Awaiting the Groundhog

http://www.electronicbeats.net/beyond-fela-a-guide-to-early-african-electronic-music/
From Electronic Beats, an article about early African electronic music

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/44901/title/The-Evolution-of-Cooperation/
The New Scientist has an article about the evolution of biological cooperation and how partners keep their symbiotionts from "cheating".

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/01/consciousness-may-be-product-carefully-balanced-chaos
The idea here, as reported in Science magazine, is dependent on reaching a critical point between consciousness and unconsciousness, in terms of neural connectedness, the connections between individual neurons. This was a very small study using fMRI.

http://academeblog.org/2016/01/28/not-contractually-obligated/  From the "Academe" blog, Anna Peak writes about how the distinctions between contractual faculty and contingents are not as clear as often stated (mostly by the tenured or tenure-track faculty), making a case for parity.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/more-white-americans-acknowledge-racism-as-a-national-problem/
From PBS Newshour, according to an analysis of recent public polling, more white Americans are describing racism as a problem and that the criminal justice system was biased against blacks compared to 1995.

http://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-researchers-identify-striking-genomic-signature-shared-five-types-cancer  Great study reported in an NIH press release about the DNA methylation "signatures" of 5 types of cancer that have been identified. This may be the basis for a blood test to identify cancer in an individual. The study was reported in the journal Molecular Diagnostics.

http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2016/01/16/when-us-air-force-discovered-the-flaw-of-averages.html
How the USAF discovered there is no such thing as an average person. This is about calculations of body sizes in the planning of cockpit design.

http://www.scripps.edu/news/press/2016/20160128patapoutian.html
This is a press release about a Cell paper about to come out about an ion channel recently discovered that prevents a cell from taking in too much water and bursting. It may be implicated in diabetes, brain damage due to stroke and cancer chemotherapy resistance

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/45213/title/Illuminating-a-Cancer-s-Origins/
Researchers have developed a new technique to visualize melanoma cancer cells in a zebrafish . This research has been done in Boston Children's Hospital and will be reported in Science.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-02/smh-bsd020116.php A recent study reported in EurekaAlert to appear in FASEB reports that the amount of basic science research reported in journals has decreased.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/02/03/parcc-scores-lower-on-computer.html?cmp=eml-enl-eu-news1-RM
From Education Week, a report that students who took the PARCC exam, Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, got lower scores if they took the exam on computers.

http://www.digitopoly.org/2016/02/03/the-nyt-needs-a-mathematics-editor/

Here is a link to a critique from the blog Digitopoly about a recent NYT opinion piece by Adam Grant of the Wharton School complaining that from 1942 to 1994 only 8 out of 2000 winners of the Westinghouse Talent Search went on to win a Nobel Prize. The blog points out that, contrary to Grant, that is a pretty high number. It is important to teach our students how to examine data and conclusions drawn, both by their teachers and other authorities of note.

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2016/02/04/butterflies-forty-million-years-before-butterflies/
Kallagrammatid lacewings from 165 million years ago, an example of convergent evolution, as reported in the National Geographic's Science Blog Phenomena

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/destroying-worn-out-cells-makes-mice-live-longer/
Sigma XI Smartbrief reports on a Scientific American article which reports that when senescent cells were removed from mice, they lived 20-30% longer. The actual study is in Nature magazine.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2016/02/11_cities_in_jersey_have_more_lead-affected_kids_t.html  From NJ.com, a report that 11cities in NJ have children with higher blood lead levels than does Flint Michigan.  Our governor, Chris Christie just vetoed an appropriation for the lead control assistance fund.

http://edge.org/conversation/john_brockman-about-richard-dawkins
An article in Edge by author John Brockman about Richard Dawkins.

