Christie Wilcox

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  • October 5, 2011
  • 10:39 PM
  • 205 views

A Moral Gene?

by Christie Wilcox in Science Sushi

If our moral psychology is a Darwinian adaptation, what does that say about human nature? About social policy, which always presupposes something about human nature? About morality itself? - Steven Pinker Morality is often considered to be the domain of philosophers, not biologists. But scientists have often wondered what role our genomes play in directing [...]









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Marsh, A., Crowe, S., Yu, H., Gorodetsky, E., Goldman, D., & Blair, R. (2011) Serotonin Transporter Genotype (5-HTTLPR) Predicts Utilitarian Moral Judgments. PLoS ONE, 6(10). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0025148  

  • October 3, 2011
  • 08:03 PM
  • 151 views

Observations: Reverse Bestiality

by Christie Wilcox in Science Sushi

The submissions are now in for The Open Laboratory 2011, an anthology of the best science blogging of the year. There are 721 great science posts in the chase for 52 slots in the anthology! I’m more than flattered that four of my posts were nominated. Three of them are already here on the Scientific [...]









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Brian Bowen. (2007) Sexual Harassment By A Male Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas). Marine Turtle Newsletter, 10. info:/

  • September 16, 2011
  • 02:18 PM
  • 324 views

Observations: Why do women cry? Obviously, it’s so they don’t get laid.

by Christie Wilcox in Science Sushi

This week, a paper came out looking at testosterone levels in fathers. A whirlwind of poor journalism followed, which was beautifully smacked down by William Saletan over at Slate (aslo: see this great post on the topic by our very own Kate Clancy). But it reminded me of a similar kerfluffle that occurred this past [...]









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Gelstein, S., Yeshurun, Y., Rozenkrantz, L., Shushan, S., Frumin, I., Roth, Y., & Sobel, N. (2011) Human Tears Contain a Chemosignal. Science. DOI: 10.1126/science.1198331  

Haga S, Hattori T, Sato T, Sato K, Matsuda S, Kobayakawa R, Sakano H, Yoshihara Y, Kikusui T, & Touhara K. (2010) The male mouse pheromone ESP1 enhances female sexual receptive behaviour through a specific vomeronasal receptor. Nature, 466(7302), 118-22. PMID: 20596023  

Fleming, A. (2002) Testosterone and Prolactin Are Associated with Emotional Responses to Infant Cries in New Fathers. Hormones and Behavior, 42(4), 399-413. DOI: 10.1006/hbeh.2002.1840  

Storey AE, Walsh CJ, Quinton RL, & Wynne-Edwards KE. (2000) Hormonal correlates of paternal responsiveness in new and expectant fathers. Evolution and human behavior : official journal of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, 21(2), 79-95. PMID: 10785345  

Burnham, T. (2003) Men in committed, romantic relationships have lower testosterone. Hormones and Behavior, 44(2), 119-122. DOI: 10.1016/S0018-506X(03)00125-9  

Zak, P., Kurzban, R., Ahmadi, S., Swerdloff, R., Park, J., Efremidze, L., Redwine, K., Morgan, K., & Matzner, W. (2009) Testosterone Administration Decreases Generosity in the Ultimatum Game. PLoS ONE, 4(12). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0008330  

HERMANS, E., PUTMAN, P., & VANHONK, J. (2006) Testosterone administration reduces empathetic behavior: A facial mimicry study. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 31(7), 859-866. DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2006.04.002  

  • September 1, 2011
  • 12:00 PM
  • 147 views

Mythbusting 101: Sharks will cure cancer

by Christie Wilcox in Science Sushi

Sharks are incredible animals. They’re some of the world’s most well known creatures, popular enough to get entire weeks of television dedicated to them. They hold a special place in our hearts and minds. Whether you fear them or love them, or a bit of both, they’ve dominated our oceans for hundreds of millions of [...]









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Brem H, & Folkman J. (1975) Inhibition of tumor angiogenesis mediated by cartilage. . J Exp Med, 427-439. DOI: 10.1084/jem.141.2.427  

Langer R, & et al. (1976) Isolations of a cartilage factor that inhibits tumor neovascularization. Science, 70-72. DOI: 10.1126/science.935859  

Lee A, & Langer R. (1983) Shark cartilage contains inhibitors of tumor angiogenesis. Science, 1185-1187. DOI: 10.1126/science.6193581  

Luer CA, & Luer WH. (1982) Acute and chronic exposure of nurse sharks to aflatoxin B1. Federal Proceedings, 925. info:/

Horsman MR, Alsner J, & Overgaard J. (1998) The effect of shark cartilage extracts on the growth and metastatic spread of the SCCVII carcinoma. Acta oncologica (Stockholm, Sweden), 37(5), 441-5. PMID: 9831372  

Miller DR, Anderson GT, Stark JJ, Granick JL, & Richardson D. (1998) Phase I/II trial of the safety and efficacy of shark cartilage in the treatment of advanced cancer. Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 16(11), 3649-55. PMID: 9817287  

Loprinzi CL, Levitt R, Barton DL, Sloan JA, Atherton PJ, Smith DJ, Dakhil SR, Moore DF Jr, Krook JE, Rowland KM Jr.... (2005) Evaluation of shark cartilage in patients with advanced cancer: a North Central Cancer Treatment Group trial. Cancer, 104(1), 176-82. PMID: 15912493  

Lu C, Lee JJ, Komaki R, Herbst RS, Feng L, Evans WK, Choy H, Desjardins P, Esparaz BT, Truong MT.... (2010) Chemoradiotherapy with or without AE-941 in stage III non-small cell lung cancer: a randomized phase III trial. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 102(12), 859-65. PMID: 20505152  

Vickers, A. (2004) Alternative cancer cures: "unproven" or "disproven"?. CA: A Cancer Journal For Clinicians, 110-118. DOI: 10.3322/canjclin.54.2.110  

Ostrander GK, Cheng KC, Wolf JC, & Wolfe MJ. (2004) Shark cartilage, cancer and the growing threat of pseudoscience. Cancer research, 64(23), 8485-91. PMID: 15574750  

  • July 18, 2011
  • 08:00 AM
  • 197 views

Mythbusting 101: Organic Farming > Conventional Agriculture

by Christie Wilcox in Science Sushi

People believe a lot of things that we have little to no evidence for, like that vikings wore horned helmets or that you can see the Great Wall of China from space. One of the things I like to do on my blogs is bust commonly held myths that I think matter. For example, I [...]









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Gold, L., Slone, T., Stern, B., Manley, N., & Ames, B. (1992) Rodent carcinogens: setting priorities. Science, 258(5080), 261-265. DOI: 10.1126/science.1411524  

Caboni, P., Sherer, T., Zhang, N., Taylor, G., Na, H., Greenamyre, J., & Casida, J. (2004) Rotenone, Deguelin, Their Metabolites, and the Rat Model of Parkinson's Disease. Chemical Research in Toxicology, 17(11), 1540-1548. DOI: 10.1021/tx049867r  

Bahlai, C., Xue, Y., McCreary, C., Schaafsma, A., & Hallett, R. (2010) Choosing Organic Pesticides over Synthetic Pesticides May Not Effectively Mitigate Environmental Risk in Soybeans. PLoS ONE, 5(6). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0011250  

Mukherjee A, Speh D, Dyck E, & Diez-Gonzalez F. (2004) Preharvest evaluation of coliforms, Escherichia coli, Salmonella, and Escherichia coli O157:H7 in organic and conventional produce grown by Minnesota farmers. Journal of food protection, 67(5), 894-900. PMID: 15151224  

