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Adventures in science, fiction, and science fiction
gdw
18 posts
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- August 11, 2016
- 08:41 AM
- 107 views
Who made the Piltdown man? Inside one of science’s most (in)famous hoaxes
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
There was always that nagging feeling of not being accepted, of whispers behind his back. They pretended to be open-minded, but in reality not belonging to the group of professionals was reason enough to dismiss his work and findings. In their eyes, he was just a solicitor. A hobbyist. He was tolerated, but their derision […]... Read more »
De Groote, I., Flink, L., Abbas, R., Bello, S., Burgia, L., Buck, L., Dean, C., Freyne, A., Higham, T., Jones, C.... (2016) New genetic and morphological evidence suggests a single hoaxer created ‘Piltdown man’. Royal Society Open Science, 3(8), 160328. DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160328
- August 3, 2016
- 09:13 AM
- 146 views
Do we need a doping Olympics? The ethics of doping in sports
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
There is only her and the track. The people standing on her left and right do not matter now. She has only one adversary: time. In her head she plays how the future might…will unfold. Forty seven strides. That’s all she needs. All things on the periphery disappear. Her world, her universe becomes a single […]... Read more »
Savulescu J, Foddy B, & Clayton M. (2004) Why we should allow performance enhancing drugs in sport. British journal of sports medicine, 38(6), 666-70. PMID: 15562155
Gaviglio CM, Osborne M, Kelly VG, Kilduff LP, & Cook CJ. (2015) Salivary testosterone and cortisol responses to four different rugby training exercise protocols. European journal of sport science, 15(6), 497-504. PMID: 25743223
Smith AC, & Stewart B. (2015) Why the war on drugs in sport will never be won. Harm reduction journal, 53. PMID: 26556215
Park HY, Hwang H, Park J, Lee S, & Lim K. (2016) The effects of altitude/hypoxic training on oxygen delivery capacity of the blood and aerobic exercise capacity in elite athletes - a meta-analysis. Journal of exercise nutrition , 20(1), 15-22. PMID: 27298808
- July 28, 2016
- 08:34 AM
- 200 views
Game of Farmers: Agriculture is coming
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
Gron gazed across the plain from inside a tuft of long grass. There. Just in front of the far hillock. Gazelles. Meals on legs. He vaguely remembered mother carrying him through cooler forests when he was not yet old enough to walk. He had never understood why they had left. But he had learned, had […]... Read more »
Zeder MA. (2008) Domestication and early agriculture in the Mediterranean Basin: Origins, diffusion, and impact. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105(33), 11597-604. PMID: 18697943
Lazaridis, I., Nadel, D., Rollefson, G., Merrett, D., Rohland, N., Mallick, S., Fernandes, D., Novak, M., Gamarra, B., Sirak, K.... (2016) Genomic insights into the origin of farming in the ancient Near East. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature19310
- July 21, 2016
- 10:08 AM
- 241 views
The decline of biodiversity: Past the point of no return?
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
Mohi looks up at her mother. Confused. Afraid. Mother had always said that she had to keep her filtration veil on when they left their housedome. But now, here stood her mother, unveiled. The woman gifted an encouraging nod to her young daughter. Mohi removed her veil. Air! Light! The freshness of the breeze and […]... Read more »
Steffen W, Richardson K, Rockström J, Cornell SE, Fetzer I, Bennett EM, Biggs R, Carpenter SR, de Vries W, de Wit CA.... (2015) Sustainability. Planetary boundaries: guiding human development on a changing planet. Science, 347(6223). PMID: 25592418
Newbold T, Hudson LN, Arnell AP, Contu S, De Palma A, Ferrier S, Hill SL, Hoskins AJ, Lysenko I, Phillips HR.... (2016) Has land use pushed terrestrial biodiversity beyond the planetary boundary? A global assessment. Science, 353(6296), 288-91. PMID: 27418509
Oliver TH. (2016) How much biodiversity loss is too much?. Science, 353(6296), 220-1. PMID: 27418489
- July 13, 2016
- 07:28 AM
- 271 views
An equation for life
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
Water churns. Earth moves. Molecules jostle and chemicals mix. Between heaven and hell, a young planet finds itself in full flux. Developing. Forming. Star stuff rains down and forged elements bubble up. Then it happens. It seems as if it’s just another chemical match-up, another reaction in the vast library of possibilities. But it would […]... Read more »
Scharf C, & Cronin L. (2016) Quantifying the origins of life on a planetary scale. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. PMID: 27382156
- July 7, 2016
- 09:09 AM
- 340 views
Are animals (and AI’s) people too?