Waiting for the Snow- it's here for a while

http://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/mouse-dna-aid-biomedical-research-0
This is a report from the NIH that 15 mouse strains that have been used for biomedical research have had their DNA sequenced. This is essential otherwise you are speculating about which genes are upregulated and downregulated in response to, for example, a cancer therapy.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/09/the-far-reaching-effects-of-a-fall/
Part of the NYT Wellness Blog, this article talks about how to prevent falls in the elderly.

http://www.space.com/31631-antarctic-microbes-hold-clues-earths-oxygen.html
This was reported by Space.com about documenting microbes from microbial mats from Antarctic lakes. The advent of cyanobacteria brought about photosynthesizing prokaryotes which increased the levels of oxygen in the atmosphere.

http://fusion.net/story/257860/science-has-a-woman-problem/?platform=hootsuite
From Fusion, about science's "woman problem". Sexism in science. The article also talks about Eric Lander, of the Broad Institute, trying to write women out of the history of the development of CRISPR.

http://climatecrocks.com/2016/01/25/satellite-scientist-surface-temps-are-more-accurate/
The NCSE reports how earth surface temperature data has been misused by climate change deniers.

http://public.media.smithsonianmag.com/legacy_blog/08_22_2012_fractal-life.gif
A fractal view of life

http://www.sciencealert.com/a-protein-found-in-human-breast-milk-could-help-kill-drug-resistant-bacteria From Sciencealert  a report about the transformation of a protein found in breast milk into an "artificial virus" that kills drug-resistant bacteria.

http://understandingsociety.blogspot.com/2016/01/graphing-english-speaking-university.html
The Open Syllabus Project is a big data in education project in which multiple university syllabi are posted and analyzed as far as which texts are required and which topics are covered. You can pick a subject and review it. This was mentioned in a blog called Understanding Society.

http://theineptowl.com/2016/01/26/snyder-blames-michigan-trusting-government/ From The Inept Owl, a parody about the governor of Michigan.

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/01/richard-levins-obituary-biological-determinism-dialectics/
From The Jacobin, a memorial to Ricard Levins, a scientist and activist. coauthor with Richard Lewontin, writer of The Dialectical Biologist, who fought against determinism in science.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/more-evidence-emerges-for-transmissible-alzheimer-s-theory/
Scientific American writes of studies following a Nature article about the possible transmission of Alzheimers Disease with medical treatments using material from cadavers that contained infectious prion proteins.

http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/01/25/463846130/why-women-professors-get-lower-ratings
From NPR a report of a paper in ScienceOpen.com about how student's evaluations of teaching are biased against wome.

http://zinnedproject.org/materials/teaching-about-unsung-heroes/ This is a teaching module published by Howard Zinn's blog suggesting research students can do to discover "unsung" heroes who fought for social justice.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/schizophrenia-gene-discovery-sheds-light-on-possible-cause/ In the Scientific American (and in the NYT) a report of the discovery of  a gene that increases the likelihood of schizophrenia by inappropriate pruning of neural synapses. This study, done in part at the Broad Institute, will be published in Nature.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/heres-how-you-squeeze-biggest-dinosaur-new-york-city-museum-180957955/?no-ist  From the Smithsonian, an article by Brian Switek, on getting the Titanosaur into the AMNH in NYC.

http://www.sciencealert.com/the-17-equations-that-changed-the-course-of-history Sciencealert posted 17 equations that changed the course of history.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/like-mother-like-daughter-the-science-says-so-too/ A new article in SciAm on neuroscience suggesting that brain structure and mood disorders are genetically passed from mother to daughter via the corticolimbic system in the brain.

http://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/cancer-drug-target-visualized-atomic-resolution
This is a great publication submitted by NIH news press office about new research soon to be published in science which allowed researchers to visualize a small molecule binding to its target in cancer cells using cryo-electron microscopy.

