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Countdown to #Scio13 & Preparing for Discussions on Diversity in the Sciences

Countdown to ScienceOnline 2013 – the 7th annual (and largest) gathering of STEM and Social Media Enthusiast will convene in the Research Triangle, North Carolina. I love this conference. It has become my favorite professional gathering in the last few years. I’v met some amazing people – intelligent, innovative, creative, communicative, honest, generous, caring, supportive [...]

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Why I’ve also joined the good guys

For some months now I have known of a very promising initiative that until recently I have been asked not to publicize too widely, because the people in charge of it did not have a good estimate for when it would actually come to fruition. But now those who know about it have been given [...]

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This Penguin: An Unexpected Journey

The humble king penguin chick had no way of knowing, when it woke up that day, that tall creatures from far away would come to send it on a journey. Nor could it know that its journey would become the subject of a manuscript read and studied by many. (It still doesn't know that part, because it's a bird.) When the humans came, the penguin was in its crèche, a cluster of young birds left behind while their parents foraged. Other penguins young and old stretched away from it […]

Nesterova, A., Chiffard, J., Couchoux, C. & Bonadonna, F. (2013). The invisible cues that guide king penguin chicks home. The use of magnetic and acoustic cues during orientation and short-range navigation, Journal of Experimental Biology, DOI: 10.1242/jeb.075564

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Fecal Transplants: A Clinical Trial Confirms How Well They Work

A little more than a year ago, I wrote a piece in Scientific American about fecal transplants — replacing the stool in someone’s colon with stool donated by someone else — as a treatment for the pernicious, recurrent diarrhea caused ...

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Brighter LEDs bioinspired from fireflies

A team of researchers from Belgium, Canada, and France have developed a more efficient gallium nitride (GaN)-based LED using a design inspired by the firefly. The design, fabrication, and characterization of this [...]

Bay, A., André, N., Sarrazin, M., Belarouci, A., Aimez, V., Francis, L. & Vigneron, J. (2013). Optimal overlayer inspired by Photuris firefly improves light-extraction efficiency of existing light-emitting diodes, Optics Express, 21 (S1) DOI: 10.1364/OE.21.00A179

Bay, A., Cloetens, P., Suhonen, H. & Vigneron, J. (2013). Improved light extraction in the bioluminescent lantern of a Photuris firefly (Lampyridae), Optics Express, 21 (1) 764. DOI: 10.1364/OE.21.000764

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NASA rover ready to drill into Martian rock

The Mars Curiosity rover has discovered rocks shot through with veins of pale minerals, probably created by flowing water. It's time to start drilling

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Posts with Citations

Is hefting to perceive the affordance for throwing a smart perceptual mechanism?

In the last post, I reviewed Geoff's first paper looking at whether people can perceive the affordance for throwing an object to a maximum distance and a first swing at identifying the information specifying the affordance. People can perceive the affordance. Bingham et al then identified an invariant relation between the timing of the motions of the wrist and elbow when people hefted the balls they chose as optimal for throwing, and showed that this kinematic pattern specified a peak in […]

Zhu, Q. & Bingham, G. (2008). Is hefting to perceive the affordance for throwing a smart perceptual mechanism?, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 34 (4) 929-943. DOI: 10.1037/0096-1523.34.4.929

Bingham, G., Schmidt, R. & Rosenblum, L. (1989). Hefting for a maximum distance throw: A smart perceptual mechanism., Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 15 (3) 507-528. DOI: 10.1037//0096-1523.15.3.507

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Glimpsed at last - the life of neuropsychology's most important patient

Leborgne's brain Monsieur Leborgne, nicknamed Tan Tan, for that was the only syllable he could utter (save for a swear word or two), died in the care of the neurologist Paul Broca in Paris on April 17, 1861. Arguably the most important case in the history of neuropsychology, Leborgne's death coincided with a debate raging in scholarly circles about the location of language function in the brain. When Broca autopsied Leborgne's brain, he observed a malformation on the left frontal lobe - […]

Domanski CW (2013). Mysterious "Monsieur Leborgne": The Mystery of the Famous Patient in the History of Neuropsychology is Explained., Journal of the history of the neurosciences, 22 (1) 47-52. PMID: 23323531

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How the dog (and its genes) came out of the Wild Woods…

According to a paper published in Nature, the steps in the dog's evolution away from the wolf is marked by the appearance of genes that enable it to digest human food.

