Library Hours during Orientation Week

As we prepare to welcome new students to campus tomorrow, today is, figuratively, our last day of summer.  New beginnings!  Library hours are a bit extended this week to accommodate departmental open houses held in the library and course registration in the iMac lab.

• Monday - Wednesday  9 am-noon, 1-4:30 pm
• Thursday 9 am-7 pm
• Friday 8 am-noon, 1-4:30 pm

15-minute orientation tours for new students will be offered continuously beginning at 1 pm on Friday.  The last tour starts at 2:30 pm.  Hope to see many new science-minded students on Friday afternoon!

Cruz lab research in Developmental Biology

Three new abstracts of research by Yolanda Cruz, Professor of Biology, as indexed in Web of Science are included in the August 1 issue of Developmental Biology.  The abstracts summarize presentations made at the 69th Annual Meeting of the Society for Developmental Biology, held earlier this month in Albuquerque, NM.  Neils Bantilan, Jeremy Morrison, Vicki Wang and Joanna Johnson are (or were) Oberlin College students who conducted research with Professor Cruz.

• Expression of Oct4, Cdx2 and Yap1 during blastocyst formation in the marsupial, Monodelphis domestica [access in OhioLINK EJC, for OhioLINK users]. 

Authors: Cruz, Yolanda P.; Morrison, Jeremy T.; Bantilan, Niels S.
Source:  DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY 344 (1): 425-425 37 AUG 1 2010

• Expression pattern of E-Cad, Ocln and ZO-1 in cleavage-stage Monodelphis domestica embryos [access in OhioLINK EJC]

Authors:   Wang, Vicki N.; Cruz, Yolanda P.
Source:  DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY 344 (1): 440-440 75 AUG 1 2010

• Pregnancy-related changes in progesterone receptor expression in the uterine glands of Monodelphis domestica [access in OhioLINK EJC]

Authors:  Johnson, Joanna M.; Lydon, John; Harder, John D.; Cruz, Yolanda P.
Source:  DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY 344 (1): 477-477 214 AUG 1 2010

van der Heide publishes in Journal of Cell Science

Dana van der Heide, a rising senior Biology major, is co-author of a paper published online June 22 in the Journal of Cell Science.  Unfortunately, Oberlin does not have a subscription to this journal, published by Cambridge Univ. Press, but the abstract is accessible at the publisher's site.  Congratulations to Dana on her research and scholarship.

Rollins, MF; van der Heide, DM; Weisend, CM; Kundert, JA; Comstock, KM; Suvorova, ES; Capecchi, MR; Merrill, GF; Schmidt, EE.  Hepatocytes lacking thioredoxin reductase 1 have normal replicative potential during development and regeneration.   JOURNAL OF CELL SCIENCE 123 (14): 2402-2412 JUL 15 2010 [print citation].  doi: 10.1242/jcs.068106
view this record in ISI Science Citation Index (Oberlin users only)

Whelan article in Tumor Biology on ovarian cancer biomarker

The most recent article published by a member of the science faculty, in collaboration with three undergraduate students, appears in Tumor Biology [online first].  Rebecca Whelan is Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Zach T. Berman, Lee J. Moore, Kathleen E. Knudson and Rebecca J. Whelan.  Synthesis and structural characterization of the peptide epitope of the ovarian cancer biomarker CA125 (MUC16).  Tumor Biology.  Published online Monday, June 21, 2010.    DOI  - 10.1007/s13277-010-0062-4
   http://www.springerlink.com/content/Q4740054V36410R6 [abstract and page 1 only are accessible to non-subscribers]

Whelan's research advances understanding of the structural characterization of CA125, particularly the amino acid sequence and oxidation state of the protein.  CA125 is acknowledged as the "best validated and most widely assayed biomarker" of ovarian cancer, and the "gold standard" against which other biomarkers are measured.  Understanding CA125 and its potential for simultaneous use with other biomarkers is an important step toward more reliable and earlier detection of ovarian cancer.

Science from Facts on File

Facts on File offers the database Science Online (not to be confused with Science, the premier journal from AAAS), which includes far more than simply a handy compilation of facts.  The Science in the News feature is well worth a daily visit, bringing together news articles from around the world in easy-to-browse subject categories.  A recent post in the "natural science" category, dated July 30, 2010, is of regional interest: New Research Examines Midwest Earthquakes. Melting ice sheets, rapid erosion from the Mississippi River, and stored stress from ancient mountain building in the Appalachians and Rocky Mountains once combined to produce mighty earthquakes in the middle of the country, where fault stress is longer a major concern.
Explore more at Science Online. [off-campus users: authenticate using VPN Client before following the links]

Cool & quiet in here, and plentiful summer reading. Check us out!

It never fails that we receive big shipments of marvelous new books just when there are so few people on campus to enjoy them.  And, with less competition for those great window seats, you have not only your pick of good reading but also a lovely, cool spot with a grand view of north campus and the tours of prospective students with family in tow.

Here are just a few titles to entice you to the new book shelf:

• Toxic mix? a handbook of science and politics
• Lake views: this world and the universe
• Pluto confidential : an insider account
• Convenient solutions to an inconvenient truth
• Deep-sea biodiversity
• Galápagos: preserving Darwin's legacy
• The other brain: from dementia to schizophrenia
• What's eating you? : people and parasites
• Organic manifesto: how organic farming can heal our planet...

 ...and so many more!  See the entire list of books received in June and July.

Faculty/Student Publication, July 2010

Rebecca Whelan, Chemistry and Mary Garvin, Biology, collaborated on this recent publication, indexed in ISI Science Citation Index.  Tera Levin, the second author, graduated from Oberlin this year.

Whelan, RJ; Levin, TC; Owen, JC; Garvin, MC
Short-chain carboxylic acids from gray catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) uropygial secretions vary with testosterone levels and photoperiod
Source:
COMPARATIVE BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY B-BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 156 (3): 183-188 JUL 2010.  Access on OhioLINK Electronic Journal Center.

