Ocean
Friday, March 10, 2006
I remember the last time I felt the ocean. It was at Port Isabel, near Padre Island, the week after spring break. The beach had a hangover: crumpled beer cans and cigarette butts, candy wrappers and used condoms. Herring gulls squabbled over choice bits of trash and cried as they wheeled in the sky... .. read more..
Do like you oughta, add acid to water
Friday, November 4, 2005
This is an old rhyme taught to students in many chemistry classes so that they\'ll remember the correct way to combine strong acid and water.The worst laboratory accident I\'ve ever witnessed happened when a student failed to follow this simple rule, though it was made far worse than it should have be.. .. read more..
Octopus
Friday, October 28, 2005
Taxonomy Octopuses (along with their closest cephalopod kin, nautiluses, cuttlefish and squids) are the most dynamic members of phylum Mollusca, which also includes snails and oysters. There are thought to be about 200 species of octopuses. The most common species is Octopus vulgaris, which is found.. .. read more..
Why you should wear your sunglasses
Thursday, October 27, 2005
In the rush to pack for trips to the beach or to wilderness retreats, some people will forget necessities like their toothpaste or a pillow for napping in the car. Indiana University optometry professor Arthur Bradley wants to make sure people don\'t forget their sunglasses. \"Exposure to high levels .. .. read more..
Dead Armadillo Wrasslin\'
Monday, October 3, 2005
Long, long ago in a land far, far away, I happened to be a biology major taking an ecology class. And our professor, Dr. D., decided we were such a nice bunch of slaves students that he\'d take us on a Saturday field trip to help his graduate students explore the exotic mysteries of the wily armadill.. .. read more..
The Skunk Incident
Monday, September 26, 2005
During my senior year of college, a friend of mine took a mammalogy class. His professor offered the students extra credit if they would help out on a weekend project: skinning, stuffing, and mounting various roadkill animals to send out to natural history museums in the state. My friend made the mi.. .. read more..
Good reasons to avoid wearing make-up
Friday, August 26, 2005
Makeup is any substance people apply to their skin or nails for either decoration or disguise. The decoration may be subtle (such as glitter or nail polish) or fantastic (such as the kabuki-style makeup worn by members of the band Kiss). The use of makup as disguise is sometimes extreme; everyone ha.. .. read more..
Valerian
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Valerian root (Valeriana officinalis and V. dioica, both native to the temperate parts of Europe and Asia) is widely available as an herbal supplement; while it has no FDA-approved medicinal use, it is touted as a sleep aid and anticramping agent. Medical studies have shown that it acts as a mild se.. .. read more..
Shampoo ingredients
Friday, August 12, 2005
You step into the shower, only to discover that your shampoo bottle is practically empty. Argh! You fill the bottle partway with water, shake it up, and douse your wet hair with the diluted, sudsy shampoo. In seconds, you\'re lathered up, rinsing off, and ready to face your day. As you turn off the w.. .. read more..
Adelphophagy
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
(From Greek: adelphos=brother + phagos=eating) Adelphophagy, which literally means \"eating one\'s brother\", refers to the act of pre-birth cannibalism. In other words, it\'s the killing and devouring of broodmates while the cannibal and victim(s) are still in their mother\'s womb. Talk about your sibli.. .. read more..
The Earth\'s Moons
Friday, July 1, 2005
Everybody knows that the Earth has a moon: Luna* is roughly a quarter of the size of our planet and is second only to the Sun in celestial brightness. In fact, it is so big relative to our planet\'s size that it almost qualifies in some scientists\' books as a double planet. Luna orbits 384,400 km fro.. .. read more..
sunburn
Thursday, June 30, 2005
When your skin is exposed to ultraviolet light, it sustains DNA damage. Just a few seconds of exposure to sunlight can cause subtle damage. Fortunately, genetically-normal people have an enzyme (an abzyme ) in their bodies whose sole purpose is to repair these tiny everyday cellular insults by addin.. .. read more..
Radium poisoning
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
If a person eats or drinks radium-tainted materials, about 80% of the radium will be excreted fairly quickly. The remaining 20% will be absorbed into the bloodstream and carried throughout the body. Because radium is chemically similar to calcium, the body will mistakenly use it in various biochemic.. .. read more..
I never saw a haptic cow ....
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Evidently, there\'s quite a lot you can learn about a cow\'s health by sticking your hand up her butt. More specifically, the cow\'s rectum is positioned so that you can feel her reproductive tract -- ovaries, uterus, and often the cervix. It\'s useful for doing pregnancy exams, diagnosing ovarian cysts.. .. read more..
Fear and Loathing at the Family Reunion
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Your Uncle Oscar speaks in grunts and always smells of spoiled herring. Your cousin Nellie never stops smiling and reads nothing but religious tracts. Your 80-year-old paternal grandfather has an eyepatch, leers at your mother, and keeps the mummified hand of an SS officer in a trunk in the attic.Fo.. .. read more..
Why I Stopped Wanting To Be a Biologist When I Grew Up
Monday, April 18, 2005
It all started innocently enough. I had just begun my senior year as a biology major at a West Texas college, and I had just completed a research project on the germination requirements of poppy mallow seeds. The research had been hard, yes, and often sheer drudgery, definitely, but in the end, it h.. .. read more..
The Laboratory
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Whoever designed the zoology lab hadn\'t had aesthetics in mind. The lab tables, big black rectangles of stone on plain wooden cabinets, are gracelessly utilitarian. The sinks between the tables are stained gray from the hard water and lab chemicals. The drains stink from the residue of all creatures.. .. read more..
sulforaphane
Saturday, June 28, 2003
Sulforaphane is a plant-derived chemical that is found in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and cauliflower (all members of the genus Brassica). More specifically, it is a sulfur-containing isothiocyanate derivative and is of great interest to medical researchers. A.. .. read more..
zebrafish
Thursday, June 19, 2003
The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a species of small freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae. Also commonly known as the \"zebra danio\" or \"striped danio\", it is widely used as a model organism for the study of vertebrate developmental biology, toxicology, and genetics. The adult fish and the developin.. .. read more..
lion-tailed macaque
Saturday, March 8, 2003
The lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus) is a reclusive monkey species native only to India. They are locally called \"vandaru\", which got corrupted into English as \"wanderoo\". A member of the family Cercopithcidae, this macaque prefers to live in mature rainforests (particularly the Anamalai in sout.. .. read more..
Yellow Fever
Saturday, March 8, 2003
Yellow fever is an infectious epidemic primate disease caused by a virus in the family flaviviridae. It is transmitted to (and between) humans by mosquitoes and is is characterized by severe headache, muscle aches, low blood pressure, fever, jaundice and severe hepatitis. The disease gets its name f.. .. read more..
hemp
Friday, February 20, 1998
Cannabis sativa is an annual herb in the family Cannabaceae which grows 3-10 feet tall and has hairy leaves divided into 5 to 7 serrated leaflets; the leaves are often sticky with resin. The plants are distinctly male or female (male and female flowers are produced by separate plants) and they flowe.. .. read more..
Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities
Friday, February 20, 1998
\"This treaty will last \'til a big mineral discovery is made -- then it will be every man for himself.\"-- attributed to an unidentified European delegate after a 1972 meeting of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties. The 1988 Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities .. .. read more..
Journalistic bias and science reporting
Saturday, February 20, 1993
While many people believe that the media are inherently biased, those of us who\'ve gotten degrees in journalism have had it drilled into our skulls that bias is A Bad ThingTM. Hard-nosed, old-school newspaper reporters are particularly touchy about bias: in their world, good reporters should be neut.. .. read more..