Many people don't know that Pseudo-Ivy University is the foremost institution for lemur research outside of Madagascar. They should know this, because visiting the Lemur Center is awesome (when it's over 50 degrees and the lemurs are outside). And researchers here just published a conclusive lemur family tree.
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(2)
08:25:52 AM,
Wednesday 27 February 2008
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Cat-like typing detected Unfortunately, it's not available for OSX, because it would be really nice to keep the little spotty one from standing on Remi's keyboard all day.
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(1)
05:03:07 PM,
Tuesday 26 February 2008
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...some of his followers give me the creeps
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07:51:27 PM,
Sunday 24 February 2008
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Durham residents and doglovers everywhere will be happy to know that Bean is home. This lost pitbull has been a topic of conversation everywhere I've been for the past couple of weeks, due to the sad story of her theft and escape and the fact that posters of her were put up on, as far as I can tell, every telephone pole in the city.
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(2)
07:39:14 PM,
Sunday 24 February 2008
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Can body aches accompanied by cold symptoms be something besides the flu? Because I've had a cold for the past two weeks and I had a flu shot so I couldn't possibly have the flu. Right?
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(8)
05:53:39 PM,
Sunday 24 February 2008
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I'm a biologist. I know antibiotics wouldn't help and would only lead to the potential for more unpleasantness for more people in the future. But the sick person inside me just wants somebody to say "Here. Take this. You'll feel better."
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(2)
09:04:46 PM,
Friday 22 February 2008
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Legally, a woman can't be elected president, because some idiot from New Hampshire says so.
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(6)
02:57:45 PM,
Friday 22 February 2008
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It's nice to have somebody say, "Can you give a quick introduction to the nitrogen cycle?" Because the answer is, "Yes, I certainly can". Here, I practice on y'all.
Nitrogen gas (N2) makes up 78% of our atmosphere but it in soil it is quite rare and usually the amount of available nitrogen is the factor controlling how fast plants can grow. Why is nitrogen not more available in soil? Two reasons. First, the strength of the bond between the two nitrogen molecules in nitrogen gas (a triple covalent bond) is very difficult to break. Oxygen molecules have only a double covalent bond and all living things break it easily. But the triple bond requires a strong enzyme--called, creatively, nitrogenase--to break it. This enzyme is only produced by bacteria, but it is produced by many bacteria in many different locations, including cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) in the ocean and other bodies of water, certain kinds of free-living bacteria in soil, and bacteria which live symbiotically inside of the roots of certain plants, including legumes.
The second reason nitrogen is not more available in soil is sort of a circular one: because it is so rare, and because all living things need it, nitrogen fixed by these bacteria, excreted by other organisms, or available in dead organisms, never stays in soil for very long. There is actually a lot of nitrogen present in the soil ecosystem, it's just always being used.
So, we've identified the first step of the nitrogen cycle: nitrogen fixation. Using nitrogenase, these bacteria split the nitrogen molecule in two, with the result of the reaction being ammonium/ammonia (NH4
As organisms die, their bodies become part of the soil. Bacteria and many macroorganisms in the soil consume the organic matter, a collection of organic molecules, that is the result. Many of these molecules contain nitrogen, thus we speak of there being organic nitrogen in the soil. In the process of living, organisms also excrete nitrogenous waste, frequently in the form of urea, which turns back into NH4
In the soil, there are also chemosynthetic bacteria which create energy by combining oxygen from the air with NH4
There are other organisms in the soil that use NO3
Nitrogen fixation, nitrogen mineralization, nitrification, and denitrification are the steps commonly called the nitrogen cycle. You can stop there and be fine. But keep reading to find out about new frontiers in nitrogen biogeochemistry.
Recently, scientists have discovered a few other common, microbially mediated conversions of nitrogen. One of these is dissimulatory nitrate reduction to ammonia or (DNRA), in which energy is gained by chemosynthetic bacteria using a two step process of removing oxygen atoms from nitrate and combining them with a metal, producing a metal oxide and ammonia. This process was hard to identify because in practice it looks very similar to nitrate uptake by bacteria followed by nitrogen mineralization back to ammonia.
