Observations
Masks and Emasculation: Why Some Men Refuse to Take Safety Precautions
They think it makes them look weak, and avoiding that is evidently more important to them than demonstrating responsible behavior
Blogs
Observations
How a Landmark Physics Paper from the 1970s Uncannily Describes the COVID-19 Pandemic
Phil Anderson’s article “More Is Different” describes how different levels of complexity require new ways of thinking. And as the virus multiplies and spreads, that’s just what the human race desperately needs...
Observations
The Fight against COVID-19 Threatens to Cause Collateral Health Damage
The pandemic is no excuse to abandon chronic disease management and prevention
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Under the Influence: Naomi Wolf, Biology, and Why We Are More Than Our Vaginas
Readers of this blog are likely already aware of Naomi Wolf’s book Vagina: A New Biography . I’m late to the party, because it just seemed wrong to pile on a feminist more senior to me who, though misguided, is at least working towards equality for women...
Cricket Fight Club: How is a Cricket Like a Rat?
When my brother and I were young, we were very careful to share the last bit of dessert equally. It's not that we were particularly magnanimous. In their wisdom, my parents instituted a rule in our house: one of us would divide the snack in half, and the other would select his half...
To Combat Alzheimer's, Scientists Genetically Reprogram 1 Kind of Brain Cell into Another
We all lose brain cells as we get older. In people with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's, neurons shrivel and die at alarming rates—perhaps three to four times faster than usual in Alzheimer's, for example...
Stumped by bed nets, mosquitoes turn midnight snack into breakfast
One of the most effective methods for the control of spread of malaria is the use of bed nets infused with insecticides. Most species of mosquitoes (the Anopheles genus) that carry the malarial parasite ( Plasmodium falciparum ) are considered to be strictly nocturnal - they are active only during the night.Thus, sleeping under the net provides protection against getting bitten by the insect vectors of the disease...
Super-Toxic Snake Venom Could Yield New Painkillers
A bite from the black mamba snake ( Dendroaspis polylepis ) can kill an adult human within 20 minutes. But mixed in with that toxic venom is a new natural class of compound that could be used to help develop new painkillers.Named "mambalgins," these peptides block acute and inflammatory pain in mice as well as morphine does, according to a new study.Researchers, led by Sylvie Diochot, of the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology at Nice University, Sophia Antipolis in France, purified the peptides from the venom and profiled the compounds' structure...
The Most Amazing Lego Contraption Ever
Video of the Week #63 October 3rd, 2012: From: Watch the Most Amazing Lego Contraption Ever by Michael Moyer at Observations . Source: Akiyuki First there was the video of the LEGO version of the Antikythera Mechanism--an ancient Greek computing device found in a shipwreck in 1901 used to calculate the positions of astronomical bodies with extraordinary precision...
ScienceSeeker Editor's Selections: Kid Scientists, Social Psychology, M&Ms for Rats
Here are my Science Seeker Editor's Selections for the past week:Science is really just kids play. Well, sort of. It turns out that when kids play, they "come up with general principles, akin to scientific theories, based on the data of their daily lives." Find out more at Discover Magazine's 80 Beats blog, where Ashley P...
Moving into the Wisconsin Idea
Dear Readers, it’s been quite awhile since I last wrote. In the intervening time, North Carolina Central University deemed me a Master of Biology, I traveled to see friends and family, and I moved to Madison, Wisconsin to start school in the Neuroscience and Public Policy program (NPP) at the University of Wisconsin – Madison...
Of the Creation Persuasion
The Earth is flat. A full moon leads to more crime. Humans were created less than 10,000 years ago.If you made your way through even the most general of science educations, the above statements should strike you as suspect...
Open Laboratory 2013 the complete list of entries!
Open Laboratory 2013 – the complete list of entries!We just closed the submission form for the 2013 edition. Thank you all who submitted the posts.Below are all the blog posts submitted over the past year...
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Anthropology in Practice
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Everything you always wanted to know about raising science-literate kids
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Explore the science behind the dog in your bed
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The Science Behind Extreme Weather
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Climate science in a changing world
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Mathematics: learning it, doing it, celebrating it.
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Adventures in the good science of rock-breaking.
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STAFFIllustrating science since 1845
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STAFFA science blog, sans blague
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A Blog About the Weird Wonderfulness of Life on Earth
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Exploring and celebrating diversity in science.
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