Blogger Profile

Observations of a Nerd (observationsofanerd.blogspot.com) is a blog written by Christie Wilcox, a PhD student in Cellular and Molecular Biology at the University of Hawaii. She majored in Marine Science and minored in Chemistry in college and has interests in molecular biology, marine science, biochemistry and conservation biology. Her blog caught my interest immediately as it incorporates many current scientific topics within her fields of interest and makes it incredibly fascinating and comprehendible to the general public. Her audience, however, is clearly for those scientifically inclined and is richly detailed in that orientation.

The blog includes a combination of science news and insights, fun facts and academic inquiries regarding her own and other’s scientific research. For instance, there are posts on white terns of the Hawaiian Islands http://observationsofanerd.blogspot.com/2010/01/weekly-dose-of-cute-baby-tern.html

White Terns (Gygis alba rothchildi), or "Fairy Terns" as they are often called, are beautiful all-white seabirds with black rings around their eyes. They feed primarily on fish caught by diving at the water's surface. While they have to return to land daily, they can fly as far as 120 miles from shore. They grow to about a foot in length, and are found on many of the subtropical islands in the Pacific and Indian oceans. This little fledgling would have been incubated by both its parents, who take shifts for the 36 days it takes for the baby to develop. Interestingly, these birds do not build nests, instead an egg is laid in some natural nest-like depression. Approximately 7,500 White Terns breed on the Midway Islands, part of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine Monument.

and the introduction of Tilapia to Fiji for the purpose of farm raising http://observationsofanerd.blogspot.com/2010/01/farm-fugitives-feasting-on-fijis-fish.html has raised issues of a serious environmental nature as the introduced species creates a hazard for a fragile ecosystem as well as a monthly “Sci-Fi worthy Parasite”,this month’s being the Arceuthobium spp., a form of mistletoe which has some very unique and disturbing qualities.

Recently, scientists have found that the little parasitic plant has an even greater effect than just killing its hosts. When biologists Ken Cullings and Julie Hanley from the NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, CA, measured the amounts of carbon dioxide emitted from the soil surrounding trees infested with Arceuthobium americanum, they found that the average rate of carbon dioxide emission was more than 70 percent higher than the rate emitted from the soil around trees nearby that were free of the parasitic plant.

Why, exactly, this effect is seen isn't entirely known, but researchers suspect that the emitted CO₂ is the result of a cascade of downstream effects of the mistletoe's parasitism. Because the mistletoe takes sugars from its host tree, fewer of these sugars reach the tree's roots where soil fungi tap in for extra nutrients. Without those sugars, the root fungi must get their nutrition elsewhere, and do so by breaking down organic matter in the soil, a process which happens to produce carbon dioxide.

She also incorporates a “Weekly Dose of Cute” that displays a cute animal, usually a baby, and a series known as “Carnival of Evolution” that illustrates discoveries of an evolutionary nature, such as the discovery of new species, from other blogs. These series pieces keep a fresh perspective on a number of interesting areas of interest.

Her posts are academic in nature and rely heavily on scientific evidence and theory and posts are quite frequent, usually daily but sometimes every several days. Despite the high intellectual level of this blog, Christie Lynn certainly makes sometimes difficult concepts accessible and understandable to the layperson. Her blog includes many graphic tools such as images, graphs, maps and statistical data. She also notes that her blog, indicated by a check mark image at the top of the page, is comprised of writing about peer-reviewed research and is registered with ResearchBlogging.org, a site that collects information from blogs about all kinds of scientific research. She ties in many other posts from other blogs in the process of speaking on a particular topic. This, of course, is extremely helpful in creating open dialogue on topics and, simultaneously, giving credit where it is due. This also allows for the central tenets of scientific theory to be embraced; the process of replication and verification to be carried out in a close community.

Her “nerdy affiliations” include Open Laboratory 2009 (http://scienceblogs.com/neurotopia), a publication whose panel chooses the “50 best science blogging posts of the year” in which Observations of a Nerd was recognized;http://blogs.nature.com/ , an online blog corresponding to the academic journal, http://natureblognetwork.com/ and http://labspaces.net. She also notes, as part of her blog roll, “Fun Reads” from other science blogs such as “Southern Fried Science Ethical Debate: Endangered Species on the Menu?”

I find this blog to be a perfect model for me as it possesses many of the qualities I would like to have in my blog. Primarily, as a science blog that addresses scientific theory and principle in a manner that is both true to its academic and intellectual nature and fun, engaging and easy to digest. Secondarily, however; to create and maintain a community of science lovers whether they be scientists themselves or not and, in the process, come to know more thoroughly and more precisely science and its many applications. I intend to approach my scientific topics, which are of a more fringe nature, with similar goals yet from a lay perspective.

Hello and Welcome!

Hello, my fellow science lovers! Although I come from a long line of scientists, I am not myself one. I am merely intrigued and drawn into by the forces of scientific principle. I have, since I was a young child, taken by the wondrous worlds of physics and biology and chemistry and all their amazing applications, however of an outlier nature some of them may possess. I examine here an assortment of cutting-edge and, at times, fringe topics in science and technology. These topics include nanotechnology, the search for extraterrestrial planets and forms of life whether it be carbon-based or otherwise, string theory incorporating multiverse theories, sensory deprivation tanks, the missing link in human evolution, biochemical weaponry, stem cell research and its implications and many others in the fields of physics, biology, astronomy and many others. It is my intention to posit, discuss and, at times, challenge the merits of certain hot topics. It is my hope that we can, as a community of academics and intellectuals, seek the truth in a logical environment in which we lack presumptions and encourage varying degrees of personal opinion and discovery.
Arthur C. Clarke, the great science fiction writer and inventor of satellite technology, once noted that the entire scientific community wrote off Luis Alvarez’s discovery of an asteroid impact as the culprit in the demise of the dinosaurs and, in fact, many decades later it became solid scientific theory. So too was the case with plate tectonics and evolution by natural selection. The truth is the most controversial and fringe scientific notions ought to be given the most amount of attention. After all, it wasn’t long ago that we thought flying was a ludicrous notion and Einstein’s curvature of space-time was of the realm of fictional Twilight episodes when, in fact, both of our concrete scientific principle and, according to that principle, able to replicate through a multitude of experiments and observable in a natural setting. So, my friends, what are we to say of cold fusion and string theory or even notions of time travel? Ought we, in a traditional setting, discard it as heretical nonsense or seek to examine its underpinnings in order to determine if, in fact, there are bases for such notions?
We are all looking at the stars; gazing into the dark abyss searching and longing for answers to age old questions of both a philosophical and scientific nature. Let us journey together into the ultimate pursuit of knowledge; to discover our purpose and our capabilities and, hopefully, in so doing, come to know our universe just the slightest bit better. And then, maybe, we will not have lived in a self-constructed box of ignorance and disbelief. We must step boldly into the unknown; challenge it and let it challenge us and, in so doing, come to, hopefully, a more well-rounded perspective on our reality. A reality which, may I add, is merely a speck on the surface of that which lies out there, ahead of us and beckoning us to be known.