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We Have a Winner
My favorite 'philosophy of science' blog Evolving Thoughts had a contest last month. Well it was more of a raffle than a contest. Regardless, the prize was a signed copy of Dr. Wilkins book Species: A...
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Osteohistology of Some Triassic Archosauromorphs
Botha-Brink, J., and R. M. H. Smith. 2011. Osteohistology of the Triassic archosauromorphs Prolacerta, Proterosuchus, Euparkeria, and Erythrosuchus from the Karoo Basin of South Africa. Journal of...
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Food quest
On the Phactor's honey-do list is a quest for several odds and ends, more the former than the latter, for some sort of cooking event. Five-spice powder is most commonly composed of star anise (a basal...
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New Material of the Cynodont Dadadon isaloi from the Triassic of Madagascar
Ranivoharimanana, L., Kammerer, C. F., John J. Flynn, J. J., and A. R. Wyss. 2011. New material of Abstract - New material of the traversodontid cynodont Dadadon isaloi from the Triassic of...
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Tough Review, but it's a masterpiece!
“It must be said at once that this book is better than having a sausage stuck to the end of your nose.” (Mark Golden’s review of a book by S. Pomeroy in Classical Review). How's that for not a very...
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Gaia
"Surface conditions on Earth, have been for most of geological time regulated by life…[]…This new link between Geology and Biology originated in the Gaia hypothesis'' NASA geologist Paul Lowman (2002)...
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Hot prairie research
Yesterday was a beautiful November day here in the upper midwest. On Monday last our prairie study site was burned, a fall rather than a spring burn. The reason for this hinges on observed differences...
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Bacteria You'll Meet in a Public Restroom
Whether you're intentionally starting your Christmas shopping or you unwittingly get swept into Macy's by a tide of deal-seekers, you may eventually have to face a public restroom. You'll be sharing it...
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Friday Fabulous Flower - Big Blue Bromeliad
This particular house/garden plant has always been reluctant to flower. While most of the tropicals flower annually, and reliably, this particular bromeliad (Tillandsia cyanea) often goes a couple of...
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Disparity and Convergence in Bipedal Archosaur Locomotion
Bates, K. T., and E. R. Schachner. 2011. Disparity and convergence in bipedal archosaur locomotion. Journal of the Royal Society Interface (advance online publication) doi: 10.1098/rsif.2011.0687...
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Growth of GFAJ-1 in arsenate
I've now tested whether the growth of GFAJ-1 is indeed stimulated by arsenate, as was suggested by the yields of my DNA-prep cultures. This time I was very careful to keep the ionic strength constant,...
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Firs, Pines, and Douglas-firs, oh my!
'Tis the season when many people purchase decorative conifer trees; otherwise they own some ersatz version thereof. No option exists in our household because Mrs. Phactor is of the most firm opinion...
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Football has corrupted America's universities
(In which I take on the football-industrial complex again.)Big-time college football is no longer a sport. It's a very expensive entertainment industry with commercial sponsors, big-money television...
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Food quest in action
The food quest of a couple of days ago is being put into action, and the Phactor has just spent 30 mins carmelizing a pound and a half of purple onions. Apparently a dozen or so people are coming for...
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Atheists and rapists: you just can't trust 'em
Atheists are a pretty disliked bunch of people in North America. Most atheists will be aware of polling data that puts them at the bottom of the loathing pile. Question is, what's driving that...
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The Source
I was taking some photos today of the new house to send to my parents in New Zealand, when I thought I might take some extras to put up here and demonstrate the current state of my office. You never...
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The Origins of Inequality
Inequality is a national conversation topic now, thanks largely to the efforts of Occupy Wall Street and the broader Occupy movement. Fundamental questions are being asked, such as "Must inequality...
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Why Students Cheat
As a member of an academic integrity committee at my university I have learned a lot of things. Some of these things I wish I hadn't. Maybe the better way to put it is Im glad I learned these things,...
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End of the semester in sight
A good friend was on the faculty at the University of Minnesota in Duluth, and as he put it, "Duluth is not the end of the Earth, but if you stand on your car's hood you can see the end from there."...
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The Tuna-Lizards
The classic ichthyosaur Ichthyosaurus communis, from here. Ichthyosaurs have long been one of the most famous examples of convergent evolution. These Mesozoic marine reptiles, as any textbook will tell...
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