Double X Science - It's In Your Genes

Search Results for: label/Benjamin Franklin

  • Tracing the taming of the turkey

    …be an important feature of native culture in what is now the southwestern U.S. Evidence from bones and fossilized excrement—coprolites—from archaeological digs in the area show that the turkey’s importance goes back at least 2000 years there, as well.  In addition, analysis of the mitochondrial DNA—which passes only from mother to offspring and accumulates mutations at a slow, predictable rate—yielded two unexpected finds. First, these birds di…

    Authored by on November 21, 2012

  • Biology Explainer: The big 4 building blocks of life–carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and nucleic acids

    …molecules themselves break down into a surprisingly small number of building blocks. The proteins that make up all of the living things on this planet and ensure their appropriate structure and smooth function consist of only 20 different kinds of building blocks. Nucleic acids, specifically DNA, are even more basic: only four different kinds of molecules provide the materials to build the countless different genetic codes that translate into all…

    Authored by on June 8, 2012

  • After Newtown missteps, journalists get guidelines

    …almost twice as likely to say that they don’t want to live or work near a person with mental illness if they read an article about a person with mental illness involved in a mass shooting, according to a study published March 20 in the American Journal of Psychiatry. Interestingly, this tendency is the same even if the article avoids any mention of mental illness. This may be because this link between violence and mental illness is deeply engrain…

    Authored by on March 27, 2013

  • Modern Astronomers

    …an excellent science communicator, researcher, andleader.  She earned her B.S . from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Ph.D. from the University of Hawaii in the 1980s. At NASA she led the imaging team of the Voyager 2’s encounter with Neptune and became known for her science communication for it.  She returned to MIT as a scientist for nearly a decade. Among her honors, she has received Vladimir Karpetoff Award , Klumpke-Roberts Award,…

    Authored by on January 19, 2012

  • Double Xpressions: Jennifer Canale, the self-proclaimed "Flamboyant Scientist"

    …Girl Scouts, I was sent to dance school (but, much to my amazement, I enjoyed that until I was 17).  My parents started giving in around 3rdgrade, and I got the panda bear-shaped calculator I wanted, as well as the robot toy 2XL featuring the 8-track tape. My mom would beg me to watch Little House On the Prairie, but I preferred Star Trek (the original Kirk version), Lost in Space (Danger Will Robinson), and Land of the Lost. Of course this was…

    Authored by on November 30, 2012

  • Crystallographers of merit

    …from the light’s diffraction. The women in this post used this technique to look at large molecules, many of which were biologically relevant. Order of Merit medal of Dorothy Hodgkin, displayed in the Royal Society, London, 20 April 2004. Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin was a Chemistry Nobel Laureate.  (1910 – 1994) While her father was in Cairo, Egypt on an archaeological dig for the British government, Dorothy Crowfoot was born. Accompanying h…

    Authored by on March 7, 2013

  • Friday Roundup: 2011 top science lists, radium laced condoms, and the clitoris

    A Double X Science grandma showed us this picture. We thought it was the most ridiculously cute thing we’d seen all year. As 2011 draws to a close, media outlets and science bloggers have busily collated their top-10 (or 12 or 20) lists of science-related cool/interesting/freaky/fantastic stuff this year. Here’s a selection that should keep you busy for about the first half of 2012: Smithsonian’s list , including Fran…

    Authored by on December 30, 2011

  • Notable women biochemists in the 1900s

    …is encouragement of female students. Dr. Simmondsí research focused on the study of amino acid metabolism of bacteria. In 1953, the couple co-authored a textbook that educated a generation in biochemistry. The two died within 2 days of each other in 2007. Florence B. Seibert, by Smithsonian Institute Florence B. Seibert, Pebbles on the Hill of a Scientist. (1897-1991) She earned her A.B. from Goucher college in 1918 and her Ph.D. from Yale Univer…

    Authored by on February 14, 2013

  • Historical Chemists

    ation not able to be presented in 140 characters. Each woman could have multiple pages written on her; however, I have limited each to a paragraph. I hope you look up more on these women.  The International Year of Chemistry 2011 recently wrapped up, so I’d like to share a little more about some historical women in chemistry. Miriam the Alchemist By Michael Maier (1566-1622)  The first historical woman in chemistry is perhaps Miriam th…

    Authored by on January 10, 2012

  • Modern Chemists

    Our next installment of notable women in science brings us to chemists. Many of these women were born in the early part of the 20thcentury and forged their paths in tough times. All are still inspiring others today. Presented in no particular order: Catherine Clarke Fenselau is a pioneer in mass spectrometry.  Born in 1939, her interested in science was apparent before her 10th grade. She was encouraged to attend a women’s college, whi…

    Authored by on April 23, 2012

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