Cells in Culture

If TV Science was more like real science

2009-04-08T07:30:00.003-04:00

From PhD Comics.
So very true.

Earth Hour

2009-03-27T08:30:00.001-04:00

Tomorrow night (March 28th) is Earth Hour - show your support for taking action on climate change by turning off your lights for one hour starting at 8:30pm at your local time. From the Earth Hour website (Global, US):

"What is Earth Hour?
-Earth Hour is World Wildlife Fund's global initiative where individuals, businesses and governments turn off their lights for one hour to show their support for action on climate change.
-Earth Hour is a symbolic event designed to engage people from all walks of life in the climate change discussion to send a strong message to our political leaders that we want them to take meaningful action on climate change.
-The largest climate event in history where millions of people around the world will unite by turning off their lights for one hour, Earth Hour, to demand action on the climate crisis.
When is Earth Hour?
-Earth Hour 2009 takes place on Saturday, March 28, 2009 at 8:30 pm–local time.
-Just like New Years Eve, Earth Hour will travel from time zone to time zone starting at 8:30pm in New Zealand."

There's lots of information of the website about how to get involved and tools to help spread the word.

Comb Alone

2009-03-24T23:37:00.003-04:00

I just watched a re-run of Good Eats, "Pantry Raid IV - Comb Alone".
It was a pretty interesting introduction to how honey is made. I did not know that when bees return to the hive with their nectar they use their honey stomach to ingest and regurgitate the nectar a number of times until it is partially digested. Hence honey is born. Mmmm, bee barf - or as Alton Brown states it "bee backwash".
I found a clip on the show on YouTube, give it a watch.

How to be a bat

2009-03-22T13:54:00.003-04:00

I found the article and videos on Carl Zimmer's blog about how bats fly, land, and run pretty fascinating. It's the work of Brown University biologists Dan Riskin and Sharon Swartz. Check it out.

Growing Better - Serotiny

2009-03-18T20:02:00.004-04:00

I previously posted the first episode of Growing Better staring Dr. Chris Martine. He's made a new episode about serotiny in jack pines. If you don't know what serotiny is, the video will teach you all about it. Keep 'em coming Martine!

Happy Birthday Darwin!

2009-02-12T09:00:00.002-05:00

Today is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin.

Here are some limericks to recite throughout the day, written by Vince LiCata and posted on The Science Creative Quarterly.

There once was a young man named Darwin
Who spent five years tossed to the far wind
He wrote a book for his peers
After only twenty short years
And now he’s as pop as George Carlin.

They say we all came from a monkey
But I say that theory is bunky
Because as anyone knows
Who talks with creationist pros
That some people are closer to donkey.

Asked the petrified School Board of Kansas:
“I wonder why everyone slams us?”
The answer it seemed
As if from space it were beamed
Was: when God gave out brains, they were panned thus.

We’ve all grown to fill in some niche
Unless there’s some DNA glitch
In that case we change
Perhaps expanding our range
But more often, go face down in a ditch.

Upon a darkening midnight so dreary
While pondering evolutionary theory
Bob said with a wink
To his partner the twink
I fear for our fitness, my dearie.

Tad Crass was an irascible ass
Who came-on to any available lass
But by group affirmation
To stop Ted’s procreation
All said, on these genes, we will pass.

There once was a man from Nantucket
Who kept all of his brains in a bucket
They said, he’s the kind
Who screams “Intelligent Design!”
I.e., when the bucket got full, he’d just chuck it.

If I gave you my genome to play with
Would you deem me as someone to stay with
Or would you scramble my genes
Like tossed salad spring greens
Just to see all the sequences I’m made with?

A Darwin valentine

2009-02-11T13:46:00.005-05:00

February 12th is Darwin's birthday and February 14th is Valentine's Day. To celebrate both, why not give your special someone a Darwin Valentine designed by Ironic Sans.

Songs about Darwin and Evolution

2009-02-04T19:32:00.006-05:00

A video of Chumbawumba performing a song about Charles Darwin (via the Guild of Scientific Troubadours and Pharyngula) got me thinking about what other songs about Darwin and evolution exist.

