The Ed's Up #111

How Salmon Switch on Infrared Vision When Swimming Upstream

"In rivers, flecks of mud and algae shift the underwater light away from the clear blue of the ocean and towards the red end of the spectrum. The salmon compensate for this: A simple biochemical switch in their retinas gradually enhances their ability to see infrared light. The salmon effectively transform their eyes into night-vision goggles, so they can see further into the murky water where they’ll fight, mate, spawn, and die." (Image: Jason Lee)

The Weak Science Behind the Wrongly Named Moral Molecule

"In the decade since, other groups have shown that sniffing oxytocin makes people more generous, cooperative, empathetic, and constructive. Commentators have suggested using the hormone during couples therapy, or to promote social behaviors in kids with autism. Journalists can't seem to write about it without calling it a “hug hormone” or “cuddle chemical.” And the third author of thatNature paper has repeatedly and misleadingly promoted the substance as a “moral molecule,” in interviews, a book, and a TED talk. But recently, several scientists have shown that this tower of evidence for oxytocin's positive influence is built on weak foundations." (Image: Kim Jong-Hi) 
 

Can a Futures Market Save Science?

"Exactly how good are psychologists at working out whether their own studies are reliable? retty good, actually, according to Anna Dreber from the Stockholm School of Economics, provided you pool their wisdom—and get them to gamble. Dreber created a stock market for scientific publications, where psychologists could buy or sell “stocks” in 44 published studies based on how reproducible they deemed the findings. And these markets predicted the outcomes of actual replication attempts pretty well, and certainly far better than any of the traders did on their own." (Image: Brendan McDermid)
 

Oops! Deepwater Horizon Dispersants Backfired

"To cope with the record-breaking volumes of oil at the Deepwater Horizon disaster, authorities decided to dump 7 million liters of a dispersant called Corexit into the Gulf. The smaller particles would also be easier fodder for oil-digesting microbes, which have evolved to break down hydrocarbons that naturally seep from oceanic vents. But a new study by Samantha Joye at the University of Georgia shows that the dispersants failed miserably. By simulating the Deepwater spill in their laboratory, Joye's team found that the dispersants actually suppressed oil-busting bacteria and slowed their ability to degrade oil. Instead, they favored microbes that, well, excel at digesting dispersants." (Image: Reuters)

Why Mantis Shrimp Send Secret Messages Using Twisted Light

"In the oceans, secret messages are being exchanged all the time. Some are obvious if you look closely enough, or at the right angle, or with sharp enough eyes. But mantis shrimps—a group of belligerent crustaceans—exchange signals that are so secretive that only they can see them." (Image: Silke Baron) 
 

More good reads

• Michael Specter on the rise of CRISPR and the implications for easy gene-hacking.
• This piece on uterus transplants is fascinating because they’re like rentals? You get one, have a baby or two, & then it's removed. By Denise Grady.
• Ringo, a puppy bred to have muscular dystrophy, is saved by a surprise mutation and might hint at new treatments. Such a great story by Ewen Callaway.
• Harvard has hundreds of freezers full of toenails. By Megan Thielking
• What makes Lake Tahoe so blue? Adrienne LaFrance investigates
• "A scan of every Gmail message taught the machine that the proper response to ambiguity is an outpouring of love." By Nicola Twilley
• This Man Made a Movie by Interviewing Himself 38 Years in the Future
• Lauren Morello writes about how Twitter is changing the conversation around sexism in science, and Azeen Ghorayshi discusses how bigwig astronomer Geoff Marcy—& likely many others—got away with sexual harassment at their universities for decades
•  “When you collect edible fungi, your expertise in identification is all that keeps you from death or serious illness.” An ode to mushrooms, but Helen Macdonald
• A damning analysis of past studies on "romantic priming" & a visualisation of psych's replication crisis. By Neuroskeptic
• And finally, some satire… Trudeau considers re-muzzling scientists after 3 hour conversation about rare seaweed 

 

More good links will be released in tomorrow's linkfest on Not Exactly Rocket Science.

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And that's it! Thanks for reading.

-Ed