Latest Images of Gulf Oil Disaster

NASA provides images on its web site of the Deep Horizon Oil Disaster, using data from multiple cameras of JPL's MISR instrument on NASA's Terra satellite. The images show the spread of oil into Louisiana’s fragile wetlands early in June. More recently, Florida Governor Charlie Crist released data and images from NOAA, showing the oil plume at 50 miles away from Panama City and 271 miles from St. Petersburg.  This satellite image shows the extent of the spill today, as reported on The Gov Monitor along with pollution monitoring data.

Follow the oil spill trajectory at with NOAA's GeoPlatform, a "new tool that provides near-real time information about the response effort."

NOAA's response to the disaster is described in detail on their Office of Response and Restoration web site, one of hundreds of web sites and other resources listed in the NOAA Central Library's very thorough bibliography Resources on Oil Spills, Response and Restoration.

Photos of animals caught in the slick are all-too readily found on the web.  AP Photos by Charlie Reidel are particularly troubling, as icons of the catastrophe.

Science magazine is covering "five key issues" of the oil spill, with clear analysis of the effects on fisheries and food, coastal ecosystems, life on the sea floor, marine life, and the fate of oil.

1960 Alumni Scientific & Medical Publications

In celebration of their 50th Reunion this weekend, I searched ISI Web of Science for papers authored by scientists and physicians among the 1960 alumni.  Through a combination of author and cited author searching, and utilizing the Web of Knowledge citation analysis feature, I found over 700 papers cited at least 26,400 times.

The papers were authored and co-authored by the following members of the 1960 class:

• Ludwig Christian Balling
• Michael Charles Klein
• David L. Miller
• Thomas Garrett Pretlow
• Thomas Allen Queen
• Lee Brodersohn Reichman
• Wilmer Dean Rupp
• Rolf Sternglanz
• Stanley Mardon Swanson
• Timothy F. Thomas
• Garland Leigh Truitt 
• Dudley Taylor Watkins

Twelve individuals generating over 700 papers and nearly 27,000 citations represents a significant impact on the scientific and medical community.  Dr. Reichman also authored and edited these books:

• Timebomb : the global epidemic of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis / Lee B. Reichman with Janice Hopkins Tanne.  New York : McGraw-Hill, c2002
  Tuberculosis : a comprehensive international approach / edited by Lee B. Reichman, Earl S. Hershfield.  New York : Dekker, c2000

 It is a pleasure to welcome the entire Class of 1960 back to campus!

Oil Spill Disaster Grows: News from NPR, Science magazine

The news on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was very bleak this morning, one month after the oil rig explosion, as reported on NPR's Morning Edition:  "In Louisiana, thick oil from the April 20 Deepwater Horizon rig blowout has crept into delicate marshes, feeding and breeding grounds for much of the state's famed seafood, as well as for birds and other wildlife."  NPR's coverage of all aspects of the disaster is brought together here.

Science magazine is one of many sources keeping close watch on developments in the Gulf, you can follow the news at ScienceInsider.

Recent Publications, Science Faculty & Students

Publications by Jason Stalnaker, Physics Department, and Norm Craig, Chemistry and Biochemistry, were just indexed in ISI Web of Knowledge. Emeritus Professor Craig co-published this article with recent graduates Michael Brenner and Deacon Nemchick.

McKean DC, van der Veken B, Herrebout W, Law MM, Brenner Michael J, Nemchick Deacon J, Craig Norman C. 2010. Infrared spectra of (CF2)-C-12=(CH2)-C-12 and (CF2)-C-12=(CH2)-C-13, quantum-chemical calculations of anharmonicity, and analyses of resonances. Journal of Physical Chemistry A 114(18):5728-42.

Stalnaker Jason E, Mbele V, Gerginov V, Fortier TM, Diddams SA, Hollberg L, Tanner CE. 2010. Femtosecond frequency comb measurement of absolute frequencies and hyperfine coupling constants in cesium vapor. Physical Review A 81(4):043840.

Intel Science Fair Winners Announced Today

Winners at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in San Jose, held May 9-15, will be announced this morning. The list of finalists is lengthy: 1,500 high school students from around the country. If they are all like Rebecca Forcier of Hathaway Brown School in Shaker Heights, who was interviewed this morning on WKSU, the future seems promising for science and technology research. Listen to Rebecca describe her experiment investigating "a new way to control the focused release of anti-cancer drugs over time using polymer capsules and micro-bubbles injected into tumors." Thanks to WKSU Morning Edition Host Jeff St. Clair for his interview with Rebecca. St. Clair noted that one out of five projects at the Intel Fair typically results in patent applications. Inspiring ingenuity!

Neandertal Genome Sequenced - more at Science online

Exciting news just received from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS):

Neandertal Genome Sequenced
"Using pill-sized samples of bone powder from three Neandertal bones, a global team of scientists including Svante Pääbo, Richard E. Green, and Hernán Burbano has sequenced the Neandertal genome.

"Comparing the Neandertal genome with the genomes of five present-day humans, the researchers uncovered a variety of genes that are unique to humans, including a handful that spread rapidly among our species after humans and Neandertals split from a common ancestor. These significant findings may, in fact, hold the key to understanding our human identity.

Available now online, with public access articles, a podcast, and special visual presentation, and in the May 7 print edition of Science, "the research also suggests that modern humans and Neandertals most likely engaged in limited interbreeding, probably as modern humans encountered Neandertals after leaving Africa."

Our print copy of the May 7 issue has not yet been received, so please enjoy the public access materials online.

Climate-Friendly Gardener, from Union of Concerned Scientists

Just in time for spring planting and soil preparation! Check out this new guide from the Union of Concerned Scientists: The Climate-Friendly Gardener, as reviewed in the Garden Rant:

"Author Karen Perry Stillerman knows that gardeners are already in tune with nature and contributing positively to the environment.  Her guide helps us go beyond adapting to climate change to actually reducing the problem - by making sure our gardens are storing more heat-trapping gasses than they're generating." [download the Climate-Friendly Gardener]

The Union of Concerned Scientists also offers insight on the needed response to the oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, and an aerial photo showing the extent of the oil slick.  [read the UCS press release].

Honors Students for 2011! Come to a Study Break for YOU.

Wondering how the library might help you with your Honors project next year?

The Library is hosting a study break for all juniors who are definitely (or possibly) doing Honors in 2010-11 ...   