The Mirror.co.uk was thinking along the same lines as me and has an extensive list of songs that Darwin might have put on his iPod on their blog (compiled by Mark Pallen).

So celebrate Darwin's 200th birthday on February 12, 2009 by playing some of these songs:

* Charles Robert Darwin, by Artichoke
This is a great biography of his life (lyrics) (listen)

* Part Man, Part Monkey, by Bruce Springsteen
A song about the Scopes monkey trial (lyrics) (video)

* Dance Like a Monkey, by New York Dolls
The music video is pretty amusing (video)

* Do The Evolution, by Pearl Jam
A song with a darker view of where evolution has taken us (video)

* Hey, Charly, by Suzi Quatro
(video)

* Darwin, by Third Eye Blind
"A chromosome divides, multiply and thrive, and the strong survive" (video of a cover version)

* Line in the Sand, by Motorhead
For fans of metal and evolution (listen)

* Evolution (Use your brain), by My Poor Kevin
I can see this song getting stuck in my head (video)

* Man on the Moon, by R.E.M.
A small lyrical nod to Darwin, "Mr. Charles Darwin had the gall to ask" (video)

And finally not to forget Richard Milner who dresses up as Darwin and sings songs about Darwin and evolution (website).

If I've forgotten a song you know about, post them in the comments!

Trapa necklace

2009-01-27T18:30:00.008-05:00

I just came across this necklace on Ikyoto's Etsy shop called the 'Devil Nut Necklace'.

It's a photo of a seed of the plant genus Trapa. One species, Trapa natans, is an invasive aquatic plant in North America (it's native to Eurasia). It grows as a floating whorl of leaves on the surface of water and has seeds with 4 horns (a nice photo of the seeds can be seen here).

This plant is commonly called water chestnut but it isn't the same water chestnut you eat in stir fry dishes (those come from species of Eleocharis instead).

I always thought the seeds look like Dobby the house elf from Harry Potter, but I can also see the devil in these.

Science knitting patterns

2009-01-05T15:29:00.005-05:00

Happy New Year!

I got a hit on this blog from someone searching for science knitting patterns (which I've posted about here and here). So, I'll indulge the lookers by posting 2 more patterns featuring DNA that I found via Everybody wants a rock.

First is a DNA cabled scarf designed by June Oshiro. The pattern is free on her website.

And for your favorite little one, Kimberly Chapman designed a Baby's First DNA model stuffed with cotton balls.

Perhaps a new year's resolution should be to learn how to knit.

Anthrax plush

2008-12-07T14:26:00.003-05:00

Giant Microbes just released some new plush microbes. One of which is Anthrax (Bacillus anthracis).
While cute, if this is one of your holiday purchases I wouldn't openly talk about mailing anthrax to people, especially while in line at the post office.

Felt animal pillows

2008-12-05T10:40:00.003-05:00

More gift ideas coming at you all week!

Allenbrite sells a variety of felt home wares, but their felt pillows really caught my attention. They are bright and cheerful, yet true to the animal featured.

I like the furry belly on the brown bat.

Mincing Mockingbird

2008-12-05T01:08:00.005-05:00

While I was starting my holiday shopping/browsing, I came across The Mincing Mockingbird's shop that features very beautiful prints of birds with creative titles as well as magnets that feature birds making snarky comments.

Take a look for the bird lover or nature aficionado on your gift list.

Ears and Moles

2008-11-21T11:50:00.007-05:00

Here are two cute and biological things I saw on the Craft blog in the past two week.

First, is this star-nosed mole knitting pattern by f. pea. The star-nosed mole, Condylura cristata, spends time in and out of the water and can forage along the bottoms of streams and ponds. It uses its 22 pink nose tentacles to detect small prey, as they are functionally blind, and they can even smell underwater.

Second is a beautiful piece of embroidery of the anatomy of an ear by Crafster user weird_lover_wilde.

