biojournalism.com

My brother sent me some interesting blog posts regarding Echinoderms vs. Mollusks and which ones are better and why.
I was at first wondering how this argument starting showing up over the internet and decided to test out its argumentative quality in a semi-sorta psych experiment with one of my science minded friends.
Debates are fun and [...]

This is the biojournalism.com companion podcast for 3-29-2008. The podcast is published weekly and covers the science news from the past week in a quiz-style format. As always, we welcome your comments below or email us: podcast@biojournalism.com.
Here are this week’s contents:

Antarctic glaciers are melting.
Squid beaks are hard… and soft.
Schizophrenia is linked to genetic mutations.

Hit the [...]

I was thinking that exercise would perhaps just force the cold out of my body, make me well faster, even if I was killing my lungs with my coughing. So I raced Saturday and Sunday and spent sunday night and monday morning completely miserable. I’m still getting over my cold, so perhaps my idea didn’t work.

Was I helping or harming myself? According to an article in American Fitness, “New research shows you can put as much effort into a workout when you have a cold as when you are healthy.” However, it warns against exercising if you have a fever.

This is the biojournalism.com podcast for 3/22/2008. We cover the science news from the past week in a quiz style format. We’d love to hear your comments: leave them below, or email us: podcast@biojournalism.com
Contents:

Xprize foundation announces another 10M dollar prize
Toxins have been found in consumer-labled organic goods
Gecko tails have more use than meets the eye [...]

A horse goes “neigh”…. The cat goes “meow”. Pig goes ‘oink’.  The plant goes….
Wait…. The plant?
Apparently, plants can now be identified by the sound they make. According to ScienceNOW, ” Researchers have developed a computer algorithm that can identify some plant species according to their unique sonar echoes.”
The research started as a [...]

Okay, well, personally I felt it was already getting to be spring… most of the time I assume that as soon as its March, its spring.
So why is there a specific date for the start of Spring? It has to do with Astronomy, which really isn’t my forte, but Spring begins on the vernal equinox. [...]

Although many psychologists swear by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), there is some criticism toward the diagnosis of Mental Disorders.
The DSM-IV assumes that humans can distinguish between normal and abnormal. Some people argue that mental disease is a social construct. Abnormal behavior would differ from culture to culture. We might consider [...]

If you ever study animal behavior or ethology, you’re taught not to read human emotion into animal reactions and behavior.

But why?

The answer is that these are animals and we’re looking for reasons for actions rather than saying an animal hid because it was embarrassed. Animals arn’t humans! they don’t even come CLOSE! Right…?

Perhaps it isn’t as inaccurate as all that to believe that some animals are as complex in emotion as humans.