- May 16, 2013
- 07:17 AM
- 61 views
To Predict a Bird’s Song, Head Out to Space
by Andrew Porterfield in United Academics
Any given species of bird probably has a variety of different songs. Most bird studies track individual birds in their own habitats, and then make more or less one-by-one comparisons—a bird in a forest will sound different from the same species in a city. An international team has taken these studies one step further—by making a giant leap into space.... Read more »
Smith, T., Harrigan, R., Kirschel, A., Buermann, W., Saatchi, S., Blumstein, D., de Kort, S., & Slabbekoorn, H. (2013) Predicting bird song from space. Evolutionary Applications. DOI: 10.1111/eva.12072
- May 16, 2013
- 07:00 AM
- 28 views
Did group selection play a role in the evolution of plasmid endosymbiosis?
by Eric Bolo in Evolutionary Games Group
Bacterial plasmids are nucleotide sequences floating in the cytoplasm of bacteria. These molecules replicate independently from the main chromosomal DNA and are not essential to the survival or replication of their host. Plasmids are thought to be part of the bacterial domain’s mobilome (for overview, see Siefert, 2009), a sort of genetic commonwealth which most, […]... Read more »
Paulsson J. (2002) Multileveled selection on plasmid replication. Genetics, 161(4), 1373-84. PMID: 12238464
- May 16, 2013
- 04:00 AM
- 40 views
Meta-analysing MTHFR and autism
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
I told you so.I'm talking about the paper by Pu and colleagues* who meta-analysed the currently available literature looking at two SNPs in everyone's favourite Scrabble classic gene, MTHFR in relation to autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Said gene controls production of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) which fits very snugly into the whole one carbon metabolism cycle (see here).Love at first sight? @ Wikipedia Regular readers might know that I have a bi........ Read more »
Pu D, Shen Y, & Wu J. (2013) Association between MTHFR Gene Polymorphisms and the Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Meta-Analysis. Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research. PMID: 23653228
- May 16, 2013
- 03:45 AM
- 37 views
Experienced job interviewers are no better at spotting lying candidates
by Christian Jarrett in BPS Research Digest
For the penultimate round of the TV show The Apprentice, the competing entrepreneurs must face a series of interviews with a crack team of hardened executives. The implicit, believable message is that these veterans have seen all the interview tricks in the book and will spot any blaggers a mile off. However, a new study provides the reality TV show with a reality check. A team led by Marc-André Reinhard report that experienced job interviewers are in fact no better than novice interviewers a........ Read more »
Reinhard, M., Scharmach, M., & Müller, P. (2013) It's not what you are, it's what you know: experience, beliefs, and the detection of deception in employment interviews. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 43(3), 467-479. DOI: 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2013.01011.x
- May 16, 2013
- 02:12 AM
- 45 views
We’re All Just Looking For a Patsy
by Eric Horowitz in peer-reviewed by my neurons
If often seems as though policy-making has devolved into nothing more than a contest where the goal is to blame as many people as possible (but not yourself) for the country’s problems. Fossil fuel companies blame environmental regulations for economic stagnation and high energy prices. Neocons blame civil libertarians for national security weaknesses. And of [...]... Read more »
Rothschild, Z., Landau, M., Molina, L., Branscombe, N., & Sullivan, D. (2013) Displacing Blame over the Ingroup’s Harming of a Disadvantaged Group can Fuel Moral Outrage at a Third-Party Scapegoat. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2013.05.005
- May 15, 2013
- 11:31 PM
- 41 views
Evolution explains the fundamental constants of physics
by Artem Kaznatcheev in Evolutionary Games Group
While speaking at TEDxMcGill 2009, Jan Florjanczyk — friend, quantum information researcher, and former schoolmate of mine — provided one of the clearest characterization of theoretical physics that I’ve had the please of hearing: Theoretical physics is about tweaking the knobs and dials and assumptions of the laws that govern the universe and then interpolating […]... Read more »
Gardner, A., & Conlon, J. (2013) Cosmological natural selection and the purpose of the universe. Complexity. DOI: 10.1002/cplx.21446
- May 15, 2013
- 10:48 PM
- 23 views
Placebos: Banned in Helsinki?
by Paul Ivsin in Placebo Control
One of the unintended consequences of my (admittedly, somewhat impulsive) decision to name this blog is that I get a fair bit of traffic from Google: people searching for placebo-related information.
