I stumbled across this image of Helicocranchia pfefferri a little while ago – easy to see why this little cephalopod is called the ‘piglet squid’! Image (c) Cabrillo Marine Aquarium. The Cabrillo Marine Aquarium’s news release tells us that these little animals ("about the size of a small avocado") are a deep-water species with a […]
Continue readingMonth: January 2013
social media & pseudoscience
I quite enjoy Facebook – it’s an enjoyable way to catch up with what friends & family are up to, & I follow a number of good science pages (which provide some nice topics for blogging, from time to time). But FB can also cause considerable aggravation, through its habit of running ‘targeted’ advertising on […]
Continue readingcloning neandertals – can we? should we? is it true?
The Telegraph has a story on the possibility of cloning Neanderthals, with the fetching headline: ‘I can create Neanderthal baby, I just need willing woman.’ (You can read the NZ version on Stuff.) My first thought was ‘eeewww’. (And, as a friend commented, it’s stories like this that get science a bad name.) Once past that […]
Continue readingfaecal transplants as a treatment for persistent gut infections
I first heard about faecal transplants while listening to one of Mark Crislip’s podcasts (based on one of his posts at Science-Based Medicine. I always find his work informative & entertaining, though his sarcasm may not be to everyone’s taste). With the title ‘The species in the faeces’ I knew I was going to hear […]
Continue readinga lovely friday photo
I am a sucker for lovely photos of the unexpected. And here’s a real beauty: water droplets caught in the splash 🙂 Macro-photography images of water in motion, photography by Heinz Maier.Via Analytical Chemistry Techniques.
Continue readingevolution – a good video for the classroom
Over lunch, I was catching up with my reading on various blogs and found – via PZ on Pharyngula – this little gem on evolution. The others on offer at the Stated Clearly site look good too; it would be nice to see the authors attract the crowd-sourcing they need to make more of the videos […]
Continue readingstem cells, cosmetics – and unexpected consequences
I’m starting to think about this year’s teaching: what I’m planning, what worked last year & what didn’t, things that need to be revised. One thing I’ll be doing a bit more of is ‘flip teaching’, something that worked well last semester in helping students learn about & gain an understanding of recombinant DNA technologies. […]
Continue reading“the aviator” – a vision of the future that’s a little too close for comfort
I found the Herald’s front page this morning a sad and depressing read. My heart goes out to all those affected in some way by the terrible bush fires ravaging so much of Tasmania, Victoria, & New South Wales. I also had a certain sense of deja vu as I read of the fires – […]
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