MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'darwin'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 01:57:01 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4862646&cid=t_153735_109_f&fid=38950&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.shockmd.com%2F2011%2F05%2F25%2Fthe-rap-guide-to-evolution%2F is a hip-hop exploration of modern biology, created by Canadian rap artist Baba Brinkman. The project owes its origins to the geneticist Dr. Mark Pallen, who specially requested “a rap version of the Origin of Species” for Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday in 2009. Baba went on to perform the show to critical acclaim at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and off-Broadway in New York. The music videos and teaching resources on this site were developed with the support of the Wellcome Trust, in partnership with London’s SPL Productions. Find out more, more videos on this site. Thanks Scope   No related posts. (Source: Dr Shock MD PhD) Dr Shock MD PhD blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4862646 Wed, 25 May 2011 05:57:16 +0100 4862646 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4803202&cid=t_153735_107_f&fid=36672&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencebase.com%2Fscience-blog%2Fwhat-killed-darwin.html – Sidney Cohen, director of research at the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia reckons Charles Darwin may have suffered from three ailments: cyclic vomiting syndrome, Chagas disease, and Helicobacter pylori, or peptic ulcers. Darwin's suffered ill-health after his Beagle voyage. All three of those diseases would be treatable today. Regardless, he lived to 73. Died 1882. Selected from the latest science stories to hit DB’s virtual desktop @sciencebase. Related Posts:Darwin onlineNobel Prize for Medicine 2005Darwin Day125 PhDs per second with superfast JanetResurrecting the flatlining pharma industryWhat killed Darwin? is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog (Source: Sciencebase Science Blog) Sciencebase Science Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4803202 Mon, 09 May 2011 18:17:36 +0100 4803202 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4747650&cid=t_153735_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F04%2F24%2Fwillpower-self-control-can-be-learned%2F I’m a little astounded by how quickly some people are willing to just throw up their hands and, rather than learning how to gain more willpower and self-control in their life, use technology tools as a substitute for learning those skills. Or suggesting how we seem to be at the mercy of social networking sites, which have some sort of undeniable power over us, our choices and our behaviors. I’m talking about the article in today’s Boston Globe from Tracy Jan bemoaning how college students nowadays are “tangled in an endless web of distractions.” The article reads like college students are saying, “The Internet and Facebook are just too darned addicting, I can’t help myself!” It’s gotten so bad that some college professors — even a... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4747650 Sun, 24 Apr 2011 16:49:05 +0100 4747650 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4734205&cid=t_153735_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F04%2F21%2Fa-snippet-of-psychologys-scientific-roots%2F Throughout the years, sometimes it seems that the public has been iffy about psychology and psychologists. Part of the problem is a lack of knowledge. Past surveys have shown that many people have no idea what psychologists even do. More recent research has found that the public largely views psychology in a positive light. But people still have a limited understanding of the discipline and don’t view it as a hard science. A 1998 survey revealed that both adults and college faculty viewed the physical sciences more favorably. They believed that psychology — along with sociology — led to fewer critical contributions to society and had less expertise than the physical sciences. How did psychology get this bad reputation? PsyBlog’s Jeremy Dean (which, by the way, is an aweso... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4734205 Thu, 21 Apr 2011 12:01:13 +0100 4734205 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4424379&cid=t_153735_132_f&fid=35016&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffgibson.com%2F2011%2F02%2F01%2Fdita-a-framework-for-scientific-publishing%2F There are two industry recognised standards for XML based documentation. These are Docbook and DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture). Docbook is the older of the two specifications and created specifically for technical documentation. DITA, is a younger specification which grew out of IBM, and is referred to as having its own architecture and was designed to provide structure to more than just a book. Both specifications are OASIS standards.  