Thursday, May 6
9:30 - 10 pm
Azariah Café - Mudd Center, Academic Commons
Snacks and friendly librarians await you!

Time Passes Swiftly For Us All... Generally

New faculty publication, indexed in Medline as searched in ISI Web of Knowledge [public access in PubMed] and archived in the OhioLINK EJC:

Friedman, William J.(Department of Psychology, Oberlin College) and Steve M. J. Janssen.  Aging and the speed of time. Acta Psychologica, Volume 134, issue 2 (June, 2010), p. 130-141.

Partial abstract:  "A total of 1865 adults from two countries, ranging in age from 16 to 80, reported how fast time appears to pass over different spans of time... Respondents of all ages reported that time seems to pass quickly. In contrast to widely held beliefs, age differences in reports of the subjective speed of time were very small, except for the question about how fast the last 10years had passed."

The experience of rushing, having many things to do and missing deadlines, correlated strongly with the feeling that time was passing quickly.  The authors compared that sensation with that of a musician who is unable to keep up with the tempo of a metronome.  I know that feeling all too well - and suddenly another 20 minutes has flown by!

What You Need to Know About Energy

The National Academies site What You Need to Know About Energy provides "dependable, objective, and authoritative energy information," in an engaging, interactive style. The source list, or library, gives quick access to dozens of technical reports accessible online for free. Try the quiz! My less than perfect score convinced me that I still have plenty to learn.

What You Need to Know About Energy has been nominated for a Webby Award, along with some other very sharp science sites. View them all, then vote for your favorite! Voting ends tonight at midnight.

Related to this, we have recently ordered this book for the science library:
Beyond the age of oil : the myths, realities, and future of fossil fuels and their alternatives / Leonardo Maugeri ; translated from the Italian by Jonathan T. Hine Jr..Santa Barbara, Calif. : Praeger, c2010. Borrow it through OhioLINK, while waiting for the Oberlin copy to be processed.

Earth Day! Get Outside, for Goodness Sake

On this, the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, do what you can to appreciate the great outdoors and make a commitment to keep that spirit: respecting the natural world in all of its forms, working to conserve and preserve the corner of the world you inhabit, and supporting efforts of others worldwide who balance environmental, ecological, economic and social justice issues.  The U.S. National Park Service has enveloped Earth Day into National Park Week - if you can't get to a National Park this week in person, visit one online and make plans to enjoy our nation's natural heritage sometime soon.

Looking for the best environmental group to join or support financially?  This list of top-rated charities might help.  One of those top-rated groups, The Union of Concerned Scientists, does an excellent job of presenting complex scientific material in a manner helpful to citizens of any background, and covers a wide range of environmental issues.  This recent publication is an interactive anthology: Thoreau's Legacy: American Stories about Global Warming

Amino Acids in Eye Lens Indicate the Age of Whales

A fascinating story on Pulse of the Planet aired today on WCPN ("IdeaStream!") - determining the age of Bowhead Whales by measuring the quantity of some types of amino acids in the eye lens nucleus  [listen to the story].  Marine chemist Jeffrey Bada, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, was interviewed for the story.
Beyond the immediate questions raised in my mind (how do researchers extract the material from the eye of a Bowhead Whale? Why do right-handed amino acids persist in just certain tissues?) was the surprising discovery that some animals are approaching 200 years old.  Wow.  A follow-up story is scheduled for April 23: Aging Whales--Underwater Advantage.

Get much more on the basic biology of the Bowhead from this special publication:
The Bowhead whale / editors, John J. Burns, J. Jerome Montague, Cleveland J. Cowles. Lawrence, KS : Society for Marine Mammalogy, c1993

Shred your stuff on 40th anniversary of Earth Day

A number of events on campus mark the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day this week.  One of the less glamorous but very useful is the Earth Day Shredding Event (gather those papers now!).  Oberlin College's Recycling Students, along with the college's Purchasing and Facilities Operations offices, have arranged for shredding service from Noon to 3:00 P.M on Thursday, April 22. Bring up to two boxes of personal or business papers for confidential shredding and environmentally-friendly recycling.  Extra boxes of papers can be shredded for a small donation.

• Location: East Service Building Parking Lot (located between the Safety & Security and Service buildings, 173 West Lorain Street) 
• Donations suggested ($3/small box, $5 for a box of 10 reams of paper, but any donation is welcome!) with proceeds going to support Oberlin College's Recycling Students programs, operations and activities. 

The shredding mobile comes from Shredding Network.

Health Effects of the Persian Gulf War: Read Online for Free at NAP

Authored by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies and published by the National Academies Press, this volume updates information on the impact of the Persian Gulf War on surviving U.S. combatants. Find much more information, including dozens of reports from government agencies and legislative bodies, with this subject search in OBIS: Persian Gulf War 1991

Paul Krugman on Building a Green Economy

Very readable and persuasive; take 10 minutes and give it your attention.
New York Times online
MAGAZINE
Building a Green Economy
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: April 5, 2010

"If you listen to climate scientists — and despite the relentless campaign to discredit their work, you should — it is long past time to do something about emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. If we continue with business as usual, they say, we are facing a rise in global temperatures that will be little short of apocalyptic. And to avoid that apocalypse, we have to wean our economy from the use of fossil fuels, coal above all.

"But is it possible to make drastic cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions without destroying our economy?"

Read more

Paul Krugman is a Times columnist and winner of the 2008 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science.

Books by Krugman in the Oberlin College Library.

New publication: FitzGerald and Rowsell collaboration

Published online March 29, 2010:
Quantum dynamics of adsorbed normal- and para-H₂, HD, and D₂ in the microporous framework MOF-74 analyzed using infrared spectroscopy
S. A. FitzGerald, J. Hopkins, B. Burkholder, M. Friedman, and J. L. C. Rowsell,
Physical Review B, 2010, 81, 104305.


“Through an ongoing collaboration between the departments of Physics and Chemistry, we are gaining unique insights on how hydrogen molecules stick to the surfaces of energy storage materials. Symmetric molecules such as H₂ only become detectable by IR spectroscopy when polarized by surface atoms, and we are one of the few research groups in the world with the capability to observe and study these interactions.”--jlcr

Stephen FitzGerald is Associate Professor of Physics and Jesse Rowsell is Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Oberlin College.  Thanks to Jesse Rowsell for bringing this article to my attention.

