"Science is an integral part of culture. It's not this foreign thing, done by an arcane priesthood. It's one of the glories of the human intellectual tradition."

On May 20, 2002 the scientific world lost a major proponent for science and reason. Stephen Jay Gould was a scientist, a historian and a writer who communicated his passion for evolution to an audience around the globe. For many people outside of the sciences, his books may have been the only source they ever read about evolution from a working biologist. His ability to connect with readers from diverse backgrounds and his willingness to challenge so many sacred cows of biological theory will ensure a distinguished legacy for his life’s work. He is largely responsible for my own interest in evolutionary biology and the history of science and I would like to dedicate this fourth edition of Scientia Pro Publica to his memory.

Scientia Pro Publica is a biweekly rotating blog carnival that represents the best in multidisciplinary science blogging. For this edition I made an effort to limit the number of posts in each category to five of the best submitted entries. I also actively sought out disciplines that haven’t been as well represented in the past. Please feel free to contact me at primatediaries@gmail.com with your comments or concerns. Also, if you like what you read here consider submitting your own posts at this automatic entry form. Thank you and enjoy the best of the net, Scientia Pro Publica #4.

Physics/Astronomy

1. Greg Fish at World of Weird Things looks at the science in science fiction and asks, What Does it Take to Get a Warp Drive?.

2. Eric at Spin-1/2 writes that “our tool making and, in particular, our tool refining, is responsible for so much of what we know about the world and, by proxy, what we are able to do in the world” in the post Build a Better Tool.

3. Jon Voisey at The Angry Astronomer writes that “one of the most fundamental problems in all of astronomy is to determine the distance to objects. To be able to do this, astronomers have developed what’s known as the cosmic distance ladder.” Read Another Rung on the Ladder.

4. Southern Fried Science suggests that “space technology can make starvation a thing of the past, and also make overfishing unnecessary, by providing more than enough food for the entire population of humans.” Save the Planet, it’s the only one we’ve got… or is it?.

Chemistry/Biochemistry

1. Katherine Haxton writing at Nature Network’s blog Endless Possibilities reflects on some elegant chemistry experiments in her post All the pretty colours….

2. David Bradley at Science Base presents recent analysis of the high levels of heavy metals in plastic food packaging in his post Heavy Metal Packaging.

3. Michael Long at Phased explores new developments in alternative energy and how to convert phenols to fuel in his post Converting Biomass into a Stable Fuel.

4. Jim at Mental Indigestion reviews the recent Nature paper looking at the chemical origins for biology in the post On the Origin of Life.

Earth Sciences

1. Zoltan Sylvester at Hindered Settling offers his analysis of research showing that coastal sand accumulations are not responsible for gigantic tsunamis with his post More reasons to conclude that coastal ‘chevrons’ are not related to mega-tsunamis.

2. James Hrynyshyn at Island of Doubt reviews the latest warnings from Nature about the growing climate crisis in his post Cumulative carbon emissions: A new way to “frame” the climate challenge.

3. Running ‘Cause I Can’t Fly looks at how “ground movements formed mountains and valleys, creating environments that favored the emergence of humanity” in their post What is the Wall of Africa?.

4. Mitchell Anderson at DeSmogBlog looks at how a different North American government is appointing climate change “skeptics” to key environmental positions in his post The Stephen Harper War on the Climate Crisis.

5. Scientific Blogging investigates the potential “Holy Grail” in atmospheric science in their post First Direct Detections Of Biological Particles Within Ice Clouds.

Biology/Evolution

1. AK’s Rambling Thoughts looks at the origin of multicellular life in their wonderful review Searching for the Urbilaterian.

2. Mike Fowler at Nature Network’s Theoretically Speaking looks at the most basic, yet the most complicated, of questions in population biology today in his post What’s in a population?.

3. Bora Zivkovic at A Blog Around the Clock looks at how social insects will rotate through their jobs from more generalized to more specialized depending on their stage in the life cycle in his post Why social insects do not suffer from ill effects of rotating and night shift work?.

4. Tyrone Spady and Pascale Quignon at New Voices for Research looks at the genetic fascination the domestic dogs represent in their post On Dogs and Research.

5. I offer my own view on new research in the evolution of cooperation with my post Helpful Cichlids in the Gladiator’s Show.

Ecology/Conservation

1. Alberto López-Torres at 10,000 Birds warns that 72.2% of Puerto Rico’s amphibian species are threatened and shows some of the amazing animals that are currently in danger with his post Falling Silent? The Eleutherodactylus frogs of Puerto Rico.

2. Southern Fried Science writes that “I fervently believe that sharks are threatened today because the majority of the world doesn’t know that they are important,” so now you can learn Four things EVERYONE needs to know about sharks.

3. Charlie at 10,000 Birds looks at the rise of a white fungus that surrounds the nose of North American bats and is resulting in large-scale deaths in his post White-nose Syndrome: ecological meltdown.