Soireeing into mid-January

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2016/02/evolution-of-eyes-text
Here's a great resource about eye evolution from Nat'l Geographic

http://www.sciencealert.com/the-latest-class-of-nasa-astronauts-is-50-female
From Science Alert a report that the 2013 astronauts-in-training are 50% female. They will possibly go to Mars.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/01/jordanian-film-nominated-oscar-160114172549144.html
From Al Jazeera,a Jordanian film has been nominated for an Oscar. If it succeeds, t will be the first Arab language film to win an Oscar.

http://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-genome-sequencing-program-targets-genomic-bases-common-rare-disease
The NIH is funding research centers to do genome sequencing of rare and common human diseases. This will be called the center for common disease genomics as reported in a press release.

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/351/6270/207.full
Editorial by Bruce Alberts, former editor of Science magazine about empowering great teachers.

http://theineptowl.com/2016/01/15/gop-noms-argue-loves-guns-hates-obama/
The Inept Owl provides parodies of journalistic coverage and media events.

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/34428-the-right-to-work-movement-s-attack-on-women-workers
Truthout's article on how the Right to Work laws are hardest on women workers such as home care workers.

http://blogs.plos.org/onscienceblogs/2016/01/15/the-cancer-moonshot-and-other-future-science-fantasies/
Tabitha Powledge, a science writer, disabuses Barack Obama of his notion that curing cancer is like a moonshot. Her blog is "On Science Blogs".

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/fact-checker-of-republican-debate-hospitalized-for-exhaustion
The Borowitz Report, a NYer feature, tongue-in-cheek, about the scarcity of facts in the Republican campaign

http://dianeravitch.net/2016/01/16/tom-cahill-the-5-famous-billionaires-who-are-dismantling-public-education/
Diane Ravitch's blog entry quoting Tom Cahill about 5 billionaires who are dismantling education for African Americans by ignoring differences between people.

https://soundcloud.com/the-story-collider/kaca-bradonjic-the-nature-of-space-and-time
A podcast from the Story Collider about a physicist-educator and her experiences in war-town Bosnia where she was born.

http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2016-01-18/congressman-john-lewis-and-andrew-aydin-march-book-two-rebroadcast
Graphic novel for children about the Civil Rights movement.

http://www.pbs.org/pov/brotheroutsider/
From POV public broadcasting TV biography of Bayard Rustin, one of my heroes.

http://www.amazon.com/A-Birthday-Cake-George-Washington/dp/0545538238
This is a children's book about happy slaves baking a cake for Geo. Washington's Birthday. Disgusting.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/01/18/this-is-where-90-percent-of-global-warming-is-going/
Chris Mooney in the Washington Post is reporting on the warming of the oceans.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-01/ku-rfj011316.php
Science News reports a Kyoto study in frogs showing the regeneration of joints.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2015/08/24/the-real-reasons-behind-the-u-s-teacher-shortage/
From the Washington Post: There is an offical teacher shortage list maintained by the Department of Education. The 2015-2016 list shows a growing shortage of teachers in key areas.

http://www.iflscience.com/space/astronomers-give-homage-david-bowie-new-constellation
A new star constellation has been named after David Bowie as reported in IFLS.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/does-tv-rot-your-brain/
Article in Scientific American: Does TV rot your brain and make you antisocial?

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/mental-depletion-complicates-financial-decisions-for-the-poor/
An interview from PBS news hour about the complex decisions people living in poverty have to make.

https://extraordinaryfacultynfm.wordpress.com/2016/01/19/branding-education/
An article from the blog of the New Faculty Majority (an adjunct blog) about branding in higher education.

http://www.businessinsider.com/phage-therapy-carl-zimmer-bacterial-infection-antibiotics-illness-2015-12
Here's a video that Carl Zimmer made for Business Insider about how we will be using viruses as delivery vehicles for drugs.

http://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2016/01/half-of-ocean-warming-since-1865-in-past-20-years/
An article in Nature Climate Chane about how data about the temperature of the deep oceans should be included in the studies of the earth's changing climate and that thus far even studies of the shallow oceans have provided inconsistent data.

http://www.democracynow.org/2016/1/20/headlines/report_richest_62_people_have_as_much_as_half_the_world
A report from Oxfam as relayed by Democracy Now shows that the richest 62 people in the world possess as much wealth as half of the world.