NIghtshade Family

2008-11-10T17:31:00.004-05:00

"Members of the NIghtshade Family" by Drew at Toothpaste for Dinner.

It's true, the Nightshade family (Solanaceae) contains several economically important species, although its doubtful Steve is one of them. Members of the Solanaceae make a number of different alkaloids (nicotine for example) - some toxic, desirable, or both.

Within the family, the genus Solanum include species that provide us eggplants, potatoes, and tomatoes. Nicotiana is tobacco, Capsicum give us bell peppers and chili peppers, Petunia is often cultivated for their flowers, and Atropa belladonna is belladonna.

Darwin in The Fall

2008-11-09T13:32:00.004-05:00

I just watched the movie The Fall last night, which was directed by Tarsem Singh.

"In a hospital on the outskirts of 1920s Los Angeles, an injured stuntman begins to tell a fellow patient, a little girl with a broken arm, a fantastical story about 5 mythical heroes. Thanks to his fractured state of mind and her vivid imagination, the line between fiction and reality starts to blur as the tale advances" -- IMDb

One of the heroes in the story is Charles Darwin, who sports a very fluffy and very awesome pink flamingo coat and a bowler hat. He carries around a bag that contains his "colleague" and pet, a monkey named Wallace, who no one but Darwin ever sees, but who whispers ideas to Darwin throughout the movie. You can watch a clip of the movie introducing Darwin here.

Wallace, of course, is in reference to Alfred Russel Wallace, who was also a British naturalist and seldom credidted for his independent development of the theory of natural selection. Darwin and Wallace corresponded via letters over the years and both scientists' thoughts on natural selection were first presented together. A few have suggested there was a conspiracy to rob Wallace of his credit and that Darwin had taken ideas from Wallace to complete his own theory. This must be why the filmaker portrayed the fictionalized Darwin as frequently jotting notes and sketching pictures into his notebook while Wallace the monkey would interject with ideas to help him. At one point in the movie Darwin exclaims, at the immenent demise of Wallace, "I'll tell everyone they were your ideas. They're going to find out that I'm a fraud."

While many scholars have refuted this dynamic (this Wallace FAQ is a good reference for questions about Wallace) and I would never call Darwin a fraud, I enjoyed the movie The Fall and I liked the portrayal of Darwin. It's a refreshing change to see him shown as young and cavalier in his flamboyant coat than how one usually sees him depicted as a solemn bearded old man.

Isopods predict McCain to win

2008-11-04T22:01:00.004-05:00

We had lab tonight while all polls were still open on election night. We were looking at orientation behavior in isopods (also know as roly-polys or pill bugs) and what conditions they prefer.

In the spirit of the election, 2 groups of students tested if isopods prefer red light (a proxy for republican) or blue light (democrat) when given a choice. In one trial, the isopods unanimously chose the red light chamber, and in the other trial, the movement was more random, but never less than 50% of isopods were in the red chamber.

So, it looks like isopods predict a McCain victory. Watching CNN right now however, it looks like isopods may not be the best predictor of the outcome of the election.

Update to title: Isopods fail to predict election.
Go Obama!

2008-11-03T15:36:00.005-05:00

I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween on Friday.
Not biological, but this year I carved a headless horsemen pattern I got from Zombie Pumpkins.

And of course, if you live in the U.S., remember to vote tomorrow!
I know the election is drawing near, as the number of campaign fliers I get in my mailbox steadily increases.

Stomate Costume

2008-10-28T00:35:00.000-04:00

Halloween is almost here! And if you're planning on going to a costume party this year its not too late to start crafting a costume.

I decided to look for cute science and biological costume ideas, but I can't seem to find many pictures. Black cats and and bats are animals its true, but it's much harder to find things not generally associated with Halloween decor.

By happy accident, I just finished grading a huge stack of lab reports on transpiration (the loss of water by plants). Then I found this photo on Flickr of someone dressed up as a plant stomate! Stomata are pores on the surface of leaves on plants, and they open and close to regulate the intake of carbon dioxide into the plant and the release water and oxygen into the atmosphere. Actually, this costume is part of a whole set of photos of students dressed up as their favorite adaptation. What a great costume party theme for nerdy graduate students or any group of science enthusiasts.

