Category Archives: Biology

March 21, 2017 by Linda B. Glaser Harry Greene, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, left, and Cissy Ballen, of the University of Minnesota, hold an osteoglossomorph, Arapaima, probably collected in Brazil by zoologist Louis Agassiz in the 1860s. Agassiz was a visiting professor at Cornell from 1867 to 1873. Credit: Cornell University Pop quiz: Are crocodiles more closely related to lizards or to birds? The answer may surprise you. Although traditional taxonomy classifies birds separately, they are actually closely related to crocodilians, sharing such groupwide characteristics as nest construction, parental care, a four-chambered heart and acoustic communication. Traditional taxonomy "is an exercise in memorization, and we don't want to use brain cells on labels," said Harry Greene, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow. The traditional system, invented in 1758 by Linnaeus, uses a hierarchical system of kingdoms, phyla, class, order, family, genus and species to make sense of biodiversity. But with the millions of new species identified since the 18th century, the system has become unwieldy and often is misleading, as the crocodile-lizard-bird example shows. Instead, Greene uses the 35-year-old evolutionary Tree of Life (TOL) classification system, which explains the diversity of life … Continue reading →

Accused member of staff grins from ear-to-ear despite serious allegations of student sex THIS teacher was all smiles after she was charged with romping with a pupil. Brazen Sarah Fowlkes, 27, grinned like a Cheshire cat as cops took a mugshot of her. Later she beamed just as broadly when another photo was taken after she removed her cardigan. But the charges the busty blonde biology tutor face are no laughing matter. She is accused of having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student. Fowlkes was charged with having an improper relationship with the lad after turning herself in to cops on Monday hours after reportedly celebrating her birthday with her husband. This came after detectives launched an investigation on March 10 after a tip-off from officials at Lockhart High School, Texas. The probe led them to the student who had been in contact physically and by messages with Fowlkes, cops said. Their contact was of a sexual nature, police added. Fowlkes has been suspended pending the investigation. She hasreportedly been married since 2013 and celebrated her birthday at a restaurant with her husband the night before she was arrested. According to her page on the schools website shestarted working … Continue reading →

ASaint Marys marine biology class took in-depth learning to a whole new meaning. The class spent spring break in Belize at South Water Caye applying what it learned in the classroom life to the natural world. Saint Marys assistant biology professor Laura Kloepper said marine biology had not been taught in years, but the department now plans on regularly running the class. For the past few years no one has been teaching that class, Kloepper said. So weve resurrected the marine biology class and we plan on teaching this every two years. This trip to Belize was part of the lab component for our marine biology class that we offer here for majors. Kloepper said studying Belize was an obvious choice because of its diverse environment. She said it provided a unique opportunity to learn more about a field that is not as prominent in a landlocked state like Indiana. If youre teaching marine biology in Indiana doing a lab is a little difficult. So we decided to make our lab one big field trip to Belize where it is a very diverse coral reef ecosystem thats pretty easy to get to, Kloepper said. Its also one of the few … Continue reading →

Chalk it up to a surge in STEM concepts or a parental movement for more offline play, but any which way you roll the dice, board games are on the rise in a big way. Market research firm The NPD Group recently reported that the US Games and Puzzles category grew by 18% in 2016 to US$307 million, making it the fastest-growing toy sector of the year. And research shows every type of game is fueling this uptick, from family strategy and board games, to preschool-skewing ones. Asthe demand for science-based content and toys reaches new heights, companies like St. Louis, Missouri-based Genius Games are introducing board games that teach kids STEMprinciplesat a lower price than other high-tech counterparts. The companys newest offering is Cytosis: A CellBiology Game, which takes players beyond the basics of biology and deposits them directly into a human cell. The science-based strategy game features a board shaped like a cell, and requires players to collect resources like mRNA from the nucleus or ATP from the mitochondria. Players use those itemsto complete hormone, receptor or enzyme cards and gain health points. At the end of the game, the player with the most health points wins, though … Continue reading →

West De Pere High School is the first in Wisconsin to use a virtual 3-D dissection device featuring human and animal cadavers. Wochit West De Pere High School anatomy students have a unique tool to help them learn the intricacies of the human body. The Anatomage Table Alpha shows detailed anatomical images and allows freehand virtual dissection. Students Caroline Kandravi, left, and Sam Ricker used the tool Thursday in Ashley Anthon's college-credit human anatomy and physiology class.(Photo: Jim Matthews/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)Buy Photo DE PERE Students in Ashley Anthons human anatomy and physiology classes at West De Pere High School took a field trip to Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay on Monday. They went there to see, touch and examine human cadavers in a science lab. For the last two months, however, those same West De Pere students have been dissecting all kinds of human as well as animal body parts without leaving Anthons classroom. West De Pere is the first high school in Wisconsin to use a virtual 3-D dissection device made by Anatomage, a medical imaging company in San Jose, Calif. Its pretty cool stuff, senior Sam Ricker said as he operated the machine in class last … Continue reading →