Week of January 6-13 SoSo

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/01/05/new-study-finds-women-who-are-not-considered-attractive-receive-lower-grades
A new study at the Metropolitan State U of Denver observed that female students who were considered attractive received higher grades whether the faculty member was female or male. For males there was no correlation with attractiveness.

http://comicsalliance.com/tribute-gary-larson-far-side/
The legacy of Gary Larson was celebrated in August 2015 on his birthday. This is from the Comics Alliance.

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/feb/04/academic-casual-contracts-higher-education
The Guardian Education speculates on why academics are kept on short term contracts for years. Some professors are juggling multiple jobs, supporting families and barely managing to survive.  Please don't get me started.

http://www.genengnews.com/gen-news-highlights/new-method-allows-gene-expression-tracking-over-generations-of-cells/81252188/
This is a cool article in Genetics and Engineering News about a new microfluidics method that allows scientists to analyze gene expression in the progeny of individual cells. These researchers have designed a device that sort of traps an individual cell and its descendants. The device can trap five generations of cells. There is a way to remove one cell at a time and sequence its RNA and also keep track of the relationships between the cells. Microfluidics is also known as "Lab on a chip."

http://newlaborforum.cuny.edu/2015/12/28/unite-to-resist-the-corporatization-of-education/
This is a post by the CUNY New Labor Forum about the corporatization of higher education. Where have you been anyway, adjuncts are uniting to unionize to struggle for better conditions!

http://variety.com/2016/music/obituaries-people-news/paul-bley-dead-jazz-pianist-1201672656/
Paul Bley was a great jazz pianist. Did great work with Carla Bley and Annette Peacock, among others.

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/34315-epa-confirms-activists-longtime-claims-neonicotinoid-pesticide-threatens-honeybees 
From Truthout, EPA confirms that Imidacloprid pesticides are a threat to pollinators, specifically bees. EU banned the use of these pesticides in 2013, but what do they know.

http://www.genengnews.com/insight-and-intelligence/precision-medicine-in-oncology/77900588/
There is a new precision medicine in oncology initiative that will rely on sequencing the DNA of tumor samples. This is enabled in part because of the ability to analyze large data sets.

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2016/01/a-logarithmic-map-of-the-entire-known-universe-in-one-image/
From The Colossal


http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/12/10/us/gun-sales-terrorism-obama-restrictions.html?_r=0 
Gun sales have increased since Obama called for restrictions

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/07/25/fridays-elk-a-newsletter-for-those-who-like-their-science-by-email/
Carl Zimmer is a great science writer and the ELK is a digest you can subscribe to. There is always something fascinating to read.

http://laughingsquid.com/cleveland-museum-of-natural-history-patron-spots-a-tiny-vw-bug-mixed-in-with-the-insect-collection/http://laughingsquid.com/cleveland-museum-of-natural-history-patron-spots-a-tiny-vw-bug-mixed-in-with-the-insect-collection/ The Laughing Squid reports a Cleveland Museum of Nat Hist patron's observation of a tiny vw bug in the beetle collection.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/08/science/otzi-the-iceman-stomach-bacteria-europe-migration.html?_r=0 In yesterdays NYT. Nicolas Wade writes about Otzi, or iceman, and how the gut bacteria has been sequenced and found to include Helicobacter pylori, a cause of ulcers in humans.  Now this can be used to trace the migrations of humans since the microbe is transmitted by intimate contact. It;s distribution around the world matches the distribution of human populations.


http://www.genengnews.com/gen-news-highlights/epigenetic-change-may-have-caused-upright-motion-in-humans/81252204/  Researchers at Stanford working on a fish called the three-spine-stickleback (say that three times fast) using gene expression studies have identified a region in a gene that may have contributed to critical skeletal modifications leading to changes in limb development between chimps and mammals and humans.

 http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/01/refugees-germany-launch-paper-fellow-newcomers-160108091719134.html From Al Jazeera, an article about refugee journalists in Germany starting an Arabic newspaper with "stories of hope".

