by Elio Picture a leading authority on algal genetics and ecology, a discoverer of fascinating microbes from many phyla, an accomplished poet, an Esperantist who translated Winnie the Pooh into that language, a wit, a philosopher, and a nice guy. You have pictured Ralph Lewin, who died in La Jolla, ...

I have always said there may be a small percentage of people with autism spectrum disorder (perhaps those with Asperger Syndrome) whose symptoms are a result only of their genetic makeup, with no environmental factors involved at all. But a new study out of UC Davis' MIND Institute says that it's ti...

College students who use wireless handheld devices called “clickers” to register answers to instructors’ questions during lectures are more likely to give correct responses after discussion with their peers, studies have found. But, researchers wondered, were students improving mer...

Incomplete Manifesto for Growth by Bruce Mau Written in 1998, the Incomplete Manifesto is an articulation of statements exemplifying Bruce Mau’s beliefs, strategies and motivations. Collectively, they are how we approach every project. Allow events to change you. You have to be willing to grow. Gr...

Today was the 7th day of the administrative hearing on John Freshwater’s appeal of the Mt. Vernon, Ohio, Board of Education’s decision to terminate him. You’ll recall that Freshwater is the 8th grade science teacher accused of burning crosses on students’ arms, teaching from creationist mate...

Editor's note: this is the fifth in a series of Hoover Hog interviews. _________________________________ _________________________________ INTRODUCTION Eventually, it comes back to the scene where the cornered pacifist has that thug garroted to a jagged sill. "My neck's on the glass,&qu...

In response to my last post, I received a couple of thought-provoking comments from DJ. I will deal with each in turn. Genes may load the gun and environment, may pull the trigger, but for mankind not necessarily. In the animal kingdom genes establish a predetermined predisposition. A lion act diffe...

There are 18 new articles in PLoS ONE today. As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. You can now also easily place articles on various social services (CiteULike, Connotea, Stumbleupon, Facebook and Digg) with just one clic...

Last Week’s Best-Selling Genre Books Twilight by Stephenie Meyer New Moon by Stephenie Meyer Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer Just After Sunset by Stephen King The Pagan Stone by Nora Roberts The Host by Stephenie Meyer Brisin...

Scientists have been working on this for nearly a decade now on making ES cells capable of being used directly in therapies. They have been stymied by three primary problems; the potential for tissue rejection (which we will not get into in this post), the cells' propensity to form tumors called ter...