Articles in the Category: Biology
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Animals, Discoveries, Evolution, New Species, Video on 01 12th, 2012 | No Comments
Tiniest Vertebrate Hops into the Limelight
Every few years biologists struggling to understand the evolutionary constraints placed on the largest and smallest of animals happen upon — usually by accident– a new contender. But that little creature then gets replaced by the next littlest critter. The competition goes on and biologists...
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Bioethics, Biology, Diseases, Genetics, Genomics, Health and Medicine, Inventions, Video on 01 11th, 2012 | No Comments
Gene Mapping Reaches Major Milestone
For years, scientists have been talking about the era of personalized medicine. While many preparations are underway, the biggest hurdle to widespread adoption has been the prohibitive cost to read a person’s entire DNA. Our genetic code provides a full road map to preventing and treating disease....
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Adaptation and Extinction, Animals, Biology, Citizen science, Climate Change, Video on 12 29th, 2011 | No Comments
Christmas Count Turns Birders into Citizen Scientists
If it’s December it’s time to count the birds. For 112 years the National Audubon Society has been documenting the avian world with its annual Christmas Bird Count. The oldest citizen science (and longest running) project now utilizes the bird-spotting expertise of over 60,000 volunteers...
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Astrobiology, Biology, Evolution, Featured Articles, Genetics, Physics and Chemistry, SciLebs on 12 28th, 2011 | No Comments
Rosie Redfield — Tyrant Queen of Science
Rosie Redfield is no shrinking violent. The outspoken University of British Columbia microbiologist always seems to have a wild hair about something. This year it ran the gamut from a fight over mailing flu cells to England using FedEx to her efforts showing scientific journals acting irresponsibly by...
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Adaptation and Extinction, Genomics, Plants, Video on 12 22nd, 2011 | No Comments
Frankincense Shortage on the Horizon
It’s almost Christmas and the value of the gifts of the Three Wise Men is on the rise. For those not remembering the Nativity story the Three Wise Men brought three items, gold, frankincense and myrrh to the birth of baby Jesus. Quite valuable way back when, the three items are still quite rare...
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Artificial Intelligence, Biology, Engineering, Evolution, Featured Articles, Nanotechnology, Physics and Chemistry, Video on 12 15th, 2011 | No Comments
Is Metal the New Building Block of Life?
The focus of Lee Cronin’s work is understanding and controlling self-assembly and self-organisation in chemistry to develop functional molecular and nano-molecular chemical systems; linking architectural design with function and recently engineering system-level functions.Lee Cronin's Lab Searches...
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Adaptation and Extinction, Animals, Atmospheric science, Biology, Climate, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environment, Marine Science, Oceanography, Physics and Chemistry, Video on 12 1st, 2011 | No Comments
Arctic Region Warms into New Climate State
In 2006, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration began monitoring the Arctic region, creating an annual report card to mark rapid change occurring there. Five years in and the news isn’t good.
The 2011 Arctic Report Card shows that the entire region is changing dramatically. Ice, both...
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Animals, Biology, Discoveries, Marine Science, New Species, Video on 11 14th, 2011 | No Comments
Dead Sea Teems with Tiny Life
It turns out the Dead Sea isn’t so dead after all. Microscopic life is thriving in the super salty environment, according to new findings by a German and Israeli team of scientists. They found new species of life in freshwater fissures in the seafloor.
Fresh, bubbling water containing the ingredients...
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Biology, Diseases, Genetics, Genomics, Health and Medicine, Physiology, Video on 10 27th, 2011 | 1 Comment
X Prize Opens Centenarian Genome Competition
The first scientific team to sequence the genomes of 100 one-hundred year olds wins $10 million. It’s the latest offering from the science competition organization, X Prize Foundation, a non-profit designed to spur science and technology by awarding big cash prizes for significant breakthroughs.
Their...
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Backyard Science, Biology, Environment, Evolution, Greenovation, Inventions, Math, Plants, SciArt, Scientainment, Video on 10 21st, 2011 | 2 Comments
Nature by Numbers
Nature has been doing things for billions of years without issue. Over time plants and animals have refined the way they live to reflect the optimal situation given the conditions they have to endure. This is the nature of evolution. The fittest survive but what fit means to nature may be different...
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Biotechnology, Consumer Safety, Diseases, Ecology, Engineering, Environment, Food and Nutrition, Health and Medicine, Plants, Video on 10 20th, 2011 | No Comments
Genetically Modified Foods Abound in U.S.
Jeffrey Smith has written the book on genetically modified foods (GMOs). Now he’s on a crusade to rid the U.S. of unhealthy food hybrids that not even animals choose to eat.
He tells the story of a farmer who was growing corn for his cows. The farmer grew non-GMO corn next to corn that had been...
