Extreme Frog Calling: More Effort Equals Greater Interest

Hyla versicolor (Copes grey treefrog) Photo credit: LA Dawson wikipedia
Hyla versicolor (Copes grey treefrog) Photo credit: LA Dawson wikipedia

Ever since a colleague introduced me to the Spadefoot Toad and the practice of monitoring frog and toad calls during the summer months as one way of tracking the prevalence and health of frogs and toad populations over time, I have been intrigued by any research on frog and toad calling. So, when I saw news headlines about “multitasking” Copes grey treefrogs (Hyla chrysocelis) and their “popularity” among the females of their species, I couldn’t resist.

The paper, published in Animal Behaviour by Ward and colleagues describes an investigation of the predictions of the “multitasking hypothesis”. Briefly this hypothesis predicts two things. The first prediction states that when you have a signal that has components that negatively covary (in order for one component to occur the second one is reduced), say pitch and volume, there will be a tradeoff between the two things (e.g., I can sing at a really high pitch, but not very loudly). The second prediction is that the individual on the receiving end of this signal is going to prefer the individual who can do both at the same time (e.g., sing at a really high pitch, very loudly). In this study, the authors looked at female frog choice based on three factors: call rate (the number of calls per minute), call duration (number of pulses per call) and call effort (calls/min x pulses/call = pulses/min).  They asked two questions: Is there a tradeoff between rate and duration, and do female frogs prefer the male frogs that exhibit the higher overall “call efforts”?

Continue reading “Extreme Frog Calling: More Effort Equals Greater Interest”

Fun Friday Science Videos

For your Friday entertainment, I am posting a couple of videos from my favorite chemists. These examples show slow motion views of some well-known chemical reactions.

The Iodine Clock

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWJpKNQfXWo?feature=player_embedded&w=640&h=360]

Copper Sulfate in Slow Motion
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxoHB_sTkI8?feature=player_embedded&w=640&h=360]

See more of these at the Periodic Table of Videos

Back in My Day We Trudged Up Hill to the Lab…

Tube racks stacked in the refrigeratorRemember the bubble getter? Siliconizing sequencing gel glass plates? Carrying out sequencing reactions in strip tubes? Diagramming, by hand, your cloning scheme and calculating the cut sizes with a hand-held calculator? Marking plates for plaque lifts with india ink?

This video is for all of you who were in the lab when life was “one gene, one graduate student”. What other oldie but goodies can you think of? Leave a comment or tweet @promega #backinmyday

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voNepWllrMM]

Science and the Wonderful Why

Curiosity.“Why? Why? Why?” Anyone who has been around small children has experienced the monotonous, often aggravating, seemingly endless barrage of the “W” word. Why does soap make bubbles? Why do feathers float and acorns fall to the ground? Why are baths important? Why are those flowers purple? Why can’t I be purple? Why do tigers have stripes and leopards have spots and lions don’t have anything (majestic manes not withstanding)? Why can rocks bounce (skip) off water? Why didn’t my rock bounce? Why does the plant in the window bend toward the light? Why are my eyes blue and my brother’s eyes brown?

It would seem that from a very young age people are hard wired to think like a scientist. It is not enough to simply know a feather will float slowly to the ground while the acorn will plummet, or that plants turn their leaves toward the sunlight. We want to know why.

I have watched nieces and nephews as well as my own children pass through the “Wonderful Why?” stage, and I have noticed that there is often a predictable progression to the questions: “Why do plants turn their leaves toward the light?” is quickly followed by: “How do they move their leaves to face the light?” and then “What if we took away the light?”

Ray Bradbury said,

Touch a scientist and you touch a child.

As children we are all scientists. It is just that some of us never grow up.

The Ocular Mood Ring

file9751262525646I asked my Facebook friends what my blog post should cover today. They gave me a list of very creative subjects that I will try to cover in the coming months. The winning suggestion for today is “why do my eyes change color depending on my mood?” In a simple Google search, it is apparent that many people have witnessed the phenomenon of their eyes changing color depending on their moods.There seem to be many explanations for this from light scattering to hormonal influences to psychic powers. What’s the real story? To get to the bottom of this, let’s take a closer look at how eye color is determined in the first place. Continue reading “The Ocular Mood Ring”

Peeking Inside the Chrysalis: Metamorphosis in 3-D

Emerging monarch

Metamorphosis. In the case of butterflies, it is nature’s version of the great makeover. A plump and slow caterpillar transforms itself into a chrysalis and, tucked snuggly away from the curious prying eyes of the world, metamorphoses into a colorful, graceful butterfly.

