Category: Uncategorized
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Our bacteria lab graduate Dan Riggins ’12 works at FDA starting this summer. He posts this about his work on Lactobacillus as a probiotic for MRSA (drug-resistant Staph aureus): “Probiotics are kind of a hot topic in biomedical research right now. If you’ve eaten a cup of Activia yogurt or drunk a bottle-conditioned beer (Short’s…
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The recent Mars landing is an impressive case of research requiring absolutely flawless performance–any one mistake in the parachute, or bug in the computer, could have doomed the entire 2.5-billion dollar program. No Twitter marriage proposals for the NASA “mohawk guy.” But sometimes exciting findings result from the opposite–from mistakes due to carelessness, laziness, or…
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NASA’s $2.5 billion mission paid off as Curiosity lands on Mars. Never mind that Google placed the news second behind the latest nut shooting. This is how space was supposed to be–risk all to gain all. The ultimate Olympic team. What will Curiosity find there? As it happens, during my “vacation” I was reading about…
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My one “true vacation” this summer, I’ve been out in NY visiting my parents in Katonah and my sister in NY. Here are the awesome sea lions of Central Park Zoo. A small zoo, just enough for one very hot afternoon in the sun. The sea lions knew it was feeding time, and were eager…
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We hear much about the fortunes of corn, wheat and rice, and their various insect competitors for our crop. But what about something even more important for civilization–the cacao tree, source of cocoa and chocolate. In twenty years, will cocoa be rare? Cocoa production involves one of the most complex fermentations of any food. First…
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One of the more amazing symbioses in nature is that of the squid Euprimnes scolopes with its light-producing bacteria, Vibrio fischeri. A recent paper by Margaret McFall-Ngai details the chemical language that maintains the relationship between the two. The squid light organs have a ciliated-cell appendage (left, confocal microscopy) with three pores that admit V.…
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The surprise loss of Sally Ride has inspired numerous commentaries. Most thoughtful details on Ride–and on other women astronauts–are found on Athena’s blog. “Sally Kristen Ride, one of the iconic First Others in space flight, recently died at the relatively young age of 61: she was the first American woman to participate in missions. Her…
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Stanford researchers report constructing the first “virtual cell.” While the news media hyperventilate, let’s ask: What does it mean? Before defining a virtual cell, or virtual life, the question is: What is life? Increasingly, molecular biologist assume that a living organism consists of information–DNA, RNA, protein, as well as all the enzyme fluxes, ion fluxes,…
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While we mourn the “tragedy” this week (it’s a “tragedy” when the suspect’s name is Anglo-Saxon, otherwise “act of terror”) it’s worth rereading this review of the film published before the event. Why do we consider it acceptable to watch realistic films of horrific events? Aren’t we approaching the “singularity” where the virtual merges with…
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A major summer industry in New England is the Gordon Research Conferences, on subjects ranging from microbial stress to atomic physics. According to ancient tradition, on Sunday the SUVs collect before a redbrick building at a distinguished tree-filled college. Researchers stroll forth in denim and sandals; some white-haired, others black- or blond-ponytailed, of all ethnicities…
Joan Slonczewski 