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/gene-tweak-led-humans%E2%80%99-big-toe From HHMI as reported in Science News, a report that losing a genetic switch that increases production of a protein called GDF (a protein that increases bone growth) helped "shape the foot" for bipedalism. This work was also done in stickleback fish.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/01/07/new-diet-guidelines-urge-less-sugar-for-all-and-less-meat-for-boys-and-men/?_r=0 From the NYT wellness blog, an article suggesting that all Americans eat too much sugar and that men and boys eat too much protein. The dietary guidelines put out by the Agriculture and Health and Human Services Departments are going to suggest that people revise their diets accordingly.

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/jan/08/alzheimers-treatment-closer-as-brain-inflammation-shown-to-be-key  
This article from the guardian is about research done on mice. Human Alzheimers brains had more microglia than non-Alzheimers brains. Researchers injected Alzheimers mice with a chemical that stops microglia. The treated mice didn't get the amyloid plaques characteristic of Alzheimers. Cool, huh?

http://blogs.plos.org/onscienceblogs/2016/01/08/best-and-some-worst-of-2015-list-of-lists/
Top science stories of 2015 according to the NASW (National Association of Science Writers).

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/jan/07/human-neanderthal-relationships-may-be-at-root-of-modern-allergies 
Blame it on the Neanderthal's, if nothttp://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/jan/07/human-neanderthal-relationships-may-be-at-root-of-modern-allergies, then the Denisovans. This piece, in the Guardian, quotes research form the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology that showed that 3 genes we inherited from the Neanderthals are responsible for our allergies. They must have somehow provided the carriers of those genes an evolutionary advantage.

http://www.sciencealert.com/australian-geologists-have-found-a-meteorite-that-s-older-than-earth
From Science Alert a report that Australian scientists have discovered a meteorite in the outback (not the steakhouse) that is older than the earth. It may have come from Mars or Jupiter, said researchers at Curtin University.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/10/upshot/when-teamwork-doesnt-work-for-women.html?_r=0
Article in NYT Business Section about how women are denied equal opportunities to publish and, at least in economics, when they collaborate with males they do not get equal publication credit.

http://qz.com/588126/theres-a-good-reason-americans-are-horrible-at-science/
From Quartz, the reason Americans are horrible at science. One of the reasons given is that science is taught as a collection of facts which, according to the article. emphasizes information over process.

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/44760/title/All-Together-Now/
The Scientist has an article about "The Evolution of Cooperation".

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/34349-gun-culture-and-the-american-nightmare-of-violence
From Truthout:An article by Henry Giroux about gun violence and the US political and economic system. It is possible that I posted this before.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-strain-of-always-being-on-call/
From Scientific American Blogs: The Strain of Always Being on Call. Talks about email at all hours and elevated levels of the stress hormone, cortisol.

http://www.livescience.com/53019-epps-chemical-washes-away-alzheimers-plaque.html
As reported in Livescience, scientists at the Korea Brain Institute discovered a chemical abbreviated EPPS that "washes away" plaques made of amyloid beta in the brain purported to be a cause of Alzheimers disease. There were no ill effects.

http://www.sciencealert.com/a-newly-discovered-type-of-sound-wave-could-lead-to-needle-free-vaccines
This is a weird one. Scientists in Australia have discovered a type of sound wave that can deliver drugs and vaccines into the body via a nebulizer (which makes the substances a mist). I still don't understand this one.

http://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/researchers-discover-three-glaucoma-related-genes
This  is a press release from the NIH about the results of an NIH-funded study that identified 3 glaucoma-related genes. The three genes, FOXC1, TXNRD2, and ATXN2. These genes are all expressed in the eye, interestingly ATXN2 is also involved in Lou Gehrig's disease. The report appeared in Nature Genetics.

