Author Archives: Guest Post

Human’s Oldest Ancestor Found in Burgess Shale

By Guest PostMarch 6, 2012Scienceamerican palaeontologist, burgess shale, cambrian explosion, canada, charles doolittle walcott, chordate family, earthworms, fossil, jean bernard caron, leeches, marine organisms, myomeres, nerve cord, pikaia, pikaia gracilens, predator, primitive, primitive chordate, rom, royal ontario museum, scanning electron microscopy, simon conway morris, siphusauctum, tegopelte, university of cambridge, university of toronto, vascular system, vertebrate, worm, yoho national park

*Pikaia is most primitive vertebrate known*

Researchers from the University of Toronto, the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) and the University of Cambridge have confirmed that a 505 million-year-old creature, found only in the Burgess Shale fossil beds in Canada’s Yoho National Park, is the most primitive known vertebrate and therefore the ancestor of all descendant vertebrates, including humans.

The research team’s analysis proves the extinct Pikaia gracilens is the most primitive member of the chordate family, the group of animals that today includes fish, amphibians, birds, reptiles and mammals. Their study is based on the analysis of 114 specimens and is published in the British scientific journal Biological Reviews. (more…)

In Conversation: Sir Peter Crane

By Guest PostMarch 6, 2012Environment, Sciencebuckingham palace, Chicago, energy, England, environmental changes, environmental issues, epa, evolutionary biologist, field museum, ginkgo, glaciation, interdisciplinary component, j gustave speth, liquid natural gas, manhattan, nature conservancy, nuclear plant, peace corps, Prince Charles, royal botanic gardens, school of management, sir peter crane, som, state department, street trees, ted snyder, urban system, Wall Street, world wildlife fund

Evolutionary biologist Sir Peter Crane has been dean of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES) since 2009. A former director of Chicago’s Field Museum and chief executive of England’s Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, he recently spoke with Yale News about F&ES’ internationalism, the role of business in environmental management, and what it was like to be knighted at Buckingham Palace, among other topics. The following is an edited version of that conversation. (more…)

The Web Comes to Life With New Internet Explorer Ad Featuring Singer Alex Clare

By Guest PostMarch 5, 2012Technologyalex clare, american idol, beauty of the web, blake lewis, british singer, internet explorer, keith rivers, Microsoft, MySpace, southeast london, too close

*British singer-songwriter’s aggressive bass and soulful lyrics underscore the emotional impact and the beauty of the Web in a new TV spot.*

REDMOND, Wash. — March 5, 2012 — When the newest TV ad for Internet Explorer airs tonight, viewers will see powerful visuals and a message about how the browser brings the beauty of the Web to users. But it is what they will hear that will really strike a nerve: the powerful bass line beat and the soulful lyrics of Alex Clare’s new hit “Too Close.” The song, from Clare’s debut album, “The Lateness of the Hour,” is bringing the British singer to the attention of a new global audience.

Born and bred in southeast London, Clare is a rising singer-songwriter whose style reflects the bebop, blues, electronic and U.K. garage influences of his youth. Whether he’s performing live or recording, Clare works to bring together heartfelt lyrics and melodic lines with aggressive bass and percussion to let the full emotional impact of the song come through. (more…)

Will a Genetic Mutation Cause Trouble? Ask Spliceman

By Guest PostMarch 5, 2012Scienceaaa, ata, brown university, chimpanzees, david orenstein, dna sequences, gene, genetic mutation, human genome mutation database, humans, kian huat lim, messenger rna, Rhesus monkeys, shamil sunyaev, spliceman, web based program, william fairbrother

New, free Web-based software described in the journal Bioinformatics analyzes DNA sequences to determine if mutations are likely to cause errors in splicing of messenger RNA. When gene splicing goes awry, a wide variety of diseases can result.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — In a brief paper in the journal Bioinformatics, Brown University researchers describe a new, freely available Web-based program called Spliceman for predicting whether genetic mutations are likely to disrupt the splicing of messenger RNA, potentially leading to disease.

