Author Archives: curiouscat

Meerkats Teach Their Young

School is in for meerkat youngsters (broken link – poor usability):

Researchers from the University of Cambridge in England observed meerkats gradually introducing cubs to prey, showing them how to handle captured insects and even removing the stingers from scorpions before giving them to youngsters.

“Although there are anecdotal reports of teaching in species from chimpanzees to killer whales, until this year solid evidence was really lacking,” said Alex Thornton, co-author of the report appearing in Friday’s issue of the journal Science.
…
Animals teaching their young is probably more common than it appears, Hopp said, but “a clear demonstration, and particularly in a wild population, is the uncommon part.”

“Thus, I think this paper is important, as it makes a clear and unambiguous case for the teaching behavior,” he said.

Google Jobs in Michigan

Google brings in new jobs and hope (Update: Detroit Free Press removed the page so I removed the link – The NY Times has learned how to use the web so you can view their article – news on the Office location) to Ann Arbor, Michigan. Google will open a new research and support center in the University of Michigan home town. It is not a coincidence that Larry Page, of Google’s co-founders graduated from Michigan’s Engineering school. Google would not locate this facility in Ann Arbor only for that reason but his familiarity with the area and a desire to take advantage of the University of Michigan played a role, I believe. This is one more example, for how good schools aid economic development.

Listen to Page’s address at the 2005 commencement for the Michigan College of Engineering.
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Google Tech Talks

Webcasts of great engineering talks at Google via: Google TechTalks

Videos include:

Safe Water Through Play

photo of merry go round for safe water

Play Pumps

It’s a simple idea. As children spin on a merry-go-round, water pumps from below the ground. It is stored in a tank just a few feet away, making a safe, plentiful supply of water available in the community.

Nearly 700 PlayPumps have been installed in South Africa, providing safe water to a million people living in rural communities. Thousands more PlayPumps will be installed throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, bringing the many benefits of ready access to clean drinking water to millions of underserved people.

Women for Science

A new report, Women for Science, is available from the InterAcademy Council:

Realizing that the low representation of women in science and engineering is a major hindrance to global capacity building in science and technology, the IAC formed an Advisory Panel on Women for science with the mandate to review previous studies, provide examples of effective projects already implemented, and issue a set of actionable recommendations addressed particularly to the world’s science and engineering academies.

The report is a comprehensive report. The report includes a large list of online resources.

The InterAcademy Council:

In May 2000 all of the world’s science academies created the IAC to mobilize the best scientists and engineers worldwide to provide high quality advice to international bodies – such as the United Nations and the World Bank – as well as to other institutions.

In a world where science and technology are fundamental to many critical issues – ranging from climate change and genetically modified organisms to the crucial challenge of achieving sustainability – making wise policy decisions has become increasingly dependent on good scientific advice.

Related (added when I had to update the link to the report – when are people going to learn to keep urls as permanent addresses?): Engineering Education at Smith College – Diversity in Science and Engineering – Women Working in Science – Girls in Science and Engineering

New Engineering School for England

Plans were announced to create a new kind of school, funded equally by Inventor James Dyson and the English Government. In the words of James Dyson, (Dyson school ‘to boost engineers’):

“Our choice now is either to see Britain’s jobs of tomorrow vanish to Mumbai or Shanghai or to educate the next generation in the skills of invention and business-building.”

The Dyson School of Innovation and Design will open in Bath in 2008.

The 14 to 16-year-olds at the school, due to open in 2008, would attend one day a week while those aged 16 to 18 would attend full-time.

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Bye Bye Bees

Photo of a bee

The Vanishing by Sharon Levy:

One-third of the food we eat comes from crops that need animal pollinators, a role often filled by bees but sometimes by butterflies, beetles, birds, or bats. Bee-pollinated foods include squash, tomatoes, peppers, apples, and pears. Unfortunately, the honeybees surrounding me are members of a threatened tribe, whose loss would have a dire effect on farmers, not to mention everyone who eats fruits and vegetables.

This problem has been increasing in recent years.

Fees for renting beehives shot up from about $48 to as much as $140 per colony, a previously unheard-of amount. Beekeepers traveled from as far away as Florida and North Carolina to service California’s almond groves. For the first time in 50 years, U.S. borders were opened to honeybees from New Zealand and Australia. The fate of a $1.2 billion crop — more than half of all almond production worldwide — rested on the slender back of the embattled honeybee.

Natural systems seem so powerful that it hardly seems possible that running low on bees is really a concern. But more and more such stories (fish stocks being wiped out…) are being told. This is one of many reasons we need more scientists to study these areas and keep society informed. Enjoy reading this article it is a great example of science, scientific study, communicating scientific knowledge and the impact on society.

Photo by Justin Hunter

Weekly Science Podcasts

This Week in Science offers podcasts of around an hour covering many topics. Recent topics include:

  • July 4th: Kangaroo Repellent, Gazelles Give Up, Super Jellyfish To the Rescue!, CO2 Sludge, Neurons Need Love Too, Circus Ants, Interview w/ William Gurstelle re: Thing That Go Boom
  • May 2nd: Pollen Pretenses, Sonar Beach, Big Wierd Booms, Oil No More, Body Power Alternatives, Baby Alcoholics, Birth Canal Benefits, and Two Interviews!!! Interview with Joel Primack and Nancy Abrams, Authors of “The View from the Center of the Universe”, and with Marine Geologist, Dr. Steven Scott, about Deep Sea Mining.
  • March 21st: Callers Galore!, Slimy Sexy Snails, Earth-spermia?, Talk to Aliens, Sexy Healthy Birdies, Rubbernecking Dino, Justin’s Glass Ceiling, Interview w/ Dan McCleese, Chief Scientist for Mars Research at JPL

via: Easternblot

Bonobo’s Using Language?

bonobo with a symbols board she uses to communicate

A Voluble Visit with Two Talking Apes by Jon Hamilton, NPR.

But linguists still weren’t satisfied. They pointed out that humans invent metaphors and figures of speech when literal meanings aren’t enough.

Savage-Rumbaugh says the bonobos pass this test, as well. For example, Panbanisha once used the symbol for “monster” when referring to a visitor who misbehaved.

Bill Fields, a researcher at the Great Ape Trust and a close friend of Kanzi, recalls another time when Kanzi used language creatively.

Fields says it was during a visit by a Swedish scientist named Par Segerdahl. Kanzi knew that Segerdahl was bringing bread. But Kanzi’s keyboard had no symbol for Segerdahl the scientist. So he got the attention of Savage-Rumbaugh’s sister, Liz, and began pointing to the symbols for “bread” and “pear,” the fruit.

“Liz got it immediately,” Fields says. “She says, ‘What do you mean Kanzi? Are you talking about Par or pears to eat?’ And he pointed over to Par.”

The site also includes more photos and video and audio webcasts.

Cash Awards for Engineering Innovation

This article discusses the recent explosion of cash awards to encourage development of engineering solutions. Want innovation? Offer cash (page deleted by external site – poor usability):

In the early 20th century, prizes in the aviation and automotive worlds were common. Sometimes they were awarded for incremental progress, other times for breakthroughs like the Lindbergh flight.