October 2010
Looking for Tumblrs of great science fans, scientists, and various examples of other mildly sciencey awesomeness. I think I follow most of them, but got any hidden favorites? Let me know!
(Especially scientists and science writers on Tumblr)
Rock on to Friday, friends!
September 2010
2 tags
1 tag
Study finds first direct evidence that ADHD is a... →
“The study also found significant overlap between these segments, known as copy number variants (CNVs), and genetic variants implicated in autism and schizophrenia, proving strong evidence that ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder”
Sorry if you can’t concentrate on the article long enough to read it. It’s the CNVs.
jasonalmenas asked: What do you think about the UN name Malaysian astrophysicist Mazlan Othman as the official ambassador for Earth if we ever communicate with alien life? My skeptical side tells me this is just a lot of hot air and the title holds no actual weight, the giddy side wonders if something has already been discovered that we'd need this for.
Is this women getting paid for this? Would...
Is this women getting paid for this? Would...
4 tags
1 tag
Weak Ties, Twitter and Revolution | Wired Science →
Jonah Lehrer basically says that Malcolm Gladwell, in all of his pop-psych goodness, simply isn’t right when it comes to weak ties and social change.
In other words, it’s hard for a guy who doesn’t use Twitter very much to comment on how useful it can be, Mr. Gladwell.
3 tags
Universe Today throws some cold water on "100%... →
Reactions from various astronomers and scientists include:
“Until we know more about this planet and the origin of life itself, any claim of certain habitation is idiotic and does not serve science,” said Dr. Stuart Clark
Mark Thompson (@PeoplesAstro), Astronomy presenter on BBC’s the One Show said the Vogt’s quote was “absolutely and totally inappropriate. We can’t even be 100% sure it’s made...
Earth like planet can sustain life
itsfullofstars:
“A new member in a family of planets circling a red dwarf star 20 light-years away has just been found. It’s called Gliese 581g, and the ‘g’ may very well stand for Goldilocks. Gliese 581g is the first world discovered beyond Earth that’s the right size and location for life.”
Read full article here.
1 tag
1 tag
1 tag
I'm a New Voice For Research →
Hey, so the author of a certain Tumblr that you happen to be reading right now just happens to be Research!America’s New Voices for Research Advocate of the Week-Or-So. It’s all about outreach. I did a little phone interview for them posted there. Any thoughts or feedback?
Next Gen Digital Sight Could Cure Blindness →
popmech:
The Brilliant Idea: An artificial retina that transforms a camera feed into electric pulses that stimulate the optic nerve, providing rudimentary vision for millions of people with degenerative…
3 tags
Research integrity: Sabotage! (Nature News) →
“Some say that the structure of the scientific enterprise is to blame. The big rewards — tenured positions, grants, papers in stellar journals — are won through competition. To get ahead, researchers need only be better than those they are competing with.”
I don’t want to say that outright sabotage is common, or even frequent, but I think that competitiveness among researchers...
3 tags
3 tags
2 tags
4 tags
WatchOK, so yesterday I promised a special treat for those of you who love the now-famous Inner Life of the Cell video. Here it is! The Harvard University team behind that video has created a new animation highlighting the powerhouse of the cell, the mitochondria. If you thought the last one was complicated, it’s got nothing on this one.
The little prokaryotic endosymbionts that we call the...
3 tags
Nestlé Announces New Food Science Institute →
“So-called functional foods and nutraceuticals, such as yogurts with “good” bacteria, have already become a multibillion dollar market, but Nestlé says it plans to go a step further by providing consumers with “personalized health science nutrition”—although company representatives were vague on how this would work exactly.”
4 tags
2 tags
Follow @statesman on Twitter for continuing coverage of UT shooter. Austin American-Statesman website has photos of police situation continually updating here.
The campus emergency system has announced the ALL CLEAR signal here on campus.
2 tags
Wow, what a Tumblr Tuesday
Sorry, I am a little late getting on Tumblr this morning. Those of you in the US paying attention to the news will notice that a gunman caused some havoc on the UT-Austin campus today. Well, that happens to be where I am … safe and sound in a building on the opposite side of campus, thankfully.
Anyway, thanks to ellipses, folksonginc, and whyiask for their past recommendations, and if...
How Did It All Begin? The Self-Assembly of Organic... →
scipsy:
Creatures from the Black Lagoon: Lessons in the Diversity and Evolution of Eukaryotes
1 tag
2 tags
WatchI heart all of my Tumblr peeps. Get it?!
1 tag
Remember the awesome video for the Inner Life of the Cell that everyone and their mother seems to love?
I am working on a research deadline today, but tomorrow I am gonna have a treat for all of you who like that video. It’s gonna be a real powerhouse of a post.
3 tags
2 tags
Scientists catch on to micro-philanthropy online,... →
Just like Kickstarter has done for, well everything, SciFlies.org hopes to provide the same community-reviewed and financed model to research funding. By completely bypassing government peer-review and replacing it with crowd-sourced funding and localized peer-review, innovative, risky and small-scale pilot studies could now have more chance at receiving money.
2 tags
Vimeo Awards Finalists →
Not science-y, but awesome. The finalists for the Vimeo Awards are up, and there are so many great pieces of video here that I can’t even begin to tel you where to start. Prepare to be distracted and amazed.
Six scientists tell us about the most accurate... →
Vampires, robots, etc … looks like they can be scientifically accurate.
3 tags
1 tag
4 tags
3 tags
3 tags
Does your brain know you’re drinking Diet? |... →
“The question comes down to this: are the same areas of the brain activated when you drink sugary drinks as opposed to drinks sweetened with non-caloric sweetener?”
Not to spoil the surprise, but your brain can tell the difference. I won’t tell you which direction that difference is noted, though. You’ll have to read more for that. I think that the study (as described)...
3 tags
4 tags
NPR: The Birth Of A Monarch Butterfly - And NPR's... →
npr:
It seems appropriate to kick of NPR’s little experiment on Tumblr with this photo from a commentary we posted yesterday on NPR.org. Artist Julie Zickenfoose shares her story about the beauty of watching monarch butterflies emerging from their chrysalis at her wildlife sanctuary in Ohio….
Welcome to the party, NPR!
3 tags
Yesterday's Twitter hack = artificial life form? →
Martin Robbins over at his Guardian blog has an insightful take on yesterday’s Twitter worm. He relates the self-replicating code to an artificial life form, and notes that the speed and patterns with which it spread are very similar to pandemic biological viruses. In the study of patterns of pandemic infection, networks like Twitter (full of detailed statistics and traffic patterns)...
