Here’s the latest addition to the Loom’s science tattoo collection: from a food scientist, the molecule capsaicin, which makes chiles spicy.
To see all the new tattoos, check out my Flickr set. And keep them coming–either in the comment thread here, or emailed directly to me.
If you crave more science tattoos–not just on the body, but of the body, check out an awesome collection of anatomical tattoos. (Thanks to Steve)
I’ve got a story in the current issue of Science about the challenge of predicting how many species (and which) may become extinct due to global warming. You can read the article here on my web site. I blogged about some of the early material in the article back in 2004 here. For a good summary of the qualms many scientists have about the power of current models, check out this recent review in the journal Bioscience: pdf.
[Update: If for some reason you have trouble reading my article on my web site, the link to the story at Science is here.]
My wife and I were following our children across Appledore Island, reaching a crest where we could see the mainland coast–Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine all stretched out in a single sweep–when a woman in bloody surgical gear stepped out into our path. She warned us that behind the old radar tower next to us some pathologists were cutting open a seal. It would be a good idea if we steered the children away.
Naturally, I let my wife head on with the kids and snuck around the tower to check out the necropsy for myself…
Science, August 17, 2007
The most authoritative guide to today’s extinction crisis is a database known as the Red List. Later this month, a group of scientists will gather in England to consider whether the Red List should be opened up to species that, for the moment, show no signs of trouble. Many scientists suspect that the next few decades of global warming could push some species toward oblivion. “The concern,” says the meeting’s organizer, H. Resit Akçakaya, an ecologist at ecological software company Applied Biomathematics in Setauket, New York, “is that maybe some species that are threatened by climate are not reflected on the Red List.”
Continue reading “Predicting Oblivion: Are Existing Models Up to the Task?”
The New York Times, August 14, 2007
To understand the rules that govern life, biologists often seek out the weird extremes. And when it comes to family life, it is hard to find a weirder example than that of a common wasp known as Copidosoma floridanum.
“You couldn’t dream up a more surreal life cycle than these guys have,” said Mike Strand, a professor at the University of Georgia.
Copidosoma floridanum, native throughout the United States, is a parasite. The female wasps lay one or two eggs inside the egg of the cabbage looper moth. As the host egg develops into a caterpillar, the wasp egg grows into a microscopic cluster of grapes.
Continue reading “Lessons From an Insect’s Life Cycle: Extreme Sibling Rivalry”