I recently listened to the Systems Biology Nature podcast.

Systems biology is mathematical modeling of biological systems (even at the molecular/gene level) with the intention of reproducing emergent properties in complex living systems. These mathematical systems could  combine everything from gene regulatory networks to crazy metabolic networks into one glorious approximated abomination of biology. This research could lead to at least two great things:

1. Spore 2 (check out local guest blogger Kate's Spore creature gallery)
2. Accurate evolution simulations, ie. new opportunities for creationist bashing

Systems biology is a perfect example of a new multidisciplinary field. It combines the work of mathematicians, computer scientists, physicists, bioinformaticians, biochemists, molecular biologists, cell biologists, and geneticists. Even a philosophy major could probably slip into the team undetected for a little while!

As grad school selection approaches and life decisions loom above like an angry sun, it really begs the question: Should one be specializing or diversifying ones skill set?

Sure, you could diversify (your bonds) and learn about computer science and physics like me, or you could specialize the old fashion way and join some miraculous science collaboration dream team to work on cutting edge science.

The case for diversifying is argued nicely in a PLoS essay entitled: "Antedisciplinary Science". (Hat tip!)

It turns out that antedisciplinary science aligns nicely with the ideal Jacks of Science "Jack of all trades" blogging philosophy:

Perhaps the whole idea of interdisciplinary science is the wrong way to look at what we want to encourage. What we really mean is “antedisciplinary” science—the science that precedes the organization of new disciplines, the Wild West frontier stage that comes before the law arrives.

The essay was written by a computational biologist and the topic really hits home for me. By next April I'll have graduated with equal amounts of physics and computer science credits thanks to University of Waterloo's free-spirited computational science program. But I'm kinda doomed. I don't have the expected skillset of a physics major or of a computer science major if I choose to go to grad school for either.

I should have specialized in something!

Why am I currently researching computational chemistry!?

Why do I plan to study polymer physics next term!?

Who am I!?

Now that I'm finally The Dread Zoologist Roberts, I feel a need to help the people. The confused people. People confused about wives tales, folk taxonomy and poorly researched news stories. People confused about whether the appropriate short form of Charles Darwin's name is Chas D, Char Dar, or Chuck D (in fact, all three are acceptable, along with "Charwin").

But as my first order of business, I'd like to demolish some zoological misconceptions I commonly come across. I hate zoological misconceptions! Let's begin:

1. Assuming you live in the New World, honey bees are not your friends. Nor are they friends with your true bee friends, the native bumblebees. Honey bees were introduced to the Americas by European apiculturalists, making them an ALIEN/INVASIVE species. So, it shouldn't be any wonder that they are "declining", given that they didn't belong here in the first place (OH SNAP).

2. Daddy Long-Legs are not spiders, nor are they poisonous. They are harvestmen. Also, check out the weird pro-harvestmen science bias in the Wikipedia article:

Because they are an ubiquitous order, but species are often restricted to small regions due to their low dispersal rate^{[citation needed]}, they are good models for biogeographic studies^{[dubious – discuss]}.

Indeed! Dubious!

3. Polar bears are not a distinct biologically species, separate from grizzly bears and brown bears (which themselves are not biologically distinct). In other words, polar bears, grizzly bears and brown bears are in fact all the same (biological) species, and hybridization is possible!

4. Monkeys and Apes are different things! Chimpanzees, Bonobos, Gorillas, Orangutans, Gibbons and Humans are apes. Apes, I say! Monkeys are things like Tarmarins, Capuchins, Owl Monkeys (above), etc. So, next time your esteemed associates say "Humans are descended from monkeys!" you can say "That statement is incorrect, associates! They are descended from, and still are, apes!".

5. Killer whales are oceanic dolphins, not whales. Similarly, Koala bears are not bears.

Do you feel informed? I have many more such facts, stay tuned!

Evolution can be a tricky (but by absolutely no means impossible!) process to observe. This can make teaching students about the theory of evolution somewhat difficult compared to more readily demonstrable concepts such as magnetism or acid-base chemistry.

Computer simulations of evolution offer an excellent solution to this problem. Using these simulations, students and scientists can explore the process of evolution and get (in some cases highly visual) results in a matter of minutes. Luckily, thanks to intrepid biologist/programmers, many of these sexy in silico simulations of evolution are now freely available for download! Here are a few, at a glance:

Breve Creatures

Gene Pool

Java Evolution Simulator

Java Biomorph (Java implementation of the Dawkins Biomorph program)

Mushroom Life

(OK, its not a true evolution simulator, but I have a soft spot for Conway's Game of Life. And mushrooms.)

See also:

Dr. Saul's Evolution Lab
Evorunners
Flow in games
Maxis 1990 computer game Simlife
Discussion of the validity of computer simulation to provide evidence for evolution.

Oh wow, it didn't take long for me to renew:

1. My domain registration.
2. My interest in blogging. 

Things are safe on the blog front for now, and like always, there are many big things in store for Jacks of Science which will one day come to delicious fruition for all.

So anyway, I'm researching in the U.S. this summer on a work placement. Living here I've had the privilege of experiencing the finer details of life which Canada lacks. Mainly, White Castle and an abundance of unsweetened iced tea but I still can't figure out what's the deal with the Imperial Units. 

When I'm homesick I just use Google for conversions to S.I. units. If that fails, which it has yet to, UnitConversion. But I admit, even meters, kilograms, and seconds can get a bit boring after a while. When that happens I have no choice but to use WeirdConverter (Turns out I only weigh 11% of a whale testicle).

If you've ever played Katamari Damacy for Playstation 2 then you'll know exactly what I mean. Info-rich game facts appear on the pause screen informing you that your Katamari ball is the size of 5 swordfish or perhaps 35 grandmas in width. Katamari Damacy is a great educational tool. It gives a unique sense of scale and teaches you that all measurements are relative.

There are plenty of obscure units to express our measurements in. Which begs the question: what made us settle on the standard units we did? It all boils down to an ongoing quest for finding a high accuracy measurement and agreeing internationally on a particular definition. Here are some of the weirdo ways our favorite units are defined:

• The Meter. Kind of a cop out, but if you get this crazy notion to fix (?) the speed of light in a vacuum at a constant number, like 299 792 458 meters per second, you can use the distance that light travels in 1/299 792 458 seconds to get a distance known as a meter. But wait, how do they know long is a second?
• The Second. Scientists needed a time measurement that was a bit more precise than "one Mississippi", so they set a second as the duration of 9,192,631,770 cycles of microwave light absorbed or emitted by a cesium atom moving between 2 energy levels at a temperature of 0 kelvin. But wait, how hot is a kelvin?
• The Kelvin. The International Atomic Energy Agency developed a standardized composition of pure water called Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water. They carefully obtained the triple point and absolute zero point of this water and set them as 273.15 kelvin and 0 kelvin respectively. You can divide this interval to get the individual units of degrees.