Peacocks communicate via the (ultra)sounds they make with their feathers
Posted 20 Jun 2012 / 0Science News “Peacocks ruffle feathers, make a rumble“
A Minor Post, Adaptation, Communication, MSCI-363, Biological Origins of Sound & Music, WebIs Alzheimer’s disease caused by prion proliferation?
Posted 20 Jun 2012 / 0Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences “Purified and synthetic Alzheimer’s amyloid beta (Aβ) prions“
A Minor Post, Articles, Senescence“Creatures of Light: Nature’s Bioluminescence” exhibit at the American Museum on Natural History
Posted 19 Jun 2012 / 0Today I had the pleasure of accompanying my daughter’s fourth grade class to the “Creatures of Light: Nature’s Bioluminescence” exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History. Beyond making sure that all students returned home safely, I was also interested in how this exhibit explained bioluminescence as an evolved adaptation. When I teach Evolution, one Read More
A Major Post, Adaptation, Behavior, Coevolution, Competition, Convergence, Cooperation, Evolution, Interactions, Marine Ecosystems, Museum design, Museums & Zoos, Mutualism, Phylogenetics, Predation, Sex and Reproduction, TerrestrialOur brains are too smart to be tricked: diet sodas just make your body crave more calories
Posted 19 Jun 2012 / 0Science News “Diet Sodas May Confuse Brain’s ‘Calorie Counter’“
A Minor Post, Health & Medicine, Mismatch theory, Neuroscience, WebIn case you were a skeptic: bears can count
Posted 19 Jun 2012 / 0ScienceShot “These Bears Count” Scientific American The Thoughtful Animal blog “The Average Bear Is Smarter Than You Thought” This finding sheds fascinating light on the question of why counting exists. Because bears are not social animals, it appears that counting is not just about keeping track of fellow group members or assessing the level of Read More
A Minor Post, Adaptation, Behavior, WebFreaked out grasshoppers just do not contribute to decomposition in the same manner as their more relaxed brethren
Posted 19 Jun 2012 / 0Science “Fear of Predation Slows Plant-Litter Decomposition” Nature News “Stressed grasshoppers slow plant decay” More interesting community-level feedback between predators and their prey!
A Minor Post, Decomposition, Phenotypic Plasticity, PredationSurprisingly, rugby can be used to understand honest signaling
Posted 19 Jun 2012 / 0PLoS One “Detecting Deception in Movement: The Case of the Side-Step in Rugby“
A Minor Post, Articles, CommunicationDigital organisms yield new insights into the effects of extinction on long-term phylogenetic patterns of evolution
Posted 19 Jun 2012 / 0PLoS One “A Comparison of the Effects of Random and Selective Mass Extinctions on Erosion of Evolutionary History in Communities of Digital Organisms“
A Minor Post, Community Ecology, Evolutionary Modeling, ExtinctionIs human genetic research being hampered by a failure to share data?
Posted 19 Jun 2012 / 0PLoS One “Mine, Yours, Ours? Sharing Data on Human Genetic Variation” This problem reminds me a little bit of a similar problem in computational biology: often modelers are reluctant to share their code, considering it proprietary information (although note that code represents “methods” and sequences represent “results”). But if gene sequences and model code are Read More
A Minor Post, Data Limitation, GeneticsNew study on birds uses remote tracking to provide detailed behavioral data
Posted 19 Jun 2012 / 0PLoS One “From Sensor Data to Animal Behaviour: An Oystercatcher Example” Miniaturization is going to make observing previously-unobservable animal behaviors possible.
A Minor Post, Articles, Behavior, Behavioral Ecology, Experiments (General)