April in Bordentown- Soireeing into Nature's Beauty

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/12/science/scientists-unveil-new-tree-of-life.html?_r=0
Possible that I posted this before but there is a lot of excitement in an updated evolutionary tree even though humans are, at the most, bit players. This study will be published in Nature Microbiology

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/16/your-money/taking-on-the-phd-later-in-life.html
Another NYT article about a doctoral student in plant biology who will receive his degree at the age of 66.

http://gawker.com/income-inequality-institute-will-pay-paul-krugman-25-0-1563245534
From Gawker, a report of Paul Krugman's adjunct pay at CUNY. I wonder if he will become a member of the faculty union. Why is this man smiling?


http://monthlyreview.org/2016/04/01/living-the-eleventh-thesis/
An article in the Monthly Review Press about science and communism.

http://www.npr.org/2016/04/18/474256366/why-americas-schools-have-a-money-problem 
From npr a report on how school funding is calculated.



 A refutation of Malcolm Gladwell's precept about 10,000 hours of practicing being the prerequisite for expertise in every field from Salon: http://www.salon.com/2016/04/10/malcolm_gladwell_got_us_wrong_our_research_was_key_to_the_10000_hour_rule_but_heres_what_got_oversimplified/

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nci-opens-online-platform-submit-ideas-about-research-cancer-moonshot  Here's your chance to submit your ideas about the cancer "moonshot" to the NIH.

http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2016/04/18/getting-inside-students-minds-why-misconceptions-are-so-powerful/ A professor of science education at Harvard discusses with KQED why students' miconceptions are so hard to counteract.




 http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/09/higher-education-college-adjunct-professor-salary/404461/ From The Atlantic, an article about the treatment of adjunct faculty by universities.



http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/19/science/in-towering-redwoods-an-abundance-of-tiny-unseen-life.html?_r=0  An article from the NYT (Science Times) about biodiversity in the redwoods of California.


http://www.npr.org/2016/04/17/474525392/attention-students-put-your-laptops-away
In the journal Psychological Science (oxymoron!) a study has been published by the University of California and Princeton showing that students learn more by taking notes by hand instead of using their computers.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/how-wealthy-americans-divided-and-conquered-the-poor-to-create-the-concept-of-race/2016/04/19/2cab6e38-0643-11e6-b283-e79d81c63c1b_story.html
Article in the Washington Post about a US history teacher who dispels his students' notions that race is as old as history.

http://ncse.com/blog/2016/04/well-said-carl-zimmer-theories-0017021
The National Center for Science Education's Stephanie Keep's blog discusses Carl Zimmer's New York Times articles on misconceptions, particularly the misconception of the word "theory."



http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/04/bad-job-market-phds/479205/
From the Atlantic figures obtained by the University of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center show that the job market for Ph.Ds is shrinking.


http://www.ibiology.org/ibioseminars/neil-shubin-part-1.html
From Neil Shubin, the evolution of limbs from fins.

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/05/14/keep-harriet-tubman-and-all-women-off-the-20-bill/ Article in the Washington Post suggesting that Harriet Tubman not replace Andrew Jackson on the $10 bill.

Blogpost April 10- For lack of a more imaginative title

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/10/upshot/why-talented-black-and-hispanic-students-can-go-undiscovered.html 
In the Sunday NYT Education Life section, an article about a new non-verbal test that represents high IQ black and hispanic children more accurately.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/10/upshot/why-talented-black-and-hispanic-students-can-go-undiscovered.html
From The Scientific American: The science of President Trump.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/10/education/edlife/taking-the-politics-out-of-american-history-and-out-of-ap.html 
The AP History curriculum is considered too progressive and has been revised.

http://www.boston.com/news/education/2016/01/28/citing-harm-that-charter-schools-cause-naacp-and-mass-lawyers-committee-will-intervene-in-charter-cap-lawsuit?event=event51
Claiming that charter schools place diverse students at a disadvantage, NAACP and mass lawyers committee intervene.

http://ed.ted.com/featured/yNZomgbm
A TED Talk- Proof of evolution you can find on your own body.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/changing-climate-10-years-after-inconvenient-truth
Climate change ten years after "An Inconvenient Truth" from Science News.

https://richarddawkins.net/2016/04/the-importance-of-giving-children-independence/ From Richard Dawkins's website, an article about the importance of giving children independence.

