Stephen Cobert immortalized as beetle

If you've been following this blog religiously (as I'm sure you have been), you may have read one of our previous posts about naming a fungus after President Obama, or the one about the attempt to name a piece of the space station after Stephen Colbert.

Well it looks like Colbert will finally get his name claim to fame and - it could be argued - that it's way cooler than a presidential fungus.

Two entomologists took on Colbert's challenge to the science community to "name something cooler than a spider" after him to honor him. So the scientists named a beetle after him. And to let Colbert know about it, they sent him a picture of the bug along with a birthday card asking 'What has six legs and is way cooler than a spider?' The answer, of course is the newly discovered diving beetle from Venezuela, Agaporomorphus colberti.

It's nice to see scientists with a sense of humor similar to Stephen Colbert's.

What We're Reading: Dread

Okay, college students, here's a simple way to freak out all of your classmates:

1. Buy a label-maker
2. Print out a bunch of labels that say "GERMS"
3. Stick them on every door handle on campus

I don't suggest you actually try this (unless, say, you own stock in antibacterial soap), and I can't take credit for the idea, either: I was actually a victim of this stunt back in my Bright College Years. I don't think I've ever washed my hands so many times in a 24-hour period.

Until last week, that is, when swine flu put its germy paws on every newspaper, Twitter feed, and Facebook page in the land. I washed my hands before getting to work and on the way out the door; after touching the elevator buttons and after picking up the telephone. I started wondering, hey, aren't there germs on the water cooler spigots and the mini-fridge door? And what about the communal sponge in the communal sink? And why is everyone around me suddenly coughing and sneezing? Is that a tickle in my throat? Are my eyes looking a little red? How long has it been since I last washed my hands?

Now that H1N2 seems to be milder than we thought, it all seems a little silly, but XXX's note below is a reminder that I wasn't the only one in the throes of swine-flu freak-out. In his new book Dread, Philip Alcabes says this kind of panic is totally normal--and totally irrational. Epidemics (a class now so broadly defined that it includes everything from obesity to "affluenza") resonate with deep human fears about everything from sex to strangers. Fears of death and illness are just convenient covers for our more nebulous nightmares, Alcabes argues, and that fact has been exploited by those who aim to fuel intolerance (of the poor, of immigrants, of Jews, of Muslims) for their own political gain.

Is that reading too much into my fixation with sudsing? Was the label-maker guy making a statement about the political uses of fear? I'll have to think about it. But first, maybe I should go wash up.

Swine Flu on Twitter

I'll admit it, I've been getting a little worked up about this possible Swine Flu pandemic. So it's probably not a good idea for me to keep track of the action using social networking sites, but I just can't resist.

So I started 'following' the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Twitter. And that's how I found out there are now 2 confirmed cases of swine flu in my state (Massachusetts).

I can then go to Facebook and join one of the dozens of 'Swine Flu' members and groups out there (some funny, some serious, some just down right ridiculous).

Luckily I can then go to You Tube and watch a CDC podcast with a calm looking doctor telling me the facts (and in my mind, not to panic).

So maybe there is something to this social networking, after all (at least something more than telling me - or worse showing me - what my cousin had for breakfast this morning).

A Fungus Among Us

A researcher at UC Riverside has named a newly discovered species of lichen after President Obama. Dubbed 'Caloplaca obamae,' the orange-colored lichen is actually a cross between a fungus and an algae. The discoverer, Kerry Knudsen, collected the final samples of the lichen during the last weeks of the Obama campaign and he finished the paper announcing the discovery on Inauguration Day. According to scientific protocol, it's up to the person who discovers a new species to name it. Wonder if he had to get the President's permission. I suppose it could have been worse - he could have found a slime mold, instead.

Batman's secret

Bats have a PR problem, according to Boston University's resident bat expert, Tom Kunz. From Vermont to Virginia, bats are falling victim to a mystery illness, but does the public care? No. According to the Boston Globe,

The researchers say they are learning a harsh truth about the public's desire to save animals: Cuteness rules.

And to that, I say: Guilty as charged. Here at XXXX, our subjects are almost always easy on the eyes (adorable chimps, beautiful butterflies, and those baby seals and sea lions that make me want to get up and hug my TV). If they aren't cute, they're classic creepy-crawlies (ants, more ants, and swarms of rats). Poor bats just can't catch a break.

So biologists think that bats need a publicist, "a kind of public relations batman - to give bats an image makeover and educate people about the night creatures' ecological benefits." But I think one fact could change how people--or, women, at least--feel about bats, and here it is:

Male bats lactate.

Okay, not all or them. Just two species, so far, wild fruit bats in Malaysia and Papua New Guinea, in which Kunz and a colleague discovered "well-developed and lacteriforus ducts and underlying mammary tissue similar to that found in lactating females."

Did the boy bats evolve this ability? Or could some pathology or exposure to female hormones be to blame? The researchers aren't sure yet.

But here's something else I didn't know: Human men can lactate, too, though it's typically brought on my drug- or malnutrition-induced hormonal imbalances. Not exactly nature's way.

What, if anything, does this add anything to the ongoing debate over breast vs. bottle? Could future humans evolve a similar natural ability? Or are we just as likely to start flying and locating our insect-meals via echolocation?

Scorpion venom + nanoparticles = Good for you?

Scorpion venom with nanoparticles slows spread of brain cancer. That's the irresistible headline topping a University of Washington press release out yesterday.

It turns out that researchers have known for a while now that scorpion venom--or, more precisely, a peptide called chlorotoxin which is contained in the venom--could be a cancer-fighter. It's in human trails right now.

But adding nanoparticles to the mix makes the venom peptide twice as potent, cutting the spread of malignant cells by 98%--at least, that's how it worked on lab-grown brain cancer cells. Nanoparticles aren't totally new to the cancer-fighting arsenal (they've also been combined with chemotherapy drugs), but this application is unique because it stops the spread of cancer rather than killing cells directly.

Next, the experimental treatment will be tested out on mice.

What We're Watching: Tweenbots

Are they art? Are they science? Who cares when they're so darn cute!

Tweenbots are smiley little robots that need your help to complete a task. Kacie Kinzer, a grad student at the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, sets her Tweenbots loose on the streets of New York to see if regular New Yorkers will help them reach their destination. (The destination is written on a "help me!" flag sprouting out of the Tweenbot. Like I said, adorable.)

In this video, watch New Yorkers come to the aid of a Tweenbot trying to cross Washington Square Park. It's like On The Street meets R2D2.

And if you're wondering how a paper bag on wheels got so cute, it's all explained here.