Observing the hot 17 Mar 2008 The ever-interesting blog of Moselio Schachter, Small Things Considered has another post of thought-provoking microbes: hyperthermophiles. These wee beasties live at 90°C in anoxic conditions. I particularly liked the passing comment: Growth and division of these organisms was observed at 90°C under anoxic conditions using a dark-field light microscope (which takes quite a set-up). Um yes. I’m betting that was a Herculean effort! In particular this is interesting because there is a bias in identifying microbes that do not culture in ordinary lab conditions. These researchers are to be congratulated for going to such lengths. Ecology and Biodiversity Evolution General Science Species and systematics
General Science Spin versus framing: the tragedy of PR 31 Aug 200818 Sep 2017 For my sins, I was once a public relations guy, for an educational institution, and I held positions roughly in that domain (e.g., as public communications manager for a medical research institute, although I managed the means not the message) for the bulk of my professional life until I finally… Read More
Ecology and Biodiversity “Systematics is sick” 21 Aug 2008 So says a committee of the UK House of Lords: Systematic biology and taxonomy – the science of describing and identifying plants and animals – is in critical decline and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) must act before it is too late. Of course, this is not… Read More
Creationism and Intelligent Design Teacher, there’s a god in my evolutionary soup… 12 Dec 200818 Sep 2017 … shh, not so loud or everyone will want one. Here’s a piece by Darksyde at Daily Kos in which he reports the outgoing EPA chair (who has overseen all manner of bad science and decisions, although that may not be his own fault) as saying “It’s not a clean-cut… Read More