Category: Uncategorized
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Animals of gigantic size fascinate us. So do animals that are incredibly tiny. But how do they get that way? Why do some animals evolve into giants, while others downsize? Scientists have several hypotheses, all with evidence but also exceptions Island evolution. Suppose a population gets trapped on an island, with finite real estate and…
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So this Russian home video of a crow appearing to sled down a roof has gone viral. Animals at play are well known–especially baby animals, which behaviorists hasten to say are “learning” skills. What puzzles me is why a warm-blooded adult animal in the harsh Russian winter, who needs food and shelter, would spend time…
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For this week’s final microbial snapshot: How do our gut microbes learn to eat sushi? A study of the human gut microbiome (in other words, fecal bacteria) shows how different people with different diets carry different “enterotypes,” that is, different communities of species. For example, people who eat meat carry more species of Bacteroides, whereas…
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Jared Leadbetter at Cal Tech (the nice guy with the cat) studies tropical termite bacteria. Termites, you recall, chew up the wood of trees or houses, which their gut microbes digest for energy. But some termites do more interesting metabolism. Leadbetter was surprised to find that tropical termite guts contain spirochetes, monstrous spiral bacteria (like…
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This week I’m working on the next edition of Microbiology: An Evolving Science. So we’ll explore some of the more extreme discoveries about our microbial friends. For starters: Microbes might cause a rain dance to actually make rain. Our best model for precipitation says that bacteria make rain; that is, the physical form of a bacterium…
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We’ve had several posts on animal welfare, including Frank’s guest post on captive wildlife, and research for animal genetic health. Here’s a crucial case: chimpanzees. In 2007 the American NIH supposedly finalized its moratorium on breeding captive chimpanzees. (The rule did not prohibit breeding; it ended NIH funding of breeding.) The decision was hailed by…
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So just when we were done honoring Steve Jobs, here he is, “immortalized” in the uncanny valley of the action figure. The LA Times adds, “The prototype also includes two extra pair of hands in case you lose the first pair… also comes with two pairs of glasses, one black turtleneck, one pair of blue jeans,…
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To celebrate the New Year, I’ve posted a collection of some of the years’ reviews of The Highest Frontier. May give a nudge if it’s still on your to-read list. 😉 Some reviewers mention the “surprise” that isn’t–the alien roommate. It isn’t supposed to be a surprise. The reader should wonder, “Why doesn’t the college…
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How did life on Earth first arise out of the chemical soup? According to Nobelist Jack Szostak, it began with a self-replicating RNA chromosome inside a lipid bubble. It looks something like an HIV virus–and some people argue that “viruses” were the first cells. As the RNA made copies of itself, the bubble expanded. Szostak…
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Feel free to continue our awesome deep discussion of five-eyed intelligence, the microbial test for a habitable planet, and how to prove a planet’s dead. Meanwhile, I’d like to highlight one of my favorite blogs out there, the Featured Creature. The Featured Creature presents the bizarrest, cutest, and most arbitrarily hilarious of animals and protists…
Joan Slonczewski 