4. Ed Yong at Not Exactly Rocket Science writes “They may be inert frozen lumps, but icebergs are secretly in the business of nutrient-trafficking” in his post Icebergs are Hotspots for Life

Psychology/Neuroscience

1. Evolving Ideas explores the connection between the brain and the immune system in their post Behavioural conditioning of immune response: antiinflammatory effects can be conditioned to an unrelated stimulus.

2. Tom Rees at Epiphenom presents new research that suggests “you don’t need to think about gods as abstract, non-anthropomorphic beings to start believing in them. But if you are going to maintain that belief, then you have to shift your ideas in that direction.” Read more in his post Real gods are stranger than fiction – for adults at least.

3. Tracy Alloway writing at Sharp Brains looks at new research finding 1 in 10 students with working memory problems that translate into educational underachievement in her post “>10% Students may have working memory problems: Why does it matter?”:http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2009/05/10/10-students-may-have-working-memory-problems-why-does-it-matter/.

4. Brian Perkins at Science. Why Not? reviews new research suggesting that cannabinoids may promote synaptic growth in the hippocampus. Find out what your April 20th holiday could produce in his post How To Increase Your Neuron Count.

5. Greg Laden’s Blog reviews a new study that suggests the more emotionally cued in you are the more likely you will have frequent orgasms in his post More emotional intelligence = more orgasms.

Anthropology

1. John Hawks Weblog presents an analysis of the Hohle Fels Venus figurine, the oldest known sculpture, with his post Goddess on a Cave Bottom.

2. Savage Minds presents an insider’s account about the current state of Anthropology in Nigeria.

3. John Dennehy at The Evilutionary Biologist reviews new evidence that the peculiar Hobbit feat suggest they’re a distinct species in his post Homo floresiensis: Our Clown-footed cousins.

4. A Primate of Modern Aspect investigates a new transitional fossil that may be a precursor to modern-day strepsirrhines (lemurs, bushbabies and lorises) in his post Is a New Adapid a Missing Link?.

Medicine/Health

1. Christy Lynn at Observations of a Nerd reviews new research suggesting that “our noses are a bit too cold for avian viruses to replicate quickly enough to establish infection. This causes a major problem for the viruses, and is probably a big reason why they haven’t evolved yet to transfer person to person.” Read more in her post Avian Flu Not Epidemic Because Our Noses Are Too Cold.

2. Medicine 2.0 dispels the myth of herbal medicine and demonstrates 25 Ancient, Proven Home Remedies With Science Behind Them.

3. Tom Philpott at Grist follows up on the proposed factory farm source of swine flu, and how the media has lost interest in the story even while the disease is still spreading. Read more in his post Another Symptom of Swine Flu: Instant Amnesia.

4. Jennifer at Brain Blogger writes that, even though emergency contraception is available over the counter to many women, there are still multiple Barriers to Emergency Contraception.

5. BioTunes argues that the interaction between the physiological response to exercise and antioxidants demonstrates that we should not take supplements willy-nilly when we understand so little about what they do in their post Bring on the free radicals!

History/Sociology of Science

1. Neuroskeptic opines "The question of whether we have “free will” has kept philosophers occupied for at least 2000 years. Wouldn’t it be nice if science came along and sorted the whole thing out?" New research just may have the answer in their post Science vs. Free Will, Again.

2. Skulls in the Stars looks at 19th century research into the structure of the atom in their post Mr. Faraday Goes Wild – With Atomic Speculation!.

3. Madhusudan Katti at Reconciliation Ecology looks at new research on technology that filters research papers in his post Plagiarism, peer-review, and protecting the integrity of science.

4. John J. McKay at Archy presents an excellent history of the word mammoth as it’s been used in paleontology in his post A few words about mammoth.

5. I look at the largely unknown conflicts in the history of coral reef research in my post Rivalry Among the Reefs: Charles Darwin and a Century of Conflict Over the Coral Reef Problem.

Scientific Practice

1. GoPubMed asks questions about the ideas behind their service in an Interview with Michael Alvers.

2. Henry Gee of Nature Network’s I, Editor reflects on What I think about when I think about manuscripts.

3. Jennifer Rohn of Nature Network’s Mind the Gap offers her own perspective on the controversial world of journal editorial decisions in her post In which I defend the editorial process – belatedly.

4. Finally, Bryan at Science. Why Not? looks at a new study that shows the connections between “nearly 1 billion user interactions recorded by the scholarly web portals of some of the most significant publishers, aggregators and institutional consortia to create a high-resolution map of science” in his post High Resolution Map of Science.

That’s it for this edition of Scientia Pro Publica_. Send in your posts now6714.html for the next edition. If you would like to host this carnival make sure to contact GrrlScientist. The next edition will appear in two weeks on June 1, 2009 at Pro Science. Thanks again.