The other recently identified process is anaerobic ammonia oxidation or anammox. This process converts ammonia to nitrate and thus looks very much like nitrification, except it takes place in the absence of atmospheric oxgen and instead uses oxygen atoms from other available molecules. Both of these processes were assumed by their discoverers to be quite rare and specific to the places they were discovered, but continued research suggests that they are both quite common at places where the right conditions occur.
Ultimately, we don't yet know what permanent changes must be made to our understanding of the nitrogen cycle based on these and other recently discovered processes. What they do make clear is the importance of bacteria in nitrogen cycling and the wide range of ways that energy can be obtained by the breaking of molecular bonds.
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(5)
09:38:06 AM,
Thursday 21 February 2008
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Wow. The diseases going around this winter sure a powerful. I seem to be having a complete relapse.
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(6)
07:50:29 PM,
Wednesday 20 February 2008
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The teaching class I'm taking this semester was totally worth it just to learn about Richard Felder. He is a chemical engineering professor who takes very seriously the ideas of using different learning styles and non-lecture techniques to get students involved in some very non-traditional chemE classes.
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02:14:13 PM,
Wednesday 20 February 2008
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I maded u an emergency watr use plan... Image is of one of our local reservoirs.
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(2)
03:19:09 PM,
Sunday 17 February 2008
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The implicit bias study folks at Harvard are currently doing a presidential candidates study I scored quite high on Clinton, about in the middle for Obama, and tied at very low for McCain and Huckabee. I blame the folks on Metafilter who have been badgering endlessly anyone who doesn't wholeheartedly support Obama and Melissa at Shakesville who, like me, is a tireless Edwards supporter, but for the past year has done an excellent job of chronicling the sexism against Clinton.
My fingers always balked at their consideration of angry as a negative word with regard to political candidates, because I've been viewing it as a positive trait in all of the Democratic candidates and would be highly wary of a Democrat who, like Huckabee, seemed cheerful about how great things are.
It sounds like Edwards may not be on the NC ballot, but Gravel may. I still have more than 2 months before I have to cross that bridge.
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(9)
10:54:43 AM,
Saturday 16 February 2008
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I don't know her. But I've been reading her blog for years and I've followed the ups and downs as she's tried to figure out what she wants to do with her life and how to get paid. And Kameron got a book contract I'll be buying God's War.
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10:25:07 AM,
Saturday 16 February 2008
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My ears caught the tail end of an NPR news update. Something about "he will travel giving a series of speeches on healthcare and ending corruption in government." I figured they were talking about Obama in Texas. They were actually talking about Bush in Africa. Because if there's anything Bush has the right to lecture the African people on, it's those two great strengths of his administration, healthcare and ending corruption in goverment.
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09:04:23 AM,
Saturday 16 February 2008
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I think Jorge Chan tried to get to my building recently (fixed to permalink to the comic after he posted a new one. He should really have a way to do that with the new comics.)
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10:47:18 AM,
Friday 15 February 2008
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Studio 60 is absolutely fascinating to watch. There's something intriguing about a show that could have been so good and went so horribly wrong.
Also, I need this cold to be over soon, because I'm almost out of new dvds to watch. But I do recommend both of the British mystery series Remi got me for Christmas: Cracker and Touching Evil. If you like mysteries.
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(2)
12:50:05 PM,
Thursday 14 February 2008
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Tuxedo appears in our Google streetview Note: the street address is incorrect. No wonder people have trouble finding our house.
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(10)
04:38:02 PM,
Wednesday 13 February 2008
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Marin Alsop recently became the first woman to conduct a major symphony orchestra at Carnegie Hall. It's amazing all of the firsts we're still having in this millenium.
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(2)
09:00:04 AM,
Tuesday 12 February 2008
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Swamped with work. Emerging long enough to ask if anyone knows anything about Portugal?
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(8)
01:24:17 PM,
Monday 11 February 2008
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This song came back to me yesterday as I was thinking about Lent. As I mentioned elsewhere on the blogmass, the charge given to us at our Ash Wednesday service was to take time to be quiet, take time to be intimate with our friends and family, and take time to do justice. Chuck Brodsky, being awesome, puts all that into words in his song (and you can hear David LaMotte singing it here)
We Are Each Other's Angels
by Chuck Brodsky
I hope I see you later - 'cause it's time for me to go
That's my ride that just pulled over - and it sure was good to know you
So go answer your calling - go and fill somebody's cup
And if you see an angel falling - won't you stop and help them up?