Axelsson, E., Ratnakumar, A., Arendt, M., Maqbool, K., Webster, M., Perloski, M., Liberg, O., Arnemo, J., Hedhammar, �. & Lindblad-Toh, K. & (2013). The genomic signature of dog domestication reveals adaptation to a starch-rich diet, Nature, DOI: 10.1038/nature11837

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Pregnancy, Motherhood, and Eating Disorders: Women’s Experiences

There is a common misconception that eating disorders somehow disappear during pregnancy; that becoming a mother stops all those silly worries about being slim and attractive. This is not necessarily the case, but unfortunately, there is a lot of stigma associated with talking about disordered eating behaviours during pregnancy. Openly admitting to it is an invitation, it seems, to being called selfish and vain. The implication is that eating disorders are something only young girls struggle […]

Tierney, S., Fox, J., Butterfield, C., Stringer, E. & Furber, C. (2011). Treading the tightrope between motherhood and an eating disorder: A qualitative study, International Journal of Nursing Studies, 48 (10) 1223-1233. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2010.11.007

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Staphylococcus aureus diversity and subclinical mastitis

This is the first study I’ve found that was interested in cataloging bacterial diversity among subclinical (or asymptomatic) infections. While they may be less threatening to the animal’s overall health, these infections have great significance in the world of animal agriculture, where they restrict growth (or in this case, milk production), and encourage the use [...]

Bulanda M, Zaleska M, Mandel L, Talafantova M, Travnicek J, Kunstmann G, Mauff G, Pulverer G & Heczko PB (1989). Toxicity of staphylococcal toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 for germ-free and conventional piglets., Reviews of infectious diseases, 11 Suppl 1 53. PMID: 2928643

Oliveira L, Rodrigues AC, Hulland C & Ruegg PL (2011). Enterotoxin production, enterotoxin gene distribution, and genetic diversity of Staphylococcus aureus recovered from milk of cows with subclinical mastitis., American journal of veterinary research, 72 (10) 1361-8. PMID: 21962279

Takeuchi, S., Ishiguro, K., Ikegami, M., Kaidoh, T. & Hayakawa, Y. (1998). Production of toxic shock syndrome toxin by Staphylococcus aureus isolated from mastitic cow's milk and farm bulk milk, Veterinary Microbiology, 59 (4) 251-258. DOI: 10.1016/S0378-1135(96)01253-9

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SWAG: The Aversion to Harm Others

Every Wednesday afternoon, I gather with a bunch of faculty and graduate students at the University of Illinois to discuss a journal article about social psychology, and to eat a snack. This blog post reflects the discussion we had during this week's seminar affectionately called Social Wednesdays and Grub (SWAG). This week in SWAG we read a paper on committing harmful actions by Fiery Cushman and colleagues (2012), who may have the most fantastic name in all of the academic world. Cushman […]

Cushman F, Gray K, Gaffey A & Mendes WB (2012). Simulating murder: the aversion to harmful action., Emotion (Washington, D.C.), 12 (1) 2-7. PMID: 21910540

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Common birds: Ring-necked Dove

Ring-necked Dove (Cape Turtle Dove) in Tarangire, photo from here Two more challenges have been set since the last one, and I'm hoping to rise to each! The first was for the African Collared Dove, however that species (Streptopelia roseogrisea) from the drier north of Africa in the Sahel and in the Middle East is not found in Eastern or Southern Africa and I suspect request was for a Ring-necked Dove Streptopelia capicola which is indeed one of the commonest birds to be seen in the bush across […]

Gillespie, M., Stanley, D., Chen, H., Donald, J., Nicholas, K., Moore, R. & Crowley, T. (2012). Functional Similarities between Pigeon ‘Milk’ and Mammalian Milk: Induction of Immune Gene Expression and Modification of the Microbiota, PLoS ONE, 7 (10) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0048363

Gillespie, M., Haring, V., McColl, K., Monaghan, P., Donald, J., Nicholas, K., Moore, R. & Crowley, T. (2011). Histological and global gene expression analysis of the 'lactating' pigeon crop, BMC Genomics, 12 (1) 452. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2164-12-452

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Training the Next Generation of Neurosurgeons in Virtual Reality

On a recent afternoon in a conference room in the Surgery Brain Research Pavilion at the University of Chicago Medicine, first year medical students took turns donning 3D glasses and sitting down at what looked like an arcade game. As they peered into the screen, they used a pen attached to a robotic arm to [...]