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Biology, Discoveries, Diseases, Genomics, Health and Medicine, Video on 10 18th, 2011 | No Comments
Outgrowing the Plague
Every year about 10-15 people in the U.S. contract the plague. Just the sound of the world plague sounds ominous. But the illness is much less of a death sentence than it was during the Dark Ages. Now, a quick dose of antibiotics and the plagued person is right as rain.
After completing the first reconstruction...
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Biology, Diseases, Geology, Health and Medicine, Physics and Chemistry, Scientainment, SciLebs, Space, Video on 10 14th, 2011 | No Comments
Music Meets Science in Biophilia
The voice of nature Sir David Attenborough is featured explaining Iceland musician Bjork’s latest venture — Biophilia. It’s part music album reflecting the connection points between sound, nature and technology. It’s an app for iPhones and iPads. It’s a creation generator...
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Animals, Biology, Consumer Safety, Food and Nutrition, Health and Medicine, Physics and Chemistry, Physiology, Scientainment, Video on 10 11th, 2011 | No Comments
Ig Nobel Prizes Take a Lighter Look at Science
Pee pressure, beer bottle-humping beetles and a wasabi-flavored fire alarm were among the top prizes awarded at Harvard University’s 21st Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony, a more laid back version of the Nobel Prize ceremony. Nobel Prize laureates present the Ig Nobels to scientists and philosophers...
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Biology, Diseases, Health and Medicine, Physiology, Video on 10 3rd, 2011 | No Comments
Nobel Prize in Medicine Goes to Immunologists
A pioneering researcher was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Monday, three days after dying of pancreatic cancer without ever knowing he was about to be honored for his immune system work that he had used to prolong his own life.
Ralph Steinman, 1943-2011
Cell biologist Ralph Steinman...
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Biology, Physics and Chemistry, SciArt, Scientainment, Video on 09 30th, 2011 | No Comments
Performance Art Demonstrates Origin of Life
Science and art collide (sometimes literally) in Group Intelligence, a new flash mob performance art piece that asks the question, “How did life begin?”
Out of Hand Theater in Atlanta combined forces with the NASA/NSF Center for Chemical Evolution to explore the formation of molecules. But...
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Animals, Backyard Science, Biology, Citizen science, Consumer Safety, Diseases, Health and Medicine, Video on 09 28th, 2011 | No Comments
Snail Invasion Poses Health Risks
It may be the fastest invasion of a slow-moving creature but people in Miami-Dade County are taking care not to mess with the new snail in town.
The east African land snail is making a home in south Florida and causing all sorts of problems. They reproduce at an exponential rate and grow fast. They...
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Biology, Citizen science, Computer Science, Discoveries, Diseases, Engineering, Health and Medicine, Video on 09 21st, 2011 | 3 Comments
Citizen Scientists Discover Key HIV Protein
For years, scientists have been saying that some of the biggest discoveries in science will come from non-scientists. And now that prediction is showing promise as two teams of online video game players have helped solve the structure for an important enzyme found in the HIV virus.
After medical researchers...
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Biology, Biotechnology, SciArt, Scientainment, Video on 09 16th, 2011 | 2 Comments
Science Inspired Art: The Movement
WARNING: this video is 41 minutes, so grab a cup of coffee and settle in for an inspiring talk.
Generally modern art exhibits have provocative and pithy titles that don’t say much. Arthur Miller decided his new GV Gallery exhibit in London would take the opposite approach. He wanted to be explicit...
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Biology, Genetics, SciArt, Scientainment on 09 2nd, 2011 | No Comments
The DNA of Art
Wyllie O Hagan is a pair of visual artists working in different media, from silkscreen paintings to film. They became fascinated by Rosalind Franklin, the woman who captured the first x-ray image of DNA, which immediately led to James Watson and Francis Crick’s discovery of the structure of DNA...
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Biology, Diseases, Engineering, Health and Medicine, Inventions, Physiology, Video on 09 1st, 2011 | No Comments
A Breath of Medical Fresh Air
Starting in a couple of years you may be able to let out a big sigh of relief that medical diagnostics are moving away from needles and other invasive ways of figuring out what’s going on in the human body.
New technology that takes detailed readings from our breath are already being tested to...
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Animals, Backyard Science, Biology, Marine Science, Scientainment, SciLebs, Video on 08 31st, 2011 | No Comments
Nature’s Deadliest Animal Wrangler
It’s not your average Top 10 list. In fact there are a lot more killer creatures on adventurer Steve Backshall’s World’s 60 Deadliest Animals list. And he is traveling the world in search of the creative ways critters kill each other.
The Nat Geo Wild channel airs the show, which follows...
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Animals, Backyard Science, Biology, Citizen science, Discoveries, Diseases, Endangered Species, Environment, Marine Science, Math, New Species, Video on 08 25th, 2011 | No Comments
Millions of Species Yet to be Discovered
According to a new study it could take 1,200 years, 300,000 researchers and $364 billion to identify and catalog all the species on Earth.
New research in the online journal PLoS Biology, a publication of the Public Library of Science uses a new way of calculating just how many plants and animals inhabit...