As with XML schemas, both specifications can be extended to include bespoke features. However, Docbook is based more on a book structure with Sections and subsections, where as DITA is built around topics that can be built up in any arrangement based on a document map.  A DITA topic is open to specialisation itself, however, a topic has... peanutbutter blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4424379 Tue, 01 Feb 2011 10:30:03 +0100 4424379 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4294637&cid=t_153735_88_f&fid=38129&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Flifeinthefastlane%2FWZHV%2F%7E3%2FS1YEIDycgxc%2F The LITFL team hopes a new movie about the life of Charles Darwin will help raise the profile of evolutionary medicine. (Source: Life in the Fast Lane) Life in the Fast Lane blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4294637 Wed, 29 Dec 2010 06:10:04 +0100 4294637 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4225260&cid=t_153735_88_f&fid=38129&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Flifeinthefastlane%2FWZHV%2F%7E3%2FJNPmhBuhvkQ%2F On a day of historic destruction we look to provide some more light-hearted medical trivia to ease you into the weekend...with questions on Ayahuasca, Charles Darwin, identical twins and CVS (Source: Life in the Fast Lane) Life in the Fast Lane blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4225260 Fri, 03 Dec 2010 06:12:48 +0100 4225260 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3588929&cid=t_153735_109_f&fid=38950&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.shockmd.com%2F2010%2F05%2F22%2Fhas-technology-hindered-evolution%2F Short example of the evolutionary advantage of good eye sight Related posts:Evolution of Life in 60 Seconds The Technology Profile Inventory for Nerds, Geeks, Medbloggers? Health Information Technology A Safety Net for Physicians (Source: Dr Shock MD PhD) Dr Shock MD PhD blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3588929 Sat, 22 May 2010 06:47:28 +0100 3588929 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3136694&cid=t_153735_136_f&fid=36070&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnetwork.nature.com%2Fpeople%2Fbasanta%2Fblog%2F2010%2F01%2F01%2Fthe-year-of-darwin-in-cancerevo-reviewed The year of Darwin is over and I decided to go over some posts in this blog that I felt were particularly Darwinian (not a small feat as the main topic of this blog is evolution in the context of cancer). The posts highlight (or at least that would be my hope) the importance of understanding that tumours evolve, that evolutionary dynamics make cancer a very difficult disease to treat, that ignoring these dynamics is one of the reasons for the limited success in the fight against cancer and that evolutionary enlightened (as a colleague at Moffitt likes to refer to them) treatments are our best hope for a cure. Some of these topics were treated in my post about the paper Darwinian medicine: a case of cancer in February. A darwinian enlightened therapy should then exploit the limitations of e... Cancerevo: Evolution and cancer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3136694 Fri, 01 Jan 2010 21:55:26 +0100 3136694 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3106744&cid=t_153735_107_f&fid=35026&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fv%2FlJPytZPDFz8%26hl%3Den%26fs%3D1 For more on this see The Face of Darwin where K. Garvey explains the history of the mural in more detail.  -------- This is from the "Tree of Life Blog" of Jonathan Eisen, an evolutionary biologist and Open Access advocate at the University of California, Davis. For short updates, follow me on Twitter. -------- (Source: The Tree of Life) The Tree of Life blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3106744 Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:16:01 +0100 3106744 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3106753&cid=t_153735_107_f&fid=35026&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FTheTreeOfLife%2F%7E3%2FxlF4gb0sDtg%2Fmy-favorite-evolution-stuff-2-charles.html In honor of Charlie D. I am posting one of my favorite Darwin items.  I got this from Ebay years ago.  It is a Darwin card - about 3 x 5 cm.  From Ogden's Cigarettes, much like baseball cards. Also see my previous "Favorite Darwin thing" - a post card from 1900 or so.  -------- This is from the "Tree of Life Blog" of Jonathan Eisen, an evolutionary biologist and Open Access advocate at the University of California, Davis. For short updates, follow me on Twitter. -------- (Source: The Tree of Life) The Tree of Life blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3106753 Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:11:49 +0100 3106753 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3004050&cid=t_153735_136_f&fid=36070&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnetwork.nature.com%2Fpeople%2Fbasanta%2Fblog%2F2009%2F11%2F16%2Fthe-evolutionary-origins-of-religion Science continues with a series of essays commemorating the year of Darwin. This week (and by this week I mean the one I got this week, actually dated 6th of November) the topic is the evolutionary origins of religion. This is quite an interesting topic to which I was first introduced with Daniel Dennett’s Breaking the spell: religion as a natural phenomenom. The central premise is that there could be evolutionary advantages to communities in which individuals follow ways of thinking that can lead to religion. Specifically, it is thought that the thought processes that could lead to religion could also lead towards more cooperation. Recent research has shown that, under very special circumstances, group selection could explain the emergence of features that are somewhat detrimental ... Cancerevo: Evolution and cancer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3004050 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:51:02 +0100 3004050 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2809722&cid=t_153735_109_f&fid=38950&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.shockmd.com%2F2009%2F09%2F19%2Fcharles-darwin-and-the-tree-of-life%2F BBC’s Darwin season featured ‘Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life’ – an animation which illustrates an idea that Darwin and his contemporaries used to explain the evolutionary links between living things. This amazing animation was narrated by Sir David Attenborough. You can read the transcript on Scitechbits, thanks Scitechbits. Related posts:Nature Video of David Attenborough on Darwin British broadcaster Sir David Attenborough presents his views on...Evolution of Life in 60 Seconds The Evolution of Life in 60 Seconds is an...Will videogames become better than life? Interesting lecture about the development and future of video... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin. (Source: Dr Shock MD PhD) Dr Shock MD PhD blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2809722 Sat, 19 Sep 2009 07:27:58 +0100 2809722 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2442607&cid=t_153735_136_f&fid=35302&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FWhitePebble%2F%7E3%2FC5GwDiZU98c%2F Even in poetry, there are controversies. Maybe this is a tempest in a teapot, but I’ve come over the decades to recognize poetry as my own personal teapot. The first female Oxford Professor of Poetry resigned today following her involvement in an alleged smear campaign against a former rival. Ruth Padel, a great-great granddaughter of Charles Darwin, insisted she had “acted in good faith” and had done “nothing intentional” to lead her rival Derek Walcott to withdraw from the election. Oxford University sources said a new election would now be held. via Oxford professor of poetry Ruth Padel resigns Related articles by Zemanta Ruth Padel quits top poetry job (guardian.co.uk) Technorati Tags: Charles Darwin, Derek Walcott, Oxford University, Professor of ... white pebble blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2442607 Thu, 28 May 2009 23:03:17 +0100 2442607 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2441579&cid=t_153735_107_f&fid=35026&url=http%3A%2F%2Fphylogenomics.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F05%2Fart-science-fusion-and-darwins-face-at.html ART/SCIENCE FUSION STUDENTS EXHIBIT PHOTOGRAPHY AND A CERAMIC MOSAIC MURAL, THE FACE OF DARWINThe final student exhibition for "Photography: Bridging Art and Science," a Science and Society Program class taught by Terry Nathan as a part of the Art/Science Fusion series at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), will be held at the Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center on the University of California, Davis campus beginning June 3 and continuing through July 3. The exhibit features over 50 student photographs exploring the conceptual connections between art and science and the role of art and science on the UC Davis campus. The opening reception, which is free and open to the public, is June 4 from 3-5 p.m.Also included in the exhibition is a ceramic mosaic mural, The Face of Darwi... The Tree of Life blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2441579 Wed, 27 May 2009 23:25:00 +0100 2441579 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2286197&cid=t_153735_107_f&fid=35026&url=http%3A%2F%2Fphylogenomics.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F03%2Flie-to-me-darwin.html Hey - that looks like good old Charlie D. in the room of the lead character in Fox's Lie to Me. Seems likely that it is, given that the show is advised by Paul Ekman from UCSF who is into Darwin. And of course, it really looks like some of the classic pics of Charlie. Good to see Fox TV is not too sold by the lame anti-evolution rhetoric sometimes spouted on Fox News.This is from the "Tree of Life" blog ( http://phylogenomics.blogspot.com ) of Jonathan Eisen, an evolutionary biologist and Open Access advocate at the University of California, Davis.. (Source: The Tree of Life) The Tree of Life blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2286197 Mon, 23 Mar 2009 01:36:00 +0100 2286197 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2183923&cid=t_153735_107_f&fid=36672&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencebase.com%2Fscience-blog%2Fcharles-darwin-day.html Life on earth began several billion years ago when the small chunk of rock that orbits the fast fusion reaction that is our sun cooled sufficiently to allow it to emerge. It will last until the sun begins to die and its atmosphere vaporises the inner planets. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, indeed. But, look on the bright side, we’re in roughly only half way through the story. On this solar timescale, of course, humanity is but a twinkling. Nevertheless, we’re the only species we know that cares about its prehistory and its future in more than the sense of the three F’s - fight, flight, or f…well you know the third one. So, in celebration of Darwin Day here’s a video with Professor Gil McVean courtesy of Pulse-Project (thanks Colin) that celebrates how natural s... Sciencebase Science Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2183923 Thu, 12 Feb 2009 11:00:29 +0100 2183923 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2184806&cid=t_153735_115_f&fid=37661&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnottotallyrad.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F02%2Fhappy-darwin-day-2009.html Happy 200th birthday to Charles Darwin!I'm on the clinical schedule today, so I probably won't be able to mark the occasion other than with a mental hat tip and this post. However, as I move through my workday, I'm sure that I'll run into many little bits of Darwinian detritus in my patients.If you prefer to mark this occasion by a wild rumpus, check out the Darwin Day website. There you will find a list of over 200 local events where you can celebrate Darwin and his grand ideas about as much as you can stand. (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2184806 Thu, 12 Feb 2009 09:41:00 +0100 2184806 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2178778&cid=t_153735_88_f&fid=38203&url=http%3A%2F%2Fprecordialthump.medbrains.net%2F2009%2F02%2F11%2Fhappy-darwin-day%2F February 12th 2009 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of my favourite medical dropout, Charles Darwin. Darwin Day is a way of celebrating the great man’s contribution to science (The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online) and, more generally, the importance of science to humanity. “Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge; it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science.” - Charles Darwin Be sure to have a celebratory bowl of primordial soup (!) while you watch Richard Dawkins‘ uncut interview with Randolph Nesse on evolutionary medicine (from  “The Genius of Charles Darwin“): [There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed... AEQUANIMITAS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2178778 Thu, 12 Feb 2009 01:22:58 +0100 2178778 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2182652&cid=t_153735_107_f&fid=35026&url=http%3A%2F%2Fphylogenomics.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F02%2Fcharles-darwin-relic-hidden-in-chimp.html So - in honor of Charles Darwin and as a follow up to my analysis of Sarah Palin's name (which amazingly showed as a best hit a fungus called B. f.eliana) I decided today to do some blast searches with old Charlie D.'s name. You see CHARLES DARWIN includes letters that all are abbreviations of amino acids that make up proteins, so you can compare his name, pretending it is a protein, to proteins from other organisms.So I went to the NCBI blast page and did a BLASTP search. Blastp searches a peptide against a database of peptides and identifies in the database sequences if one or more have similar amino-acid sequences to the one used to search (which is known as the query) . To make this work, I had to adjust some of the default parameters to make it possible to better detect short matches ... The Tree of Life blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2182652 Wed, 11 Feb 2009 23:09:00 +0100 2182652 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2177564&cid=t_153735_107_f&fid=35026&url=http%3A%2F%2Fphylogenomics.