“Spliceman takes a set of DNA sequences with point mutations and computes how likely these single nucleotide variants alter splicing phenotypes,” write co-authors Kian Huat Lim, a graduate student, and William Fairbrother, assistant professor of biology, in an “application note” published in advance online Feb. 10. It will appear in print in April. (more…)

Yahoo! Makes Comedy Serious Business With Premiere of New Comedy Channel Shows Featuring Seth Morris, Mike O’Brien, Ken Marino and More

By Guest PostMarch 5, 2012Entertainment, Technology7 minutes in heaven, burning love, comedy web shows, dance off, david morgasen, donald trump, electric city, electus, greg proops, hackerazzi, jimmy kimmel live, kate middleton, media network, mickie rosen, obama mccain, seth morris, silicon valley, sketchy, tom hanks, Yahoo, yahoo screen

*Yahoo! Screen now home to new slate of premium original comedy Web shows*

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Yahoo! Inc., the premier digital media company, today debuts a variety of original comedy Web shows from a collaborative effort between Yahoo! and top-tier production partners. The new shows include “First Dates With Toby Harris” featuring Seth Morris (Funny or Die); “Sketchy” ( Electus/Principato-Young Entertainment ), and “7 Minutes in Heaven” with “Saturday Night Live”writerMike O’Brien (Broadway Video). The slate of comedy shows also includes an existing Yahoo! Studios original show, “Odd News,” Yahoo! News’ weekly wrap-up on the strangest stories from around the globe, hosted by comedian Greg Proops. All the new comedy shows will live on Yahoo! Screen (https://screen.yahoo.com), Yahoo!’s new online video destination.

In the coming weeks, Yahoo! will debut additional comedy shows including “Hackerazzi” ( David Morgasen ) and “Burning Love” (Paramount Pictures/Red Hour), which features an impressive lineup of celebrity talent and spoofs popular reality television dating shows. (more…)

Putin Wins in Landslide Victory, Opposition Surrenders

By Guest PostMarch 5, 2012Politicsassociation golos, communist party, gennady zyuganov, manezhnaya square, mikhail prokhorov, moscow, president medvedev, presidential election, prime minister, russia, russian federation, russian president, sergei mironov, victory, vladimir putin, vladimir zhirinovsky, voice

Sitting Prime Minister Vladimir Putin won the presidential election in Russia. He received the votes from 63.82 percent of electors, who took part in the voting on March 4^th. Gennady Zyuganov, the head of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, comes second with 17.18 percent. Ninety-nine percent of ballot papers have been processed so far.

Mikhail Prokhorov takes the third place with 7.77 percent. Vladimir Zhirinovsky comes next with 6.23 percent. Sergei Mironov comes last with only 3.84 percent. (more…)

Study Shows How The Brain Responds To Deceptive Advertising

By Guest PostMarch 5, 2012Science, Technologyadam craig, advertisement, brain, brain response, conscious attention, deceptive advertising, fmri, fmri images, highly deceptive, jennifer vendemia, north carolina state university, precuneus, stacy wood, sts, superior temporal sulcus, temporoparietal junction, theory of mind, tom, tpj, variable, yuliya loureiro

Several specific regions of our brains are activated in a two-part process when we are exposed to deceptive advertising, according to new research conducted by a North Carolina State University professor. The work opens the door to further research that could help us understand how brain injury and aging may affect our susceptibility to fraud or misleading marketing.

The study utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to capture images of the brain while study participants were shown a series of print advertisements. The fMRI images allowed researchers to determine how consumers’ brains respond to potentially deceptive advertising. “We did not instruct participants to evaluate the ads. We wanted to mimic the passive exposure to advertising that we all experience every day,” says Dr. Stacy Wood, Langdon Distinguished Professor of Marketing at NC State and co-author of a paper describing the research. (more…)

The Tales Top Bosses Tell To Keep Ahead of The Game

By Guest PostMarch 4, 2012Politicscharles harvey, economic crisis, exeter, mairi maclean, movers and shakers, newcastle, project, robert chia, saxon kings, self construction, society, Steve Jobs, storyteller, storytelling, strathclyde, top boss, winston churchill

Top bosses are expert storytellers who tell versions of the same four stories to keep ahead of the game, experts have found. Researchers from Exeter, Newcastle and Strathclyde universities have discovered four powerful messages are built into the often subtle and sometimes self-deprecating stories leaders tell about themselves.

The messages are about defying the odds, staying the course, succeeding through talent and giving back to society. The overall effect of this image-enhancing cocktail is to legitimise their positions as captains of industry.

Storytelling has long been recognised as a way leaders such as Winston Churchill or Steve Jobs maintained legitimacy. However, this research goes further, revealing how and why these stories are such a potent way of keeping stellar careers on track. (more…)