Biology… A heartfelt farewell to an outstanding educator, scientist, colleague and friend 7 Dec 2012 A couple of months ago I lost a wonderful colleague and friend, Dr. Richard Ira Woodruff (Dick). His professional achievements are listed here. In this brief post, I just want…
Biology… UPDATE! – Here we go again – Of politics and science 21 Nov 2012 Ok, I just saw this in the Huffington post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/21/barack-obama-earth-creation_n_2170810.html When I saw the headline, I thought that the President (when he was a Senator very much like Senator Marco…
Biology Planarians and viruses? 1 Nov 2012 This will be a very, very short post. As usual, I was thinking... As I am researching planarians more than ever for a project that I'll tell the world about…
Biology… Plantimals 26 Oct 2012 For reasons that we are not getting into right now (if you are curious, is because of the second law of thermodynamics), all living organisms need energy, no exceptions. This…
Biology… An oldie but a goddie, for those of you who are new to Baldscientist 28 Sep 2012 An oldie but a goddie, for those of you who are new to Baldscientist. Planarians in science fiction? Feel free to check my About page and to "Like" Baldscientist in…
Biology… She says ‘periwinkle’, I say ‘blue’… 15 Sep 2012 She says ‘periwinkle’, I say ‘blue’ (The invasion of the tetrachromats) The way we perceive our world is a mere representation of reality (for an example, see this) that our…
Biology… I am getting annoyed at all those "-omes" and -"omics"! 7 Sep 2012 I am very, very sorry, but I am sick of all those "-omes" and -"omics"... I have said more than once that nature, especially the biology part, is majestic. In…
Biology… BOOK REVIEW: The Brain: Big Bangs, Behaviors, and Beliefs 13 Aug 2012 Rob DeSalle, Ian Tattersall, Patricia J. Wynne (Illustrator). Yale University Press (2012). ISBN: 978-0300175226 This is an ambitious book. The brain is probably one of biology's "ultimate frontiers" and one…
Biology… BOOK REVIEW – Consciousness: Confessions of a Romantic Reductionist 12 Aug 2012 This is a review originally posted by me at amazon.com. --- Dr. Koch is a biophysicist by training who works primarily in computational neuroscience, with special interest in consciousness; he…
Biology… Why write about science? 2018 Edition 5 Aug 2012 “Not explaining Science seems to me perverse. When you are in love, you want to tell the whole world.” -Carl Sagan Sometimes it is very difficult to explain how an…
Biology… BOOK REVIEW – The Future of Life 4 Aug 2012 I wanted to bring to your attention one of my favorite books. Even though it was published some time ago, if anything, it is more relevant today. THE FUTURE OF…
Biology… Hermit Crabs and Humanity – The Ultimate Evolutionary Convergence 1 Aug 2012 This post is very speculative (a true scientist's way of saying "it is fun to think about these things"). Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that with respect to evolutionary theory,…
Biology… Update on: Believe or not, this blog post is about statistics, the human brain and common sense 22 Jun 2012 After reading the paper mentioned here, I have a much better understanding of what it is really about. I you remember my original post, a blog post in The Guardian…
Biology… Believe or not, this blog post is about statistics, the human brain and common sense 2 Jun 2012 UPDATE - The corresponding author of the paper, Dr. Suzana Herculano-Houzel kindly sent me a reprint of the paper. It was worth the wait; VERY interesting! After I read it…
Biology… On really BIG numbers 28 May 2012 When I give my introductory neurobiology lecture, I usually try to impress upon my students how really complex the human brain is. It is very easy just to say “the…
Biology… Autistics: The Original Holy People? 29 Apr 2012 I think a lot about autism (actually, I just think a lot about a lot of things, period). Anyway, I guess I think a lot about it because it is…
Biology… Why I use planaria in my research 24 Apr 2012 Life has a way of surprising you. If you had asked me ten years ago what type of research I'd be doing now I would probably have said something like…
Biology… A wonderful “Thank You” card 26 Mar 2012 Over the years, several students have surprised me with thoughtful “Thank you” notes, sometimes just to show appreciation for a semester of study or because I wrote a recommendation letter…
Biology… Brain Awareness Week at Philadelphia 18 Mar 2012 Last Thursday I volunteered at a very interesting national event, the Brain Awareness Week (BAW). The BAW is “…an inspirational global campaign that unites those who share an interest in…
Biology… Of planaria and . . . Elephants? 11 Feb 2012 I love the world wide web. For better or worse, today it is easier than ever to obtain information. This is especially important for science, because in science, information is…
