Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Racism is ugly

So, it's great to see that there are organizations working to educate the youth about it. It is kind of too bad that there are not organizations working to educate Lake Havasu City Councilmen.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Could Velociraptors have attacked from above?

A recent paper by Phil Manning of the University of Manchester, UK, suggests that Velociraptors may have used their fearsome claws to climb trees and attack prey by leaping down on them. This theory is based on further biomechanical considerations based on his earlier assertion that the claws "could puncture skin and help the dinosaur cling to wounded prey but... [not] rip the skin open." Manning goes on to mention that the Microraptor is now known to have used feathery forelimbs to glide down from trees. These suggestions are further emphasized by the recent findings of Ken Dial at the University of Montana. With slow motion video footage, Dial has shown that ground birds with flight abilities will use their claws to aid their wings in the ascension of vertical surfaces.

(Note: Video starts at 4:58, the relevant area.)



[via io9.com]

UPDATE: Let's Try to Settle This -- Are Birds Dinosaurs?

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

"'Liposuction Leftovers' Easily Converted To Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells"

"Globs of human fat removed during liposuction conceal versatile cells that are more quickly and easily coaxed to become induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, than are the skin cells most often used by researchers, according to a new study from Stanford's School of Medicine."

"Cell Discovery Opens New Chapter In Drug Development"

"'Our findings will be of great interest to scientists and pharmaceutical companies as they open up new avenues for drug development and testing.'"

"Super Sperm - An Evolutionary Reason For Infertility?"

"'The rate of human infertility is higher than we should expect it to be,' says Dr. Hasson. 'By now, evolution should have improved our reproductive success rate. Something else is going on.' Combining empirical evidence with a mathematical model developed in cooperation with Prof. Lewi Stone of the department's Biomathematics Unit, the researchers suggest that the bodies of men and women have become reproductive antagonists, not reproductive partners. The conclusions of this research were published recently in the journal Biological Reviews."

"Truth or Lies"

For some, it may require just as much effort to tell the truth as it does to lie.

First Evidence Of Virus In Malignant Prostate Cells: XMRV Retrovirus Linked To More Aggressive Tumors

"If further investigation proves the virus, XMRV (Xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus), causes prostate cancer in people, it would open opportunities for developing diagnostic tests, vaccines, and therapies for treating the cancer, according to the study published Sept. 7 online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."