Higgs Bison exisitence confirmed at Fota

Bison calf at Fota this week

A baby bison at Fota Wildlife Park in Ireland has been named 'Higgs', in honour (apparently) of Peter Higgs, the scientist who correctly, it now turns out, predicted the existence of a new particle - the Higgs boson.

The Higgs Bison was named after a public appeal for help in naming the calf by the park. The birth of the calf came in the same week that the calf's father Boris, the dominant male in the Fota group, died.

Willy Duffy head warden at Fota Wildlife Park said “it is great to see a calf born just as the summer is about to begin but it is also sad to be losing Boris as he has been with us since we introduced the herd of Bison in 1999”.

The baby bison is the 16th offspring from Boris which included 3 calves that were introduced into Komaneza Forest in Poland in 2008 as part of a reintroduction programme into the wild.

The Park has been part of a European-wide breeding programme ever since Bison first arrived in Cork in 1999. A significant number of calves have been born in the years since and many have been sent overseas to aid in programmes being developed elsewhere.

After a week of polling on the park's Facebook page, the animal was named alongside two other bison - now named Tyson and Bressie.

The news garnered some really positive reaction online after I tweeted about it:

The guys at @fotawildlife have named their new baby bison 'Higgs' which is just the greatest thing I've ever heard! #HiggsBison
— Eoin Lettice (@blogscience) May 25, 2013

95% of people won't get it, the other 5% will ask if the baby bison is hard to find. #HiggsBison
— Elizabeth Evans (@EClaireEvans) May 27, 2013

Well played @fotawildlife well played. But why hasn't #HiggsBison got a twitter account yet?
— Ed Franklin (@EJ_Franklin) May 27, 2013

Well played @fotawildlife well played. But why hasn't #HiggsBison got a twitter account yet?
— Ed Franklin (@EJ_Franklin) May 27, 2013

So @fotawildlife have named their baby bison 'Higgs'. You win, zookeeper people. You win. #HiggsBison
— Mike Agg (@Gammidgy) May 26, 2013

People are loving that we named our Bison "Higgs Bison" plus he has two half brothers called Bressie and Tyson #FWP30
— Fota Wildlife Park (@fotawildlife) May 26, 2013

On a lighter note...

Singing vegetables? Well, surely with current advances in GM crops, it can only be a matter of time! :) Via (broadsheet.ie)

The Vegetable Song (tweet @totallyeustus) from Si Bennett on Vimeo.

Christmas Science 13: More Fun Stuff!

In the run up to Christmas, Communicate Science offers you 20 Christmas Science Facts. We'll post one every day until the 25th December... more science fun today...more facts coming soon.

Tricks for the Christmas Party

Christmas Science 12: Christmas Fun

In the run up to Christmas, Communicate Science offers you 20 Christmas Science Facts. We'll post one every day until the 25th December. Ok, so today's isn't really a fact...but hey, it's nearly Christmas!

Some Christmas Fun


The Twelve Days of Research*

(To be sung to the tune of "The Twelve days of Christmas")


On the first day of research,
My Prof he said to me,
Make us a cup of tea

On the second day of research,
My Prof he said to me,
Who the hell are you?
Make us a cup of tea
   
On the third day of research
My Prof he said to me,
Tutor three new students
who the hell are you?
Make us a cup of tea
   
On the fourth day of research
My Prof he said to me,
Fabricate some data
Tutor three new students
who the hell are you?
Make us a cup of tea
   
On the fifth day of research
My Prof he said to me,
TAKE an MSc
Fabricate some data
Tutor three new students
Who the hell are you?
Make us a cup of tea
       
On the sixth day of research
My Prof he said to me,
Plagiarise some papers
TAKE an MSc
Fabricate some data
Tutor three new students
Who the hell are you?
Make us a cup of tea

On the seventh day of research
My Prof he said to me
Go to Summer school
Plagiarise some papers
TAKE an MSc
Fabricate some data
Tutor three new students
Who the hell are you
Make us a cup of tea
   
On the eighth day of research
My Prof he said to me
Get some bloody funding
Go to summer school
Plagiarise some papers
TAKE an MSc
Fabricate some data
Tutor three new students
Who the hell are you?
Make us a cup of tea

