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Debate about life from other planets
Scientists have thawed samples of bacteria that were frozen in ice for up to 8,000,000 years in order to figure out whether these bacteria would still be viable and whether their DNA is intact. It...
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Female beetles get water from the males’ ejaculate
That is so gross, yet also very cool. The cowpea weevil or Callosobruchus maculatus has an arms race that is going between the males and females. This beetle species are promiscuous, and there is a lot...
View ArticleBohr and Complimentarity in Biology
The Scientist has a wonderful article about complimentarity in biology. Complimentarity is the application of two or more different theoretical approaches to a single problem: “Light and Life” is...
View ArticleMolecular biology should not be explained in the ER
This is just too good. All molecular biologists have had a conversation at least once where they try to actually explain what they do with their day to a lay-person, rather than just talking in stale...
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Sand dollar larva clone themselves in response to danger
I wish I could do this: Scientists exposed 4-day-old sand dollar larvae to fish mucus, a sign that danger is close. They found that the larvae created clones of themselves within 24 hours. “It’s the...
View ArticleHypothesis-Free Research?
Steven Wiley, writing in the Scientist, discusses the contradiction of the recent fad for “hypothesis-free” research: Following a recent computational biology meeting, a group of us got together for...
View ArticleVideo of a Rare Giant Squid
Check out this crazy video of a rare “elbowed” giant squid recorded from a Shell Oil remote operated vehicle in the Gulf of Mexico.
View ArticleNicholas Wade on the Colbert Report
Nicholas Wade (a friend of mine’s Dad actually) was on the Colbert Report talking about cloning wooly mammoths. Colbert asks the obvious question: why don’t we just staple shag carpeting to an...
View ArticleExpected in 2009: An Artificial Organism
Mark this on the list of “things to expect in 2009.” Craig Venter and his team expect to create the world’s first artificially synthesized organism: One likely announcement, which may happen any day of...
View ArticleDIY Bio will not end the world
People are doing biology in their kitchen now, or in rented labs with cheaper equipment: In Cambridge, Mass., a group called DIYbio is setting up a community lab where the public could use chemicals...
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