Dangour, A., Lock, K., Hayter, A., Aikenhead, A., Allen, E., & Uauy, R. (2010) Nutrition-related health effects of organic foods: a systematic review. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 92(1), 203-210. DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.2010.29269  

Rosen, J. (2010) A Review of the Nutrition Claims Made by Proponents of Organic Food. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, 9(3), 270-277. DOI: 10.1111/j.1541-4337.2010.00108.x  

Fillion, L., & Arazi, S. (2002) Does organic food taste better? A claim substantiation approach. Nutrition , 32(4), 153-157. DOI: 10.1108/00346650210436262  

Mader, P. (2002) Soil Fertility and Biodiversity in Organic Farming. Science, 296(5573), 1694-1697. DOI: 10.1126/science.1071148  

Fedoroff, N. (1999) Plants and population: Is there time?. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 96(11), 5903-5907. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.96.11.5903  

Basker, D. (2009) Comparison of taste quality between organically and conventionally grown fruits and vegetables. American Journal of Alternative Agriculture, 7(03), 129. DOI: 10.1017/S0889189300004641  

  • June 13, 2011
  • 09:47 PM
  • 582 views

Alien Invasions: Do They Deserve Their Bad Rep?

by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd

Recently, in a post titled "Ecologists: Time to End Invasive-Species Persecution", Brandon Keim discussed a comment published in Nature which argued that the ecological community unfairly vilifies the various plants and animals we've transported around the globe. In some sense, the authors are right, at least as far as saying that not all alien species should be considered bad or needing removal.

Straight from the beginning, though, the authors attack a dichotomy that doesn't exist. They writ........ Read more »

Davis, M., Chew, M., Hobbs, R., Lugo, A., Ewel, J., Vermeij, G., Brown, J., Rosenzweig, M., Gardener, M., Carroll, S.... (2011) Don't judge species on their origins. Nature, 474(7350), 153-154. DOI: 10.1038/474153a  

PIMENTEL, D., ZUNIGA, R., & MORRISON, D. (2004) Update on the environmental and economic costs associated with alien-invasive species in the United States. Ecological Economics. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2004.10.002  

Albins, M., & Hixon, M. (2008) Invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish Pterois volitans reduce recruitment of Atlantic coral-reef fishes. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 233-238. DOI: 10.3354/meps07620  

Lesser, M., & Slattery, M. (2011) Phase shift to algal dominated communities at mesophotic depths associated with lionfish (Pterois volitans) invasion on a Bahamian coral reef. Biological Invasions. DOI: 10.1007/s10530-011-0005-z  

Meyer, J., & Florence, J. (1996) Tahiti's native flora endangered by the invasion of Miconia calvescens DC. (Melastomataceae). Journal of Biogeography, 23(6), 775-781. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2699.1996.tb00038.x  

Kimberly M. Burnett, Brooks A Kaiser, & James Roumasset. (2007) Invasive Species Control over Space and Time: Miconia calvescens on Oahu, Hawaii. Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics,. info:/

  • June 9, 2011
  • 03:21 PM
  • 478 views

From the Archives: Reflections on the Gulf Oil Spill - Conversations With My Grandpa

by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd

If you didn't already know because, by chance, you missed my tweets, posts, and facebook updates, there is a science blogging contest going on RIGHT NOW. The 3 Quarks Daily Science Blogging Prize is currently narrowing down the top 20 posts from 87 nominees. To get through the gauntlet, a post has to get enough votes. Rather than remind you again to vote for Observations of a Nerd, I figured I'd show you why you should. Over the next 24 hours, I'll be reposting the three posts in the competition........ Read more »

Jonathan L. Ramseur. (2010) Oil Spills in U.S. Coastal Waters: Background, Governance, and Issues for Congress. Congressional Research Service , 7-5700 (RL33705). info:/

Paine, R., Ruesink, J., Sun, A., Soulanille, E., Wonham, M., Harley, C., Brumbaugh, D., & Secord, D. (1996) TROUBLE ON OILED WATERS: Lessons from the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 27(1), 197-235. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.27.1.197  