Some recent searches have been about the proposed new revisions to the Declaration of Helsinki, and how the new draft version will prohibit or restrict the use of placebo controls in clinical trials. This was a bit puzzling, given that the publicly-released draft revisions [PDF] didn't app........ Read more »
Emanuel, E. (2013) Reconsidering the Declaration of Helsinki. The Lancet, 381(9877), 1532-1533. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)60970-8
- May 15, 2013
- 10:01 PM
- 46 views
Ladies: why Ritalin may not always be helpful. (Hint: sex, genes and dem hormones)
by Shelly Fan in Neurorexia
Little note: Since this post, I’ve been mulling over why Ritalin/Adderall don’t affect cognitive performance of healthy volunteers. Several reasons come to mind. I wasn’t reading the “right” literature (ie studies with positive results – any suggestions?). Stimulants may only influence brain activation patterns, but not performance. In this case, we can only detect differences […]... Read more »
Jacobs E, & D'Esposito M. (2011) Estrogen shapes dopamine-dependent cognitive processes: implications for women's health. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 31(14), 5286-93. PMID: 21471363
- May 15, 2013
- 06:49 PM
- 91 views
Six Arguments For the Elimination of Cigarettes
by Dirk Hanson in Addiction Inbox
Prohibition and the “tobacco control endgame.”
Despite all our efforts in recent years to reduce the percentage of Americans who smoke cigarettes—currently about one in five—the idea of full-blown cigarette prohibition has not gained much traction. That may be changing, as prominent nicotine researchers and public police officials start thinking about what is widely referred to as the “tobacco control endgame.”
Considering the new regulatory powers given the FDA under the terms ........ Read more »
Proctor R. N. (2013) Why ban the sale of cigarettes? The case for abolition. Tobacco Control, 22(Supplement 1). DOI: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2012-050811
- May 15, 2013
- 05:59 PM
- 51 views
DNA analysis unearths origins of Minoans, the first major European civilization
by Perikis Livas in Tracing Knowledge
DNA analysis is unearthing the origins of the Minoans, who some 5,000 years ago established the first advanced Bronze Age civilization in present-day Crete. The findings suggest they arose from an ancestral Neolithic population that had arrived in the region about 4,000 years earlier.... Read more »
Stephanie Seiler. (2013) DNA analysis unearths origins of Minoans, the first major European civilization. The University of Washington. info:/
- May 15, 2013
- 04:50 PM
- 27 views
What RDoC Research Might Look Like
by The Neurocritic in The Neurocritic
The month of May is a violent thingIn the city their hearts start to singWell, some people sing, it sounds like they're screamingI used to doubt it, but now I believe itMonth Of May ------The Arcade FireToday is Mental Health Month Blog Day, sponsored by the American Psychological Association (APA). It's designed to:...educate the public about mental health, decrease stigma about mental illness, and discuss strategies for making lasting lifestyle and behavior changes that pro........ Read more »
Vaidyanathan, U., Nelson, L., & Patrick, C. (2011) Clarifying domains of internalizing psychopathology using neurophysiology. Psychological Medicine, 42(03), 447-459. DOI: 10.1017/S0033291711001528
Dichter, G., Damiano, C., & Allen, J. (2012) Reward circuitry dysfunction in psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders and genetic syndromes: animal models and clinical findings. Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 4(1), 19. DOI: 10.1186/1866-1955-4-19
- May 15, 2013
- 04:07 PM
- 40 views
Discovering a new planet (TAU-CfA articles)
by Perikis Livas in Tracing Knowledge
1.TAU team takes part in discovering new planet
A team of astronomers at TAU and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics have announced the first-ever discovery of an extrasolar planet via induced relativistic beaming of light from the host star.