http://zinnedproject.org/2013/03/bread-and-roses-strike-one-of-the-great-silences-in-the-school-curriculum/
This from the Howard Zinn Project. The Bread and Roses textile strike in Lawrence Mass was 100 years ago today.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/01/11/startling-new-discovery-600-million-years-ago-a-single-biological-mistake-changed-everything/
From the Washington Post, a report about the DNA mutation that allowed our prokaryotic ancestors to become multicellular, "The Mutation That Changed Everything". This was research reported in the open access journal ELife.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3387841/Just-Not-Sorry-app-stop-women-saying-sorry-emails-Programme-weed-phrases-m-no-expert-just-think.html
From the UK Daily Mail, a new app that takes out phrases in an email such as "I'm no expert, but" and "I'm sorry" and "I think", and other written hesitations...

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/45027/title/Image-of-the-Day--Freaky-Faces/
In The Scientist, a photo of vascular bundles of papyrus, lit by differential interference contrast microscopy, in cross section.

http://www.the-scientist.com//?articles.view/articleNo/44873/title/RNA-Epigenetics/
Here's a summary from The Scientist about RNA epigenetics. This the the environment's effect on genes.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/his-stress-not-her-stress
From Science News a report on research demonstrating that men and women respond differently to stress.
Research in Neuroscience done at Temple U showed that female rats were less able to adapt to chronic stress.

http://www.niemanlab.org/2016/01/all-your-insights-are-belong-to-us-a-new-tow-center-report-outlines-the-state-of-automated-journalism/
This is about human journalists vs automated algorithms to look at data. It is from a report by Columbia U Tow Center.

http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2016/jan/10/five-alternative-careers-for-teachers
From The Guardian Education, some alternative careers for teachers.  The number of new recruits leaving the profession has tripled in the past six years due to heavy workloads.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/01/11/new-analysis-offers-more-evidence-against-student-evaluations-teaching
From Inside Higher Ed, gender bias against female instructors in student evaluations is so great it invalidates their use in determining teaching effectiveness.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/13/science/us-restricts-movement-of-salamanders-for-their-own-good.html?_r=0
An article by Carl Zimmer in the NYT- A fungus from Asian salamanders could possibly cause the extinction of native salamanders reported in NYT.

It's winter now, can spring be far behind?

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-some-colleges-are-better-than-others-at-getting-women-into-stem-careers-2015-12-30
This story from MarketWatch explains why some colleges are doing better at women to major in STEM fields. In 2014 just 29% of batchelor's degrees awarded to women were in science and engineering fields.

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/44769/title/Fearless-about-Folding/
This is one of my great heroes in science, Susan Lindquist. She worked on the organism yeast and heat-shock-proteins, which are kind of chaperones to help proteins get into their native configurations necessary for function.

http://gizmodo.com/feast-your-eyes-on-these-gorgeous-cg-reproductions-of-c-1750787565
From Gizmodo, here are some pictures of reproductions of beautiful scientific instruments.

http://chronicle.com/article/Clear-the-Way-for-More-Good/234773
From the Chronicle for Higher Ed, some suggestions about recruiting more teachers, including stripping down the bureaucracy and hiring teachers who are willing to get to know their students as students as well as as individuals. Not sure what the latter actually means or how to accomplish.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/cancer-cells-can-t-proliferate-and-invade-at-the-same-time/
A researcher at Stony Brook U working on C.Elegans and reported by Scientific American has shown that cancer cells cannot metastasize and proliferate at the same time. They did this by inhibiting certain genes and analyzing gene expression.

http://now.howstuffworks.com/2015/10/23/rem-sleep-switch
Researchers working on mice, discovered how to switch them directly into REM sleep.They discovered a group of neurons, which when triggered, flipped the mice into REM. Reported in Nature October 15, 2015 and done at U California.

http://www.democracynow.org/2016/1/5/these_arent_the_first_armed_whites
From Democracy Now: About the armed uprising in Oregon and comparing it to 137 years ago when the Paiutes were marched off their land under the authority of President Grant.

