From Universe today, a look at banded iron formations, show the decrease of nickel in seawater over time. It is speculated that methanogens, which are known to need nickle, became less abundant and lead to the rise of oxygen producers and more complex life.
So apparently my alma mater is hosting a conference on Human Enhancement & Nanotechnology Conference. From the good people of http://www.nanoethics.org/. It’s free and open to the public, so I’ll have to see if I can attend.
From Yahoo News, so Georgia police and the FBI are going after people who help terminally ill people die. As the mother of one of the victims said, “If they helped John to die, that is what he wanted. I would never find them guilty for helping him.”
I see no compelling reason for this to be a crime.
From Science Daily, in my backyard sinkhole in Lake Huron they have found cyanobacteria that uses sulfur in photosynthesis. Like the lakes of Antarctica the sinkhole house unique organisms that NASA has been looking at for clue to life on Mars. Which also could produce novel compounds useful in biotechnology, medicine, etc.
So the open access Journal of Biology has several articles on Darwin for his 200th birthday anniversary. JoB is part of a collection of journals from BMC .
My husband is working late and I’m watching a video from Microbe World. And looking over a microbe wiki.
From the Guardian, why do they have to be dissing Sir David? Just because he doesn’t add references to God in his docs? Docs that incredibly beautiful and informative. Yes I am a fan girl.
Awesome news from Nat Geo, Geron Corporation has been approved for human trials on paraplegics. Obama is expected to lift the ban on embryonic stems cells soon, so that more of these trails will be seen over the next few years. And finally we know if this area of research will develop into the results that have been hyped.
other stem cell research to look forward to: Novocell Inc.
From the New York Times, asks questions about why there aren’t more women in physics. The usual about there being opportunities for women to have it all, career and family while on a tenure track. Also that women tend to fall away from physics before graduating with a BS. Speaking from my experience, getting to what I think of as the cool stuff of physics (string theory, astrophysics, etc.) you had to sit through the dull stuff. And I didn’t have enough of a passion for the subject to get farther than the dull stuff. That and I still have to work at math.
From Nat Geo, if you didn’t hate him before…to be fair he did rescind a couple of rules and added marine sanctuaries. Still the rest are typical of his environmental record.