Cure for amphibian chytridiomycosis?

"Frog killer fungus 'breakthrough,'" by Kim Griggs. BBC News, 30 Oct 2007.

New Zealand scientists have claimed that the common antibiotic chloramphenicol can be used to cure amphibians infected with chytridiomycosis, the fungal disease which is causing widespread worldwide decline of amphibian populations and is pushing many endangered frog species to the edge of extinction.

Update: Poster from the team which did the research

Behavioural change in humans caused by other organisms

"Truth about behavioral changes," by Marc Siegel. L. A. Times: The Unreal World, 27 Aug 2007.

"Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis is caused by direct invasion of the brain by mutant measles viruses. There are fewer than 10 cases a year in the U.S. The disease tends to occur years after the patient appears to have recovered from measles.

Symptoms include gradual behavioral change leading to bizarre behavior, muscle jerks, unsteady walking, seizures and frequently death within one to two years."

There is more good stuff in the article and it is not for the faint-hearted.

Hat tip - Peggy Sunny Socal who pens Biology in Science Fiction.

2008 NC Science Blogging Conference

BlogTogether is the community of bloggers in North Carolina. They have meetups in various cities and a LOT of science bloggers. In fact they are organising the 2008 NC Science Blogging Conference in the Research Triangle Park in January 2008 [link]

Danwei: Rare South China tiger photo a hoax?

A peasant from Shaanxi claims to have taken a photo of the South China Tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis), thought to be extinct in the wild. [See "Fake tiger, real news?" By Jeremy Goldkorn. Danwei, 19 Oct 2007



Photo from Danwei.

Netizens believed that this photo was PS-ed (photoshoped) and the controversy is generating even more news. This is partly related to fake news scandals (like the fake bun story) that struck China in recent months, courtesy of state-owned news agency Xinhua.

A healthy dose of skepticism is always a good thing!

Update: 1. now a Chinese botantist wades in with evidence from the size of the leaves in the tiger photo.
2. China Daily editorial

Update 3: Eye of the Tiger

Update 4: and the saga continues, now the tiger story even made it to Science magazine.

Get yer fill of Life Science Blogs...

A few weeks ago, The Scientist.com suggested people vote in on Science blogs they know about and enjoy. In the article they have a few well known bloggers weigh in and the comments that follow add a bunch more.