New blog post, for lack of a better title

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/02/business/economy/over-50-female-and-jobless-even-as-others-return-to-work.html?_r=0
New York Times article about employment prospects for females over fifty

Bookmark this blog, please

http://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/also-the-only-notable-fred-durst-news-of-2015#.kunmL6gwN
From Buzzfeed courtest of the NASW, 15 of the most hilarious media corrections this year, including the reporting of the fact that Pope Francis is the first non-Catholic pope for 450 years in the London Times.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-anxiety-genetic/
In Scientific American online, an article questions why some people are more anxious than others. It possibly has to do with the neurotransmitter molecule anandamide, which is regulated by a fatty acid (FAAH) that deactivates it. A gene variation in some people makes them have less FAAH and those people are less anxious and forget negative experiences. Sounds like pharma will be making FAAH inhibitors soon.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/cool-science-stories-you-may-have-missed-2015-180957647/
Here's a selection of science stories you may have missed from 2015
Lincoln U in UK published in Applied Animal Behavior that cats have different ways (from each other) of locating food, some preferring visual over auditory stimuli. (Not too sorry if I missed that story but there are others.)

http://www.pbs.org/parents/expert-tips-advice/2015/05/difference-praise-encouragement-matters/
PBS Parents writes about the difference between praise and encouragement. One difference is that praise focuses on perfection rather then progress towards a goal and improvement. As a parent it is important to help your child learn more about him/herself, which praise does not do, but encouragement does.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/frogs-the-thin-green-line-video-full-episode/4882/
This is the Nature episode on the possible extinction of frogs due to the chytrid fungus. First aired in 2009.

New Year's Day

http://monthlyreview.org/2016/01/01/mr-067-08-2016-01_0/
From Monthly Review Press, "Capitalism and It's Current Crisis. Patnaik is a Marxist economist.

http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/music-arts/the-benefits-of-music-education/
This article from PBS ralks about how music education  for young children is important for, among other things, language learning and the development of spatial-temporal skills.

https://www.fi.edu/top-5-space-stories-of-2015
The Top 5 Space Stories of 2015 from the Franklin Institute. Discovery of water on Mars made my top 5 too.

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/44784/title/Year-in-Review--Biggest-Life-Science-Stories-of-2015/
Crispr/Cas9 made my top 5 too. There is an enormous ethical controversy now about gene editing in human embryos.

https://www.nasw.org/article/inside-killer-lettuce-story
My colleagues at the NASW report that the story about how growing lettuce produces more greenhouse gasses than producing meat is false.


✓ Temple adjuncts vote to unionize. In Nov., Temple adjuncts voted to join full-time faculty in the American Federation of Teachers’ union, doubling the size of the school’s union to nearly 3,000 faculty.

http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/news-and-opinion/cover-story/Best___Worst_of_2015-363755791.html

Philadelphia Weekly listed our adjuncts unionizing as one of the Best Events of 2015


https://richarddawkins.net/2016/01/7th-period-of-the-periodic-table-of-elements-is-complete/ 
The seventh row of the periodic table has been completed. Elements 113-118 have been reviewed and claims for their discovery have been authenticated (there probably won't be a batorskium). Element 113 discovered by the RIKEN corporation, will have a Japanese name commemorating its discoverers. This report is from the Richard Dawkins foundation.

http://news.sciencemag.org/biology/2015/12/are-you-inheriting-more-genes-your-father
Experiment reported in Science magazine that sperm may carry more than genes, possibly carry RNA that can alter metabolic traits of offspring. This work was done in rodents.  This is a type of epigenetic inheritance.