more evolution and alien lights

As you might tell from these science posts I'm a bit of a biology person. And an Evolution person. Also monkeys - you can never have too many monkeys.

I don't know why - but I didn't have as many science articles as I normally do lined up for today. So here is something extra: OMFG IT'S DAVID DUCHOVNY'S WEBLOG
All signs seem to point that YES this IS David Duchovny's blog - the guy from X-Files, and spectatularly rememberable films like Evolution and Beethoven (okay the latter was a bit part - and I'll let you work out if there's sarcasm or not). He's moved on from acting, and is now in the directing business, good on him.

Okay, onto science:

• Two limbed tiptoe aids in octopus camoflage: rolling themselves into a ball, and using only two of their legs to crawl along the ocean floor hides octopuses (yes that is the correct plural) from predators - apparently they look like coconuts. So instead they'll be attacked by underwater monkeys and coconut crabs and other coconutivores (now, that isn't a word) -n@n
• Eda controls stickleback armour: reinforcing long recognized science - small changes in genes can lead to big changes in organisms - BMC
• Light from alien planets confirmed: apparently noone has every detected planets visually outside the Solar System before - so WOW - planets - n@n
• Curisoty won't kill science: a very enlightening editorial on the nazi-tactics sometimes used by the pro-evolution camp of the hardened evolution vs. creationism internet flame-war campaign -BMC
  

And news of the week has to go to the spectacular find in Montana of a T-rex fossil with preserved soft tissue (n@n). If you think about it - fossils are normally bone - often only a few bones - and thats all scientists, museum curators and film makers have to work withto present you with those massive models, CGI and Walking with Dinosaurs. This is soft tissue, while the chances of DNA are admittedly nil, it still enlightens us on cell structure and some other physiology - maybe even if dinosaurs (or large carnivorous dinosaurs) were cold or warm blooded. Very interesting. PubMED listing of the article.

PS - Ritual lets med students farewell to cadavers

*science*news*evolution*tyrannosaurus rex*dinosaur*fossil*planets*space*octopus*camoflage*david duchovny*biology*T-rex*creationism*genes*weekly*