IUCN Red-List Species of the Day: the Lion Finch

Proving that conservation biologists have a sense of humor... the Lion Finch.

Once you've considered the plight of the lion finch, take a moment to review the Species of the Day Archives.  It is a remarkable photo essay of species that may not be with us much longer.

From IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, celebrating biodiversity and committed to education on the essential need to preserve biodiversity for human well-being.  Learn more.

Large Hadron Collider is at work!

The news is everywhere, and very exciting, indeed, as the world's largest atom smasher hurls proton beams at a mind-numbing energy level of 7 trillion electron volts.  I can't fathom what that really means. The announcement on NPR's Morning Edition was positively jubilant yesterday morning, and today's LA Times gives an account the day after. The discussion of dark energy, dark matter, Higgs Boson, and possibly teeny tiny black holes that will exist for mere fractions of a second is fascinating. 

If you'd like an easy to understand, very calm visual explanation of what is going on inside the 27 kilometer underground ring (big enough to encircle Chicago), take a few minutes to visit with Northwestern associate professor Michael Schmit [video]. 

We have books, too (of course!), that will teach much more.  Here are two to start with:
The quantum frontier : the large hadron collider / Don Lincoln ; foreword by Leon Lederman. Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009

Deep down things : the breathtaking beauty of particle physics / Bruce A. Schumm. Baltimore, Md. : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004

Spring blooms outside the Science Center

Spring has arrived outside the science library south windows!  And nary a soul around to witness the cheerful blooms this week of Spring Break.

The laptop cabinet is full, the iMacs silent, the printer queues empty, not ONE reserve item checked out... we are well on our way to having the quietest day ever during an academic year.

Michael Moore publication in PNAS: phylogenetic analysis of plastid genes

A publication by Assistant Professor of Biology Michael Moore appeared in the March 9 issue of PNAS:

Moore MJ, Soltis PS, Bell CD, Burleigh JG, Soltis DE. 2010. Phylogenetic analysis of 83 plastid genes further resolves the early diversification of eudicots. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 107(10):4623-8

This is an Open Access article.

abbreviated abstract:
Phylogenetic analyses of 83 protein-coding and rRNA genes from the plastid genome for 86 species of seed plants, including new sequences from 25 eudicots, indicate that soon after its origin, Pentapetalae diverged into three clades... Molecular dating analyses suggest that the major lineages within both superrosids and superasterids arose in as little as 5 million years. This phylogenetic hypothesis provides a crucial historical framework for future studies aimed at elucidating the underlying causes of the morphological and species diversity in Pentapetalae.

America's Energy Future: Technology and Transformation

  

The full content of this report is now available online from the National Academies Press.

Also visit the new web site from the National Academies: What You Need to Know About Energy.

The Great Squeeze: Surviving the Human Project

Just ordered for the Science Library. Contact us if you'd like to be notified when it is available.

More volumes in the Animal series received, covering art, culture, history, biology and more.

We received 13 more volumes in Animal, which is such a delightful series of little books.  Not strictly biological in focus, though most of them are classified within the zoology area of the collection, "each book in the series takes a different animal and examines its role in history around the world. The importance of mythology, religion and science are described as is the history of food, the trade in animals and their products, pets, exhibition, film and photography, and their roles in the artistic and literary imagination."

They are just the antidote for anyone who needs a break from midterms!  Take one with you for Spring Break.  It will fit in any corner of your backpack or suitcase.  Find them all on OBIS with the Title search: Animal (Reaktion Books).  [see all the new books on display]

Zeb Page publication in Chemical Geology

Recent publication by Assistant Professor of Geology Zeb Page, as indexed in ISI Web of Science:

Page, F. Zeb; Kita, Noriko T.; Valley, John W.
Ion microprobe analysis of oxygen isotopes in garnets of complex chemistry.
CHEMICAL GEOLOGY 270 (1-4): 9-19 FEB 15 2010  [download the pdf from the OhioLINK EJC]

This study began while Page was a post-doctoral fellow at Univ. of Wisconsin, and continued with the use of the scanning electron microscope at Oberlin College.  The data suggest that the diffusion rate of oxygen in garnet at 750 °C, as determined by this method, indicate that the "peak of regional metamorphism in the NE Adirondack Highlands was significantly faster than has previously been assumed."

Publisher:  Elsevier

New Publication from the Oertel Lab: faculty and student co-authors

ISI Web of Science has just indexed this article, by Assistant Professor of Chemistry Catherine Oertel and three of her research students (Iliff and Moore graduated in 2009):

Tian, HF; Iliff, HA; Moore, LJ; Oertel, CM.  Structure and Polymorphism in M(ethylenediamine)(3)MoS4 (M = Mn, Co, Ni).  CRYSTAL GROWTH & DESIGN 10 (2): 669-675 FEB 2010

Authors' full names:
Tian, Hengfeng; Iliff, Hadley A.; Moore, Lee J.; Oertel, Catherine M.

[Table of Contents for the February issue, at American Chemical Society Publications site]

Drought in China Continues

This arrived today in my inbox, from SCIENCE News This Week:

Severe Drought Puts Spotlight on Chinese Dams
Richard Stone  

"Southwest China's monsoon-driven climate doesn't bring much precipitation in autumn and winter. But this year's dry season—coupled with a late start and early end to last year's rainy season—has left the region parched. Environmental groups in Thailand and elsewhere lay at least part of the blame on China's doorstep. They claim that China's management of a series of dams on the Lancang River has aggravated the unfolding crisis. Yet Chinese engineers and some other scientists say the criticism is unfounded."

The news article concludes:
"Things may get worse due to climate change. After examining weather and tree ring data, Fan Ze-xin, a tree physiologist at Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, has found that in the past 40 years Yunnan has grown warmer and drier—a trend that started long before the dams were built. In a nature reserve near the botanical garden, he grabs leaves from a seedling; dry as parchment, they disintegrate. "Some of these leaves are fresh," Fan says. "I haven't seen it as bad as this.""

Read more:
Science 12 March 2010. Vol. 327. no. 5971, p. 1311
DOI: 10.1126/science.327.5971.1311
Sign up for the e-newsletter from Science.