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/352/6282/123.full.pdf
Great article in Science by one of my heroes, Harold Varmus, on the transformation of oncology.

http://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-have-discovered-a-way-to-make-their-own-molecules
From ScienceAlert, a report on research by Swiss researchers on how to make molecules from scratch, mimicing the body's natural processes.

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/45584/title/Banking-on-Blood-Tests/
From The Scientist, an article about replacing diagnostics with blood tests looking at Biomarkers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/10/jobs/the-art-and-science-of-nit-picking.html?_r=0
From the NYT On Work section, "The Art and Science of Nit-Picking" about a retired school nurse and nits.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-project-uncovers-what-americans-knew-about-holocaust-180958712/ New project to discover what Americans knew about the holocaust is reported in the Smithsonian. The work is being done by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.



http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/04/14/465729968/a-nobel-laureates-education-plea-revolutionize-teaching This is from npr Education, Stanford Professor Carl Wieman has some suggestions about new methods of teaching.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/04/18/a-radical-attempt-to-save-the-reefs-and-forests
How to save the world's coral reefs from the NYer.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn26929-both-cause-and-cure-for-diabetes-could-be-in-your-gut/ From the New Scientist, a hormone to cure diabetes has been discovered.

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/45839/title/CDC--Zika-Causes-Microcephaly/ From The Scientist, link between Zika and Microcephaly.


http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/science/articles/10.1038/nj7597-139a Article in Nature about character traits of scientists.

http://scitechdaily.com/children-of-older-mothers-are-healthier-taller-and-obtain-more-education/ From SciTechDaily, report of research in the Population and Development Review that children of older mothers are healthier, taller, and obtain more education.

60 mph winds, Nature's response to the Trumpster

http://www.the-scientist.com/?magazines.view/magazineIssueNo/1686/title/Cancer-s-Grip
The new issue of The Scientists is devoted to cancer research.

https://soundcloud.com/inquiringminds/127-carl-zimmer-the-mysterious-world-of-viruses
An Interview from Sound Cloud with Carl Zimmer about viruses.

http://teachhistmed.com/2016/03/28/teaching-history-of-medicine-with-artifacts-and-oral-histories/ An article from the American Association of the History of Medicine about teaching the history of medicine using artifacts.

http://thescienceexplorer.com/brain-and-body/researchers-successfully-removed-hiv-dna-human-immune-cells-using-gene-editing From The Science Explorer: A report of a research study dine at Temple University using gene gene editing to remove HIV from infected cells.  The results of this study were published in Scientific Reports.

https://richarddawkins.net/2016/03/dinosaurs-among-us-retraces-an-evolutionary-path/ Richard Dawkins' website is promoting the exhibit, "Dinosaurs Among Us", about birds, at the Museum of Natural History in NYC.  Thomas Henry Huxley, in the 1860s proposed the theory that dinosaurs never really left the earth.

https://lareviewofbooks.org/essay/the-future-of-academic-style-why-citations-still-matter-in-the-age-of-google  This is from the London Review of Books about the future of citations in the digital age.

Easter Blogpost

http://blogs.plos.org/onscienceblogs/2016/03/25/dna-from-neandertals-and-denisovans-in-modern-humans-how-many-matings/
This is a blog entry on PLOS by Tabitha Powell about research on the amount of Neandertal-Denisovan DNA we carry in our genomes.

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/45668/title/Canada-s-Science-Friendly-Federal-Budget/
From The Scientist, an article about Canada's science budget.

http://www.sciencealert.com/the-gross-truth-about-your-bed-sheets From Science Alert, how often should you wash your bedsheets? (Once a week, I'll save you the trouble of reading the article.)

