Bookmarks for November 11th through December 1st

These are my links for November 11th through December 1st:

  • What's in a picture? The temptation of image manipulation — Rossner and Yamada 166 (1): 11 — The Journal of Cell Biology - It's all so easy with Photoshop1. In the days before imaging software became so widely available, making adjustments to image data in the darkroom required considerable effort and/or expertise. It is now very simple, and thus tempting, to adjust or modify digital image files. Many such manipulations, however, constitute inappropriate changes to your original data, and making such changes can be classified as scientific misconduct. Skilled editorial staff can spot such manipulations using features in the imaging software, so manipulation is also a risky proposition.
  • Top 50 Free Open Courseware Classes for Aspiring Scientists - Aspiring scientists can get a lot of help and knowledge from free online classes. Many universities offer open courseware classes that can help you learn the basics of a number of scientific fields. You can keep up to date on the latest developments, and learn to understand basic concepts. Whether you want the understanding to help you in your current job, or whether you are preparing to enter a degree program in the sciences, these 50 open courseware classes can help you get a solid handle on science.
  • Cell Size and Scale -

The Road to Sustainable Energy

Haven’t read the article myself yet, but Scientific American published an Article in its November 2009 issue titled A Path to Sustainable Energy by 2030 (as txt), where they propose a potential pathway to transition the world onto sustainable energy production by 2030.

Many energy bloggers disagree with this vision, if only in the timeframe.

Here are some links:

Have you read the article? What do you think?

Information transfer is a life principle

Fels D (2009) Cellular Communication through Light. PLoS ONE 4(4): e5086. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0005086

People like Popp have been laughed at for their biophoton hypothesis (and experiemntal results) for ages now. Of course, what sounds like Sci-fi can never be true, at least some scientists seem to “know” and thus forget that science is not about believing you know it all. Anything is possible, unless proven otherwise. And then still methods can change.

Nevertheless, here is an excerpt from the abstract:

Information transfer is a fundamental of life. A few studies have reported that cells use photons (from an endogenous source) as information carriers. This study finds that cells can have an influence on other cells even when separated with a glass barrier, thereby disabling molecule diffusion through the cell-containing medium.

Hopefully enough for you to want to read up.

Now for the crazy ones out there: doesn’t this sound like a very good start for biological nanotechnology, carbon/silicon hybrid systems?

Allright… enough sci-fi for today

Accelerated aging of wine?

…is being discussed over at khymos.org. Great article, again!