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
Charles gets up and balances on his short legs. During the brief ungainly walk to the dais, he fights the urge to scratch his arms. The vest that has been tailor-made for him itches. But it will help focus the committee on his purpose, focus on him as a person. He squats on the low […]... Read more »
Perring C. (1997) Degrees of personhood. The Journal of medicine and philosophy, 22(2), 173-97. PMID: 9186928
Windrem MS, Schanz SJ, Morrow C, Munir J, Chandler-Militello D, Wang S, & Goldman SA. (2014) A competitive advantage by neonatally engrafted human glial progenitors yields mice whose brains are chimeric for human glia. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 34(48), 16153-61. PMID: 25429155
- June 29, 2016
- 06:20 AM
- 253 views
Birdsong Babel: Different birds use different grammar rules
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
Zizou listens carefully. She ignores her confines and tries to focus on the intruder’s song. There’s something odd about it. Something she can’t quite put her feather on. It’s familiar, yet… not familiar. The intruder is strong. He or she keeps signing incessantly. There’s no sight of him or her, though. She has to make a […]... Read more »
Olkowicz S, Kocourek M, Lučan RK, Porteš M, Fitch WT, Herculano-Houzel S, & Němec P. (2016) Birds have primate-like numbers of neurons in the forebrain. PNAS, 113(26), 7255-60. PMID: 27298365
Spierings, M., & ten Cate, C. (2016) Budgerigars and zebra finches differ in how they generalize in an artificial grammar learning experiment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(27). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1600483113
- June 16, 2016
- 08:30 AM
- 259 views
An omelette of extinction
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
~50 000 years ago He wakes. The first sunrays slowly crawl over the horizon. As he gets up, the others in his family group stir. He surveys this new land. His stomach grumbles… # Present day Born in an African cradle, humanity has spread across the globe. And almost everywhere we went, we managed to […]... Read more »
Miller G, Magee J, Smith M, Spooner N, Baynes A, Lehman S, Fogel M, Johnston H, Williams D, Clark P.... (2016) Human predation contributed to the extinction of the Australian megafaunal bird Genyornis newtoni ∼47 ka. Nature communications, 10496. PMID: 26823193
- June 8, 2016
- 05:38 AM
- 282 views
Cultural evolution in killer whales
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
Auka watches mother and the other adults hunt. They are black-and-white ghosts flitting through the waters of their chilly world. Their prey is fast, agile. Coordination is key. Which is why the young ones have to stay behind. There is no place for playfulness during the hunt. But Auka doesn’t feel playful. She ignores the […]... Read more »
Foote AD, Vijay N, Ávila-Arcos MC, Baird RW, Durban JW, Fumagalli M, Gibbs RA, Hanson MB, Korneliussen TS, Martin MD.... (2016) Genome-culture coevolution promotes rapid divergence of killer whale ecotypes. Nature communications, 11693. PMID: 27243207
- June 1, 2016
- 09:38 AM
- 316 views
All hail our eight-limbed overlords
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
(This is my first attempt to blend science and fiction in a single post. The idea is to write about a recent study or studies but explore it through small snippets of original fiction as well. Hope you like it. Feedback is always greatly appreciated…) # A carefully orchestrated dance of chromatophores flashed Octa’s agreement. […]... Read more »
Doubleday ZA, Prowse TA, Arkhipkin A, Pierce GJ, Semmens J, Steer M, Leporati SC, Lourenço S, Quetglas A, Sauer W.... (2016) Global proliferation of cephalopods. Current biology : CB, 26(10). PMID: 27218844
- May 25, 2016
- 09:00 AM
- 373 views
Are our gut bacteria the key to immortality?