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160328133514.htm From Science Daily, a world map of Neanderthal and Denisovan ancestry in modern humans

http://www.wired.com/2016/03/science-education-woefully-uncreative-change/
This is an articled from the Wired website about how science classes, which espouse creativity are themselves very uncreative.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2016/mar/31/intelligent-design-popular-evolution-creationism An article in The Guardian about why people reject evolution.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliesportelli/2016/03/29/13-best-value-stem-colleges-for-women/#6268b0c75245  An article in Forbes about the most important STEM colleges for women.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/31/science/global-warming-antarctica-ice-sheet-sea-level-rise.html
In a new climate change model reported in the NYT the arctic ice level is supposed to rise 3 feet by the end of the century. (Woody Allen's last movie, "Goodbye, Manhattan.)








http://www.nytimes.com/column/matter
In a column by Carl Zimmer, a report of tapeworms serving a positive function. Marlene Zuk, evolutionary biologist, is quoted in the article.

Spring Hath Sprung

http://bioengineer.org/new-gene-identified-as-cause-early-indicator-of-breast-cancer/
Published in Bioengineer.org the discovery of the discovery of a new gene that, when mutated, may be an early indicator of breast cancer. This work will be published in the American Journal of Pathology.

http://bioengineer.org/how-cancer-cells-fuel-their-growth/ Another from Bioengineer.org, about how cancer cells fuel their growth. Targeting cancer metabolism is important. This will appear in Developmental Cell.


http://www.wsj.com/articles/non-tenured-faculty-at-duke-university-vote-to-unionize-1458345199 Article in WSJ about the vote to unionize at Duke and what paying adjuncts decent wages may cost the university.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/2ad2caa02e1d4e28873ee0cd99cdc85a/amid-push-transparency-few-colleges-reveal-investments  From The World, article about how information about colleges' investments through their endowments and profits therefrom are being withheld.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/03/21/what-were-doing-to-the-earth-has-no-parallel-in-66-million-years-scientists-say/
An article by Chris Mooney of the Washington Post about damage done to the earth  It is a study published in Nature-Geoscience comparing the Paleo-Eocene Thermal Maximum with what we are doing to the earth.

http://neatoday.org/2016/03/15/future-teachers-at-all-time-low/
The Network for Public Education posts a 2016 national survey polling college freshman about how many want to become teachers, 4.2% compared with 11% in 2000.

http://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-have-removed-hiv-dna-from-human-immune-cells-using-new-gene-editing-technique  From Science Alert a report of a study done at Temple University (yay!) which showed that HIV could be removed from human cells using a gene editing technique.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03nh6k2  From the BBC News Service a report of a teenage scientist who improved the technique of spirometry and won an international innovation prize.

http://www.pbs.org/parents/expert-tips-advice/2016/03/managing-emotions-key-positive-effective-parenting/ Why managing your own emotions may be important for effective parenting of your children from the PBS Parenting Blog.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2016/03/24/adjunct-professors-unionize-revealing-deeper-malaise-higher/NjqqU5YIToqhm8ZBjsK4yI/story.html Article from the Boston Globe about the unionization of its adjunct professors.

http://aplus.com/a/women-in-science-greatest-female-scientists?platform=hootsuite
From American Women In Science: 11 of History's Greatest Women Scientists

March Tenth Eighty Degrees- A Record!

http://www.naba.org/chapters/nabanj/images.html
Butterflies in NJ

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/45532/title/How-to-Use-P-Values-Correctly/
From The Scientist, the ASA has published a guide on how to use P-values correctly

http://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/students-explore-brain-nih-scientists
At the National Museum of Health and Medicine students will be able to look at brains with scientists involved in neurological research.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/taste-raw-meat-may-have-helped-shape-human-evolution-180958371/
from the Smithsonian, eating raw meat may have shaped our teeth and jaws. This study was done by Harvard evolutionary biology Daniel Lieberman.