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F02%2F10-simple-ways-to-honor-charlie-d-aka.html If you do not know, Thursday is a big day - Darwin Day 2009. A global celebration in honor of the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth. Today I am making a suggestion of 10 simple things you can do to honor Darwin:Read one of his books OTHER than Origin of Species (see Darwin online for some there). My favorite is the Voyage of the Beagle but there are many others.Stop using the terms Darwinism and Darwinian evolution (see Safina for more on this - I thought this article was a bit of overkill but still has some important points). Vote against anyone who says Intelligent Design should be taught in science class or that you should "teach the controversy." Or at least endorse right thinking candidates.Contribute to evolution education in some way - teaching, writing a book, releasing t... The Tree of Life blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2177564 Tue, 10 Feb 2009 18:30:00 +0100 2177564 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2210739&cid=t_153735_136_f&fid=35302&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FWhitePebble%2F%7E3%2FEQz2070_rUo%2F We have just this afternoon made our way to Miami Beach from Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. That’s a journey that can’t entirely be measured in miles. Of course, I have brought back lots of pictures, and have put some of them here for you to see. Lots of obligatory sea lion pictures. This year marks Charles Darwin’s bicentennial, and Ecuador is playing it up and doing a good job of it. Quito is a wonderful city, nestled into a valley between mountains on all sides. I had a hard time with the altitude, though. Now, I am going to acclimate myself to my own country some more. Copyright © 2009 white pebble. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyrigh... white pebble blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2210739 Sun, 08 Feb 2009 01:43:08 +0100 2210739 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2121782&cid=t_153735_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F01%2Fdarwinmania-armand-leroi.php Just noticed that The BBC has a new site all about Darwin! God bless the British taxpayers! Also, our old friend Armand Leroi has a program this Monday, What Darwin Didn't Know. And Armand's been busy, apparently he's going to host a special for National Geographic, Darwin's Lost Voyage. Also, remember about Blogging For Darwin. I suspect I'll participate over at ScienceBlogs...but I'm not going to unless I reread Origin, which I haven't since I was about 12 years old when I didn't know anything about evolution. (Source: Gene Expression) Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2121782 Thu, 22 Jan 2009 05:52:00 +0100 2121782 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2089912&cid=t_153735_132_f&fid=35006&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnsaunders.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F01%2F09%2Fdarwin-2009-multimedia-and-more%2F Good to see that the BBC are getting into the Darwin anniversary celebrations. Here’s their informative website with TV/radio shows and special features. BBC Radio 4 also have a Darwin website. You could do a lot worse than start by listening to Melvyn Bragg’s 4-part Darwin series from the show “In Our Time”. It’s available via the iplayer or as a podcast. Elsewhere in the UK there are Darwin 200 events organised by the Natural History Museum and the Wellcome Trust. Posted in multimedia, science news, web resources   Tagged: 2009, charles darwin, evolution    (Source: What You're Doing Is Rather Desperate) What You're Doing Is Rather Desperate blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2089912 Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:08:19 +0100 2089912 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2077348&cid=t_153735_88_f&fid=38203&url=http%3A%2F%2Fprecordialthump.medbrains.net%2F2008%2F12%2F27%2Fnothing-in-medicine-makes-sense-except%2F “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.” - The title of a 1973 essay by theistic evolutionist Theodosius Dobzhansky <fulltext> The same can, and should, be said of medicine. However as Catriona MacCallum notes: It is curious that Charles Darwin, perhaps medicine’s most famous dropout, provided the impetus for a subject that figures so rarely in medical education… Yet an understanding of how natural selection shapes vulnerability to disease can provide fundamental insights into medicine and health and is no less relevant than an understanding of physiology or biochemistry. - MacCallum CJ (2007) Does Medicine without Evolution Make Sense? PLoS Biol 5(4): e112 doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0050112 When I began studying medicine I was surprise... AEQUANIMITAS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2077348 Sat, 27 Dec 2008 19:19:26 +0100 2077348 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1799248&cid=t_153735_115_f&fid=37661&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnottotallyrad.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F09%2Fgiant-animal-smasher-may-discover.html As I reported here recently, scientists at CERN are now using the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva to probe atomic structure. Their quarry includes the elusive Higgs boson.Physicians and other members of the soft sciences will be delighted to learn of progress on the Giant Animal Smasher, now under construction near Dallas, TX. As one CERN scientist stated:Biologists are just jealous of all the attention the LHC has been getting. Since they aren't real scientists, they had to come up with this atrocity.Much of the early work in animal smashing is anecdotal, and has largely been carried out informally by pickup and semi-trailer trucks on the roadways of the world. However, this important work has been greatly limited by local highway speed limits.The GAS, however, can theoretically collide a... Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1799248 Tue, 16 Sep 2008 22:06:00 +0100 1799248 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1782703&cid=t_153735_105_f&fid=35048&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FMedicineAndMan%2F%7E3%2F387634353%2F First we were using stem cells to create blood in order to sustain life. Now we are creating life. What’s next - the Universe!!! A team of biologists and chemists is closing in on bringing non-living matter to life. It’s not as Frankensteinian as it sounds. Instead, a lab led by Jack Szostak, a molecular biologist at Harvard Medical School, is building simple cell models that can almost be called life. (Image: Creating life forms in the video game Spore) Reference: Wired addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fmedicineandman.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F09%2F09%2Fcreating-life%2F'; addthis_title = 'Creating+Life'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: Medicine and Man) Medicine and Man blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1782703 Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:00:41 +0100 1782703 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1697857&cid=t_153735_115_f&fid=37661&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnottotallyrad.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F08%2Fgeorge-orwell-blogger.html Jeebus -- as if the competition for eyeballs in the blogosphere weren't already Darwinian enough. Now mere mortal bloggers will have to duke it out with the likes of George Orwell.The Orwell Prize, Britain’s pre-eminent prize for political writing, is publishing George Orwell’s diaries as a blog. From 9th August 2008, Orwell’s domestic and political diaries (from 9th August 1938 until October 1942) will be posted in real-time, exactly 70 years after the entries were written.Although his grasp of internet lingo and issues may lag behind the times a bit, Orwell's observations on life and politics during a difficult period of world history should be well worth following.(via The Loom) (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1697857 Mon, 11 Aug 2008 01:29:00 +0100 1697857 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1603102&cid=t_153735_107_f&fid=35026&url=http%3A%2F%2Fphylogenomics.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F07%2Fforget-lincoln-douglas-how-about.html In case you did not see it - it is worth seeing the discussion of Lincoln vs. Darwin in Newsweek (How Darwin and Lincoln Shaped Us).  They set up the discussion by pointing out that they had the same birthday.  They say Lincoln was more important.  Not going to argue but not sure they are right.  My favorite section on this article:This questioning spirit is one of the most appealing facets of Darwin's character, particularly where it finds its way into his published work. Reading "The Origin of Species," you feel as though he is addressing you as an equal. He is never autocratic, never bullying. Instead, he is always willing to admit what he does not know or understand, and when he poses a question, he is never rhetorical. He seems genuinely to want to know the answer. He's also a goo... The Tree of Life blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1603102 Thu, 10 Jul 2008 07:43:00 +0100 1603102 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2902920&cid=t_153735_132_f&fid=35001&url=http%3A%2F%2Farchive.nodalpoint.org%2F2008%2F07%2F02%2Ftree_of_life I'm not much of an evolutionary biologist, but Jonathan Eisen asked for help and I can't resist. So, in the name of Science, and via the goodness of nodalpoint, here is some deserved Google Juice for various Trees of Life on the Web. Jonathan Eisen's "Tree of Life" blog Tree of Life Web Project Tree of life (science) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Green Tree of Life at Berkeley Fungal Tree of Life Project Beetle Tree of Life project Fly Tree of Life project Mammal Tree of Life project Cypriniformes Tree of Life project Liverwort Tree of Life Project Early Bird Tree of Life project Angiosperm Tree of Life project Cnidaria Tree of Life Project Decapoda Tree of Life Project There, I've done my bit for Science, no... nodalpoint.org - A bioinformatics weblog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2902920 Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:44:17 +0100 2902920 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1600752&cid=t_153735_115_f&fid=37661&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnottotallyrad.