"He must, so know the starfish and the student biologist who sits at the feet of living things, proliferate in all
directions. Having certain tendencies, he must move along their lines to the limit of their potentialities."

John Steinbeck - Log from the Sea of Cortez

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Some quick hits

Been a busy couple of days. A few quick links to some breaking news...

The French government may support a ban on global trade in bluefin tuna, in exchange for exclusive rights to a zone for line-fishing. Not sure how much difference this makes, as the Japanese are probably the difference-makers here.

Sea otters in California are increasing in numbers. However, this may create problems as they spread into zones where they are not protected. Commercial fishermen fear their impact on harvestable species.

A physiological "law" that many of us learned in college may just be plain wrong. The "3/4 exponent" law relating size to basal metabolic rate probably should be the "2/3 exponent" law.

New paper in Nature identifies a key protein produced by the malarial parasite Plasmodium as part of the process by which it commandeers red blood cells. Understanding the nature of the protein may allow researchers to arrest the infection.

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