Some relevant titles in the library's collection, each including information on drought or desertification in China:

• The earth policy reader / Lester R. Brown, Janet Larsen, Bernie Fischlowitz-Roberts. New York : W.W. Norton, c2002.
• Case studies in human ecology / edited by Daniel G. Bates and Susan H. Lees.  New York : Plenum Press, c1996
• China's environment and the challenge of sustainable development / Kristen A. Day, editor. Armonk, N.Y. : M.E. Sharpe, c2005
• Boundaries : a casebook in environmental ethics / Christine E. Gudorf and James E. Huchingson.  Washington, D.C. : Georgetown University Press, c2003

Feb. 2009 News story from the BBC : Nearly 4 million people were said to suffer from water shortages in the prolonged drought, leading the government to declare a state of emergency more than a year ago.  More recently, 6 million people were reported as being affected by the drought [Straits Times, Singapore, March 3, 2010]

Greatest environmental threat? Ocean acidification.

When asked what is the greatest single environmental threat worldwide, Director of the USGS Marcia McNutt paused for reflection and then answered unequivocally "ocean acidification."  Her response came after a thorough plenary address to the American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting, during which she had recounted alarming trends in ocean shoreline retreat, rising sea level and the drowning of shoreline wetland areas, expansion of hypoxia or dead zones where rivers meet the oceans, and the deleterious effects of mercury in oceanic environments.  Rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are to blame for the increasing acidity of ocean waters, and the impact on living organisms is compounded by rising temperature, said McNutt. 

Why should you care?  The oceans cover 71% of earth's surface and are home to tens of thousands of species, a large percentage of which are still to be described.  The inter-dependencies of oceanic ecosystems make them especially vulnerable to negative inputs anywhere in the world's seas and oceans.  Scientists can hardly fathom the untold loss in biodiversity and the concomitant impact on species that rely on healthy oceans for food and breeding.  Increasing acidity has both biological and physical impacts, including altering sound and light propagation qualities of ocean water (Doney, et al., introductory essay to Oceanography, Dec. 2009)

Learn more with the freely accessible special issue of Oceanography (Dec. 2009).   For a compelling summary of why a healthy ocean matters, read Carolyn Thoroughgood's letter (The Oceanography Society President's Letter, a regular column of Oceanography).

More information:  The Ocean Acidification Network.

Recent book in the Main Library:  Seasick: ocean change and the extinction of life / Alanna Mitchell.

Interviews with Michael Mann and Judith Curry in Discover

The April issue of Discover includes personal interviews with Judith Curry, chair of the Georgia Tech School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and Michael Mann, director of Pennsylvania State University's Earth System Science Center.  Most striking in my mind was Mann's observation, "Right now, there's the largest disconnect that has ever existed between the confidence that we have scientifically and where the public is, at least in the United States."  Ironically, just as public confidence in climatology is waning, Mann points out that climate scientists are now able to provide better assessments of current climate trends in perspective of what has happened in the past.  Scientists have more information on how climate systems are evolving in response to human impact, and more powerful supercomputers able to run more accurate climate models.  The science is more certain as public opinion swings toward uncertainty.

This is a frightening trend, says Mann, and reflects a reversal of significant factors that made 2006 a peak year in terms of public awareness in and acknowledgment that global warming was occurring and could be attributed, in part, to anthropogenic causes.  He noted, "Some people say that climate change became too closely associated with a partisan political figure and that polarized the debate.  We've had a cold winter.  We've got a bad economy.  It's a bad time to be talking about major changes in our energy economy that some argue could be costly."

Vacillating public opinion in matters of critical environmental threats presents a huge challenge for policy makers, scientists and those of us who want future generations to live peaceably in a healthy environment (and isn't that is all of us?).  As was emphasized in several sessions at the 2010 American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting, the cultures of scientific researchers, economists, politicians and lobbyists operate with different expectations and values.  The three-legged stool of "Science, Politics, and the Public" is mighty unsteady if the public lacks scientific literacy, and adopts a debate mentality rather than informed and reasoned dialogue.  Debate is intended to press one's own point of view, while dialogue in intended to increase common understanding.  We could use much more of the latter.

Read the interviews with Mann and Curry on pages 56-62 of the April issue, now in the Science Library or your neighborhood bookstore. [Text of the interviews is not freely accessible at the Discover web site although other comments from Mann are available in the Discover blogs.] Mann also gives important context to the leaked emails to and from climate scientists at the University of East Anglia [more at RealClimate].
Discover Magazine archives

International Women's Day : Focus on Women Scientists

CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research,will observe International Women's Day (March 8) by putting women in charge of nearly all operations of the world's largest physics laboratory.  You can watch live action in the control rooms on Monday March 8, as CERN celebrates the "progress of women in particle physics."  This celebration developed out of a proposal from a physicist at Indiana University [read the IU Press Release].


UNESCO will celebrate International Women's Day with a Roundtable on Women in Science: Challenges Ahead.


The National Institutes of Health will offer a panel discussion titled International Women Scientists at NIH: Their Research and Career Paths.

You can celebrate the achievements of international women in science from a historical perspective with this online biographical dictionary: 

International Women in Science: A Biographical Dictionary to 1950 / Catharine M. C. Haines and Helen M. Stevens. ABC-CLIO, Inc.

and focus on just women scientists who were Nobel Laureates (as of 1998) with this title:
Nobel Prize women in science : their lives, struggles, and momentous discoveries / Sharon Bertsch McGrayne. Washington, D.C. : Joseph Henry Press, c1998.

The Nobel Prize web site offers biographies of all of the Nobel Laureates, and a compiled list of all women Nobel Prize winners.

Tinkering with Proteins

Tucked into today's broadcast of NPR's Morning Edition was an exciting story not quite 4 minutes long, and easy to miss.  Listen to Joe Palca as he explains how "tinkering with proteins can have fundamental consequences on anything that's alive."  The research of Jason Chin and his group at Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, England, as described by Jim Collins at Boston University, has resulted in re-engineered ribosomes that can "read" quadruplets of thymine, adenine, guanine, and cytosine, the bases of DNA, rather than the standard triplets, leading to faster creation within certain bacterial cells of many more types of amino acids, capable of being strung together to construct novel proteins.  This technology, says Chin, could be used to develop "heartier" proteins with therapeutic properties, available in the body without being degraded.  The work of the research teams of both Chin and Collins is briefly reviewed in a news article on Nature's web site, along with other research challenges for synthetic biology.