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F07%2Fsesquicentennial-of-natural-selection.html This timely reminder from PZ Myers of the Pharyngula blog:It was on 1 July 1858, 150 years ago today, that the idea of natural selection was first presented to the public in a joint reading of Darwin's and Wallace's papers at the Linnean Society of London (an event which they did not recognize as important at the time), which makes today analogous to the Fourth of July for the biology revolution. Celebrate!  (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1600752 Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:04:00 +0100 1600752 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1600759&cid=t_153735_115_f&fid=37661&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnottotallyrad.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F06%2Fmore-you-stroke-it-softer-it-gets.html With a name like The Amaz!ng Meeting, one expects a certain amount of hyperbole. However, in the words of Dizzy Dean, "It ain't bragging if you done it."There have already been some truly amazing presentations, as I've described in my other posts on TAM6. One keeps wondering how any day can possibly top the last. I'm happy to report that Saturday provided a very satisfactory Big Finish™ to TAM6.(Okay, okay, there were some fine papers on the schedule for Sunday morning, but I wasn't able to attend them.)Saturday highlights follow:Dr. Michael Shermer, executive director of the Skeptics Society, kicked things off with a fine talk on Why People Do Weird Things. He cited recent fMRI research suggesting that skeptical thought may actually require more effort and time than uncritical thought.S... Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1600759 Mon, 23 Jun 2008 06:30:00 +0100 1600759 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1389060&cid=t_153735_131_f&fid=34989&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FGeneticsHealth%2F%7E3%2F274677767%2F Charles Darwin Following my recent article about Darwin’s 150th Anniversary, the first draft of his book, “The Origin of Species” which changed the world’s attitude to evolution is available for the first time online.  Papers which led to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution were previously only available to scholars at Cambridge University’s library. This release makes his private papers, mountains of notes, experiments and research behind his world-changing publications available to the world for free. The online archive about Charles Darwin is so vast it would take someone two months to view it all if they downloaded one image per minute! Here’s the link…. http://darwin-online.org.uk/ Elaine Warburton  www.geneticsandhealth.com Tags: ... Genetics and Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1389060 Mon, 21 Apr 2008 12:45:53 +0100 1389060 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1379264&cid=t_153735_86_f&fid=34468&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbrowsing.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F04%2Fdarwin.html On Today programme (Radio 4) this morning, piece about http://www.darwin-online.org.uk/, Charles Darwin's papers. Coincidentally, was on http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/, yesterday, which is his letters. I think it might be all of them, although they are being published in a series of books as well (vol. 16 due later this year).Bit in Guardian too - http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/apr/17/darwinbicentenary.evolution2009 is 200th anniversary of birth of Darwin, and there do seem to be a lot of books about him appearing. (Source: Browsing) Browsing blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1379264 Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:53:00 +0100 1379264 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1251123&cid=t_153735_107_f&fid=35762&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Fgrrlscientist%2F%7E3%2F239636174%2Fdarwins_neglected_crabs.php tags: Charles Darwin, crabs, crustaceans, University of Oxford, Oxford Museum of Natural History, online database Fiddler crabs are easily recognised by their distinctive asymmetric claws. This specimen was captured in May 1835 when the Beagle arrived in Mauritius. Image: Oxford University Museum of Natural History [larger view]. The University of Oxford Museum of Natural History has electronically catalogued Charles Darwin's crabs that had been collected by the famous naturalist while he was making his voyage around the world on the HMS Beagle from 1831 to 1836. Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Source: Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted)) Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted) blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1251123 Fri, 22 Feb 2008 21:41:51 +0100 1251123 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1226765&cid=t_153735_107_f&fid=35762&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Fgrrlscientist%2F%7E3%2F234135837%2Fpsst_its_charles_darwins_birdd.php tags: Darwin, Darwin's Birthday, images The Definitive Darwin. Image: The Nonist. A century and a half after Darwin's most important work was published, people still seem to have a hard time wrapping their minds around its implications, or are made nervous and upset by them. The authors at The Nonist thought it was high time that Darwin's image was updated and his ideas put into less technical terms which everyone can understand. With that in mind they modified Bob Peak's poster for Every Which Way But Loose, creating an image better fit to reach the doubtful American public. Read the comments on this post... (Source: Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted)) Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted) blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1226765 Wed, 13 Feb 2008 03:58:18 +0100 1226765 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1108692&cid=t_153735_107_f&fid=35041&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Fdigitalbio%2F%7E3%2F203442100%2Fif_you_have_free_time_over_win.php You can get a jump on the Darwin Day festivities. Once again the Alliance for Science is sponsoring an essay contest for Darwin Day. If you download their suggestions for good essay writing, you can get your essay done over winter break and have a good crack at winning on those cash prizes! The Alliance for Science is pleased to announce our second annual National High School Essay Contest. We invite interested students to submit essays of up to 1,000 words on one of two topics -- Climate and Evolution or Agriculture and Evolution. Click on the topic names for some possible ideas to explore in your essay. Submission deadline is Feb. 29, 2008. Guaranteed Cash Prizes! 1st Place $300.00, 2nd Place $200, 3rd Place $150, and 4th Place $100. Teachers click here for additional prize informatio... Discovering Biology in a Digital World blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1108692 Thu, 20 Dec 2007 14:29:04 +0100 1108692 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1062875&cid=t_153735_145_f&fid=35710&url=http%3A%2F%2Fksdescartin.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F11%2F30%2Fteleread-today%2F   Some of my takes on e-Books: learning medicine and approaches to medicine 2.0, the dreams of sharing books and the joy of reading, and the beginning adventures and further explorations with the “E” is now up on Teleread. Thanks, David!   And, for the curious: Medicine 2.0 by Scienceroll Web 2.0 and Medicine Exploring Medical Librarianship & Web Geekery Medical 2.0 (Source: the story of healing) the story of healing blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1062875 Fri, 30 Nov 2007 21:43:38 +0100 1062875 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=976757&cid=t_153735_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2F174600734%2F Charles Darwin (1809-1882)'s autobiography (full text free online) includes some very insightful refections on the evolution of his own mind during his middle-age, showcasing the power of the brain to rewire itself through experience (neuroplasticity) during our whole lifetimes-not just when we are youngest. He wrote these paragraphs at the age of 72 (I have bolded some key sentences for emphasis, the whole text makes great reading): "I have said that in one respect my mind has changed during the last twenty or thirty years. Up to the age of thirty, or beyond it, poetry of many kinds, such as the works of Milton, Gray, Byron, Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Shelley, gave me great pleasure, and even as a schoolboy I took intense delight in Shakespeare, especially in the historical plays.... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=976757 Thu, 25 Oct 2007 01:22:23 +0100 976757 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=718791&cid=t_153735_117_f&fid=34612&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorweighsin.com%2Fjournal%2F2007%2F7%2F2%2Fthis-and-that-mr-darwins-anniversary.html While Pat and Dov are away on a well-deserved vacation, I'll host TDWI. We've lined up an array of great posts that will maintain the same high quality you've come to expect on this site, so stay with us. Brian Klepper This interesting, sad little piece appeared in the July 1st edition of the The Writers'  Almanac, which is produced and edited by Garrison Keilor. It provides real context to the ongoing controversy over the "reality" of evolution. But it also is a reminder that, sometimes, drivers of change have a very clear idea of just how much turmoil they're creating, that their contributions can occur in the midst of the same difficult life issues that we all face, and that their lives aren't necessarily easier as a result of their momentous contributions. It w... The Doctor Weighs In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=718791 Sat, 07 Jul 2007 01:03:38 +0100 718791