On the ninth day of research
My Prof he said to me
No I haven't read it
Get some bloody funding
go to summer school
Plagiarise some papers
TAKE an MSc
Fabricate some data
Tutor three new students
Who the hell are you?
Make us a cup of tea

On the tenth day of research
My Prof he said to me
Where's your bloody thesis
No I haven't read it
Get some bloody funding
Go to summer school
Plagiarise some papers
TAKE an MSc
Fabricate some data
Tutor three new students
Who the hell are you?
Make us a cup of tea

On the eleventh day of research
My Prof he said to me
Pull yourself together
Where's your bloody thesis
No I haven't read it
Get some bloody funding
Go to Summer school
Plagiarise some papers
TAKE an MSc
Fabricate some data
Tutor three new students
Who the hell are you?
Make us a cup of tea

On the first day of research
My Prof he said to me:
AT LEAST YOU'VE GOT YOUR BSc


Source here.
*Note: Does not refer to any particular research student...I promise!

It's murder on the dancefloor

Scientists using 3D motion-capture technology have identified key dance moves that make male dancers look good in the eyes of female observers.

The research, conducted at Northhumbria University led to the creation of computer avatars depicting "good" and "bad" dancers by filming 19 male volunteers (who volunteers for these things!) and gauging female reaction.

Dr. Nick Neave of Northhumbria University says "We now know which area of the body females are looking at when they are making a judgement about male dance attractiveness. If a man knows what the key moves are, he can get some training and improve his chances of attracting a female through his dance style".

There has been some debate online as to whether this constitutes a worthwhile scientific endeavor. So, just for the record: Do I consider this an important scientific breakthrough? No. Do I consider these videos hilariously funny? Yes!



A "good" male dancer:



A "bad" male dancer:

Funny Science: all-action Darwin

Dana Carvey is Charles Darwin in this all-action epic.

Dana Carvey is "DARWIN" - watch more funny videos

Irish business could learn a thing or two from Darwin - Opinion

What should have been a very run-of-the-mill press launch last week for the Tanaiste has been somewhat overshadowed by a decidedly dodgy grasp of scientific history. Maybe it was a slip of the tongue on Mary Coughlan’s fault, and perhaps I’m cruel to bring it up again, but the second in command of Ireland Inc. really should know better.

The Tanaiste was addressing a bunch of entrepreneurs to promote the IDA’s campaign to market Ireland oversees when she made the monumental blooper of suggesting that it was Albert Einstein and not Charles Darwin who had come up with the theory of evolution. This is despite the fact that the last year has been a celebration of all things Darwin- with his 200^th birthday and the 150^th anniversary of the publication of his most well known of works ‘On the Origin of Species’ being celebrated throughout the country and the world.

Undoubtedly, the Tanaiste should have known better, especially as she was speaking to a group of entrepreneurs who would, I imagine (and hope), place good science and scientific research pretty high up on their agenda when it comes to developing new ideas to get us out of our current economic doom and gloom. Ms. Coughlan was, in fact, alluding to that great catch-all term ‘survival of the fittest’ when she put her foot in it. However, on this point too she has made the very common error of giving Darwin the credit for this term. The term itself was actually coined by Herbert Spencer, a 19^th century philosopher who, after reading Darwin’s most famous work, was able to see much overlap between the biologist’s theories on evolution and his own theories on economics. Where Spencer would use the term ‘survival of the fittest’, Darwin preferred the term ‘natural selection’. It is by natural selection, that traits which improve an organism’s ability to survive and reproduce become more common in a given population over many generations. For example, if a random change in the genetic information of a plant leads to larger flowers, which in turn lead to greater pollination by insects, this trait will tend to become more common in a population since more plants inheriting this trait will be produced.

Darwin did eventually use the term ‘survival of the fittest’ but not until the later editions of his work where he qualified it, using the word “fittest” to mean “better adapted for immediate, local environment” rather than “in the best physical shape”.

Perhaps the same could be said for Irish entrepreneurs. Those who will survive this current period of recession will be the best adapted to meet the economic and social challenges that we are presented with right here, right now and not necessarily the larger companies who for the last decade have been seen as being in ‘the best physical shape’. Irish business could learn a thing or two from Darwin.