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/45545/title/MYC-Helps-Cancer-Hide/ This study is about how the gene myc prevents immune cells from effectively targeting cancer cells. The study is published in Science.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/worcester-art-museums-new-exhibit-all-cats-all-time-180958388/
Exhibit at the Worcester Art Museum on the history of cats. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/worcester-art-museums-new-exhibit-all-cats-all-time-180958388/

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/35138-noam-chomsky-2016-election-puts-us-at-risk-of-utter-disaster From Truthout, an interview with Noam Chomsky.


http://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/eye-cells-may-use-math-detect-motion Interesting article from the NIH press office about the eyes using math to detect motion. It is a report of research by the NINDS (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.)

http://www.salon.com/2016/03/13/bill_clintons_odious_presidency_thomas_frank_on_the_real_history_of_the_90s/ From Salon, Clinton's Odious Presidency by Thomas Frank

http://ncse.com/news/2016/03/antiscience-bills-die-florida-0016963 From the National Center for Science Education, the report of two anti-science bills dying in committee.

http://ncse.com/news/2016/03/antiscience-bills-die-florida-0016963 The Washington Post ran 16 anti-Sanders ads in 16 hours as reported by Democracy Now.

http://www.bbc.com/news/education-35798117 Article from BBC news about a Palestinian woman who won a global best teacher award. She works with refugee children who have been traumatized by violence and is herself a refugee.

http://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/decoding-molecular-ties-between-vascular-disease-alzheimers This is an NIH publicity release about a big data study combining molecular technologies and big data analysis to study the connections between vascular disease and Alzheimers.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-show-that-naps-really-are-the-best-80831/ From Smithsonian on the power of napping.

https://www.hhmi.org/bulletin/winter-2015/memory-swap  HHMI sampler of its brain research scientists and their research.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160314140739.htm Some research on epigenetics showing that the offspring of IVF mice inherited diabetes and obesity from their parents.

https://richarddawkins.net/2016/03/some-viruses-have-their-own-immune-systems/ Richard Dawkins' site is posting about "mimiviruses" that have their own immune systems

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/17/science/solving-the-tully-monsterscold-case.html
From The NYT, Illinois state fossil is reclassified as a primitive chordate

http://www.futurity.org/food-calories-children-1121982/ From Futurity, a study done at Penn State shows that if you give kids too much food they will overeat. This was published in the Journal of Physiology and Behavior

https://soundcloud.com/lelink/neanderthal-love-master
Harry Shearer composed and recorded a Neanderthal Love Song based on Carl Zimmer's reporting.

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/45614/title/Mother-s-Microbiome-Shapes-Offspring-s-Immunity/ This is an article from Science about a study done on mice describing how the microbiota of the mother shapes the immunity of the offspring.

trompe l'oeil

http://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/benefits-peanut-allergy-prevention-strategy-persist-after-one-year-peanut-avoidance
This is an NIH-funded study showing that early exposure to peanuts from infancy until five years of age reduced peanut allergy 81% in children at high risk for peanut allergies.

http://theineptowl.com/2016/03/04/fox-news-airs-presidential-dickmeasuring-competition/
A satyric article from the Inept Owl about the Republican party debates, itself a satire. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/04/nyregion/college-lecturer-accuses-police-of-racial-bias-after-encounter-on-his-roof.html This is an article about an adjunct lecturer who got locked out of his apartment and was searched by police NYT

https://student.societyforscience.org/article/when-smartphones-go-school  Article in Science News about how Smartphones distract students in their classrooms. A study done at the Miami University of Ohio shows that students using cf in class even on class-related projects were distracted. 

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/45506/title/Zika-Infects-Neural-Progenitors/
New work published in Cell Stem Cell on the mechanism of action of Zika shows the virus affects neural progenitor cells.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/06/opinion/sunday/she-wanted-to-do-her-research-he-wanted-to-talk-feelings.html  Another article (Opinion in NYT) about why girls leave science. 

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/45431/title/Under-the-Cover-of-Darkness/
A series of studies on sleep loss. One is published in PLOS and was done at the Medical College of Wisconsin on rats. 

http://www.sciencealert.com/9-science-words-that-even-smart-people-get-wrong From science alert, theory vs. hypothesis and other confused words. 

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0316/010316-first-grey-hair-gene-discovered
The first gene for grey hair found in a University College London report of a Nature Communications publication.