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Melville on Science vs. Creation Myth

From Melville's under-appreciated Mardi: On a quest for his missing love Yillah, an AWOL sailor...

Non-coding DNA Function... Surprising?

The existence of functional, non-protein-coding DNA is all too frequently portrayed as a great...

Yep, This Should Get You Fired

An Ohio 8th-grade creationist science teacher with a habit of branding crosses on his students'...

No, There Are No Alien Bar Codes In Our Genomes

Even for a physicist, this is bad: Larry Moran, in preparation for the appropriate dose of ridicule...

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Welcome to Adaptive Complexity, where I write about genomics, systems biology, evolution, and the connection between science and literature, government, and society.

I'm a biochemist

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A Fossil More Amazing than Ida

A Fossil More Amazing than Ida

Jun 18 2009 | comment(s)

More incredible finds from the Messel Pit:






"These 49 million-year-old freshwater turtle fossils are believed to have died of poisoning during copulation."

(Photograph: Jonathan Blair/Corbis, published at The Guardian Online.)


Fossils Don't Beat DNA

Fossils Don't Beat DNA

Jun 18 2009 | comment(s)

I have a hard time believing this is for real:
The Academic Political Ecosystem

The Academic Political Ecosystem

Jun 18 2009 | comment(s)

Over at the Monkey Cage:

Fact: Academicians tend to be politically differentiated according to discipline, with those in the social sciences and humanities on the left, those in the natural sciences in the middle, and those in engineering and business on the right.

Argument: This is no coincidence. Students’ political attitudes are being shaped by their professors.


Counterargument: Agreed. It’s not a coincidence. But the operative force is self-selection, not socialization.



I haven't seen any surveys, but this characterization of political differentiation jives with what I've seen. Of course no discipline is homogeneous.
Morning Science Quote

Morning Science Quote

Jun 18 2009 | comment(s)

Light is the principal means by which we are able to transmit and receive information from objects around us and throughout the universe. 

- Raymond Serway, Physics for Scientists and Engineers








Protein Cryptography And The Cell's Public Transportation System

Protein Cryptography And The Cell's Public Transportation System

Jun 17 2009 | comment(s)



It's easy to get lost in a eukaryotic cell. Proteins need to be in the right place at the right time to carry out their functions, but the cell is a crowded place, and the layout isn't exactly simple. Fortunately, the cell has a fairly sophisticated transportation system: if you need to head out of the cell, take the secretory pathway; if your job is to regulate genes, the nuclear shuttle will take you where you need to go.



The protein Htb2 hanging out exactly where it is supposed to be - the nucleus

FDA Cracks Down on Zicam

FDA Cracks Down on Zicam

Jun 17 2009 | comment(s)

I've always hated Zicam, because of it's ridiculous claim to be a homeopathic remedy, when the mechanism of action of zinc gluconate (the active ingredient) has nothing whatsoever to do with the pseudoscientific principles of homeopathy.

Now the FDA is cracking down, because Zicam may be downright harmful - you could lose your sense of smell because zinc ions applied directly to your nasal epithelia can be toxic.