We are each other's angels - we meet when it is time
We keep each other going - and we show each other signs
Sometimes you'll stumble - sometimes you'll just lie down
Sometimes you'll get lonely - with all these people around
You might shiver when the wind blows - and you might get blown away
You might lose a little color - you might lose a little faith
We are each other's angels - we meet when it is time
We keep each other going - and we show each other signs
Thank you for the water - thought I was gonna to die out here in the desert but you quenched my thirst
Let's break a little bread together - I've got a little Manna - it was a gift
From someone who was passing by and offered me a lift
We are each other's angels - we meet when it is time
We keep each other going - and we show each other signs
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09:02:20 AM,
Thursday 7 February 2008
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I just heard Lydia Polgreen (A '97) on NPR. She is the West African Bureau chief for the New York Times and one of the only western reporters still in Chad, so NPR is using her for their coverage. Some Johnnies end up in amazing places.
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06:53:06 AM,
Thursday 7 February 2008
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I have always been frightened of the immersion blender my brother gave me several years ago. I have always only managed to make a mess with it. But tonight I used it to finish off my acorn squash soup. It was easy, and not at all messy, and my soup is gorgeous. I think the secret is having a thick enough liquid, but small enough chunks, and a large container.
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(1)
07:46:26 PM,
Tuesday 5 February 2008
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Which reminds me that I have failed to add Matthew to my sidebar, so now added he is.
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(1)
08:38:39 AM,
Tuesday 5 February 2008
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The Ecological Society of America is starting podcasting. They will have a couple of different series featuring interviews with ecologists being published in society journals as well as ecologists involved in policy making. This is mostly for Matthew, but others of you are geeks who listen to podcasts who might like to broaden your horizons.
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(2)
08:36:32 AM,
Tuesday 5 February 2008
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Abstaining from Reality
A gay dad writes exactly what needs to be said every time somebody wants to "protect" their kids from learning that gay people exist.
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01:57:46 PM,
Monday 4 February 2008
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I have been an abortion provider since 1972. Why do I do abortions, and why do I continue to do abortions, despite two murder attempts?
I can take an anxious woman, who is in the biggest trouble she has ever experienced in her life, and by performing a five-minute operation, in comfort and dignity, I can give her back her life.
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(2)
12:34:24 PM,
Monday 4 February 2008
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Sidebar fixed up some thanks to Moss's repairing the function and BrownFemiPower for reminding me for the thousandth time to add her.
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(2)
08:21:19 PM,
Friday 1 February 2008
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"wishful thinking" or "what i'm waiting to find in our email boxes"
dedicated to the black women at Duke and North Carolina Central Universities and you
by Alexis Pauline Gumbs
Words fail me.
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08:15:30 PM,
Friday 1 February 2008
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Even ninjas and pirates sitting together at the table of... How have I not seen this webcomic before?
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(1)
08:48:52 AM,
Friday 1 February 2008
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8 years ago I applied for graduate student housing at UGA. I didn't get it, but apparently all this time they kept my confidential information on their computers. Except, whoops, they had a security breach. They advise me to read the government's website on identity theft. Thanks, guys.
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09:40:27 PM,
Thursday 31 January 2008
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Participate in the Great Backyard Birdcount Feb 15-18 See what's living in your yard or go somewhere cool and count birds--if you're not so good with IDs, there may be somewhere close by where people are doing it as a group. Help track populations and migration patterns nationwide.
via my mom
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(3)
04:45:16 PM,
Thursday 31 January 2008
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Country ham steak, sweet potato fries, and spicy field greens (grown in a greenhouse) all from these folks. Y'all may control national politics, but we eat better.
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06:40:40 PM,
Wednesday 30 January 2008
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Melissa McEwan says it all better than me
I think I will vote for Edwards anyway. I'm a member of the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party. And Clinton and Obama aren't.
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(29)
01:52:52 PM,
Wednesday 30 January 2008
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But, see, to me this is a bad thing
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(18)
09:05:21 AM,
Tuesday 29 January 2008
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moar funny pictures
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(1)
11:59:38 AM,
Monday 28 January 2008
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Some people do so much with the lousy hand they were dealt
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11:47:47 AM,
Monday 28 January 2008
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