Clik here to view.
Get your mind out of the gutter, put you garden there
Now why didn’t TPP think of this? Using gutters to make hanging containers for gardening is just so obvious. One look at a couple of our old gutters with the maple seedlings sprouting forth should...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Music Is an Acquired Taste (for Mice)
Though mice are skittish and naturally seek out quiet, undisturbed spaces, you can turn them into music fans—if you get them while they're young. Scientists have found that mice who hear music during...
View ArticleClik here to view.
On the Goal of Student Seminars
A requirement in most, if not all, biology related graduate programs is that the graduate students give seminars on their research progress several times during their training. In the two programs I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
TPP is proposing a new scientific term “Brounian movement” – the directional movement of science from its current state of knowledge to that of the dark ages. Now the fact that Paul Broun thinks...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sceptics subconsciously repress supernatural thoughts
Cognitive inhibition is an important mental skill. Stopping or overriding mental processes, whether conscious or unconscious, is often needed - to suppress unwanted or irrelevant thoughts, to suppress...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Erudite Journals: Yet another predatory journal strategy
I just got an email invitation to publish in the Erudite Journal of Microbiology and Biodiversity. This is a group; they list ten other Erudite journals. Their publication fee is only $300, but they...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Strange and wonderful new things
One of the primary goals of teaching economic botany is to put a lot of new things in front of students, strange and wonderful things, new things to tickle the old curiosity. The problem is that you...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Let’s all find out how meth works: Crowdfunding a novel scientific paradigm
Image: trident In a previous post I described the benefits and enduring value of Small Science. I emphasized the fact that in the current economy and funding environment, Small Science is likely to be...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ochman on bacterial evolution
Yesterday I went to the annual Thomas S Whittam Memorial Lecture here at MSU. Howard Ochman talked about "Evolutionary Forces Affecting Bacterial Genomes", though he had changed the title to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
GPCRs win 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
What a nice surprise! Ever since Brian Kobilka's group solved the first GPCR-G protein structure I have been convinced that he and others will win the Nobel Prize. But I didn't think it would happen...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The magical role of the doormen
Half of all pharmaceuticals work because of a family of proteins that sit on the boundary of cells in the human body. This year’s Nobel prize in chemistry was awarded to Robert Lefkowitz and Brian...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Crystallography, chemistry and Nobel Prizes: Nothing to complain about
Roger Kornberg, chemist One reason I have been puzzled and disappointed by the negative response to "biologists winning the chemistry Nobel Prize" is that the biologists who are the target of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Quote of the day
"Every event, or appearance, or accident, which seems to deviate from the ordinary course of nature has been rashly ascribed to the immediate action of the Deity and the astonished fancy of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Urinating Through Your Mouth Is Great. Ask This Turtle.
Even if you did ask the Chinese soft-shelled turtle what's so great about excreting bodily waste through one's mouth, you would probably just get gurgling in reply. The animal spends a lot of time...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ethrog or Citron
Here's a nice post about the citron, not one of the more popular, well-known, or useful of citrus fruits. At times it's tough to know what fruit or plant ancient texts are referencing, but if you like...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ethics training
Lincolnland requires all its employees to have annual ethics training. Without question there are many ethical issues that confront university faculty; too bad the training has nothing to do with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Welcome to Jurassic Park?
A fictional book that became a dino blockbuster, and it was on the telly last weekend! Jurassic Park is currently the 23rd highest-grossing film of all time - that's higher than Spider-man, Twilight...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Nobel prize chocolate connection
Who knew? A highly significant correlation exists between a country's per capita consumption of chocolate and the number of Nobel prizes won by citizens of that country. Naturally out there...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Templeton grant to answer timeless question
The C (ronk) HE is a favorite news organization for what's happening now in higher education. This news source recently announced that a recipient of a Templeton grant would attempt to answer the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Uh oh! Honey dew weekend!
This is not a good sign. Mrs. Phactor is on the patio and the table is covered with various bags and boxes of bulbs. In the spring bulbs are great; in the fall they make my back ache because they...
View Article