OREM Josh Heward was all smiles and laughs as he described his expedition to Antarctica and the trip's research focus: a highly resilient, plate-armored, claw-legged monstrosity that crawls along the frosted earth. To some, the nearly unkillable tardigrade, or water bear, might conjure the image of a sci-fi horror monster. Luckily, this creature is only about a millimeter in size, and Heward was able to study the creatures in relative safety. The only danger, surviving one of the most remote research sites in the world. Heward, a Timpanogos High School biology teacher, spent the month of January in Antarctica as part of the Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating, or Polar TREC, program. As part of a 10-person team living at the McMurdo Station research facility, Heward worked to study an organism of miniscule size but of tremendous scientific significance. "I was surprised by just the amount of collaboration we had out there," Heward said, adding that he hopes to bring more teamwork into his classroom lab settings. Heward said the opportunity to go to Antarctica helped him rethink his teaching method, moving away from the "cookbook" procedure he has seen in many classrooms during his 10 years of teaching. … Continue reading →

The Biology Department at The University of New Mexico hosts its 26th annual Research Days and Open House Thursday and Friday, March 30-31. This annual event showcases student research, and celebrates discovery and education in the biological sciences. Students have created posters to showcase their discoveries. The posters will be on display for judges preview on Thursday, and will be presented by the students with an oral presentation on Friday. Dr. Jonathan Overpeck This year's keynote speaker is Dr. Jonathan Overpeck, director, Institute of the Environment, University of Arizona, and University Director, Southwest Climate Science Center; Thomas R. Brown Distinguished Professor; and Regents Professor of Geosciences, Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences. He will speak onNew Perspectives on Future Climate Change Risk and Ecosystem Change. Thursdays schedule: Friday's schedule: For more information, visit 26th annual Research Days or email Donna George,dgeorge@unm.edu. Link: UNM Biology Department hosts 26th annual Research Days and Open House - UNM Newsroom … Continue reading →

Machines that learn mimic the brain's neural networks but are restricted by the limitations of electronics and silicon. Millions of years in the making, life on Earth is a thing of beauty. We look to it to inspire our designs, forms and functions from architecture to economics. More to mimic than in belief we ourselves could produce equal sophisticated elegance. At the frontier of today's technology we mimic the brain's neural networks to develop machines that learn, also known as artificial intelligence. Yet efforts here remain forever restricted by the limitations of the electronics and silicon that enables them. To circumvent such limitations a growing number of biologists-come-computer scientists are programming life's organic materials in a quest to deliver a leap forward in technology and its elegant design. Advances have given rise to the feasibility of biology being the next generation technology platform upon which to build our solutions. We are in the midst of a data explosion. 90 per cent of the worlds data was created in the last two years. To store and retrieve all that data we have state of the art server farms, often built underground to keep temperatures down and prevent damage. Even our best … Continue reading →

President Richard Nixon established the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970. In 1971, he strengthened the Clean Air Act and extended the Clean Water Act, andhe banned the pesticide DDT the next year. Nixon was a shrewd politician. He understood that hisRepublican Party had to embrace the environmental movement that was popular at the time. Americans still support environmentalism and are even more dependent onenvironmental services than we were 50 years ago. Just ask residents of Toledo, Ohio, orFlint, Michigan, about their drinking water. But Republican politicians have rejected Nixons insight that they should be on the right sideof Americans' relationship with the environment. A prime example of this about-face recently came when the new EPA director, Scott Pruitt, appeared on CNBC. Pruitt said: I think that measuring withprecision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do, and therestremendous disagreement about the degree of impact, so, no, I would not agree that(human activity is) a primary contributor to the global warming that we see." In environmental biology, measuring anything with precision is a challenge. We pursue our science because it has so many moving parts. We cant measure precisely many influences that we nonethelessknow shape the biological systems … Continue reading →

University of Delaware's College of Earth, Ocean and Environment will be running its popular TIDE camp for high school students with an interest in marine science Sunday, July 16 to Friday, July 28. Taking an Interest in Delaware's Estuary Camp is a residential, instructional program for students entering 10th to 12th grades. The program focuses on the atmospheric, oceanic and biogeochemical processes at work in the Delaware Bay. Camp academic activities include classroom instruction, discussions, lectures and visits to modern oceanographic and atmospheric laboratories, as well as field excursions to the Delaware Bay for sampling and exploration. Spending time at the college campuses in Newark and Lewes, students will gain an understanding of sea breeze, tides, habitat loss, species adaptation, saltwater marsh filtration, sediment transport, regional climate change, mitigation/adaptation opportunities, local impacts and strategies, and alternative energy. Students must have completed at least one year of high school and not yet graduated prior to the camp. Those entering ninth grade or recent graduates are not eligible for TIDE Camp. Scholarships are available to students who qualify. For more information and applications, go to http://www.udel.edu and search TIDE camp 2017. Applications are due by Friday, April 7. Read the original: UD … Continue reading →