Alaraj, A., Charbel, F., Birk, D., Tobin, M., Luciano, C., Banerjee, P., Rizzi, S., Sorenson, J., Foley, K., Slavin, K. & Roitberg, B. (2013). Role of Cranial and Spinal Virtual and Augmented Reality Simulation Using Immersive Touch Modules in Neurosurgical Training, Neurosurgery, 72 DOI: 10.1227/NEU.0b013e3182753093

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The Real Catfish of Lake Tanganyika

Photo of Manti Te'o by Shotgun Spratling and Neon Tommy at WikimediaPoor Manti Te’o may just be the most gullible schlub on the planet. For those of you that haven’t heard the story, the Notre Dame linebacker and runner-up for the 2012 Heisman Trophy led his team to the BCS National Championship Game, despite (or perhaps inspired by) the tremendous personal losses he has suffered this season. Last September, Te’o learned first of the death of his grandmother, and then within hours learned […]

Wright, J. (2011). CONSERVATIVE COEVOLUTION OF MÜLLERIAN MIMICRY IN A GROUP OF RIFT LAKE CATFISH, Evolution, 65 (2) 395-407. DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2010.01149.x

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Is CTE Detectable in Living NFL Players?

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease seen most often in athletes with repeated concussions.1 The condition has drawn extensive media attention due to the number of cases reported among retired NFL players. The disease can only be diagnosed at autopsy, because the brain tissue has to be stained for characteristic protein abnormalities which cannot be visualized in a living human.Until now, that is, according to a new study by Gary Small and […]

McKee, A., Stein, T., Nowinski, C., Stern, R., Daneshvar, D., Alvarez, V., Lee, H., Hall, G., Wojtowicz, S., Baugh, C. & Riley, D. (2012). The spectrum of disease in chronic traumatic encephalopathy, Brain, DOI: 10.1093/brain/aws307

Gary W. Small, Vladimir Kepe, Prabha Siddarth, Linda M. Ercoli, David A. Merrill, Natacha Donoghue, Susan Y. Bookheimer, Jacqueline Martinez, Bennet Omalu, Julian Bailes, Jorge R. Barrio (2013). PET Scanning of Brain Tau in Retired National Football League Players: Preliminary Findings, Am J Geriatr Psychiatry, 21

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Does Experience Help People Recognize Emotion in Dogs?

In last week’s post about dogs’ responses to petting by familiar and unfamiliar people, we said dogs generally prefer to be petted in certain places, and people don’t always recognize the subtle signals that show when a dog is uncomfortable. This week, we’re looking at a study that investigates whether experience with dogs helps people to recognize canine emotions such as happiness and fear.The internet survey was conducted by Michele Wan and colleagues at Columbia University, New York, […]

Wan M, Bolger N & Champagne FA (2012). Human perception of fear in dogs varies according to experience with dogs., PloS one, 7 (12) PMID: 23284765

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Video Tip of the Week: ZooBank and species nomenclature

Nomenclature may not be the hottest topic in biology. But it really is foundational for the organization of data, and crucial to bioinformatics resources. I first came into contact with the importance of standardized naming conventions when I worked at The Jackson Lab, which included part of the mouse gene nomenclature committee. As I began [...]

Editorial (2012). The name game, Nature, 489 (7415) 178-178. DOI: 10.1038/489178a

Krell, F. (2012). Electronic publication of new animal names - An interview with Frank-T. Krell, Commissioner of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature and Chair of the ICZN ZooBank Committee, BMC Evolutionary Biology, 12 (1) 184. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2148-12-184

Baker, E. & Michel, E. (2011). Data standards, sense and stability: Scratchpads, the ICZN and ZooBank, ZooKeys, 150 167. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.150.2248

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Is Cannabis Usage “Related” to Strokes?

Any research related to cannabis is bound to be sensationalized or politicized because people have strong emotional and political views about its usage. A few months ago, my fellow Scilogs blogger Suzi Gage wrote an excellent blog post about a study that investigated the link between cannabis usage and intelligence. That study had many critical flaws which were often ignored when the research was reported and discussed in the media. All research should be conducted and reported cautiously. […]

Wolff, V., Armspach, J., Lauer, V., Rouyer, O., Bataillard, M., Marescaux, C. & Geny, B. (2012). Cannabis-related Stroke: Myth or Reality?, Stroke, 44 (2) 558-563. DOI: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.112.671347

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Can you fake your personality in a photo?

Say you wanted your Facebook pic or Twitter avatar to convey to the world that you have a particular personality type, different from how you really are, would you be able to pose in a such a way to achieve this? A new Finnish study led by Sointu Leikas has explored this idea by asking 60 participants (average age 27; 30 men) to pose for 11 photographs, from waist up, against a white background. The first photo was simply taken as they posed freely. Next, they posed the extremes of […]

Leikas, S., Verkasalo, M. & Lönnqvist, J. (2013). Posing personality: Is it possible to enact the Big Five traits in photographs?, Journal of Research in Personality, 47 (1) 15-21. DOI: 10.1016/j.jrp.2012.10.012

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An Evolutionary Ploy Employing Polyploidy

