As scientists, we are supposed to be objective and unbiased. We are trained to use sound scientific methods and experimental design to let the data speak for itself. By doing this, we remove our preconceptions and biases from the equation, because as human beings, we are both subjective and biased. Early this summer, there was quite a buzz about an article published in PLoS Biology (1) that debunked a paper (and prize winning book) by Stephen Jay Gould (1941–2002) that many of us probably read at some point in our academic training as scientists. Continue reading “Skullduggery? Did Stephen Gould’s Bias against Samuel Morton Prove His Point?”
Author: Kelly Grooms
The Devil is in the Details: Genetic Diversity and the Endangered Tasmanian Devil
If you are of a certain age, the name “Tasmanian Devil” most likely conjures up an image of a ferocious brown hairy cartoon character that traveled in the center of a tornado of chaos. Sometimes, as in this case, the truth is much less strange than the fiction. The real Tasmanian Devils (Sarcphilus harrisii) are relatively small, somewhat cuddly looking, marsupials found only on the island of… you guessed it, Tasmania. Despite their diminutive size, they are the largest living carnivorous marsupial. Unfortunately, these terrier-sized animals are also in danger of becoming extinct, largely as a result of a deadly, infectious transmissible cancer called Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD). Continue reading “The Devil is in the Details: Genetic Diversity and the Endangered Tasmanian Devil”
The Ants Came Marching: Did Periods of Arctic Warming Help Giant Ants Migrate?
I guess you could say that I have been programmed to notice giant creepy crawly things. Starting when my son brought home a book about “Real Life Monsters”, my family has not been able to stop talking about one of the book’s featured monsters, the Goliath Bird Eater spider. While the book’s other stars, the giant squids and great white sharks, were pronounced by my son to be “cool”, a spider that is the size of a dinner plate and eats birds, is the thing of nightmares. Both my kids will fearfully bring up these giant arachnids anytime a hairy spider is spotted. [Note: Goliath Bird Eaters live in South America, not Wisconsin].
Given the number of family discussions I have had about gigantic arachnids, it was only natural that a headline about a hummingbird-sized ant that once roamed Wyoming caught my attention (1). Although there are living species of giant ants, the Wyoming ant is the first fossil from the extinct ant family Formiciinae to be found in the Western Hemisphere. The ant lived in the early Eocene (~49.5 Million years ago). And, unlike the cool climate insect taxa previously known to be shared between North America and Europe, this new ant, Titanomyrma lubei, was a thermophilic insect. Continue reading “The Ants Came Marching: Did Periods of Arctic Warming Help Giant Ants Migrate?”
Yo-Ho, Yo-Ho, A Museum’s Life for Me
Ahoy all you pirate lovers out there! Have you ever wanted to visit a real pirate shipwreck? Well this could be your lucky day! Today, Indiana University, IU researcher and archeologist Charles Beeker and the government of the Dominican Republic are dedicating the wreck of the Quedagh Merchant as a “Living Museum of the Sea”. Now in case you missed all the hoopla three years ago when she was discovered, the Quedagh Merchant is the Armenian merchant ship that was captured in 1698 by the infamous 17th century pirate/privateer Captain William Kidd. It is, in fact, the ship that could be said to have been his undoing. Continue reading “Yo-Ho, Yo-Ho, A Museum’s Life for Me”
Don’t Judge a Cheetah by Its Spots: New Insights into the Genetics and Evolutionary History of African and Asiatic Cheetahs
The genetics of wild cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) populations has a special significance for me. In fact, it could be said that the population genetics of cheetahs changed my life. I first learned about the low genetic variability in cheetahs in a darkened lecture hall at Iowa State University in 1988. I was so fascinated by what I learned in those lectures about genetics and its importance in conservation efforts that I eventually changed my major to Genetics. “The Cheetah Papers” as a colleague calls them, were, and perhaps still are, common teaching tools for biology and genetics classes. And why not? The results were amazingly cool, if a bit disturbing. Imagine a population that, through a series of natural events over thousands of years, had become so genetically similar to one another as to be almost clonal.