SWEDMARK, M., GRANMO, A., & KOLLBERG, S. (1973) Effects of oil dispersants and oil emulsions on marine animals. Water Research, 7(11), 1649-1672. DOI: 10.1016/0043-1354(73)90134-6  

  • May 11, 2011
  • 03:56 PM
  • 726 views

Can we overfish the lionfish?

by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd

Lionfish are one of my favorite animals (I study them, after all). They're stunningly beautiful. Of course, they're also a devastating invasive species. Though they've only been in the Atlantic Ocean for some 15 years or so, they've taken over reefs, eating everything in their path. They've been found to reduce the recruitment of native fish by 79% on average, and are occurring in densities 8 times higher than in their native range. To say they're bad is an understatement. The damage is so sever........ Read more »

Barbour, A., Allen, M., Frazer, T., & Sherman, K. (2011) Evaluating the Potential Efficacy of Invasive Lionfish (Pterois volitans) Removals. PLoS ONE, 6(5). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0019666  

  • March 28, 2011
  • 12:18 PM
  • 773 views

Is Bigger Really Better?

by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd

I have to confess, when I saw a global map of average penis size flying around twitter, I was like a eighth grade boy finding his first nudie magazine - I couldn't help but take a peek. After a brief heart attack (it's in cm, not inches), my inner scientist started asking silly questions. You know, the kind of things that would only occur to a scientist when looking at a map of penis size like, "is this just a stochastic distribution?" "is there any reason why this pattern would occur?" and of c........ Read more »

Lever, J., Frederick, D., & Peplau, L. (2006) Does Size Matter? Men's and Women's Views on Penis Size Across the Lifespan. Psychology of Men , 7(3), 129-143. DOI: 10.1037/1524-9220.7.3.129  

Francken, A. (2002) What Importance Do Women Attribute to the Size of the Penis?. European Urology, 42(5), 426-431. DOI: 10.1016/S0302-2838(02)00396-2  

Dixson, B., Dixson, A., Li, B., & Anderson, M. (2007) Studies of human physique and sexual attractiveness: Sexual preferences of men and women in China. American Journal of Human Biology, 19(1), 88-95. DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.20584  

Štulhofer, A. (2006) How (Un)Important Is Penis Size for Women with Heterosexual Experience?. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 35(1), 5-6. DOI: 10.1007/s10508-006-8989-7  

Eisenman, R. (2001) Penis size: Survey of female perceptions of sexual satisfaction. BMC Women's Health, 1(1), 1. DOI: 10.1186/1472-6874-1-1  

Gallup, G. (2003) The human penis as a semen displacement device. Evolution and Human Behavior, 24(4), 277-289. DOI: 10.1016/S1090-5138(03)00016-3  

Ponchietti R, Mondaini N, Bonafè M, Di Loro F, Biscioni S, & Masieri L. (2001) Penile length and circumference: a study on 3,300 young Italian males. European urology, 39(2), 183-6. PMID: 11223678  

  • February 3, 2011
  • 10:54 AM
  • 698 views

So that's why Flipper asked for pineapples...

by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd

Peta recently stirred up quite a lot of controversy with their banned superbowl ad claiming that "studies have shown that vegetarians are better lovers." Of course, no such research exists, but somehow in trying find where that came from (no pun intended) I ended up in a twitter conversation about diet and sex. Anyhow, to make a long story short, after several converstaional tangents I found myself sifting through the scientific literature for anything containing "taste" and "semen."*

Sorry, f........ Read more »

CERUTI, M., FENNESSEY, P., & TJOA, S. (1985) Chemoreceptively active compounds in secretions, excretions and tissue extracts of marine mammals. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Physiology, 82(3), 505-514. DOI: 10.1016/0300-9629(85)90424-4  

