Pioneering Women of Physics
(by Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics)

Pioneering Women of Physics
(by Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics)

Pioneering Women of Physics
(by Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics)

What a piece of work is ARHGAP11B, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculty!

Human-specific gene ARHGAP11B promotes basal progenitor amplification and neocortex expansion
by Wieland B. Huttner, Marta Florio, Mareike Albert, et al.
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.aaa1975
Published Online February 26 2015

Evolutionary expansion of the human neocortex reflects increased amplification of basal progenitors in the subventricular zone, producing more neurons during fetal corticogenesis. Here, we analyze the transcriptomes of distinct progenitor subpopulations isolated by a cell polarity-based approach from developing mouse and human neocortex. We identify 56 genes preferentially expressed in human apical and basal radial glia that lack mouse orthologs. Among these, ARHGAP11B has the highest degree of radial glia-specific expression. ARHGAP11B arose from partial duplication of the Rho GTPase-activating-protein–encoding ARHGAP11A on the human lineage after separation from the chimpanzee lineage. Expression of ARHGAP11B in embryonic mouse neocortex promotes basal progenitor generation and self-renewal, and can increase cortical plate area and induce gyrification. Hence, ARHGAP11B may have contributed to evolutionary expansion of human neocortex. Read More »

The smallest life-form on Earth
This cryo-electron tomography image reveals the internal structure of an ultra-small bacteria cell like never before. The cell has a very dense interior compartment and a complex cell wall. The darker spots at each end of the cell are most likely ribosomes. The image was obtained from a 3-D reconstruction. The scale bar is 100 nanometers.

Diverse uncultivated ultra-small bacterial cells in groundwater
by Luis R. Comolli, Jillian F. Banfield et al.
Nature Communications 6, No. 6372, 27 February 2015
doi:10.1038/ncomms7372

Pre-print of Dr. Avijit Roy’s final article for Free Inquiry, to be published in the upcoming April/May issue:
***  “The Virus of Faith” [free PDF-download]  *** 

The Virus of Faith 
by Avijit Roy (1972 - 26 Feb 2015)

Religion, a medieval form of unreason, when combined with modern weaponry becomes a real threat to our freedoms.
—Salman Rushdie

On January 7, 2015, the world witnessed a tragic atrocity committed by soldiers of the so-called religion of peace when two masked Islamists armed with assault rifles entered the offices of Charlie Hebdo (a French satirical weekly newspaper) and killed twelve people, including two police officers, three cartoonists, and seven journalists. The gunmen were heard shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“God is great” in Arabic) and “We have avenged the Prophet Muhammad.” A mere three weeks before, on December 16, 2014, nine gunmen affiliated with the Pakistani Taliban conducted a terrorist attack in Peshawar, Pakistan. They entered a school, opened fire, and killed 145 people, 132 of whom were schoolchildren. Read More »

Avijit Roy and his wife Rafida Ahmed Banna.

Bloggers on hit-list posted by Islamist group in Bangladesh

R.I.P. Avijit Roy (murdered 26 February 2015)

R.I.P. Avijit Roy (murdered 26 February 2015)

Author of the blog "Mukto-mona" encouraging freethinking, humanism, and rationalism in Bangladesh (closed by government):

Mukto-mona (Internet Archive, captured 26 Okt 2014)

The entire LHC is built from a total of 371 standard Lego pieces and each model can be put together in less than ten minutes, even by non-physicists:
http://build-your-own-particle-detector.org

Ecce homo

Ecce homo

Vortex Lamp
by Carlo Crovato.

Piggybacking robot feeds you tomatoes while you run.

Mystery plume on Mars

I'll go vegetarian.

Adriaen van de Venne (1589-1662)

OpenPetition:
Büchervernichten in Berlin? Bibliotheken werden kaputt rationalisiert

Bitte wenden Sie sich gegen Pläne des Stiftungsrats der Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin, den Medien-Einkauf künftig über den externen privaten Dienstleister EKZ in Reutlingen abwickeln zu lassen statt wie bisher nur über ausgebildetet LektorInnen der Berliner Bibliotheken.

Bitte wenden Sie sich auch gegen die Pläne, Medien, die länger als zwei Jahre nicht ausgeliehen wurden, zu VERNICHTEN.

Bitte wenden Sie sich gegen weitere Vernichtung von Berliner Bibliothekskultur durch Privatisierung, Rationalisierungen und Einsparungen und setzen Sie sich für eine lebendige Bibliothekskultur (nicht nur) in der Hauptstadt ein.

Unterschriftenliste bei OpenPetition offen bis 13.03.2015:
https://www.openpetition.de/petition/online/buechervernichten-in-berlin-bibliotheken-werden-kaputt-rationalisiert Read More »

In spem aeterni consortii

Valentine's Day 2015, Cave of Diros, Peloponnese: Archaeologists have discovered the double burial of a prehistoric couple positioned in an embrace, carbon-dated to 3800 BCE.