Growing up in Iowa, my sister and I had a summer tradition of stalking the milkweed plants in search of Monarch caterpillars. Once we captured our prey, we brought our new acquisitions home and placed them in lovingly crated Mason jar containers filled with milkweed leaves and sticks.  Over the next few days these lucky caterpillars lived in the lap of luxury with a constant supply of milkweed leaves. Once the time came for the caterpillar to transform into a chrysalis, we waited with baited breath for the butterfly to emerge.

As a child, those ten or so days I spent watching the unchanging chrysalis were filled with breathless speculation about what must be happening inside. Years later in biology class I learned all about the stages of butterfly development and what was really happening inside the shell of the chrysalis. This knowledge came with a little kernel of sadness though, because there was only one way for science to have figured out what was happening inside the chrysalis, and that way did not end well for the butterfly-to-be.

Wouldn’t it have been nice if we could take pictures of what was happening inside the chrysalis without disturbing nature’s makeover mid cycle?

Continue reading “Peeking Inside the Chrysalis: Metamorphosis in 3-D”

Vegetable Gardening for Beginners

raised bedYou may have read several posts on this blog relating to the non-spring-like weather we have been experiencing here in the Midwest. Well, it’s still cold, but the weather has to break sooner or later and that concept has me so excited to get my garden going! Have you ever considered gardening? Are you new to gardening? You may have considered it and gotten overwhelmed by the details- What class should I take? What books should I read? What do I do?

I am here to tell you to Just Do It! There is nothing like watching your own food grow and then eating it. Things have been growing in the dirt since the beginning of time with no help from humans, so if you approach your garden project with this in mind and just aim to take it lightly, gardening can be really fun! I got started about four years ago only because someone at work left a flat full of different seedlings and a sign that said help yourself. I waited until the end of the day and only a few disappeared, so I carried the whole flat home on the bus and got started with just a 4´ × 4´ plot. Here are some beginner tips; just things I’ve learned over the last few years, that may help you get started. All these tips will be from a Madison, WI, perspective, but should be applicable anywhere in the midwest. Continue reading “Vegetable Gardening for Beginners”

Rats to the Rescue! From Landmines to Tuberculosis, These Rats Have a Nose to Help

treat3A little over a year ago, I wrote about many of the characteristics of the domestic rat that made them an unexpectedly good choice for a family pet. Since I wrote that blog, my family has welcomed three very personable rats into our home.

To my family, rats are funny, playful, treat-stealing companions. However, in other areas of the world, some distant cousins to our mischievous threesome have become real-world heroes. These rats help clear fields of landmines and, as if that were not heroic enough, significantly increase the number of diagnosed tuberculosis infections. Continue reading “Rats to the Rescue! From Landmines to Tuberculosis, These Rats Have a Nose to Help”

Science in the Service of Art

Three artists who use science as their starting point.

Galapagos Rice-Rat from 'The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle'. This media file is in the public domain in the United States. This applies to U.S. works where the copyright has expired, often because its first publication occurred prior to January 1, 1923.
Galapagos Rice-Rat from ‘The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle’ This media file is in the public domain in the United States. This applies to U.S. works where the copyright has expired, often because its first publication occurred prior to January 1, 1923.

My recent blog conversation (blogversation?) with Michele about the book The Where, The Why and The How stirred me up to think some more about the topic of science-flavored art. That book was full of delightful examples of artists using science as their inspiration; however no matter the topic or style of art, the illustrations never strayed from _illustrating_ the science they referenced. Some were more fanciful than others, but none questioned their basic intent.

Now, in literature there’s an entire genre dedicated to “science flavored” writing that ultimately doesn’t serve to illustrate any actual science concepts. I’m speaking of Science Fiction, of course, and while some early entries in the SF canon erred on the side of scientific accuracy, later practitioners of the genre took great liberties with the science, always ensuring that it served their literary goal and not vice versa. I was raised on a steady diet of Stanisław Lem books, and probably as a result tend not to demand much realism from my fiction.

On thinking about it, I’m rather surprised that the same is in general not true of art.

Continue reading “Science in the Service of Art”

Chuckle, It Is Friday

It is Friday. Maybe you have had a great week, a bad week, or maybe it was just average. No matter what kind of a week you have had, on Friday everyone should have something to chuckle about to end the week. Below are a few cartoons from our Cartoon Lab. I hope that you find one that tickles your funny bone.

Terminology is Important

Ed Himelblau: Giant Squid Axon

 Bigger is Not Always Better

Ed Himelblau: Macropipette

Timing Matters

Ed Himelblau: Mitosis Started