Biology concepts – polyploidy, autopolyploidy, allopolyploidy, gigas effect, heterosisThe Sixth Day was a cheesy science fiction thriller about cloning. But plants do have different versions of themselves in many cases, produced not by cloning, but by polyploidization. I have no idea what cloning Arnold had to do with the funky lights in the eyes; maybe it is a vitamin D thing.Imaginethat there are three different versions of you, each with different strengths and weaknesses, living in […]

Hao GY, Lucero ME, Sanderson SC, Zacharias EH, Holbrook NM. (2012). Polyploidy enhances the occupation of heterogeneous environments through hydraulic related trade-offs in Atriplex canescens (Chenopodiaceae)., New Phytol.,

SALMON, A., AINOUCHE, M. & WENDEL, J. (2005). Genetic and epigenetic consequences of recent hybridization and polyploidy in Spartina (Poaceae), Molecular Ecology, 14 (4) 1163-1175. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2005.02488.x

Guo M, Davis D, Birchler JA. (1996). Dosage effects on gene expression in a maize ploidy series, Trends in Genetics, 12 (8) 293. DOI: 10.1016/0168-9525(96)81463-6

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Maternal C-reactive protein and autism

As per my previous blog entry on the possibility of some involvement of a skin-brain axis to cases of autism (no, seriously), one of the key themes seemingly increasing in importance in autism research is the possibility of some connection with inflammation and the inflammatory processes.Whilst sounding completely at odds with how autism is commonly described - a developmental disorder variably manifesting specific behavioural and cognitive features - there is a surprisingly long and growing […]

Brown, A., Sourander, A., Hinkka-Yli-Salomäki, S., McKeague, I., Sundvall, J. & Surcel, H. (2013). Elevated maternal C-reactive protein and autism in a national birth cohort, Molecular Psychiatry, DOI: 10.1038/mp.2012.197

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Culturomics- A Perspective

Greetings,Fig 1: Core and variable componentsof the human microbiome. Source Give a moments thought to this. There are several set of organisms seen in association with humans as microbial flora. Much of the microbes have not been studied in detail, that is demanded by the science. Reason? its simply difficult to culture them in the laboratory. With the invent of DNA studies, a large number of bacteria have been studied with strategies such as the metagenomics. A […]

Lagier JC, Armougom F, Million M, Hugon P, Pagnier I, Robert C, Bittar F, Fournous G, Gimenez G, Maraninchi M & Trape JF (2012). Microbial culturomics: paradigm shift in the human gut microbiome study., Clinical microbiology and infection : the official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, 18 (12) 1185-93. PMID: 23033984

Greub, G. (2012). Culturomics: a new approach to study the human microbiome, Clinical Microbiology and Infection, DOI: 10.1111/1469-0691.12032

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How to Build a Neuron: Step 5

And now, the final step in how to build your computational model of a neuron: Add Synaptic Channels. All the steps in this series can be found here.Synapses connect neurons (source)So you already have a neuron, and you've added intrinsic channels to it. The next thing you want to do is add synaptic channels so you can hook this neuron up to other cells.The main synaptic channels you want to add are the excitatory channels: NMDA and AMPA and the inhibitory channel GABA. These channels don't have […]

Evans RC, Morera-Herreras T, Cui Y, Du K, Sheehan T, Kotaleski JH, Venance L & Blackwell KT (2012). The effects of NMDA subunit composition on calcium influx and spike timing-dependent plasticity in striatal medium spiny neurons., PLoS computational biology, 8 (4) PMID: 22536151

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Supergenes, Sociality, and Sex Chromosomes

A new paper in Nature shows that the social structure of fire ant colonies is determined by a ‘supergene’ – a single non-recombining cluster of hundreds of genes. The supergene makes up more than 50% of a pair of divergent … Continue reading →

Wang, J., Wurm, Y., Nipitwattanaphon, M., Riba-Grognuz, O., Huang, Y., Shoemaker, D. & Keller, L. (2013). A Y-like social chromosome causes alternative colony organization in fire ants, Nature, DOI: 10.1038/nature11832

Bourke, A. & Mank, J. (2013). Genetics: A social rearrangement, Nature, DOI: 10.1038/nature11854

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Sedentary behaviour associated with 6-year increase in waist circumference (but not much else) in the Quebec Family Study

As regular readers of Obesity Panacea will know, my current research focuses on the health impact of sedentary behaviour (e.g. sitting). In the past 5-10 years there has been a growing body of evidence that suggests that the more you …

Saunders, T., Tremblay, M., Després, J., Bouchard, C., Tremblay, A. & Chaput, J. (2013). Sedentary Behaviour, Visceral Fat Accumulation and Cardiometabolic Risk in Adults: A 6-Year Longitudinal Study from the Quebec Family Study, PLoS ONE, 8 (1) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0054225

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