Still, if science teaches us nothing else, it teaches us that there is always more to the story. Continue reading “Don’t Judge a Cheetah by Its Spots: New Insights into the Genetics and Evolutionary History of African and Asiatic Cheetahs”
When Being Dense is Good: Mindfulness, Meditation and Increasing Gray Matter
When my my Mother’s sister, Pat, was seven years old, she was in a car-bicycle accident that resulted in some very serious brain trauma. She spent better than a year learning to walk and talk again, and although there were some lasting personality changes, she went on to earn a nursing degree and live an independent life. When I think of My Aunt Pat, I can’t help but marvel at what the human brain can do. Damaged brain tissue does not re-grow, but still the brain can find a way to rewire itself to circumvent damaged areas.
Fortunately, it doesn’t take trauma to the brain for it to demonstrate its plasticity. Our neural structures can be modified with the right training. Studies have shown task-specific increases in gray matter as a result of things such as learning an abstract skill or increasing aerobic activity. Cross-sectional studies have established that differences in performance abilities are associated with differences in regional gray matter. To me this begs the question: Can we consciously increase gray matter in specific regions of the brain? Continue reading “When Being Dense is Good: Mindfulness, Meditation and Increasing Gray Matter”
Satellites and Sea Turtles: Can We Save the Last Member of the Genus Dermochelys?
Let me start out by saying: I love sea turtles. I can’t explain why, but they fascinate me. I have sweatshirts, bags and artwork with sea turtles on them. I even make jewelry with sea turtle themes. Ask anyone who knows me; I have a thing for sea turtles. So when I came across the article “Tracking leatherback turtles from the world’s largest rookery: Assessing threats across the South Atlantic” in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B (1), all thoughts of writing about anything else were readily dismissed. How could I NOT write about leatherback sea turtles? Continue reading “Satellites and Sea Turtles: Can We Save the Last Member of the Genus Dermochelys?”
The Latest On: When Five Hundred Tigers Are Not Enough
It is sad but true that the latest news has not been promising for wild tiger populations. In September, an article published in PLoS Biology (1) estimated that the best hope of saving the wild tiger population would be to shift focus to source sites, which are “…at spatially well-defined priority sites, supported by proven best practices of law enforcement, wildlife management, and scientific monitoring.” The authors estimate the cost to save these sites at $82 million (U.S). At the time of publication, $47 million had been committed by governments and other groups. It isn’t difficult math to figure out there is a deficit.
Continue reading “The Latest On: When Five Hundred Tigers Are Not Enough”Following the Unexpected Path: Pipettes, Printers and Beyond
Someone once asked me how I decided to become an editor. My answer was: I didn’t. Sometimes careers just sort of evolve. I graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in genetics and moved to San Diego, the city of sun, sea air and biotech. My plan was simple; I was going to get a job doing lab work, and maybe someday I’d take a year off and write my book (Doesn’t everyone have a book they are going to write “someday”?). I loved research; I once wondered aloud how people who sat at desks all day could stay busy. What did they do all day? Were there really that many papers in the world that need shuffling about? In the lab I got to do something different every day: cloning, plasmid preps, cell culture, transfections, RNA preps, Northerns. It was like following a treasure map and not knowing what was under the big “X”. Continue reading “Following the Unexpected Path: Pipettes, Printers and Beyond”
In Defense of Beautiful Weeds
The other evening my kids and I walked to the park. My four-year old daughter ran ahead through the dandelion-filled field, laughing with abandon. She ran back to me and held out a treasured handful of bright yellow blossoms.
“Here Mommy! Aren’t they beautiful?”
Her seven-year old brother sniffed disdainfully. “They are just weeds.”
My daughter, the free spirit, turned and ran back through the field. Her reply was tossed carelessly over her shoulder. “No, they are beautiful weeds.” Continue reading “In Defense of Beautiful Weeds”
