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The Buzz: The Great Debate

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:15:16 -0500

The pitched battle between evolutionary theory and Intelligent Design has become one of the signature conflicts of the decade. On Pharyngula, PZ Myers picks up the pieces after his debate with Jerry Bergman on whether ID should be taught in schools. Unambiguously he writes, "creationists are not the heralds of a coming paradigm shift; they are the rotting detritus of the old regime of unreason." Elsewhere, on Gene Expression, Razib Khan crunches some numbers which show that 10-20% of people in certain Muslim countries believe in evolution, versus 80% in certain European countries. The support for evolution in the U.S.? 40%. Finally, on The Primate Diaries, Eric Michael Johnson parses centuries of anthropocentric thought which placed man atop the "great chain of being," with other forms of life transitioning smoothly into the inanimate. As Johnson writes, "this vision of divinely ordered perfection was dramatically ripped apart, link-by-link, on November 24, 1859," a date we will observe next week on the sesquicentennial of Darwin's Origin of Species.

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The Buzz: New Twists on the Double Helix

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:40:01 -0500

Forget fashion; when it comes to expressing yourself, it's your genes that wear you! On Not Exactly Rocket Science, Ed Yong discusses the explosive evolution of AEM genes in humans and elephants—two long-lived, social animals with "very, very large brains." Big brains need more juice to function, and AEM genes, which govern how mitochondria metabolize food energy, may be a key to evolving intelligence. On Gene Expression, Razib Khan explores the links between gene transmission and language transmission, writing that "linguistic affinity" could modulate gene flow, and vice versa. On Mike the Mad Biologist, Mike flays proponents of "genetic conservatism," who believe that IQ is highly heritable and educating everyone is a waste of money. This attitude leads Mike to wonder, "What is the genetic heritability of being an ***hole?" Finally, Daniel MacArthur on Genetic Future reports the bankruptcy of deCODE Genetics and the revamped product lineup at 23andMe, suggesting that personal genomics may need a new business model.

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The Buzz: Eating Your Words

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:21:37 -0500

We often hear that "you are what you eat," but the relationship between what goes in our bodies and what our bodies make of it is really quite complex. On Respectful Insolence, Orac laments that "diet does not have nearly as large an effect as we had hoped" on the prevention of cancer, and that by the time we reach adulthood, dietary interventions may be too late. Elsewhere, Joseph on Corpus Callosum examines a new study which suggests that drinking coffee lowers the risk of hepatitis C progression in afflicted individuals. Bucking the study's correlative conclusion, he says it's "not possible to generalize" about such a select population. On Guilty Planet, Jennifer Jacquet cautions against nutritional narcissism, saying that healthy eating is about more than "me and my body," it's about "my community, my country, my planet." In a separate post, she shows us the first photo taken of a coral eating a jellyfish, making that old adage sound more dubious than ever.

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The Buzz: Water, Water Everywhere?

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:06:00 -0500

On Friday, NASA scientists confirmed the discovery of water on the moon. Using spectral analysis to determine the composition of the plume resulting from last month's LCROSS rocket collision, they found more than 100 liters of water. Steinn Sigurðsson on Dynamics of Cats calls the presence of water on the moon "amazing," but cautions that at these concentrations, it's "dry by Earth standards." Razib Khan on Gene Expression considers the implications of water on the moon: "Since humans are mostly water by weight, this is very important when assessing the practical difficulties of colonization or settlement." In other NASA news, Greg Laden reports on his blog that after idling on the precipice of a Martian dust bowl since April 23, while engineers on Earth assessed the best way to make a break for it, the long-lived Spirit rover will risk movement again tomorrow, in a bid to continue its incredibly successful mission.

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New program for middle and high school students encourages STEM participation

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:44:01 -0500

In the increasingly competitive and admissions-driven world of high school, learning doesn't always come cheap. SAT-prep programs and college admissions counselors charge a pretty penny for the advantages they (claim to) bestow upon anxious juniors and seniors, and even younger students, including those in middle school, are feeling the pressure. But what about families who can't afford exclusive prep courses?

Enter USAGraduate.com, a interactive online competition free to students in grades 6-12 that aims to engage students in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects. The site tracks students' scores on weekly quizzes and offers prizes weekly over the course of the competition and at the culmination—prizes like laptops and iPods. It also provides information about possible STEM careers to students, including in-demand jobs in the green sector.

Registration is open now at www.usagraduate.com. The program will launch on January 10, 2010. Teachers and parents can also register, to keep up to date with what their students are doing. If you teach 6th-12th graders or have one of your own in school, check it out—it won't cost you a thing!