2.New Method of Finding Planets Scores its First Discovery
- CfA... Read more »
TAU News office. (2013) TAU team takes part in discovering new planet. Tel Aviv University. info:/
- May 15, 2013
- 02:42 PM
- 36 views
Wrap-Up of Cell Symposium on Microbiome and Host Health
by Christen Rune Stensvold in Blastocystis Parasite Blog
A short wrap-up of the Cell Symposium on Microbiome and Host Health in Lisbon, Portugal, May 12-14, 2013.... Read more »
Koren O, Knights D, Gonzalez A, Waldron L, Segata N, Knight R, Huttenhower C, & Ley RE. (2013) A guide to enterotypes across the human body: meta-analysis of microbial community structures in human microbiome datasets. PLoS computational biology, 9(1). PMID: 23326225
Andersen LO, Vedel Nielsen H, & Stensvold CR. (2013) Waiting for the human intestinal Eukaryotome. The ISME journal. PMID: 23407309
Ivanov II, & Honda K. (2012) Intestinal commensal microbes as immune modulators. Cell host , 12(4), 496-508. PMID: 23084918
Brown J, de Vos WM, Distefano PS, Doré J, Huttenhower C, Knight R, Lawley TD, Raes J, & Turnbaugh P. (2013) Translating the human microbiome. Nature biotechnology, 31(4), 304-8. PMID: 23563424
Blaser M, Bork P, Fraser C, Knight R, & Wang J. (2013) The microbiome explored: recent insights and future challenges. Nature reviews. Microbiology, 11(3), 213-7. PMID: 23377500
- May 15, 2013
- 01:12 PM
- 46 views
You are what you eat – wait, no, you eat what you are. Wait, that’s not it…
by neuroecology in Neuroecology
The public will never tire of the nature versus nurture debate but here’s a hint: the answer in biology is always both. But if you’ve ever known any twins, you know they can have quite different personalities which, you would think, are attributable to differences in nurture of one sort or another. To understand this better, some scientists […]... Read more »
Freund, J., Brandmaier, A., Lewejohann, L., Kirste, I., Kritzler, M., Kruger, A., Sachser, N., Lindenberger, U., & Kempermann, G. (2013) Emergence of Individuality in Genetically Identical Mice. Science, 340(6133), 756-759. DOI: 10.1126/science.1235294
- May 15, 2013
- 12:45 PM
- 37 views
The Modern Prometheus: Scientists Uncover the Secret of ‘Magnetic Fire’
by dailyfusion in The Daily Fusion
A group of physicists from the New York University have uncovered how energy is released and dispersed in magnetic materials in a process similar to the spread of forest fires. This finding not only has the potential to deepen our understanding of self-sustained chemical reactions, but also could open new exciting possibilities for energy storage.... Read more »
Subedi, P., Vélez, S., Macià, F., Li, S., Sarachik, M., Tejada, J., Mukherjee, S., Christou, G., & Kent, A. (2013) Onset of a Propagating Self-Sustained Spin Reversal Front in a Magnetic System. Physical Review Letters, 110(20). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.207203
- May 15, 2013
- 12:09 PM
- 50 views
Why women live longer than men?
by Usman Paracha in SayPeople
Main Point:
Researchers have found that the immune system of the women declines more slowly than men and this could be one of the reasons for the longer life of women - at least in Japan.