A 2009 article on the technology developed by Chin appeared in PNAS: Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. PNAS May 26, 2009 vol. 106 no. 21 8477-8482

New Content in Web of Knowledge: BIOSIS and Science Citation Index Together

It is now possible to search BIOSIS Previews from the same search platform as Science Citation Index and the other citation indexes offered within Web of Knowledge.  In addition, we have access to a deeper back file of the databases, with indexing back to 1965 for Web of Science and 1969 for BIOSIS.

This is a wonderful development, since the great subject indexing of BIOSIS is made even more effective with the Refine Results options of the Web of Knowledge search interface.  In addition, citation indexing is linked from Web of Science to the BIOSIS search results so every BIOSIS article that has been cited by an article indexed in Web of Science is so tagged.

Start exploring the new options and content from the Science Citation Index link on the science library's web site.  Click on the Select A Database tab once you are at the Web of Knowledge site.

Need clarification on all of those names?

• BIOSIS Previews includes Biological Abstracts, a database of primary, peer-reviewed journal articles.  The expanded content and indexing of BIOSIS gives additional access to annual publications, conference proceedings, monographs, reviews, bibliographies, and other types of life sciences literature.
• ISI Web of Knowledge encompasses all of the databases and other products offered by Thomson Reuters
• ISI Web of Science includes the citation indexes, first created by the Institute for Scientific Information and acquired by Thomson Reuters.   
• Science Citation Index is the largest database of Web of Science.

Get more information from Web of Knowledge.

Commemorating African American Achievement in Science

What follows is a brief listing of web sites and guides to commemorate the contributions of African Americans in Science, Technology and Medicine.  It is appropriate to take a wide view of African American achievement during Black History/African American History Month, and there are many sources that do just that, beginning with the
Association for the Study of African American Life and History and the Library of Congress.

My intent is a narrower focus, superbly presented by Kenneth R. Manning in a number of essays on African American scientists.  Manning, Thomas Meloy Professor of Rhetoric (Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies and STS), MIT, Cambridge, is the author of Black Apollo: the life of Ernest Everett Just.

His keynote address, Reflections on E. E. Just, Black Apollo of Science, and the Experience of African American Scientists, given at the symposium honoring E. E. Just held on the campus of Howard University, November 21, 2008, was transcribed and published in Molecular Reproduction and Development 76 (2009): 897-902.

A more general essay by Manning is accessible from OBIS: African Americans in Science, offered in the Black Studies Center archived by ProQuest.

Other resources include:
African Americans in Science / Charles Carey (online encyclopedia from ABC/Clio)
Science Update - Spotlight: African American Scientists (from AAAS)
The Faces of Sciences: African Americans in Science

Finally, C&EN published a report in 2007 on Chemists of Color that stated many of the same sentiments expressed by Kenneth Manning.  Specifically, diversity in academia will not reflect the general population until all members of the academy work together to support scientists of color beyond the interview and hiring stage.  Critical decisions over tenure, promotion, funding, and hiring of graduate assistants all directly impact success and retention.

In Manning's words, at the conclusion of his keynote address:
"We have an opportunity now to get into another gear, to begin to aggressively try and nurture people who have not been part of the enterprise. 

"We have to recognize our roles as gatekeepers, as people who evaluate, and realize that evaluations do have meaning and message.  We should be as sensitive and wise as we can.  If we do that, I think the legacy of Just will carry on and our scientific enterprise will have the diversity that we want and deserve."

Temple Grandin on NPR's Fresh Air

Tune in to Fresh Air today on National Public Radio (3 pm, WKSU.org) and hear David Bianculli (of TV Worth Watching) review the HBO movie depicting the life of animal behaviorist Dr. Temple Grandin, Ph.D., to premier on February 6.  Or download the audio file, which just because available on the web site.  In brief, Bianculli declares the movie is wonderful.  Sitting in for Terry Gross, Bianculli then introduces a segment that draws upon three earlier interviews between Gross and Grandin, corresponding to publication of some of Grandin's books.  Grandin is the focus of one of "seven paradoxical tales" in An Anthropologist on Mars, by Oliver Sacks. 

See books by Grandin in OBIS.  Several of Oberlin's copies of Grandin's and Sacks' books are currently checked out, but you can find other copies to borrow in the OhioLINK catalog. 

Faculty Publication: Sean Decatur on Self-Aggregation of a Polyalanine Octamer in JACS

An Oberlin author alert from Science Citation Index brought this publication to our attention.  Co-authored by Sean Decatur, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences:

Self-Aggregation of a Polyalanine Octamer Promoted by Its C-Terminal Tyrosine and Probed by a Strongly Enhanced Vibrational Circular Dichroism Signal.

J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2009, 131 (51), pp 18218–18219

The results of this research "offer considerations and insight regarding the de novo design of self-assembling oligopeptides for biomedical and biotechnological applications and highlight the usefulness of VCD as a tool for probing amyloid fibril formation." [from the authors' abstract]. 

Good Reading for Cold Nights

Now that the bright moon is waning and snow showers are headed our way, you might want to grab a few of the new books we just unpacked for the dark evenings ahead.

Science as a Contact Sport is my first choice, especially if you are concerned about the growing number of Americans who say they question the validity of scientific findings regarding anthropogenic climate change.  Author Stephen Schneider, Ph.D., National Geographic Society Fellow, recipient of a MacArthur "genius" grant, expert adviser to every president since Nixon, and recipient with his colleagues of the collective 2007 Nobel Peace Prize (awarded to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), writes clearly of complex issues and the danger of stereotyping individuals as either "pro" or "con" advocates relative to action on climate change.  This excerpt comes from his chapter The Media Wars: "If the public is bamboozled into thinking that each 'side' in a typical media debate is credible, a typical reaction is to say, 'Well, if the experts don't know, how can I know!  Let's just wait a while until they figure it out.'  That is precisely the strategy of the climate deniers, to create public confusion and apathy, which slows policies that help the planet and our children but hurt special interests who are vested in the status quo."

