Category: Uncategorized
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Usually plant-inhabiting beetles are thought to be pests; so what terrorist would release thousands of them in a mall? The Mall of America released 72,000 ladybugs (ladybird beetles) in an effort to control aphids infesting the decorative plants growing throughout the mall area. Interestingly, such pest control solutions do not entirely wipe out the prey…
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While back here on this planet, the Awá people of Brasil are locked in a struggle much like that of Pandora in the film Avatar. The Awá are peaceful people, who normally wear barely more than the Sharers. They adopt orphaned monkeys, even breastfeeding them like babies. But–despite official demarcation of their pathetically small reserve–the…
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This article on Mars is worth picking up the latest New Yorker (if you don’t already subscribe–I cannot survive Ohio without it). The fascinating details of recent missions, and the backdrop of “Is there life?” research for the past thirty years. Here’s a taste: “There once were two planets, new to the galaxy and inexperienced…
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A Lousiana 19 year-old explains this–and other important reasons why we need to reform science education. The Teenaged “Troublemaker” Fighting For Science NPR: FLORA LICHTMAN, HOST: This is SCIENCE FRIDAY; I’m Flora Lichtman. OK, it’s time to feel like an underachiever. What were you doing when you were 19? Like me, you probably weren’t, oh,…
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Every few years we get a new call to change science education. The latest attempt is the Next Generation Science Standards, designed through a multi-year study by educators led by the National Academy of sciences. So far the press has emphasized that the new standards require teaching evolution and climate change. But there is far…
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Scientists claim to use 3D printing to print out water-lipid droplets that resemble living cells. The “cells” were droplets of watery solution in oil, picoliter size (one ten-to-the-twelfth of a liter). They were printed out in arrays determined by software. The droplets were formed not only in clumps, but in networks and arrays that could…
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New research reveals our implicit gender bias, with profound results for who runs things in science–and science fiction. See this thoughtful discussion on Charlie’s Diary.
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Can you imagine having an eye somewhere else in your body– and using it to see? Researchers claim to have made a tadpole do just that. They used a tadpole of the frog Xenopus laevis, a common model system for vertebrate development. They used blind frogs, and inserted a bit of embryonic eye tissue in…
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“It’s actually relatively rare that the Supreme Court decides something of such monumental importance that your grandchildren will be thinking about them, and this is that kind of case.” The US Supreme Court hears arguments today on Prop 8. Even now, the lawyers are making their case. The brief by Kristin Perry et al is…
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The singularity is the day when machine intelligence finally overtakes the human mind. But what if the singularity is already underway? And if it is–what does it look like? Suppose it looks like mitochondria. Suppose we’re becoming the mitochondria of our machines. How did mitochondria get to what they are today? The (now classic) theory…
Joan Slonczewski 