Published in:
Immunity & Ageing
Study Further:
Immune system is the system that recognizes and opposes disease. In the new study, researchers have reported that with the passage of time, men’s ability to oppose the disease decrease more rapidly as compared to women, resulting in increased w........ Read more »
Hirokawa, K., Utsuyama, M., Hayashi, Y., Kitagawa, M., Makinodan, T., & Fulop, T. (2013) Slower immune system ageing in women versus men in the Japanese population. Immunity , 10(1), 19. DOI: 10.1186/1742-4933-10-19
- May 15, 2013
- 11:06 AM
- 65 views
Scarlet macaw genome sequenced | @GrrlScientist
by GrrlScientist in GrrlScientist
The newly-sequenced scarlet macaw genome will provide many important insights into avian and human biology, behaviours and genetics and will contribute to parrot conservation.... Read more »
Seabury Christopher M., Dowd Scot E., Seabury Paul M., Raudsepp Terje, Brightsmith Donald J., Liboriussen Poul, Halley Yvette, Fisher Colleen A., Owens Elaine, & Viswanathan Ganesh. (2013) A Multi-Platform Draft de novo Genome Assembly and Comparative Analysis for the Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao). PLoS ONE, 8(5). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0062415.s019
Oleksyk Taras K, Pombert Jean-Francois, Siu Daniel, Mazo-Vargas Anyimilehidi, Ramos Brian, Guiblet Wilfried, Afanador Yashira, Ruiz-Rodriguez Christina T, Nickerson Michael L, & Logue David M. (2012) A locally funded Puerto Rican parrot (Amazona vittata) genome sequencing project increases avian data and advances young researcher education. GigaScience, 1(1), 14. DOI: 10.1186/2047-217X-1-14
Ried T, Schröck E, Ning Y, & Wienberg J. (1998) Chromosome painting: a useful art. Human Molecular Genetics, 7(10), 1619-1626. DOI: 10.1093/hmg/7.10.1619
- May 15, 2013
- 09:47 AM
- 76 views
Have we become slower and dumber?
by Dorothy Bishop in bishopblog
Guest post by Patrick Rabbitt, commenting on an article that claimed that simple reaction time is slower now than in the Victorian era. Mundane differences in equipment sensitivity may be responsible... Read more »
Michael A. Woodley, Jan te Nijenhuis, & Raegan Murphy. (2013) Were the Victorians cleverer than us? The decline in general intelligence estimated from a meta-analysis of the slowing of simple reaction time. Intelligence. info:/http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2013.04.006
- May 15, 2013
- 09:46 AM
- 33 views
Male Black Widows Sniff Out Femme Fatales
by Miss Behavior in The Scorpion and the Frog
I am thrilled to announce that this month I am joining a new top-notch science blogging team at Scitable, Nature Education’s award-winning science education website! (But don’t worry, friends. I will continue to post here about animal physiology and behavior every Wednesday). Next week, Scitable will be launching eleven new blogs covering topics like neuroscience, genetics, oceanography, physics and more. I will be co-authoring an evolution blog called Accumulating Glitches together with Se........ Read more »
Johnson, J., Trubl, P., Blackmore, V., & Miles, L. (2011) Male black widows court well-fed females more than starved females: silken cues indicate sexual cannibalism risk. Animal Behaviour, 82(2), 383-390. DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.05.018
- May 15, 2013
- 09:33 AM
- 40 views
Video Tip of the Week: Influenza Research Database (IRD)
It may not be traditionally what you think of as flu season, but lately there’s been a great deal of talk about some viruses that are concerning public health officials and infectious disease specialists. You might have heard of the H7N9 situation in China, and the NCoV virus in France that made headlines. But researchers [...]... Read more »
Squires, R., Noronha, J., Hunt, V., García-Sastre, A., Macken, C., Baumgarth, N., Suarez, D., Pickett, B., Zhang, Y., Larsen, C.... (2012) Influenza Research Database: an integrated bioinformatics resource for influenza research and surveillance. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, 6(6), 404-416. DOI: 10.1111/j.1750-2659.2011.00331.x
Pickett, B., Sadat, E., Zhang, Y., Noronha, J., Squires, R., Hunt, V., Liu, M., Kumar, S., Zaremba, S., Gu, Z.... (2011) ViPR: an open bioinformatics database and analysis resource for virology research. Nucleic Acids Research, 40(D1). DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkr859
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