Moving day!

The Chimpanzee Refuge has relocated. Please refresh your bookmarks. Uh, well, given our volume, that advice will apply to a handful of readers. Anyway, here you go:

Dr. Joan Bushwell's Chimpanzee Refuge at Science Blogs

More flower porn

My 18 y.o. son experimented with some floral close-ups. This is one of my geraniums. His photographic adventure among my potted plants coincided nicely with my recent dilettantish attempts to educate myself about MADS-box genes. These are transcription factors which are paralleled by the homeobox gene products in animals, and are also deeply connected with morphology. Here's a fairly comprehensive site on the subject from the Max-Planck Institute: The MADS-Box Gene Home Page.

A blog by any other name would be as pungent.

Sigh...

Well, we're still awaiting the move to ScienceBlogs. The team o' bonobos has compiled delightfully wordy bios, and I have put together a little description of the blog. We were asked to assign the Refuge to a couple of categories from the following list;

Physical Sciences (math, physics, chemistry, astronomy)

Biology (micro- and macro-)

Planet Earth (geology, paleontology, climatology, meteorology, etc)

Medicine

Brain & Behavior (neuroscience, psychology)

Academia (science education, lab life, life on the tenure track)

Philosophy of Science (history of science, scientific ethics, meta-
commentary about science itself)

Policy & Politics (excluding evolution vs creationism)

Culture Wars (evo vs creationism, also more broadly science vs faith/
religion, political rants)

The Chimp Refuge is nothing if not an heady potpourri of floral, astringent and scatological odors so it was hard to decide which category describes us most accurately. "Culture Wars" is the best fit, I suppose. "Biology" fits, too. "Academia?" Huh? Who says that lab life and exciting research are excluded from the Evil Korporate World?

Alas, we will lose the peaceful soft focus tiles of Pan which provide our background. Fortunately, khaulein, who will morph to wild_type with the move, has designed a wonderful banner which captures the essence of the Chimp Refuge.

Abstinence Only? To Arms! Send in the Shag Troopers!

Tim Kreider was inspired by the NYT's Contra-contraception article. Be sure to read the Artist's Statement in the link below the cartoon.

What You Can Do To Fight Against The War on Sex!