Schneider points out the difference between necessary scientific skepticism and climate deniers, who "simply ignore the preponderance of evidence presented.  Skeptics should question everything but not deny where the preponderance of evidence leads.  The latter is, at best, bad science or, at worst, dishonesty."

Denialism considers the impact of deniers on scientific progress in a broader context, and received a good bit of attention when it was released last fall.  Read it yourself and see how much you agree with the author's premise.  The New York Times and Grist Magazine reviewed the book within days of each other, and you'll find plenty of customer reviews on Amazon.com.

The new book shelf is burgeoning with many other great options, from Victorian-era science to modern day tragedies and triumphs of discovery.  Browse the shelves - online or in the library!

Salt Marsh Diary is Restorative

Salt Marsh Diary writer Mark Seth Lender was featured on Living on Earth last week, and I was led to his online diary. It is a welcome respite from the snow covered mud outside the library's windows, where no bird or even a lone squirrel is visible from this vantage point and the remains of a snow sculpture is but a hulk of frozen dirty slush.

Lender's words practically sing: "In the glass-calm morning the wading birds come walking, with their long feet talking, tickling at the bottom as they stop, then stride." [from Upon Reflection I]. Escape from northern Ohio briefly with the Mountain Bluebird in Wire to Wire. The photos and prose alike are beautiful. Thank you, Mr. Lender. Salt Marsh Diary is syndicated by the Connecticut River Gazette.

PLoS One to be indexed by Web of Science

As announced on the PLoS Blog, PLoS ONE will be indexed in Web of Science [access for OhioLINK users]. This is good news for our students and faculty, who have long relied on Science Citation Index, a core component of Web of Science, as an essential part of the research process. Read the PLoS Blog post for the whole story. While there, read the post for Jan. 6 as well - it's an excellent indication of the growing importance of PLoS ONE across many science disciplines ["PLoS ONE in the Science Superlatives"].

New publication: Simonson, Bruce, et al. Precambrian Research.

The newest faculty publication listed in Science Citation Index:

Simonson, Bruce M. (Oberlin College Geology Department); McDonald, Iain; Shukolyukov, Alex; Koeberl, Christian; Reimold, Wolf Uwe; Lugmair, Guenter W.

Geochemistry of 2.63-2.49 Ga impact spherule layers and implications for stratigraphic correlations and impact processes.

PRECAMBRIAN RESEARCH 175 (1-4): 51-76 DEC 2009 [access for OhioLINK users]

Partial abstract:
Thin layers rich in spherules formed during impacts by large extraterrestrial objects have the potential to shed new light on impact processes and aid in the long-distance stratigraphic correlation of Precambrian successions. Seven formations in Western Australia and South Africa clustered around the Archean-Proterozoic boundary each contain a single spherule layer...
Cr isotopic compositions are consistent with the formation of the oldest layers on both continents by a single impact event about 2.63Ga.

Why some ducks have such extravagant penises.

From Discover: "Kinkiness Byond Kinky"

"Female ducks can’t stop an unwanted male from delivering his sperm, but the obstacles in their oviducts may give them control over what happens to that sperm."

Need we say more? Get the whole story. Read Discover Magazine Blog.

Last regularly scheduled contribution from David Orr in Conservation Biology

David W. Orr, Paul Sears Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics, has published his last column for Conservation Biology. His essay in the December issue (published online November 24, 2009), Retrospect and Prospect: the Unbearable Lightness of Conservation, is an insightful review and nudge - or shove - onward. Read it. Then get cracking on what needs to be done.

The editors thanked Professor Orr with these words:

After some 20 years of providing columns for Conservation Biology, this is the last regularly scheduled contribution from David Orr, who has asked to retire from this position to devote time to other pursuits. The Board of Governors and Executive Committee of SCB wish to express their profound thanks and gratitude to Professor Orr for his extraordinary and unparalleled service for nearly the entire life of this journal to date. His columns were consistently stimulating, often edgy, and his many insights and observations always challenging to our readers. His writings have been unique in bringing science, politics, economics, and social and ethical issues under a robust and uncompromising vision of what it means to do conservation in our time. His understanding of conservation and devotion to this journal are without equal. The Society recognizes and thanks him for his numerous and diverse contributions; his presence is irreplaceable, and he will be sorely missed in these pages.

Luigi Boitani
SCB President, on behalf of the Board of Governors and Executive Committee

This final essay is important reading, chronicling breathtaking transitions and stupefyingly stuck legislators and policy makers. His contributions (63 columns since 1988) have marked many missed opportunities to slow the train of environmental disaster before we reach the last switch. It is enough to make you weep in frustration, or lie down in despair, but only in preparation for the next round.

The December issue of Conservation Biology will be archived at the OhioLINK Electronic Journal Center, where you can quickly search for all of David Orr's writings within that title since 1992. Older volumes are archived at JSTOR. A 1995 column caught my eye: None so blind, the problem of ecological denial. The column could have been written today, describing climate change deniers. Orr says "denial is manifest in ridicule and ad hominem attacks." That was certainly obvious at Lord Christopher Monckton's speech in Copenhagen on Dec. 9, when Lord Monckton referred to protesters as "Hitler Youth" and "nazis." [Story from It's Getting Hot in Here].

Thank you, Professor Orr, for your writing and advocacy.

Friends of Wetlands Newsletter, available to all

Friends of Wetlands (FOWL), a local all-volunteer organization, has just published its December Newsletter. Everyone is welcome (and invited!) to read and download the newsletter, to learn more about current challenges to wetland ecosystems in northern Ohio. FOWL actively works to educate the public about the essential and multiple roles wetlands have in the environment, and is completely funded by memberships and donations. Enjoy the newsletter, sign up for FOWL email alerts, and consider being active in the organization by participating in the Stakeholder's Meeting on January 9.

Exciting news in this newsletter: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be speaker at the 2nd Annual EcoWatch Green Gala. Kennedy, a visionary leader and advocate for the environment, spoke to thousands gathered at the 2007 American Library Association Conference in Washington, D.C. His address at the Green Gala is certain to be dynamic and inspiring.

