Stories by Jason G. Goldman

Deborah Blum has plugged herself into the Borg, and brought her blog Speakeasy Science along with her for the ride. She says: Although my most recent book, The Poisoner’s Handbook, is about murder and the invention of forensic toxicology in the early 20th century, my earlier works have focused on primate research, the science of [...]

…and what can word-learning in dogs teach us about the evolution of language in humans? What is involved in the learning of a single new word?

Figure 1: Reggie the Alligator, in 2007. (source) Reggie is getting a girlfriend.

[Data collection fortnight ends today. And then we shall return to our regularly scheduled programming. Until then, here's Rule #1, from the archives.] If you are giving a talk, or teaching a class, or are otherwise responsible for transmitting content from your brain to other peoples’ brains, you should be able to give that talk [...]

The Harpy Eagle ( Harpia harpyja ) is a nasty scary-looking muppethugging monster of a carnivorous bird. Female harpies weigh 14-20 pounds, and males weigh 8.5-12 pounds.

Lately, my lovely nerdy scibling Christie has been collecting examples of genius and almost-genius inventions, contraptions, and ideas. I humbly offer the following, to be included under “absolutely freaking genius”.

I just read this article from the LA Times. Emphasis added: For months, the rafts that ferry Disneyland guests across the waterway to Tom Sawyer Island have been idle.

Each month, Bora Zivkovic, in his day-time role as PLoS ONE Community Manager, picks one post that covered a PLoS ONE paper that was published that month for recognition.

Carnival of the Blue 36 is up at Observations of a Nerd! Carnival of the Blue includes all things wet and salty, and there are some interesting offerings this month, so go check it out!

Here’s are my ResearchBlogging Editor’s Selections for this week. Topics covered this week are: chocolate, sex, the female touch, and cigarettes.

Why were cats domesticated in the first place? And how? Given their relatively poor ability to socially engage with humans, it isn't exactly clear why or how they were domesticated, or how they came to play such a significant role in human culture.

I’ve got some pretty talented sciblings. Sure, they’re all talented scientists or writers, or both. But, did you know there are some additional talents around here?

The 2010 May edition of our beloved Carnival of Evolution is up today on the official blog for Springer Verlag’s journal, Evolution: Education and Outreach.

A few Israeli selections for tonight. ???? ???? ?? ?????? – Haruach Teshaneh et Kivunah Lyricist: Astar Shamir Composer: Uri Zach Singer: Harel Skaat ???

h/t to Dr. Isis for this awesome video. Did you miss my Psychology and Neuroscience Editor’s Selections at ResearchBlogging.org? Here you go again.

Yesterday, at our department’s end-of-the-year party, I was informed that I was one of two winners this year of the Outstanding Research Poster Award.

What information is contained in the call of a mammal? Some calls might reflect the internal emotional state of the animal, like fear or anxiety, or they can refer to an external object, agent, or event, like the presence of a predator.

Say you’re visiting Los Angeles and you have a sudden craving for Chinese food. Since you are only visiting, you might not be aware that nothing is open past, like, 10pm (not even coffee houses), but you get in your rental car and go driving around in search of your Chinese feast anyway.

Lots of great Psychology and Neuroscience blogging this week! Here’s are my ResearchBlogging Editor’s Selections for this week, covering some complex psychological and neurological disorders.

Editor’s note: If you are offended by cholesterol, or are a health and nutrition blogger, or an obesity blogger, avert your eyes. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

“Cooking is like love, it should be entered into with abandon or not at all” –Harriet van Horne Science, too, I think.

Vision is arguably our most (consciously) utilized sensory system, so its pretty important to figure out how it works. And it's what David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel set out to investigate starting in the late 1950s.

For when you have those late night pre-data-collection-week science crazies. Yafyufa (English: The Prettiest), by Eyal Golan.

Earlier this week we talked about how to use whale snot for science. I especially enjoyed blog bff Scicurious‘s take on the study: Budgetary requirement: $5000 for series of expensive remote control helicopters.