Owen, D. (2005) A Review of the Physical and Chemical Properties of Human Semen and the Formulation of a Semen Simulant. Journal of Andrology, 26(4), 459-469. DOI: 10.2164/jandrol.04104  

Moule, G., Braden, A., & Mattner, P. (1966) Effects of season, nutrition and hormone treatment on the fructose content of ram semen. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research, 17(6), 923. DOI: 10.1071/AR9660923  

  • January 28, 2011
  • 05:33 AM
  • 460 views

Reverse Bestiality: When Animals Commit Sexual Assault

by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd

Sexual assault is no laughing matter - unless, of course, the would-be rapist isn't human. Who doesn't giggle when they see a small dog humping someone's leg? But what many people don't realize is that reverse bestiality - where an animal makes unwanted sexual advances on a person - is a true problem for scientists working in the field where the actions of wild animals are completely unpredictable.... Read more »

Brian Bowen. (2007) Sexual Harassment By A Male Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas). Marine Turtle Newsletter, 10. info:/

  • January 27, 2011
  • 01:28 PM
  • 601 views

Citrus call for backup to fight root-destroying pests

by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd

Citrus fruits are delicious. Their delicate balance of sweetness and tartness is a biochemical masterpiece. It's no wonder that they, of all nature's tasty options, are the highest value fruit crop in terms of international trade, with over 105 million tons produced annually. But these tempting produce face a persistant villain that seeks to destroy their roots; a menace known, cleverly, as the citrus root weevil.

The weevil's grubby larvae feed like maggots on the vital roots of citrus plants........ Read more »

Ali, J., Alborn, H., & Stelinski, L. (2010) Subterranean Herbivore-induced Volatiles Released by Citrus Roots upon Feeding by Diaprepes abbreviatus Recruit Entomopathogenic Nematodes. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 36(4), 361-368. DOI: 10.1007/s10886-010-9773-7  

  • January 8, 2011
  • 09:59 AM
  • 543 views

Why do women cry? Obviously, it's so they don't get laid.

by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd

Photo by Sara LeeAnn Banevedes
I don't think Brian Alexander is a bad guy or a misogynist. He writes the Sexploration column for MSNBC, so sure, his job is all about selling sex stories to the public. He even wrote a book about American sexuality. But I don't personally think he has a burning hatred for women, or views them as objects placed on this Earth for the sexual satisfaction of men. However, I very easily could, given how he chose to report on a recent study published in Science about m........ Read more »

Gelstein, S., Yeshurun, Y., Rozenkrantz, L., Shushan, S., Frumin, I., Roth, Y., & Sobel, N. (2011) Human Tears Contain a Chemosignal. Science. DOI: 10.1126/science.1198331  

Haga S, Hattori T, Sato T, Sato K, Matsuda S, Kobayakawa R, Sakano H, Yoshihara Y, Kikusui T, & Touhara K. (2010) The male mouse pheromone ESP1 enhances female sexual receptive behaviour through a specific vomeronasal receptor. Nature, 466(7302), 118-22. PMID: 20596023  

Fleming, A. (2002) Testosterone and Prolactin Are Associated with Emotional Responses to Infant Cries in New Fathers. Hormones and Behavior, 42(4), 399-413. DOI: 10.1006/hbeh.2002.1840  

Storey AE, Walsh CJ, Quinton RL, & Wynne-Edwards KE. (2000) Hormonal correlates of paternal responsiveness in new and expectant fathers. Evolution and human behavior : official journal of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, 21(2), 79-95. PMID: 10785345  

Burnham, T. (2003) Men in committed, romantic relationships have lower testosterone. Hormones and Behavior, 44(2), 119-122. DOI: 10.1016/S0018-506X(03)00125-9  

Zak, P., Kurzban, R., Ahmadi, S., Swerdloff, R., Park, J., Efremidze, L., Redwine, K., Morgan, K., & Matzner, W. (2009) Testosterone Administration Decreases Generosity in the Ultimatum Game. PLoS ONE, 4(12). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0008330  

HERMANS, E., PUTMAN, P., & VANHONK, J. (2006) Testosterone administration reduces empathetic behavior: A facial mimicry study. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 31(7), 859-866. DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2006.04.002  

  • December 9, 2010
  • 03:32 PM
  • 800 views

Fish Have Feelings (And They Can Be Seen In Their DNA)

by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd

Most animals reproduce sexually. This means that every individual has to find another individual to mate with - and they have to convince that other that they're worthy of the privilege. More often than not when it comes to picking that special someone, it's the girls that get to be choosy. Females spend a lot more energy per offspring than males from the get-go due to the size of our eggs (let alone most child rearing responsibilities), so as a gender, females want to make sure they don't waste........ Read more »

Desjardins, J., Klausner, J., & Fernald, R. (2010) Female genomic response to mate information. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(49), 21176-21180. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1010442107  

  • November 4, 2010
  • 09:37 AM
  • 419 views

The Science of Makeup

by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd

I couldn't help but be intrigued that my stiffest competition for winning the $10,000 Blogging Scholarship is a makeup blogger. What is it about cosmetics that is so appealing? Why do people wear makeup, and what might have caused early man to play around with blush and lipstick? Well, like everything else in life, a lot can be explained by science. Meanwhile, after you read this post, I encourage you to go vote for me whomever you think is the best blogger in the competition (PS I'm Christie Wi........ Read more »

Zilhao, J., Angelucci, D., Badal-Garcia, E., d'Errico, F., Daniel, F., Dayet, L., Douka, K., Higham, T., Martinez-Sanchez, M., Montes-Bernardez, R.... (2010) Symbolic use of marine shells and mineral pigments by Iberian Neandertals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(3), 1023-1028. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0914088107  

Roberts, S., Havlicek, J., Flegr, J., Hruskova, M., Little, A., Jones, B., Perrett, D., & Petrie, M. (2004) Female facial attractiveness increases during the fertile phase of the menstrual cycle. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 271(Suppl_5). DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2004.0174  

Russell, R. (2003) Sex, beauty, and the relative luminance of facial features. Perception, 32(9), 1093-1107. DOI: 10.1068/p5101  

Russell, R. (2009) A sex difference in facial contrast and its exaggeration by cosmetics. Perception, 38(8), 1211-1219. DOI: 10.1068/p6331  

Stephen ID, & McKeegan AM. (2010) Lip colour affects perceived sex typicality and attractiveness of human faces. Perception, 39(8), 1104-10. PMID: 20942361  

MATTS, P., FINK, B., GRAMMER, K., & BURQUEST, M. (2007) Color homogeneity and visual perception of age, health, and attractiveness of female facial skin. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 57(6), 977-984. DOI: 10.1016/j.jaad.2007.07.040  

Mulhern, R., Fieldman, G., Hussey, T., Leveque, J., & Pineau, P. (2003) Do cosmetics enhance female Caucasian facial attractiveness?. International Journal of Cosmetic Science, 25(4), 199-205. DOI: 10.1046/j.1467-2494.2003.00188.x  

Nash, R., Fieldman, G., Hussey, T., Lévêque, J., & Pineau, P. (2006) Cosmetics: They Influence More Than Caucasian Female Facial Attractiveness. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 36(2), 493-504. DOI: 10.1111/j.0021-9029.2006.00016.x  

Nicolas Guéguen. (2008) Brief Report: The Effects of Women's Cosmeticson Men's Approach: An Evaluation in a Bar. North American Journal of Psychology, 10(1), 221-228. info:/

  • November 1, 2010
  • 07:46 PM
  • 675 views

Evolution: A Game Of Chance?

by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd

One of the toughest concepts to grasp about evolution is its lack of direction. Take the classic image of the evolution of man, from knuckle-walking ape to strong, smart hunter:

