August 31, 2007 – 11:12 am
This is very exciting news, and hopefully will lead to more research:
“The team found that humans and the mosquitoes that carry the malaria parasite share the same complex carbohydrate, heparan sulfate. In both humans and mosquitoes, heparan sulfate is a receptor for the malaria parasite, binding to the parasite and giving it quick and [...]
August 31, 2007 – 7:13 am
That’s some serious Cicada Action documented in this week’s Nature:
A cicada known as the kumazemi is descending on Japan en masse, deafening the citizens and wreaking havoc on the country’s fibre-optic system. The 6- to 7-centimetre-long black cicada (Cryptotympana facialis) inhabits western Japan and subtropical regions of eastern Asia. This August is expected to be [...]
August 30, 2007 – 12:20 pm
This has to be one of the most common things I hear from kids and teachers: “I want to keep a praying mantis as a pet, but it’s illegal!” or “I want to keep them, but they’re endangered!”
The other big myth associated with mantids is that it’s illegal to kill them.
These are myths. If [...]
August 30, 2007 – 6:48 am
This awesome photo is the subject of much discussion among entomologists lately. (larger photo here)
Is it from a massive dispersal of spiderlings?
Or is it part of a communal web?
Many people don’t realize that a few (fairly uncommon) spiders actually live together in a group. It’s not like ants and bees–all the spiders in a [...]
August 29, 2007 – 7:03 pm
The National Institute of Health (NIH) just released a report that says the majority of Americans turn to the Web as their first source of information for Cancer. This is somewhat disturbing, since there is an awful lot of bunkum out there. If you put the words “cure cancer” into Google’s search box, the [...]
August 29, 2007 – 11:10 am
Carl Zimmer’s Loom has a great story up about why a group of tiny daddy-long-legs relatives, the Petallidae, is so widely distributed across the world. Check it out!
“Below is a map of where other species of Petallidae can be found. They seem to be scattered randomly across the world. But petallids are terrible at dispersing…..And [...]
August 29, 2007 – 9:08 am
For an old school biologist like me (well, OLD, anyway), the story of the peppered moth in Britain was always a cool one, involving a mix of behavior and predation. All sorts of Creationist accusations were flung about to refute it, including fraud.
Now a researcher has repeated the experiments, and confirmed the results: the melanism [...]
August 28, 2007 – 4:39 pm
I just found a great new video/podcast repository:
Tree of Life Podcasts
Some really cool videos–go on a bird count, blacklighting in a desert canyon…nifty!
Many of these also have related lesson plans attached, and would be a great teaching resource.
August 28, 2007 – 10:50 am
From the “I am totally mystified and fascinated by Asian Culture” department:
The bug that bites your butt. (Apparently hugely popular in Japan)
EDITED 11/27 TO ADD: Darn! the original was removed. Try this movie. Be warned–it’s insanely catchy and you’ll be humming it for days.
Translation from the YouTube site:
Insect that bites hips.
Insect that bites hips.
I [...]
August 28, 2007 – 7:36 am
One of the Grand Old Men of skepticism is gone–Jerry Andrus passed away this week. His specialty was optical illusions:
A renowned Skeptic, his optical illusions demonstrate how the mind can be fooled by the images implanted on our retinas. “Your mind is constantly on automatic pilot,” he explains. “If it weren’t, we couldn’t function, [...]
