The Level 3 & Scholarship examiners often ask you to discuss the evolutionary history of a group of organisms (Hebe, cockroaches, cicadas etc) in relation to the geological history of New Zealand. Geological changes such as the widening of the Tasman Sea, and the uplift of mountain ranges including the Kaikoura ranges & the Southern Alps, […]
Continue readingMonth: November 2009
facilitated communication?
Like me, you may have seen this article in the Herald (or some other paper) on Wednesday this week. It tells the story of Rom Houben who, after suffering severe injuries in a car accident, was left in what doctors diagnosed as a ‘persistent vegetative state’ for 23 years. His mother, however, was insistent that her […]
Continue readingevolutionary image… fail
Such a cute t-shirt logo (I want one!) but it has the FAIL in so many ways when it comes to evolution…
Continue readingoff to entertain at cafe scientifique
Well, the mad rush to confirm degree completions is finally over (6.32pm & counting…) & I’m off to meet Marcus at the pub for the last Cafe Scientifique of the year. The topic: strange science. It’s open for the audience to bring up any topics they want to discuss, but we have the odd (& […]
Continue readingregulating supplements
Last Friday the Science Media Centre’s media alert included the following: Dietary supplements such as multivitamin tablets and energy drinks are an increasingly common part of our lives, but should they be? Concerns have been sparked recently by the availability of ultra-high caffeine energy drinks, the proliferation of people taking (often large) doses of vitamins/minerals […]
Continue readingwhence the nucleus?
One of the deepest divisions among living things is the split between prokaryote and eukaryote cells. In eukaryote cells, the chromosomes are enveloped in a layer of phospholipids – these cells have a ‘true’ nucleus surrounded by a nuclear membrane, something that’s absent from prokaryotes. And there are other differences: eukaryotes either have, or have […]
Continue readingargh! the dreaded mercury!
One of my commenters asked the following question, & while I answered it quickly in that thread, I thought it might be useful for her (& maybe others) if I found a few references to support what I said. One of my friends has this as their current status on Facebook, and I wondered if […]
Continue readingwhat’s in the water?
Procrastinating like crazy, I’ve just come across an interesting post over on Science-Based Medicine. It’s about the hazards associated with water births (sometimes promoted as a ‘natural’ way to deliver a baby…). I’ve wondered before about the sense of delivering a baby under water (the ‘diving’ reflex only kicks in in cold water & no mum-to-be […]
Continue readingspeciation in darwin’s finches
This afternoon the daughter sat Level 3 Biology (she seemed to quite like the paper). She said that one of the questions was about Darwin’s finches, based on some of the work of Peter & Rosemary Grant, who’ve been studying finches on the Galapagos Islands since 1973. During that time they’ve trapped, measured, banded & […]
Continue readinghummingbirds & the high cost of s*x
One of the nice things about reading books by great science writers is that I just know I’m going to learn lots. I’ve just got back into Nick Lane’s latest book Life Ascending (it’s been my lunchtime reading at work & recently other things have intruded…). Lane has a lovely lyrical way of writing that I really […]
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