BioScience articles from November 2008

BioScience archives from November 2008

Preventing patent purgatory.(international patent system )(Editorial)
November 1, 2008... The idea of a state license that allows an inventor to prevent others from copying an invention for a fixed period--otherwise known as a patent--has seemed a sensible one to enlightened governments since the 15th century. The public benefits by...

Why intrinsic value is a poor basis for conservation decisions.(Viewpoint)(Report)
November 1, 2008... Conservationists horn Muir (1916) to McCauley (2006) have championed intrinsic value as the right basis for conservation, one that derives from qualities innate to nonhuman biota, independent of human affairs. They argue that intrinsic value...

Climate change and public lands: a slew of new reports calls for federal agencies to address climate change through adaptive management of public lands and waters.(Report)
November 1, 2008... In January 2001, on his last day in office, the US Secretary of the Department of the Interior signed an executive order requiring the department's component agencies to do something about climate change. Bruce Babbitt wrote: "Each bureau and...

Wetlands, icecaps, unease: sea-level rise and mid-atlantic shorelines: governmental agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and academics are pumping out reports about the potential impacts of rising sea levels. Action plans are beyond the horizon, for now.(Report)
November 1, 2008... It's a balmy evening on isolated, somnolent Pickering Beach; Delaware. The full moon looms, the late-spring tide is high, and thousands of horseshoe crabs make their ponderous way ashore to spawn. Their big shells look like science-fiction army...

The sound of silence at the Environmental Protection Agency.(Washington Watch)
November 1, 2008... The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was created on 2 December 1970 to "establish and enforce environmental protection standards, conduct environmental research, provide support to others combating environmental pollution, and assist the...

Identifying and characterizing bacteria in an era of genomics and proteomics.(21st Century Directions in Biology)(Report)
November 1, 2008... The advent of new molecular technologies in genomics and proteomics is shifting traditional techniques for bacterial classification, identification, and characterization in the 21st century toward methods based on the elucidation of specific...

West Nile virus revisited: consequences for North American ecology.(Report)
November 1, 2008... It has been nine years since West Nile virus (WNV) emerged in New York, and its initial impacts on avian hosts and humans are evident across North America. The direct effects of WNV on avian hosts include documented population declines, but...

Pitviper scavenging at the intertidal zone: an evolutionary scenario for invasion of the sea.(Report)
November 1, 2008... It is difficult for terrestrial vertebrates to invade the sea, and little is known about the transitional evolutionary processes that produce secondarily marine animals. The utilization of marine resources in the intertidal zone is likely to be...

Ecological restoration and physiology: an overdue integration.(Report)
November 1, 2008... There is growing recognition that opportunities exist to use physiology as part of the conservation and management of populations and ecosystems. However, this idea has rarely been extended to the field of restoration ecology. Physiological...

The tragedy of ecosystem services.(Forum)(Report)
November 1, 2008... Derived from funds of natural capital, ecosystem services contribute greatly to human welfare, yet are rarely traded in markets. Most supporting (e.g., soil formation) and regulating (e.g., water purification, pest regulation) ecosystem...

Seeing the wood for the trees: an analysis of evolutionary diagrams in biology textbooks.(Education)(Report)
November 1, 2008... This study presents the findings of an analysis of evolutionary diagrams found in 31 biology textbooks for students ranging from middle school to the undergraduate level. Since the early 1990s, cladograms have found their way into high school...

In the light of evolution.(Evolution)(Book review)
November 1, 2008... Evolution. Nicholas H. Barton, Derek E. G. Briggs, Jonathan A. Eisen, David B. Goldstein, and Nipam H. Patel. Cold Spring Harbor, Woodbury, NY, 2007. 833 pp., illus. $100.00 (ISBN 9780879696849 cloth). In his autobiographical book...

