If one anti-larval gene is not working anymore, pair two new ones in the same plant Researchers tested 21 of 33 commercial wheat resistance genes to see if they were still effective against Hessian fly larvae in the Southeast United States. Only 5 of the 21 were, providing evidence that the genes were killing off [...]
Categories: Agriculture,Science
Tagged: genetic resistance, Hessian flies, larvae, Sue Cambron, Virulence in Hessian Fly, wheat
NASA’s Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer renders some exquisite pictures of the universe Here’s one such, with a well-written caption explaining what is happening: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/WISE/multimedia/gallery/pia13455.html
Categories: Science
Tagged: bow shock, NASA, Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer, WISE, Zeta Ophiuchi
Van der Waals forces — a example of the importance of being weak and therefore indispensible Van der Waals forces literally keep life alive (as in allowing reasonably consistent protein folding) — despite being infinitesimally weak. They are a good example of how subtle, atomic-scale phenomena critically affect the macroscopic world that is only just [...]
Categories: Science
Tagged: Alexander Cronin, atom-surface potentials, atomic diffraction, Catherine Klauss, core electrons, protein folding, Van der Waals, Vincent P. A. Lonij, William Holmgren
This fossil preservation hypothesis is interesting Sarah E. Gabbott et al. explained the origins of a detailed bed of roughly 475 million year-old Late Ordovician fossils in South Africa. The group’s hypothesis gives us an excuse to consider the random-seeming origins of fossil records generally. Discussing the Soom Shale member of the Cedarberg Formation, the [...]
Categories: Science
Tagged: Ancient Wind Held Secret of Life and Death, Cedarberg Formation, Eolian input into the Late Ordovician postglacial Soom Shale, Sarah Gabbott, South Africa
Citation Bob Herbert, The Loss of a Good Man, New York Times (21 January 2011)
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: Bob Herbert, Head Start, Job Corps, Loss of a Good Man, Peace Corps, Sargent Shriver, Volunteers in Service to America
First impressions carry a boatload of your future — and not just once ScienceDaily reported on experimental research by Bertram Gawronski et al.: “Imagine you have a new colleague at work and your impression of that person is not very favourable” explains lead author Bertram Gawronski, Canada Research Chair at The University of Western Ontario. [...]
Categories: Culture,Psychology
Tagged: Bertram Gawronski, De Houwer, Generalization versus contextualization, Rydell, Vevliet, Why First Impressions Are So Persistent
Not jumping to conclusions is a useful scientific trait Common sense leaves many of us thinking that climate warming would induce plant species habitats to move uphill, as their old location warms and they “seek” to escape increased temperature. Not so, says a University of California –Davis study of plant habitat locations during a period [...]
Categories: Climate change,Science
Tagged: California, Changes in Climatic Water Balance Drive Downhill Shifts, evapotranspiration, Shawn Crimmins
Can a much too-short study of 11 patients say anything about anything? — Maybe anecdotally A 60-day study that began with 13 celiac disease patients and ended with 11 had this to say: Celiac disease (CD) is characterized by an inflammatory response to wheat gluten, rye, and barley proteins. . . . We evaluated the [...]
Categories: Medicine
Tagged: Luigi Greco, Safety for Patients with Celiac Disease of Baked Goods Made of Wheat Flour Hydrolyzed During Food Processing
Forgotten Africa Science reported at the end of December 2010: An explosive outbreak in the Republic of Congo is writing another chapter in the book on how this ancient scourge behaves. Polio usually strikes children under age 5, paralyzing one in 200 of those infected and killing at most 5%, occasionally up to 10% in [...]
Categories: Public Health
Tagged: 42 percent, Leslie Roberts, mortality rate, polio, Polio Outbreak Breaks the Rules, Republic of Congo
Inspirational President in post-shooting Tucson — versus stand-offish Obama eulogizing diplomat Richard Holbrooke Columnist Richard Cohen compared the two speeches and hypothesized that the Holbrooke speech indicated that the President is not going to change his characteristic removed style: But when it came to the Holbrooke speech, imagination failed the president. He and Holbrooke did [...]
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: aloof, character, eulogy, Richard Cohen, Richard Holbrooke, shooting, stand-offish, Tucson, Two different speeches two different Obamas