Author: Lori Jia

The Genome: An Outsider’s View

Posted on by Lori Jia

PLOS Computational Biology, December 29, 2006

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The Buddha once told a story about a king who ordered a group of blind men to be presented with an elephant. Each man touched a different part of the animal. The king then asked them what an elephant is like.

The blind men who touched the elephant’s head replied, “An elephant, your majesty, is just like a water jar.” The blind men who touched its ear said, “An elephant, your majesty, is just like a winnowing basket.” The blind men who touched its tusk declared, “An elephant, your majesty, is just like a plowshare.” The ones who touched the trunk replied, “An elephant, your majesty, is just like a plow pole.”

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An Appeal to the Loom’s Collective Hive Wisdom: Help Me Pick a Post

Posted on by Lori Jia

Fellow science blogger Coturnix is assembling some posts about science for an anthology. He’s been asking for people to contribute suggestions. I’ve been meaning to thumb through my old posts in order to send one over, but it’s been more of a challenge than I thought. Part of the problem is that pieces of writing are like children, and it’s no fun to break up the family. The other part of the problem is that my brain is just about reduced to goo between finishing my book and managing a couple of sick kids over the Christmas break.

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In the fight for survival, it can help to bluff

Posted on by Lori Jia

The New York Times, December 27, 2006

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NEW YORK — NEW YORK: If you happen across a pond full of croaking green frogs, listen carefully. Some of them may be lying.

A croak is how male green frogs tell other frogs how big they are.

The bigger the male, the deeper the croak. The sound of a big male is enough to scare off other males from challenging him for his territory.

While most croaks are honest, some are not. Some small males lower their voices to make themselves sound bigger. Their big-bodied croaks intimidate frogs that would beat them in a fair fight.

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Devious Butterflies, Full-Throated Frogs and Other Liars

Posted on by Lori Jia

The New York Times, December 26, 2006

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If you happen across a pond full of croaking green frogs, listen carefully. Some of them may be lying.

A croak is how male green frogs tell other frogs how big they are. The bigger the male, the deeper the croak. The sound of a big male is enough to scare off other males from challenging him for his territory.

While most croaks are honest, some are not. Some small males lower their voices to make themselves sound bigger. Their big-bodied croaks intimidate frogs that would beat them in a fair fight.

Continue reading “Devious Butterflies, Full-Throated Frogs and Other Liars” →

Adapted to Follow Their Noses Underwater

Posted on by Lori Jia

The New York Times, December 26, 2006

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You may enjoy the smell of coffee in the morning, but it is not the coffee itself that you are smelling. The human nose can only smell molecules that escape liquid, float into the nostrils, and dissolve into the thin layer of slime coating the olfactory nerves. Stick your nose directly into the coffee, and you will be too busy coughing and sneezing to enjoy the bouquet.

Scientists have long assumed that smelling underwater, like smelling under coffee, was impossible for mammals.

“It was something that mammals couldn’t do,” said Dr. Kenneth C. Catania, a biologist at Vanderbilt University. But Dr. Catania has discovered, much to his surprise, that moles and shrews can do it. They did not evolve a radically new nose, however. They just starting blowing bubbles.

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