This weekend I heard an incredibly interesting story on NPR’s This American Life titled “Almost Human Resources” (Act 3). The story was all about the issues surrounding chimpanzees in the human world surpassing their usefulness and how we should care for them. Apparently this now includes retirement homes with TVs.
This story, along with a recent [...]

Though we are nearing the end of the “official” Darwin Day celebration, considering Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of the publication of The Origin of Species, 2009 is sure to be the Year of Darwin. In fact, a slew of events will be filling the entire month of February and there are [...]

Welcome back to the Carnival of Evolution - the place where the sideshow freaks of nature, the genetic mutants of the Tree of Life, run the show. Yes - we are all mutants, each of us with our own mutant powers, whether that be gripping plastic electronic mice with opposable thumbs or using specialized spiny [...]

I’ve decided to start a weekly series highlighting interesting, strange, or just plain cool evolutionary adaptations. If any of you have suggestions for adaptations that you find particularly interesting, I would be happy to include them.
I’m gonna start off with a species that is dear to my heart, the Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus). Back in [...]

I will be hosting the next biweekly installment of the Carnival of Evolution #8 (a blog carnival devoted to…well…you can figure it out) here at biochemicalsoul.
You can submit your own articles that either directly or indirectly deal with Evolution by using this handy form.
If you would also like to host, check out the CoE mothership [...]

As some of you might have noticed, this site has been pretty inactive as of late.  Blame that on the combination of a full-time research post-doc and a college teaching gig on top of it.
Well, now the stack of final exams are graded and it’s time once again for you to indulge your selective pressure [...]

Appalled.
That’s the nicest word I can think of to define my feelings about the vote for California’s Proposition 8, which bans marriage between homosexual humans.
As has been discussed all over the digital tubes since last night’s election, the turn against gay marriage was largely funded by the hate and bigotry of the Mormons. I can’t [...]

Kevin Zelnio over at The Other 95% (and the Discovery Channel’s Deep Sea News) has put together another excellent edition of the Carnival of Evolution. This edition contains much deep delving into the science, both current and past, within the field of evolutionary biology, and it makes for a truly edifying read.
Next up for [...]

I recently designed a couple of logos for Dr. J. Christopher Ellis to adorn his biological database website. I thought I’d throw him a link as well as showcase the two logos I made.
The first is for the frontpage of his site evolveathome.com. I made this using the 3D animation software, Maya 7, and Flash. [...]

I just got home and happened to look up into the corner of my porch today, when what do I see but a Northern Black Widow (Latrodectus variolus) tending her egg case above my steps.
I have seen hundreds of black widows at my house (see some really cool closeups in my previous post on black [...]

Thanks to PZ Myers at Pharyngula for finding this one.  I post it here for the simple fact that this is side-splittingly hilarious! Go get your giggles on.
Excerpt:
Malwin dismissed critics who claimed that smashing animals together at high speeds was cruel to the animals. He said, “The animals won’t be feeling anything. The collision will [...]

As I’ve mentioned before, I am currently teaching an intro level biology course for freshman non-majors. At the moment we’re still talking about the nature of science, specifically focusing on junk science and common misconceptions and misrepresentations of science in the media and in public opinion.
One of the things I’m using is a clip [...]

In a previous post I highlighted one of the great questions facing science today: how did we evolve and what specific genes make us different from our cousins in the animal kingdom?
In a new study reported in this month’s issue of PLoS Genetics, Carolin Kosiol and colleagues have demonstrated the most complete analysis of the [...]

I grew these mouse embryonic stem cells on a plate, and through various molecular trickery, I made them turn in to the crazy cell types you see here. (Click for larger images)

Check out the next two images. They are the same cells viewed in two different ways (normal light, and epifluorescence).

Long neuronal axons stretch [...]

It now appears that the lowly worm, Caenorhabditis elegans, has evolved a new sensory perception heretofore unknown to science. In the current issue of PLoS Biology, Stacey L. Edwards, Kenneth G. Miller, and others have shown that these nematodes can detect ultraviolet light using receptors completely unlike any other light receptive molecule in visual systems. [...]

Ever since the evolution of the sensory neuron, organisms have been using the these amazing peepholes into existence to direct the course of their lives. Now, humankind has elevated the role of these senses, and even created technological extensions of them, in order to find order and true knowledge of this Universe in which we [...]

First, for the last two summers my property has been overrun by the Northern Black Widow (Latrodectus variolus). These are distinguishable from the Southern Black Widow (Latrodectus mactans) by the fact that Northern Widows have broken hourglasses on their abdomen, while Southern widows have complete hourglasses. Note the broken hourglass on the female below.

Next [...]