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
The fight against aging Ever since the ancient Sumerians, men has sought eternal life. We still do. Anti-aging science has become quite an industry. As we dive deeper and deeper into our biological foundations, we’re learning more and more about how and why we age. A lot of mysteries remain, but there’s still talk about […]... Read more »
De Winter, G. (2014) Aging as Disease. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy, 18(2), 237-243. DOI: 10.1007/s11019-014-9600-y
Biagi E, Franceschi C, Rampelli S, Severgnini M, Ostan R, Turroni S, Consolandi C, Quercia S, Scurti M, Monti D.... (2016) Gut Microbiota and Extreme Longevity. Current biology : CB. PMID: 27185560
- May 21, 2016
- 08:19 AM
- 290 views
The persistence of wealth and modern-day samurai
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
The rich stay rich If you had rich ancestors, you might just be in luck. Two Italian economists used tax data to identify the wealthiest families in the city-state Florence in 1427. In contrast with the idea that you’re largely responsible for your own fortune, they found that the wealth of the 1427 families was […]... Read more »
Barone, G and Mocetti, S. (2016) Intergenerational mobility in the very long run: Florence 1427-2011. Bank of Italy working papers. info:/
- May 16, 2016
- 08:43 AM
- 300 views
Academic publication quality and the senility of science
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
A recent column in Nature by Daniel Sarewitz laments the ever increasing torrent of academic publications. Quantity goes up, but quality does not follow suit. There are more scientists than ever. And they publish more than ever. However, that doesn’t mean they publish more high quality research. This harks back to the work of Derek J. […]... Read more »
Kidwell MC, Lazarević LB, Baranski E, Hardwicke TE, Piechowski S, Falkenberg LS, Kennett C, Slowik A, Sonnleitner C, Hess-Holden C.... (2016) Badges to Acknowledge Open Practices: A Simple, Low-Cost, Effective Method for Increasing Transparency. PLoS biology, 14(5). PMID: 27171007
Sarewitz D. (2016) The pressure to publish pushes down quality. Nature, 147. PMID: 27172010
- May 10, 2016
- 07:40 AM
- 318 views
Do dragons dream of tasty crickets?
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
(Also appeared on United Academics) Sleep cycles When we leave the day behind us and nestle ourselves in our cosy beds, we sleep. Sleep, however, comes in stages that repeat themselves. It’s a five-stage cycle that last about 90 minutes in humans. Four stages of non-REM sleep are followed by a period of REM (Rapid […]... Read more »
Ólafsdóttir HF, Barry C, Saleem AB, Hassabis D, & Spiers HJ. (2015) Hippocampal place cells construct reward related sequences through unexplored space. eLife. PMID: 26112828
Shein-Idelson M, Ondracek JM, Liaw HP, Reiter S, & Laurent G. (2016) Slow waves, sharp waves, ripples, and REM in sleeping dragons. Science (New York, N.Y.), 352(6285), 590-5. PMID: 27126045
- May 3, 2016
- 07:39 AM
- 354 views
Flipping the Drake Equation for a deep time perspective on the Fermi Paradox
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
Is anybody out there? Where are all the alien civilizations? Even if (intelligent) life is very unlikely, the sheer size and age of the universe means that even long odds might have produced space faring civilizations. Yet, so far, nada. When people are considering the (im)probability of non-human space travellers, one thing always comes up: […]... Read more »
Frank A, & Sullivan WT 3rd. (2016) A New Empirical Constraint on the Prevalence of Technological Species in the Universe. Astrobiology. PMID: 27105054
- April 26, 2016
- 08:57 AM
- 377 views
Human sacrifice, inequality, and cycles of political power
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
Human sacrifice to preserve inequality Statistically speaking (wait, wait, don’t click away, I know this is not the most enticing opening, but bear with me), you and me, we are not part of the 1%, or the 0.01%, that in most Western societies holds a disproportionate amount of influence and resources. Secretly, though, we want […]... Read more »
Watts J, Sheehan O, Atkinson QD, Bulbulia J, & Gray RD. (2016) Ritual human sacrifice promoted and sustained the evolution of stratified societies. Nature, 532(7598), 228-31. PMID: 27042932
- April 15, 2016
- 09:12 AM
- 375 views
Rewriting life: Adding letters to the ABC of DNA
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
(Also appeared on United Academics.) The alphabet of life The grand tale of life is long and complicated. Storylines intertwine and many subplots twist and turn unexpectedly. Amazingly, this billion-year-spanning story is written in an alphabet that contains only four letters, the alphabet of DNA. A for adenine, C for cytosine, G for guanine, and […]... Read more »
Malyshev DA, Dhami K, Lavergne T, Chen T, Dai N, Foster JM, Corrêa IR Jr, & Romesberg FE. (2014) A semi-synthetic organism with an expanded genetic alphabet. Nature, 509(7500), 385-8. PMID: 24805238
- March 17, 2016
- 04:44 PM
- 219 views
Once upon a time… On the origin of fairy tales
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
(Also appeared on United Academics Magazine) Once upon a time, around 6 000 years ago, there lived a blacksmith. This blacksmith was a true craftsman, always looking for ways to improve his metal-moulding skills. When he had practised all he could, he saw only one way towards perfection: a demonic deal. So he called forth […]... Read more »
da Silva SG, & Tehrani JJ. (2016) Comparative phylogenetic analyses uncover the ancient roots of Indo-European folktales. Royal Society open science, 3(1), 150645. PMID: 26909191
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