We view this as the natural progression of life. Truth is, there was no guarantee that some big brained apes in Africa would end up like we are now. It wasn't inevitable that we grew taller, less hairy, and smarter than our relatives. And it certainly wasn't guaranteed that single celled bacteria-like critters ended up ........ Read more »

Airoldi, C., Bergonzi, S., & Davies, B. (2010) Single amino acid change alters the ability to specify male or female organ identity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1009050107  

XU Xing, & GUO Yu. (2009) THE ORIGIN AND EARLY EVOLUTION OF FEATHERS: INSIGHTS FROM RECENT PALEONTOLOGICAL AND NEONTOLOGICAL DATA. Verbrata PalAsiatica, 47(4), 311-329. info:/

Perrichot, V., Marion, L., Neraudeau, D., Vullo, R., & Tafforeau, P. (2008) The early evolution of feathers: fossil evidence from Cretaceous amber of France. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 275(1639), 1197-1202. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2008.0003  

Marden, J., & Kramer, M. (1994) Surface-Skimming Stoneflies: A Possible Intermediate Stage in Insect Flight Evolution. Science, 266(5184), 427-430. DOI: 10.1126/science.266.5184.427  

DIAL, K., RANDALL, R., & DIAL, T. (2006) What Use Is Half a Wing in the Ecology and Evolution of Birds?. BioScience, 56(5), 437. DOI: 10.1641/0006-3568(2006)056[0437:WUIHAW]2.0.CO;2  

Blount, Z., Borland, C., & Lenski, R. (2008) Inaugural Article: Historical contingency and the evolution of a key innovation in an experimental population of Escherichia coli. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(23), 7899-7906. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0803151105  

  • October 1, 2010
  • 03:03 PM
  • 926 views

The Ig Nobels have been announced!

by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd

Every year, the crew behind the Annals of Improbable Research honor research that "first makes people laugh, then makes them think." These awards, known as the Ig Nobels, honor some of the most entertaining research published in the past year. The competition is fierce, and the prizes highly coveted. But without further ado! This year, the winners are... Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post...... Read more »

Acevedo-Whitehouse, K., Rocha-Gosselin, A., & Gendron, D. (2010) A novel non-invasive tool for disease surveillance of free-ranging whales and its relevance to conservation programs. Animal Conservation, 13(2), 217-225. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-1795.2009.00326.x  

RIETVELD, S., & VANBEEST, I. (2007) Rollercoaster asthma: When positive emotional stress interferes with dyspnea perception☆. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45(5), 977-987. DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2006.07.009  

Tero, A., Takagi, S., Saigusa, T., Ito, K., Bebber, D., Fricker, M., Yumiki, K., Kobayashi, R., & Nakagaki, T. (2010) Rules for Biologically Inspired Adaptive Network Design. Science, 327(5964), 439-442. DOI: 10.1126/science.1177894  

Lianne Parkin, Sheila M Williams, Patricia Priest. (2009) Preventing winter falls: a randomised controlled trial of a novel intervention . Journal of the New Zealand Medical Association, 122(1298). info:/

Stephens, R., Atkins, J., & Kingston, A. (2009) Swearing as a response to pain. NeuroReport, 1. DOI: 10.1097/WNR.0b013e32832e64b1  

Pluchino, A., Rapisarda, A., & Garofalo, C. (2010) The Peter principle revisited: A computational study. Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 389(3), 467-472. DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2009.09.045  

Tan, M., Jones, G., Zhu, G., Ye, J., Hong, T., Zhou, S., Zhang, S., & Zhang, L. (2009) Fellatio by Fruit Bats Prolongs Copulation Time. PLoS ONE, 4(10). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0007595  

  • September 30, 2010
  • 11:13 AM
  • 1,057 views

I get e-mail, too.

by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd

Recently, I got this e-mail forwarded to me. It started out with the header
World shame coast in COSTA RICA
Followed by images like these:
and it concluded with the message:
Please distribute widely.
The Turtle eggs are stolen to be sold.
The planet is thankful for the forwarding of this email.