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The Buzz: Out of Sight

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 10:50:06 -0500

In Ethan Siegel's ongoing treatment of dark energy on Starts With A Bang!, he considers a number of alternative explanations for the dimming of redshifted supernovae. Could photon-axion oscillations be to blame, or does a "grey dust" pervade our universe? In another post, Siegel appreciates that our galaxy smells like raspberries and rum, and not, for example, Uranus. His diss to Andromedans: "I bet you stink compared to us!" For more things unseen, Greg Laden on Collective Imagination points us to Kameraflage, a technology that writes secret messages and draw pictures only visible to a digital camera. Finally, open your eyes for a stellar image of our galactic center on Dynamics of Cats, courtesy of Steinn Sigurðsson.

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The Buzz: Step On a Crack...

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 09:28:15 -0500

When it comes to geologic phenomena, the difference between renewal and cataclysm can walk a fine line. On All of My Faults Are Stress Related, Kim Hannula elucidates the distinction between causes and triggers. Citing an article about the Zipingpu Dam that concludes that the weight of the reservoir might have triggered an earthquake, Hannula notes that "the ultimate cause of the earthquake was the collision of India with Asia, and the resultant tectonic mess." Elsewhere, Erik Klemetti on Eruptions dresses down Popular Science alarmism, concluding that the chance of exploratory drilling causing a "game-ending eruption" in the Campei Flegrei is minimal. In another post, Klemetti reports that the Mayon volcano in the Philippines may be "headed towards a significant eruption," with evacuation of nearby villages already underway.

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The Buzz: In With the Old

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:20:23 -0500

Shakespeare wrote that "past is prologue," but it's not always that easy to read. Brian Switek on Laelaps tells the tale of P. H. Gosse, a man who tried to reconcile the fossil record with the Book of Genesis, at the same time Darwin was writing his Origin of Species. Convincing no one, Gosse estranged even the faithful with his image of God as "a trickster who planted gags to fool geologists." But given the ample evidence that dinosaurs were once alive, the debate continues: were they warm-blooded? On Not Exactly Rocket Science, Ed Yong shows us a new study which says yes, based on the "hip heights of 13 species of dinosaur including Tyrannosaurus, Velociraptor and Archaeopteryx." Finally, in the realm of sheer speculation, Richard Dawkins has thrown some weight behind the what-if evolutionary concept of a "humanoid dinosaur." As Darren Naish writes on Tetrapod Zoology, "our body shape clearly works well for an intelligent, tool-using, sentient animal, but where is the convincing evidence that it is the only possible body shape for such a creature?"

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The Buzz: Now and Later

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:16:28 -0500

Sometimes, present circumstances can belie the uncertainty of the future. On Not Exactly Rocket Science, Ed Yong discusses experiments on "restraint bias" which show that many people overestimate their powers of self-control. He notes that "we're generally bad at predicting the future," arguing that those who feel the strongest are the most likely to risk temptation and defeat. On Respectful Insolence, Orac critiques the latest "kerfuffle over screening for cancer," which questions the value of routine screening. While early detection may seem like a no-brainer for an improved prognosis, the equation is more complicated and the margins slimmer than one might think. Greg Laden also warns in his blog against mistaking the present trend for the bigger picture. While swine flu may be peaking, he says, it's no time to let down our guard. In other words, once the cop car passes, "don't just wander blissfully out into the middle of the street like it is all over, because you will be flattened by the firetruck that you illogically assume is not coming next."

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The Buzz: Believe It or Not

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:40:15 -0500

Humans believe a lot of things, for a lot of reasons. Confronted by a student who had learned lions' manes are an expression of their testosterone level--and not just a bit of claw-catching fluff--Greg Laden observes that when someone finds you wrong on one count, they will assume you are wrong about everything. He calls this "a known feature of student thinking in early development," a true-or-false mentality which sooner or later must reconcile itself with the complexity of our universe. Elsewhere, Razib Khan theorizes on Gene Expression that organized religion arose to meet the needs of our agricultural ancestors. He says that over the last 200 years, industrialization has allowed Westerners to achieve income equity more reminiscent of hunter-gatherer societies, resulting in the "unwinding" of institutional and interpersonal hegemonies. Finally, Eric Michael Johnson in The Primate Diaries explores different kinds of human reciprocity, from ritual gift-giving to organ transplant.

