As NPR reports: "This month marks the 300th birthday of Carl Linnaeus, Sweden's beloved botanist who gave order to the plant and animal kingdoms." However, as the segment continues: "Modern science is complicating Linnaeus' ranking system. DNA analysis often shows that two organisms, thought to be distant relatives, are actually first cousins. There are now sub-orders, super-orders, even 'tribes.'"
See, for example, this "bloated earthworm" which scientists did not know how to rank until recent DNA testing showed them to be closely related to some of the most common lizards in Europe. All I know is... looks de-licious.
In other science news from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, all it takes for science to become interesting to adults is beer. The paper reports on Science on Tap, a monthly forum for people to learn about and discuss timely scientific issues while swilling microbrews. Recent and upcoming topics include: enzyme-level figures contrasting how men and women hold up under the unremitting stress of caring for a loved one, and the exchange of cells between mother and child during pregnancy.
Rock on, Seattle scientists! Sacramento, Davis... how about asking us out for a drink?
3 comments:
a-ha! we are budding scientists in our own right - d & i are concocting a batch of homebrew at this very moment. i'll let you know if we discuss anything profound. oh! and you have too many interesting links! howza person ever supposed to get any work done?
- hs
yay! the whole point is...
no work! only playing on the interweb!!
enjoy your beer, marmix... i hope it doesn't make you hallucinate :)
Linnaeus was pre-Darwin, by the way, and his system is a mess that we are trying really hard to get rid of now.
-Tom
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