The e-mail isn't an isolated incident. A quick internet search will immediately bring up sites like this one, heralding the extinction of sea turtles in Costa Rica due to the illegal harvest of thei........ Read more »

CAMPBELL, L. (1998) Use them or lose them? Conservation and the consumptive use of marine turtle eggs at Ostional, Costa Rica. Environmental Conservation, 25(4), 305-319. DOI: 10.1017/S0376892998000393  

Cornelius, S.E., M. Alvarado U., J. Carlos C., M. Mata D.V., and D.C. Robinson. (1991) Management of olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) nesting at Playas Nancite and Ostional, Costa Rica. in J.G. Robinson and K.H. Redford (eds.), Neotropical Wildlife Use and Conservation. University of Chicago Press, Chicago., 111-135. info:/

  • September 17, 2010
  • 03:59 PM
  • 1,170 views

So, yeah, cheers!

by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd

Scientists worry way too much about the impacts of our work. We want our papers to mean something, for people to really want to read them. Of course, the true test of whether your paper is important is that future papers cite you as a reference.

What makes one paper cited by everyone and another fall into obscurity? Well, there are all kinds of theories. Maybe it's how high-impact the journal is - after all, a Science paper is better than obscure journal, right? Some have even suggested it's a........ Read more »

Lortie, C. (2009) Letter to the Editor: A global comment on scientific publications, productivity, people, and beer. Scientometrics, 84(2), 539-541. DOI: 10.1007/s11192-009-0077-z  

  • September 10, 2010
  • 10:19 AM
  • 1,080 views

Testosterone Levels In Carcharhinus leucas: Is It All Bull?

by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd

So, Shark Diver set out a challenge for Ocean of Pseudoscience Week that I simply had to look into. He wanted to know whether there's any science backing the notion that Bull Sharks, Carcharhinus leucas, have extraordinarily high testosterone levels and might thus be usable as a source for legally obtainable steroids - an idea, apparently, started by some video game.

The rumor, as I'd heard it, is that the fierce attitudes of these large and aggressive sharks is due to unfathomably high circul........ Read more »

JAINUDEEN, M., KATONGOLE, C., & SHORT, R. (1972) PLASMA TESTOSTERONE LEVELS IN RELATION TO MUSTH AND SEXUAL ACTIVITY IN THE MALE ASIATIC ELEPHANT, ELEPHAS MAXIMUS. Reproduction, 29(1), 99-103. DOI: 10.1530/jrf.0.0290099  

Harold L. Pratt, Jr., Samuel H. Gruber, & Toru Taniuchi (editors). (1990) Elasmobranchs as Living Resources: Advances in the Biology, Ecology, Systematics, and the Status of the Fisheries. NOAA Technical Report NMFS 90, 143-155. info:/

Rasmussen, L., & Murru, F. (1992) Long-term studies of Serum Concentrations of reproductively related Steriod Hormones in individual captive Carcharhinids. Marine and Freshwater Research, 43(1), 273. DOI: 10.1071/MF9920273  

Manire, C. (1997) Serum Concentrations of Steroid Hormones in the Mature Male Bonnethead Shark,Sphyrna tiburo. General and Comparative Endocrinology, 107(3), 414-420. DOI: 10.1006/gcen.1997.6937  

Manire, C. (1995) Serum Steroid Hormones and the Reproductive Cycle of the Female Bonnethead Shark, Sphyrna tiburo. General and Comparative Endocrinology, 97(3), 366-376. DOI: 10.1006/gcen.1995.1036  

Thorson, T. (1962) Partitioning of Body Fluids in the Lake Nicaragua Shark and Three Marine Sharks. Science, 138(3541), 688-690. DOI: 10.1126/science.138.3541.688  

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