Christmas Eve 2020: There haven’t been enough frog stories here this year and this December 21, 2020 essay by James B. Barnett, postdoctoral fellow inbBehavioural ecology at McMaster University (Ontario, Canada), for The Conversation helps fill that void, …Transparency may seem like the simplest form of camouflage, but in the last year, research has revealed new complexities behind what some animals do to vanish into their surroundings.In my research, I have experienced first-hand how effective…

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Earlier this week, RaftsTheGame (@TheRaftsGame) popped up on my twitter feed, which was excellent timing since it’s getting close to Christmas in a year (2020) when I imagine a lot of people may be home and inclined to play games. The people (rafts4biotech) who produced Rafts The Game (also called Rafts!) are involved in a research project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme, RAFTS!Create the bacterium of your dreamsHave you ever wondered what…

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A spiderweb-inspired fractal design is used for hemispherical 3D photodetection to replicate the vision system of arthropods. (Sena Huh image) This image is pretty and I’m pretty sure it’s an illustration and not a real photodetection system. Regardless, an Oct. 21, 2020 news item on Nanowerk describes the research into producing a real 3D hemispheric photodetector for biomedical imaging (Note: A link has been removed), Purdue University innovators are taking cues from nature to develop…

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It seems that the second international Nanocar Race (nano Grand Prix) has been bumped from 2021 to 2022. I always find this car race a little challenging to cover. The first race was scheduled for 2016 and then bumped 2017 and, for some reason, I have two posts about the winners of that 2017 race. (sigh) Let’s hope I can manage a little more tidiness this time. The latest information is from an Oct. 26,…

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An Oct. 16, 2020 news item on phys.org announces research that contradicts a common belief about how diamonds are formed , Natural diamonds can form through low pressure and temperature geological processes on Earth, as stated in an article published in the journal Geochemical Perspectives Letters. The newfound mechanism, far from the classic view on the formation of diamonds under ultra-high pressure, is confirmed in the study, which draws on the participation of experts from…

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An October 26, 2020 news item on Nanowerk describes some new research that may lead the way to treatments for people with asbestos-related cancers (e.g., mesothelioma), Note: A link has been removed, Gold nanotubes – tiny hollow cylinders one thousandth the width of a human hair – could be used to treat mesothelioma, a type of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos, according to a team of researchers at the Universities of Cambridge and Leeds.In…

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Bravo to the team behind “Communicating Science: A Global Perspective” published in September 2020 by the Australian National University Press! Two of the editors, Toss Gascoigne (Visiting fellow, Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, Australian National University) and Joan Leach (Professor, Australian National University) have written November 8, 2020 essay featuring their book for The Conversation, It’s a challenging time to be a science communicator. The current pandemic, climate crisis, and concerns over new…

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Ingenium (Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation) is hosting the second in a series of Indigenous Star Knowledge Symposia. (There’s a more comprehensive description of the series in my Sept. 18, 2020 posting, which also features the Fall Equinox event (the first in the series) and information about a traveling exhibit. ) Adisokan: Winter Solstice, Stars and Storytelling will be held on December 21, 2020 (from the event page), December 21, 2020 from 3 p.m.…

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Stumbling across an entry from National Film Board of Canada for the Venice VR (virtual reality) Expanded section at the 77th Venice International Film Festival (September 2 to 12, 2020) and a recent Scientific American article on computer simulations provoked a memory from Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel, Dune. From an Oct. 3, 2007 posting on Equivocality; A journal of self-discovery, healing, growth, and growing pains, Knowing where the trap is — that’s the first step…

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Mmm… smelly books. Illustration by Dorothy Woodend.[downloaded from https://thetyee.ca/Culture/2020/11/19/Smell-More-Important-Than-Ever/] I don’t get to post about scent as often as I would like, although I have some pretty interesting items here, those links to follow towards of this post). Digital aromas This Nov. 11, 2020 Weizmann Institute of Science press release (also on EurekAlert published on Nov. 19, 2020) from Israel gladdened me, Fragrances – promising mystery, intrigue and forbidden thrills – are blended by master…

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