Also included in the newsletter is William E. Stafford's poem, The Well Rising:

The well rising without sound,
the spring on a hillside,
the plowshare brimming through deep ground
everywhere in the field—

The sharp swallows in their swerve
flaring and hesitating
hunting for the final curve
coming closer and closer—

The swallow heart from wingbeat to wingbeat
counseling decisions, decision:
thunderous examples. I place my feet
with care in such a world.

This poem was chosen by a reviewer on NPR's April 14 "Morning Edition" news program (90.3, 89.7 FM) as the one which, if all people read it, would be most likely to save the planet.

Public Citizen's new blog: Citizen Energy

Public Citizen launched a new blog this week, Citizen Energy, with thoughts on the start of the Climate Conference in Copenhagen. The image of one ton of carbon dioxide, trapped in a threatening-looking balloon, is compelling (reproduced here without permission, but with attribution to america.gov, thank you very much).

Here is snippet from Citizen Energy's blog post: "Public Citizen understands that climate change is a transformative event that requires us to rethink our corporate model of centralized energy production. Rather than promote market-based solutions to protecting the planet that will hand billions of dollars in windfall profits to polluters and Wall Street, we need a decentralized energy system where families generate their power needs from rooftop solar, small scale wind and massive new investments in energy efficiency." Read more.

I like the message on the balloon: reduce every way YOU can. Now!

Alternative Gift Fair This Week! Science Center, Bent Corridor

The Alternative Gift Fair is a great place to buy gifts that support environmental sustainability, fair trade, and organizations that serve those who are unemployed (or underemployed), hungry and homeless. A number of tables are set up in the Bent Corridor of the Science Center from 11:30 am - 1:30 pm this week, representing different agencies or organizations. Each offers an opportunity for gifts that make a positive difference. You make an environmentally sustainable choice by buying gifts offered locally, without excess plastic packaging, thus reducing the fuel and petroleum-based materials associated with transport and packaging.

Come see! The Gift Fair catalog is online, too.

Opening Day for Copenhagen Climate Conference

From The Guardian, UK:

• by Adam Vaughan
• guardian.co.uk, Monday 7 December 2009 17.47 GMT

Newspapers, blogs and individuals around the world have welcomed a common editorial on the Copenhagen climate conference, which opened today. The editorial, which called on rich countries to commit to "deep cuts which will reduce their emissions within a decade", appeared on the Guardian front page and ran in 56 newspapers in 45 countries.

Alan Rusbridger, editor-in-chief of the Guardian, said: "No individual newspaper editorial could hope to influence the outcome of Copenhagen but I hope the combined voice of 56 major papers speaking in 20 languages will remind the politicians and negotiators gathering there what is at stake and persuade them to rise above the rivalries and inflexibility that have stood in the way of a deal." Read the common editorial.

It is a persuasive call for unity on this 68th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Follow the Climate Talks blog at Environmental Defense Fund for conference updates and news coverage.

Enhanced Searching of PubMed with BioMedSearch

BioMedSearch was just reviewed in The Scout Report of the Internet Scout Project - excellent timing as we celebrate Science and Health during December in the Year of Science.

BioMedSearch is an "enhanced version of the NIH PubMed search that combines MedLine/PubMed data with data from other sources to make the most comprehensive biomedical literature search available. BioMedSearch also provides advanced account features that allow saved searches, alerts, saving documents to portfolios, commenting on documents and portfolios, and sharing documents with other registered users."

The cluster concept is interesting, bringing together papers related to one of 100 broad topics. Scanning through the top list of clusters is relatively efficient, but the subcluster lists (each with another 100 closely related topics) are harder to differentiate as many of the defining terms are repeated. Take a look at the population genetics subclusters, for example.

This maybe perfect for someone who needs an efficient way to follow all new publications in a specific area (polymorphism in schizophrenia, perhaps), and registering for BioMedSearch is free. Give it a try!

Science and Health: December's Theme in the Year of Science

The Year of Science comes to a close with a celebration of science and health - a very fitting focus for the month of December, which began with World AIDS Day, and given a year of concern over the H1N1 virus. Not to mention extraordinarily contentious debates over health insurance/health care reform, and the scrutiny given to health-care legislation in the U.S. Congress. [Track legislation with THOMAS from the Library of Congress]

The theme, though, is science and health, rather than politics, economics, behavior, or social aspects of health. The National Institutes of Health lists dozens of scientific interest groups that function as "assemblies of scientists with common research interests." Member lists for each group might help you identify a contact for an internship or Winter Term project, in addition to showing the broad reach of NIH research support.

The NIH is the "National Medical Research Agency," and is the provider of PubMed ("more than 19 million citations for biomedical articles from MEDLINE and life science journals"). Once only accessible by searching print volumes within a research library, MEDLINE via PubMed is freely available to anyone with an Internet connection. It is one of the great things that our government makes possible - thank you, NIH!

Obviously, you can find health and wellness advice everywhere on the Web, but for comprehensive searching of medical literature, and published studies of scientifically conducted clinical trials, MEDLINE is your best source. You can search it for free as PubMed, or in tandem with any number of EBSCOhost databases (for EBSCOhost subscribers). This is a very efficient way to search multidisciplinary research topics, with quick access to thousands of full-text articles. Link to Academic Search Complete from the Science Library's home page, and look for the "Choose Databases" link at the top of the search screen for a list of all EBSCOhost databases that can be searched simultaneously. Very cool.

AIDS Vaccine Research Shows Promise

World AIDS Day headlines heard on National Public Radio this morning included a report that research for an effective AIDS vaccine continues to look very positive. Follow progress on AIDS vaccine research at IAVI.org: the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. See New Antibodies Found that Cripple HIV. Learn how you can be part of the effort at the National Institutes of Health site BeTheGeneration.

Abstracts of scientific papers given at the AIDS Vaccine 2009 conference, held October 19-22 in Paris, are freely accessible online in Retrovirology, vol. 6, supplement 3 (also in the OhioLINK Electronic Journal Center and at PubMedCentral). Related publications from those researchers may be found by searching PubMed, the public site for Medline.

A report by NPR's Richard Knox on All Things Considered, September 24, 2009 is a helpful overview of vaccine development and testing. Listen or read the transcript.