Learn more about 'The tale of the tails: the crucial role of cilia in early development'...
fungal wall cilia (USDA)

The tale of the tails: the crucial role of cilia in early development

John Wallingford began his research trying to figure out how a fertilized egg changes from a small cluster of cells to something with shape—a head and a tail. How do tissues organize themselves to create that shape? Cilia, the small tails once thought to be mainly for swimming, turn out to be crucial for communication—helping cells more…
Learn more about 'Territorial battles in the aquarium tank: the molecular basis of social organization and behavior'...
Neolamprologus brichardi (Photo by J. Altschuler & H.A. Hofmann)

Territorial battles in the aquarium tank: the molecular basis of social organization and behavior

Why are some species monogamous, and others polygamous? Hans Hofmann is trying to understand the ecological and molecular basis of divergent social organizations. He’s also trying to decipher the most basic molecular and hormonal mechanisms underlying social behavior in individuals. In dozens of aquarium tanks in his lab, African cichlid fishes jockey for turf, sometimes more…
Learn more about 'Higgs, dark matter and supersymmetry: what the Large Hadron Collider will tell us'...
Large Hadron Collider (NASA, CERN)

Higgs, dark matter and supersymmetry: what the Large Hadron Collider will tell us

The Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator, will begin operation this year in a quest to answer some of the most intriguing questions in physics. One of its missions will be to search for the Higgs boson, which Steven Weinberg predicted in a paper in 1967—nearly half a century ago. An more…
Learn more about 'Where computation and fabrication meet: using computers to mimic biology'...
people viewing a computer simulation of Alzheimer's protein attacking brain cells (ORNL)

Where computation and fabrication meet: using computers to mimic biology

Zack Simpson will talk about the unique ways the living world exploits technology; living things, he explains, are computational machines that manipulate matter. He will discuss mimicking biological methods through synthetic biology and molecular amorphous computing. Simpson will take a long view of technology, spanning thousand of years and touching on topics as diverse as architecture, electrical engineering, and biology. more…
Learn more about 'Why do women have sex?'...
from the Kama Sutra

Why do women have sex?

Many of us think we know the answer to that one. Three obvious guesses might be: For pleasure, because they’re in love, or to have children. And we might think of a few more if we worked at it. David Buss and Cindy Meston asked 1,500 women why they had sex, and they came up with a more…
Learn more about 'No starvation diet here: yeast cells eat and eat—and live longer'...
yeast under the microscope (Heribert Cypionka, microbiological-garden.net)

No starvation diet here: yeast cells eat and eat—and live longer

Much of what we know about aging was found first in yeast—and then later throughout the animal kingdom. Now a new discovery in yeast is challenging recent findings on lifespan and calorie restriction. Franz Rosenzweig has found that if he immobilizes yeast cells in a matrix and feeds them all the food and vitamins they want, more…
Learn more about 'Blue highways'...
Africa from space (NASA)

Blue highways

Among the most exciting questions in human evolution is how modern humans spread from Africa to the rest of the world. What routes did they take? When did the migration occur? And what behavioral adaptations facilitated the expansion? One theory suggests the migration moved northward along the Nile River toward the Mediterranean. Another suggests that the more…
Learn more about 'Carbon and climate: some unfortunate surprises'...
Lost Hills oil field, California (Arne Hückelheim)

Carbon and climate: some unfortunate surprises

Kevin Gurney and his colleagues have produced a high-resolution emissions map of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States (the Vulcan project), and he is working on expanding that map to cover the entire globe. He is also exploring interactions between the carbon cycle, climate change, and human beings. And the news is not good. The more…
Learn more about 'PTSD on the battlefield: collecting data during combat'...
Florida National Guardsmen (Florida National Guard)

PTSD on the battlefield: collecting data during combat

The diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder in veterans remains controversial, in part because little is known about combat PTSD. Most studies have been retrospective, so the question remains: What factors in a soldier who has not yet seen combat could predispose him or her to PTSD? Michael Telch and his colleagues are conducting what they say more…
Learn more about 'Stuff: what it reveals about you'...
pile of tires (LA County)

