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Tagged with “biology” (60) activity chart

  1. Mary Roach | Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal

    With wit and unflagging curiosity, Mary Roach has explored the posthumous human body (Stiff), ectoplasm and the afterlife (Spook), sex (Bonk), and the scientific oddities of space travel (Packing for Mars). “One of those rare writers who can tackle the most obscure unpleasantness and distill the data into a hilarious and informative package,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle, Roach probes the creepy aspects of life we all wonder about but are usually too polite to mention. Her new book Gulp is an exploration of human digestion.

    In conversation with Anna Dhody, Curator, The College of Physicians of Philadelphia’s Mütter Museum.

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  2. Scientists Discover Dung Beetles Use The Milky Way For GPS : NPR

    A team of scientists has discovered that dung beetles climb on dung balls and dance around in circles before taking off. This dance is not one of joy, however —€” the insects are checking out the sky to get their bearings. Melissa Block and Audie Cornish have more.

    http://www.npr.org/2013/01/29/170588505/scientists-discover-dung-beetles-use-the-milky-way-for-gps

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  3. Simon Winchester - Skulls: An Exploration of Alan Dudley’s Curious Collection

    Simon Winchester is the bestselling author of The Professor and the Madman, The Map That Changed the World, A Crack in the Edge of the World, The Man Who Loved China, and more than a dozen other books. Mr. Winchester was made Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Elizabeth II in 2006. Winchester discusses his fascinating new book Skulls: An Exploration of Alan Dudley’s Curious Collection. In this captivating and visually stunning book, Winchester explores an array of more than 300 animal skulls, from the aardvark to the red-bellied piranha, and shares the fascinating story of the man who amassed much of the collection: an obsessive Englishman named Alan Dudley.

    http://authorsontourlive.com/simon-winchester-podcasts-skulls/

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  4. On Point: George Church and Synthetic Biology

    Synthetic biology can sound kind of bland. Like polyester pants. Nylon stockings. Synthetic – no big deal.

    But think about it. Synthetic biology. Biology fully, deeply, maybe radically remade by man. It’s well underway.

    Re-engineering biology to make food, fuel, medicine. Seeds that grow into houses. Stronger, smarter humans. Maybe even bring back the dead. The extinct

    My guest today has written about finding an “extremely adventurous” woman to give birth to a Neanderthal. And he’s not kidding.

    This hour, On Point: synthetic biology creating new and very old life.

    http://onpoint.wbur.org/2013/01/23/synthetic-biology

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  5. Edward O. Wilson “The Social Conquest of Earth”

    Edward O. Wilson has revolutionized science and inspired the public more often than any other living biologist. Now he is blending his pioneer work on ants with a new perspective on human development to propose a radical reframing of how evolution works.

    First the social insects ruled, from 60 million years ago. Then a species of social mammals took over, from 10 thousand years ago. Both sets of “eusocial” animals mastered the supremely delicate art of encouraging altruism, so that individuals in the groups would act as if they value the goal of the group over their own goals. They would specialize for the group and die for the group. In recent decades the idea of “kin selection” seemed to explain how such an astonishing phenomenon could evolve. Wilson replaces kin selection with “multi-level selection,” which incorporates both individual selection (long well understood) and group selection (long considered taboo). Every human and every human society has to learn how to manage adroitly the perpetual ambiguity and conflict between individual needs and group needs. What I need is never the same as what we need.

    E. O. Wilson’s current book is The Social Conquest of Earth. His previous works include The Superorganism; The Future of Life; Consilience; Biophilia; Sociobiology; and The Insect Societies.

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  6. Science Writer Carl Zimmer

    The New York Times has called Carl Zimmer "as fine a science essayist as we have." We talk with Zimmer about recent developments in biology and neuroscience, and discuss his latest book "Science Ink: Tattoos of the Science Obsessed."

    The book features hundreds of photos of tattoos inspired by various scientific disciplines, each accompanied by Zimmer’s essays. Zimmer’s previous books include "A Planet of Viruses" and "Parasite Rex and Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea."

    http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/R201111041000

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  7. Does the Future Include Synthetic Life?

    J. Craig Venter is a biologist most known for his contributions, in 2001, of sequencing the first draft human genome and in 2007 for the first complete diploid human genome. In 2010 he and his team announced success in constructing the first synthetic bacterial cell. He is a founder and president of the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) and founder and CEO of the company, Synthetic Genomics Inc (JCVI). His present work focuses on creating synthetic biological organisms and applications of this work, and discovering genetic diversity in the world’s oceans. Dr. Venter is the 2008 National Medal of Science and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He is the author of A Life Decoded: My Genome: My Life (Viking, 2007).

    http://schedule.sxsw.com/events/event_IAP000245

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  8. The Great Debate - What is Life?

    Richard Dawkins, J. Craig Venter, Nobel laureates Sidney Altman and Leland Hartwell, Chris McKay, Paul Davies, Lawrence Krauss, and The Science Network’s Roger Bingham discuss the origins of life, the possibility of finding life elsewhere, and the latest development in synthetic biology. More than 2500 people filled ASU Gammage Auditorium on Saturday, February 12 to listen to this remarkable collection of scientists whose particular perspectives range from the cosmic to the microscopic. “The Great Debate: What is Life?” was sponsored by the ASU Origins Project in partnership with the Science Network, J. Epstein Foundation and the NASA Astrobiology Institute. The evening followed on the heels of its successful inaugural debate in November 2010, “The Great Debate – Can science tell us right from wrong?”

    http://thesciencenetwork.org/programs/the-great-debate-what-is-life

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  9. Seth Lloyd on Quantum Life

    Big Ideas presents Seth Lloyd of the Massachusetts Institute for Technology on Quantum Life, how organisms have evolved to make use of quantum effects.

    Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcXSpXyZVuY

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  10. Long Now: The World’s Oldest Living Organisms

    Creative photographer Sussman showed beautiful slides of very elderly organisms. The captions were as crucial as the images—-naming the species, the place, and the approximate age. You can see many of them here: http://rachelsussman.com/portfolios/OLTW/main.html

    The series began with the only animal—-an eighteen-foot brain coral in the waters of Tobago, thought to be 2,000 years old. An enormous baobob in South Africa might be 2,000 years old. Then there is the astounding welwitschia mirabilis of the Namibian desert, a conifer that feeds on mist, with the longest leaves in the plant kingdom.

    http://www.longnow.org/seminars/02010/nov/15/worlds-oldest-living-organisms/

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