16 SEP 2011 by ideonexus
Hen's Teeth
Some atavisms can be produced in the laboratory. The most amazing
of these is that paragon of rarity, hen’s teeth. In 1980, E. J. Kollar and
C. Fisher at the University of Connecticut combined the tissues of two
species, grafting the tissue lining the mouth of a chicken embryo on top
of tissue from the jaw of a developing mouse. Amazingly, the chicken
tissue eventually produced tooth-like structures, some with distinct roots
and crowns! Since the underlying mouse tissue alone could not prod... 1 
notes
notesAn experiment from 1980 that stimulated hens to grow teeth by triggering a gene holdover from their ancient reptilian ancestors.
25 JUL 2011 by ideonexus
Focus on Common Things
And first, for those things which seem common. Let men bear in mind that hitherto they have been accustomed to do no more than refer and adapt the causes of things which rarely happen to such as happen frequently, while of those which happen frequently they never ask the cause, but take them as they are for granted. And therefore they do not investigate the causes of weight, of the rotation of heavenly bodies, of heat, cold, light, hardness, softness, rarity, density, liquidity, solidity, ani... 1 notes
notesWe overlook the common in scientific inquiry, but it is in the common occurrences that the laws of nature are to be found.
25 JUL 2011 by ideonexus
Aristotle Did Not Work From Experience
The most conspicuous example of the first class was Aristotle, who corrupted natural philosophy by his logic: fashioning the world out of categories; assigning to the human soul, the noblest of substances, a genus from words of the second intention; doing the business of density and rarity (which is to make bodies of greater or less dimensions, that is, occupy greater or less spaces), by the frigid distinction of act and power; asserting that single bodies have each a single and proper motion... 1 notes
notes...having first determined the question according to his will, he then resorts to experience, and bending her into conformity with his placets, leads her about like a captive in a procession.
10 JUN 2011 by ideonexus
Patience, Attentiveness, and Thoroughness are Naturalist ...
Each branch of natural history
study demands its special abilities: the superior ear of
the birdwatcher, the attention to minute detail of the
entomologist, the courage of the herpetologist wading
into swamps full of poisonous snakes. But some “field
skills” are nearly ubiquitous. Perhaps the most
important are patience, perseverance, thoroughness
and attentiveness. The birdwatcher searching for that
one rare gull on a pond among seven hundred
common ones may have to watch for hours in bi... 1 notes
notesWithout them the naturalist would miss the rarities in nature.