If you have pictures of people dressed up in biological or science finery, post links in the comments below!

Carnivorous plant calendar

2008-10-16T20:09:00.001-04:00

A Print A Day has a calendar template, beautifully illustrated with carnivorous plants, available for download (via Craft).

Carnivorous plants are those that attract, trap, and digest insects and other small prey. They live in nutrient poor areas and so they utilize the nutrients from their prey, especially nitrogen, to grow.

July features a venus fly trap (Dionaea muscipula) and August has flowers from a bladderwort (Utricularia). September looks like cobra lilies (Darlingtonia californica), October features a dutchman's pipe, Aristolochia, and December are sundews (Drosera).

Well educated supervillains

2008-10-15T10:45:00.004-04:00

I was watching an episode of The Big Bang Theory today ("The Codpiece Topology") and one of the characters raises an interesting point about super villains. He was listing evil villains in comic books like Dr. Doom and Dr. Octopus, when he went on to say:

"It's amazing how many supervillains have advanced degrees. Graduate school should do a better job of weeding those out."

I guess I had never thought about super heros and super villains in that context before, but people over on Everything2 did about 8 years ago. They compiled an even larger list of supervillains with advanced degrees:

One commenter made a very interesting point:

"The phenomenon of over-educated supervillains, equally prevalent in horror fiction and comic books, goes back at least as far as the Victorian archetype of the Mad Scientist - people who worshipped the false god of the intellect, often violating taboos in their ungodly pursuit of knowledge. Usually these villains were doomed to be destroyed by their own creations, but often would instead be slain or overthrown by courageous heroes of no exceptional intellect, but stout Christian hearts. The triumph of Good over Evil was therefore also a triumph of the spirit over the intellect."

It is unfortunate that scientists are often shown as morally corrupt and used to demonstrate the potential perils of putting all your faith in the power of technology and pursuit of scientific knowledge. But in the end, it's not their science educations that make them evil, it's their actions. Luckily, scientists don't always get a bad rap, well educated superheros exist too, Iron Man and Professor X for example.

The roll of "evil scientist" can also be pretty funny. Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog is a great modern example of the well educated supervillain. Or, want-to-be supervillain in this case.

If you know of other supervillains with advanced degrees, post them in the comments below.

There will be oil

2008-10-13T23:34:00.002-04:00

I saw an episode of Good Eats this weekend ('There will be oil') with cooking oil as the topic. Alton Brown explains the chemical structure of oils, including what is meant by saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated, by making them out of balloons!

Definitely worth a watch, the balloon action begins at minute 2 in the video below. The black balloons represent carbon atoms, and the hydrogen atoms are the yellow balloons.

Sea creature knitting patterns

2008-09-30T21:39:00.005-04:00

Hansigurumi has a large collection of sea creature knitting patterns for sale on her Etsy shop.

I'm partial to the anglerfish. These fish belong to the order Lophiiformes and live in the deep sea where very little light penetrates. They're named after the glowing lure they use to entice unsuspecting prey into their mouth, like an angler (fisherman) catches fish.

Also the nudibranch pattern looks a lot like their colorful real life sea slug counterparts. Nudibranch means 'naked gills' and refers to the feathery gills you see coming out of their backs.

p.s. The 100th post on this blog!

Plant cell cross stitch

2008-09-26T08:53:00.001-04:00

I had an entry a while back about a plant cell pattern I designed, cross stitched, and turned into a pin. Looks like I wasn't the only person to think of recreating plant cell diagrams using cross stitch. Double X Geek has a more detailed design, complete with labels for the organelles! (via Craft)

Netflix Origami

2008-09-17T15:24:00.004-04:00

I'm a Netflix subscriber, and I have lots of front flaps from the DVD mailers lying around my house. Usually, they turn into grocery lists and notes to myself, but now I can fold them into fun shapes thanks to Netflixorigami.com.