A long and forking road.(Human Evolution: Trails from the Past)(Book review)
November 1, 2008... Human Evolution: Trails from the Past. Camilo J. Cela-Conde and Francisco J. Ayala. Oxford University Press, New York, 2007. 432 pp., illus. $69.95 (ISBN 9780198567806 paper). [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Take a philosopher of science with a...

A place for tigers.(Life in the Valley of Death: The Fight to Save Tigers in a Land of Guns, Gold, and Greed)(Book review)
November 1, 2008... Life in the Valley of Death: The Fight to Save Tigers in a Land of Guns, Gold, and Greed. Alan Rabinowitz. Island Press, Washington, DC, 2007. 248 pp., illus. $25.95 (ISBN 9781597261296 cloth). [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] From his perch as...

Masters of energy.(Energy in Nature and Society: General Energetics of Complex Systems)(Book review)
November 1, 2008... Energy in Nature and Society: General Energetics of Complex Systems. Vaclav Smil. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2008. 512 pp., illus. $32.00 (ISBN 9780262693561 paper). [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A few years ago the American Association for...

New titles.(science books)(Bibliography)
November 1, 2008... Animal Intelligence: From Individual to Social Cognition. Zhanna Reznikova. Cambridge University Press, New York, 2008. 488 pp., illus. $60.00 (ISBN 9780521532020 paper). Between Earth and Sky: Our Intimate Connections to Trees. Nalini M....

Science policy and the media: presentations and workshops.(American Institute of Biological Sciences)
November 1, 2008... Staffed by professionals with years of experience working with scientists, lawmakers, and opinion shapers, the AIBS Public Policy Office provides public presentations and small-group training programs that help scientists and educators become...

University of California Press to provide publishing services to AIBS for BioScience.(American Institute of Biological Sciences)
November 1, 2008... AIBS has contracted with the University of California (UC) Press to provide the following publishing services for BioScience, beginning with the January 2009 issue: * Marketing, management, and fulfillment of print and online subscriptions...

Recent executive director's blog entries online at http:// blogs.aibs.org/richardogrady/.(AIBS news)
November 1, 2008... * Biologists: Help us help you become more effective advocates for biology * McCain and Obama have replied to science questions--now let's have a discussion * Presidential representatives to debate health and energy issues * Obama...

Recent articles online at www.actionbioscience.com.(AIBS news)
November 1, 2008... Recent Blog Entries on "Technology: An Educational Issue?" [Note:. The ActionBioscience.org blog can be accessed through the "Educator Resources" menu.] * BEN: Digital Biology Education Library * Effective PowerPoint

Recent education reports online at www.aibs.org.(AIBS news)
November 1, 2008... * Evolution Symposium and Educator Workshop at NABT 2008 * Call for proposals from NCEAS * Feedback requested on the NABT's guidelines for four-year undergraduate biology programs * Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences...

Recent public policy reports online at www.aibs.org.(AIBS news)
November 1, 2008... Public Policy Report for 29 September 2008 * National Science Board nominees Senate bound * House passes No Child Left Inside * Bad water, how to clean it? * From the Federal Register * Now in the AIBS Bookstore:...

Public policy report for 15 September 2008.(AIBS news)
November 1, 2008... * Congress returns, has flail plate * AIBS request to Interior granted: Comment period for proposed ESA rule change extended * USGS Coalition to honor members of Congress * National Academies update stem cell report * BLM...

Calendar of meetings.(ecological conferences)(Brief article)(Calendar)
November 1, 2008... November 6-9 Western Society of Naturalists Vancouver, Canada; www.wsnonline.org/meeting. shtml 8-12 The Wildlife Society, Miami, FL; http://joomla.wildlife.org/miami08 11-14 North American Lake...

Soil ecology update: report from the ecological society of America annual meeting.(BioBriefs)
November 1, 2008... NEW LIGHT ON NUTRIENT FLOW Take a nanoscale particle built with semi-conducting material that shines under ultraviolet light. Attach the particle to a carbon compound and feed it to a fungus. Watch in real time as the root-associated...