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The Buzz: House Passes Health Care Bill

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:02:02 -0500

After hours of deliberation late into Saturday night, the US House of Representatives passed the long-awaited health care reform bill. While many Americans are elated at the new bill's passing, others are questioning the controversial amendment added that prohibits insurance coverage for abortions. Ed Brayton from Dispatches from the Culture Wars examines the compromise many Democratic Representatives made with Catholic bishops local to their constituencies in adding this amendment. Later on, Ed also criticizes what he calls "unruly behavior" exhibited by some House Republicans to delay the passing of the bill. On Effect Measure, Revere expressed disappointment and outrage at what he calls a "neutered industry-friendly cup of weak tea with a Draconian anti-choice amendment," emphatically stating, "a woman's right to choose is not negotiable."

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The Buzz: As the World Turns

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:14:50 -0500

As the Earth's tectonic plates shift and grind miles below our feet, we feel the effects on the surface in the form of earthquakes and volcanic activity. As Ed Yong of Not Exactly Rocket Science and Chris Rowan of Highly Allochthonous explain, earthquakes far from tectonic plate boundaries may be aftershocks of more violent seismic events along mid-continental faults that occurred hundreds of years earlier. According to a study published in Nature this week, faults in the middle of a continent take much longer—100 years or more—to return to normal activity; thus, aftershocks can occur long after what would be expected from coastal quakes. In other earthquake news, Chris Rowan also reports on Iran's decision to move their capital city to a less earthquake-prone location than Tehran. And on Eruptions, Erik Klemetti gets to the bottom of a recent Slashdot post proclaiming that recent volcanic activity in Ethiopia is causing the African continent to rift apart, forming a new ocean. In fact, explains Erik, the recent eruptions are part of a known process. "This is nothing new," says Erik. "We've known that Africa is splitting apart for decades."

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The Buzz: In Defense of Drug Addiction Research

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:58:10 -0500

This week, Jessica Palmer of Bioephemera posted an illuminating report on the politics that govern—and often hamper—scientific research for drug abuse treatment. In her post, Jessica points out, "research to help [cigarette] smokers quit is generally portrayed as necessary and important," but the media, politicians, and society at large view research for treatment of other drug addictions as "a waste of money." She posits that these "cheap shots" are easy to take because many people find it difficult to relate to drug addicts, resulting in a "knee-jerk lack of sympathy." In the following days, ScienceBloggers joined Jessica in expressing their outrage. Janet D. Stemwedel of Adventures in Ethics and Science responded, saying, "I'd rather we be a society that stands ready to help people change...It's not just in their interest, but in ours, too." DrugMonkey also responded, posting talking points from the Coalition to Protect Research's alert on "a growing strategy to bash drug-abuse science." Ultimately, Jessica, along with her blogger cohorts, placed emphasis on the importance of this research concluding that addiction to "crack, meth, etc. utterly destroys families and communities."

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The Buzz: Social Media Revolution

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:33:19 -0500

In the past five years, technology has played a major part in influencing the way we functions, even in the least mechanical of human behaviors--like socializing. Today, ScienceBloggers are taking a close look at how the social media explosion is affecting the world. On The Primate Diaries, Eric Michael Johnson reports on anthropologist Stefana Broadbent's surprising theory suggesting that social media is "promoting greater intimacy between people." Abel Pharmboy of Terra Sigillata shares with readers a flattering e-card he received marketing a pharmaceutical, sent only a week before the FDA holds a hearing on "Promotion of FDA-Regulated Medical Products Using the Internet and Social Media Tools." Matthew C. Nisbett covers Repower America's new social media ad campaign for their new feature, "The Wall," on Framing Science. On The World's Fair, David Ng posts a video from TEDx featuring a talk on how "advances in technology have provided increased collaboration on scientific research and scholarly publications," particularly in light of the H1N1 pandemic.

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The Buzz: Teacher Suspended Over Seed Article

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:26:15 -0500

Last week, Dan Delong, an English teacher at Southwestern High School in Piasa, Illinois was suspended for allowing students to read an article on homosexuality in the animal kingdom. The article in question, "The Gay Animal Kingdom," was written by ScienceBlogger Jonah Lehrer of The Frontal Cortex, and published by Seed magazine in 2006. Mr. Delong faced a school board hearing on Monday and stood to lose his job over the incident. Jonah, along with many other ScienceBloggers, rallied support for Mr. Delong, as well as science education and literacy everywhere. Mike Dunford of the Questionable Authority pointed out that "the content was an optional, extra-credit assignment," and provides readers with the email contact for the school's superintendent. Greg Laden of Greg Laden's Blog spoke out along with Jonah and Mike, urging readers to check out the Facebook page replete with comments of support from Mr. DeLong's former students. In the end, the effort was worthwhile—Mr. DeLong returned to his classroom this morning.

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