‘Cleaner’ from MORPHOLOGIC on Vimeo.
A Periclimenes yucatanicus shrimp cleans itself upon its symbiotic host, a Condylactis gigantea anemone, in a gorgeous aquarium installation by Miami-based Morphologic Studios.
From their website:
Morphologic is a scientific art endeavor led by marine biologist Colin Foord and designer Jared McKay. With the aquarium as our primary medium, we explore the artistic [...]
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
When presented with oat flakes arranged in the pattern of Japanese cities around Tokyo, single-cell slime molds constructed networks of nutrient-channeling tubes that are quite similar to the layout of the Japanese rail system, with a larger number of strong, resilient tunnels connecting centrally located oats. Researchers from Japan and England reported their finding in [...]
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Via Wired.com. Scientists have discovered a sea slug that takes the green photosynthetic organelles called chloroplasts from the algae it eats and hold them inside its own cells. The result: an animal that can feed itself using photosynthesis, like a plant.
From the article: “[O]nce a young slug has slurped its first chloroplast meal from one [...]
The Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Holiday Lectures for 2009, presented last week, introduced selected high school students to microbiologist Bonnie Bassler and Baldomero Olivera, an expert on poisonous snails, who discussed their seemingly esoteric studies and the powerful practical applications they are leading to.
I’m a huge fan of Bonnie Bassler, a professor of molecular biology [...]
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Here’s a Scrabble word for you: zymurgy. Apparently, the ancient science of fermentation — using microorganisms like yeast and bacteria to release enzymes that transform complex molecules in food into chemically simpler, although more complex-tasting ones — is a hot topic on college campuses. And it’s not just beer that’s being made. The New York [...]
One of seven new species of bioluminescent fungi whose discovery was recently announced in the journal Mycologia, bringing the known total of such species around the world to 71.
How do you find glow-in-the-dark mushrooms? In the rainforests of Belize, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Japan, Malaysia, and Puerto Rico, San Francisco State University mycologist Dennis [...]
Thursday, September 3, 2009
“Scientists estimate that there are about 1,000 different species of microbes living in the human gut and about as many more separate species on human skin,” reports this story from the Sacramento Bee. The microbes form colonies that settle in different areas of the body, which Jeffrey Gordon, a microbiologist at Washington University in St. [...]
Via TheScientist.com: “Tropical mammals are evolving faster than those found at high latitudes or elevations, according to a study published online today (June 23) in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. This pattern had previously been found in plants and marine protists [algae, plankton, amoebae, etc.] but until now was assumed to apply only to [...]
From a nice San Jose Mercury News story on DIYbio session at the fourth annual Maker Faire:
“At their booth, the DIYbio crowd performed a simple but elegant DNA project: 1) Spit in a cup. 2) Add a drop of soap, 3.) Swirl in a pinch of salt and 4) Pour in rubbing alcohol — or [...]
From the New York Times today:
“An English chemist has found the hidden gateway to the RNA world, the chemical milieu from which the first forms of life are thought to have emerged on earth some 3.8 billion years ago … [solving] a problem that for 20 years has thwarted researchers trying to understand the origin [...]