Stuff: what it reveals about you

Those who remember a 1980s George Carlin routine about “stuff” (cf. YouTube) will have a preview of Sam Gosling’s research. People, he observes, are deeply connected to their stuff. Some is used to make statements about attitudes and values—such as bumper stickers, yellow ribbons, or Springsteen T-shirts. Some affects what you think about—family photos or more…
Learn more about 'The brain in reproduction and aging'...
family tree (NIH)

The brain in reproduction and aging

Andrea Gore is exploring the surprisingly complex and important links between the brain and the endocrine system, especially reproductive hormones. She has found striking changes with age in neurons related to reproduction, perhaps explaining menopause and fertility declines in middle-aged men. And she has found that exposure to PCBs and other pollutants can profoundly disrupt more…
Learn more about 'Rapid evolution: can mutations explain historical events?'...
prevalence map of lactose intolerance, a dietary adaptation (Wikimedia Commons)

Rapid evolution: can mutations explain historical events?

We usually think of evolution occurring over millions of years. But modern humans changed their environment 10,000 years ago with the development of agriculture and the decline of nomadic life. And they’ve been evolving very rapidly ever since. Genes for lighter skin, for example, are new and increasing in Europeans and Asians. Genes related to hearing more…
Learn more about 'Twinkie neurons? The brain's role in obesity'...
Burger, USDA

Twinkie neurons? The brain's role in obesity

See if this sounds familiar: You eat pretty well Monday through Thursday. Then you celebrate the weekend with a burger, fries, and a beer Friday night. And Saturday or Sunday, you nibble on junk while watching a ball game or a movie. On Monday, you want to get back on track, but you’re hungrier than you more…
Learn more about 'Dangerous drugs and the genetic causes of disease'...
NIH image

Dangerous drugs and the genetic causes of disease

Assuring the public that prescription drugs are safe is a tricky business, because the data are often locked in pharmaceutical company vaults. Bruce Psaty has used publicly available court documents released in lawsuits to write about drug-safety problems that have been kept secret by the drugs’ makers. His findings call into question not only the behavior more…
Learn more about ' Can statisticians tell us who won a questionable election?'...
paper ballot (Gov. NSW, AU)

Can statisticians tell us who won a questionable election?

The 2006 election in Florida's 13th Congressional district was won by the Republican candidate by 369 votes, out of about 240,000. But an examination of the ballots revealed a disturbing discrepancy: In the Republican-leaning half of the district, about 3,000 ballots recorded no choice in the Congressional race (a normal number of so-called undervotes). In the more…
Learn more about 'Quantifying consciousness with information theory'...
neurons (NIH)

Quantifying consciousness with information theory

Virgil Griffith is a computer-security expert whose accomplishments include cracking the security on debit cards widely used on college campuses; developing the Wikiscanner, a tool for identifying organizations that make edits on Wikipedia; and cross-referencing Texas vital records to predict individuals’ mothers’ maiden names. (Don’t ask him about the debit-card work; he was sued and more…
Learn more about 'Mining hidden knowledge from Medline and DNA'...
bioinformatics infrastructure

Mining hidden knowledge from Medline and DNA

Skip Garner, a physicist who has worked in artificial intelligence, fusion and high-temperature superconductors, is now devising expert systems of value in biomedical research. He’s devised a Medline search tool, called Iridescent, that finds correlations between papers that is leading to hitherto unsuspected new uses of existing drugs. Another project, using gene chips to detect more…
Learn more about '“This isn’t Cape Cod”: how Texas could become the nation’s leader in clean energy'...
coastal algae (USGS)

“This isn’t Cape Cod”: how Texas could become the nation’s leader in clean energy

Using corn, says Michael Webber, is the worst way to make biofuels. His alternative? Algae. It can be used to make oils, jet fuel, and animal feed, among other valuable commodities. It grows rapidly, and it cleans water as it grows. Texas has all the ingredients to make it work: ample sunlight, unused land on which more…