Sci is at SciAm blogs today, looking at a recent study which examines the effects of stress on telomerase. Telomerase lengthens your telomeres, and telomeres help keep your cells from aging. In times of stress, you might want to keep your telomeres long. Head over and check it out. EDIT (3/26/13): Based on reader comments, […]
Most everyone who drinks has had some variation on this conversation with other drinkers: Person 1: Let’s go out and get margaritas!!! Person 2: Ugh, beer for me then, tequila does horrible things to me. Person 1: Well I can’t do beer, clear liquors are the only way I never get a hangover! …and so […]
Sex does strange things to males. Specifically, to some kinds of male mice. When a male mouse is a virgin, he makes for a terrible father figure. Male mice who haven’t mated show a lot of aggression toward baby mice (pups) and will attack and kill them if you let them. But what happens when […]
Sci is at SciAm Blogs today, talking about a recent controversy. The paper is not a scientific study, instead it’s a scientific study of scientists, and how they look at science communication. Do they use blogs? Media outlets? Who do they trust, who do they think has influence? The answers are, sadly, not very surprising, […]
Today’s paper came to me via a tweet from the perspicacious Ivan Oransky, who linked to the Reuters coverage. I can’t help it, this paper made me sing. *sings* To everything (sperm, sperm, sperm) There is a season (sperm, sperm, sperm) And a time, to many humans, for conceeeeeeeeption. Or perhaps… *sings* It’s the time, […]
Sci is at SciAm Blogs today for the launch of the new SciAm MIND section! Make sure to head over and check out all things brain! And I’m there today talking about a study looking at positive bias in processing social feedback. Because it’s true, we all really go prefer compliments! Head over and check […]
Sci is at SciAm blogs today, talking about how some plants, particularly the coffee and citrus plants, use caffeine in their nectar to make bees remember them. But do they remember them fondly? Well that is still to bee determined. Head over and check it out!
The body doesn’t like foreign objects. For example, our skin is often able to “work out” small splinters, and we can reject many implants with nasty allergic responses to them. Some species (such as catfish), when you give them an implant, will work it into the intestine, and poop it out (there’s even a report […]
I rarely opine on publishing or publishing practices. This is mostly because I feel like I’m not ‘good’ at them. My papers don’t often get in with minor revisions. Often I’ve got a ridiculously puffed head about my own work (apparently), and send them to places which reject them out of hand, or suggest major […]
Sci is at SciAm Blogs today, talking about the recent study showing two rats, connected brain to brain. Did we create Borg? What is this connection exactly…and what does it mean? And is it worth the hype? Head over and check it out.