagining. A press release from the University of Gothenberg, Sweden, quotes scientist Sam Dupont [pictured here, with two eyes] as saying: “We argue that the entire adult sea urchin can act as a huge compound eye, and that the shadow that is cast by […]