From the monthly archives:

January 2010

The One Cell Planning Commission

January 31, 2010

Behold, the artful amoeba itself — a slime mold. In this case, it is Physarum polycephalum, the lab rat of plasmodial slimes. Scientists in Japan have been leading the world in creative slime mold research, demonstrating about 10 years ago (when I was first learning about these creatures) that slime molds could solve mazes. If [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

Your Daily Parasite Fix: The Corpse Flower

January 26, 2010

Since any parasites you may be hosting are at this moment getting their daily fix of you, why not get your daily fix of parasites? It turns out that in honor of the International Year of Biodiversity, a parasitologist at the American Museum of Natural History is hosting a Parasite of the Day blog — [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

Gorgeous Corkscrews from Hell

January 22, 2010

So I haven’t managed to get around to writing the post I had bee. . . look! Shiny! Spirochetes!
This one goes out to those of you who think all bacteria are either boring rods or balls. (BTW, is it just me, or does this video have a strange first-moon-landing-recording-esque quality?)

Eat your heart out, physicists, engineers [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

Extinction by Design: Guinea Worm

January 18, 2010

Though I could find little about the biology of rinderpest for the last post, guinea worm is a case of the opposite: Way Too Much Information. Guinea worm inspires horror not so much by its life history (many infectious organisms find ways to wander about your body at will), but by its size, Homo sapiens-escape [...]

4 comments Read the full article →

Extinction by Design: Rinderpest

January 13, 2010

Extinction has a flip side: eradication. We did it to smallpox (or rather, almost did it; a few samples survive in U.S. and Russian labs), and though the ethics of that are interesting to think about as an intellectual exercise, there is no question that it has relieved the suffering of millions. Scientists are on [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

The Sexual Disability of Red Algae

January 10, 2010

For those who would like to know more about your friendly blogger, I have been interviewed by the community blog at The Reef Tank, a web site for home saltwater aquarists. In the interview, I talk about some of the peculiarities of aquatic plants and algae (including an explanation of the title of this post), [...]

2 comments Read the full article →

Does Hallmark Make a Card For International Biodiversity Years?

January 7, 2010

. . . And we’re back. Apologies for the long delay, but after I returned from my vacation, I almost immediately plunged into the logistics of painting my entire home, and I’ve been otherwise engaged each night. But I wanted to be (among the) first to wish you a Happy International Year of Biodiversity!
And [...]

0 comments Read the full article →