His post was interesting, but he also doesn't take into account that we don't know what biological processes in neurons are actually relevant to consciousness. There is a ton of stuff going on in neurons, sure, but neurons evolved from cells that once upon a time were free living organisms: there is still a ton of…

A quite stunning video, but it also served to remind me that somewhere in the academic sphere, someone has spent a good chunk of their lives detailing the minutiae of every little floaty blob that drifted by the camera.

Going off of the link to the U of Strathclyde up there, this isn't UV light at all. In fact, the very first sentence says they are using "a narrow spectrum of visible light wavelengths." It's still a cool technique since they are talking about working it into normal color lighting systems.

He stole my avatar for #5! And I have to confess I'll never look at aspirin the same way again

@tech-tard: Actually, probably Circos:

Personally, I credit my interest in science from early exposure to science fiction. I should be finishing my PhD here in a year or two, and I honestly don't think I would have gotten here without a steady supply of scifi books (the movies and shows not so much, but definitely the books). If I hadn't really had the…

Researchers have been showing that portions of the "junk" DNA aren't junk for ages now. However, good chunks of it ARE junk: leftover bits from retroviruses, transposons, SSRs caused by polymerase error, whatever. There's so much of it that it isn't surprising that some of it retains its purpose.

@Annalee Newitz: Having done GvE (Gene vs. Environment) analysis on plants, I really feel for the researchers that have to try and do the same thing on people. Plants can't lie on the surveys, and unlike people don't object to 5 generations of self-fertilization to make the statistics easier. The statistics are…

@twophrasebark: I think part of the benefit, if you can call it that, is that these companies have access to a lot more genetic data than scientists can easily get. After all, people send them DNA voluntarily, and then PAY them to do the limited sequencing...any normal research program would have to go the other way…

@mykalt45: Surprisingly it's not DAPI staining. It's a false color of plant vascular bundle fluorescence...I just played with the LUT since grey is boring

@Brobama Tito Brohey the Third: Yup, they are pretty neat looking. Whoever prepped those slides is a lot more talented than I am with a scope.

There's a really cool bacteria called Thiomargarita namibiensis that lives off the sulfur in the area: