Archive for February, 2014

Pentagon Plans to Shrink Army to Pre-World War II Level – NYTimes.com

Monday, February 24th, 2014

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/24/us/politics/pentagon-plans-to-shrink-army-to-pre-world-war-ii-level.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimes&_r=0

How wrong is your time zone: Map shows how far world clocks are from solar time.

Monday, February 24th, 2014

#MAP: The wrongest #timezones in the world: SF, NY, London & Beijing are on “correct” time but not Moscow http://slate.me/Oqq0n8 HT @Slate

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_world_/2014/02/21/how_wrong_is_your_time_zone_map_shows_how_far_ahead_or_behind_the_world.html

Transcription and translation of pseudogenes

Sunday, February 23rd, 2014

http://www.nature.com/nmeth/journal/v11/n1/full/nmeth.2732.html

From the paper:
QT:{{”
2. Pseudogenes represent less than 0.1% of the total search space, yet a surprisingly large number, 36%, of human novel peptides mapped to pseudogenes (Fig. 2b). These findings are supported by recent peptide-level evidence of pseudogenes in mouse6. In humans, the observation of lineage- and cancer-specific expression of pseudogenes at the RNA level indicates biological relevance17. Our data suggest that pseudogenes may be not only transcribed but also translated. An interesting particular example was the pseudogene MYH16, identified by 20 peptides (Fig. 3), which were validated by LC-MS using synthetic peptides (Supplementary Fig. 15). The protein-coding capacity of MYH16 was previously shown to have been lost through double base deletion (resulting in a premature stop codon) during divergence of the human lineage from other primates18. However, our data show that, in the A431 cell line, the MYH16gene is actively encoding a shorter protein isoform with its translation initiation site downstream from the aforementioned double base deletion.
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A Billionaire Philanthropist in Washington Who’s Big on ‘Patriotic Giving’ – NYTimes.com

Sunday, February 23rd, 2014

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/21/us/a-billionaire-philanthropist-in-washington-whos-big-on-patriotic-giving.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimes

The Inflatable Helmet – Eleanor Smith – The Atlantic

Sunday, February 23rd, 2014

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/03/the-inflatable-helmet/357566 MT @TheAtlantic The [$500] inflatable helmet: Would you wear it? Maybe but not sure I trust it http://theatln.tc/1eUkmyh
pic.twitter.com/QZS2btHiY1

Privacy Please: Tools to Shield Your Smartphone – NYTimes.com

Sunday, February 23rd, 2014

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/20/technology/personaltech/privacy-please-tools-to-shield-your-smartphone-from-snoopers.html?smid=tw-nytimes&_r=0

New York City’s French Dual-Language Programs Are Mostly Pointless | New Republic

Sunday, February 23rd, 2014

Let’s Stop Pretending That #French Is an Important #Language. Is it going the way of Latin?
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/116443/new-york-citys-french-dual-language-programs-are-mostly-pointless via @prashantkhorana

Your Fate? Thank Your Ancestors – NYTimes.com

Saturday, February 22nd, 2014

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/21/your-fate-thank-your-ancestors/?smid=tw-nytimes

How to Survive the Next Wave of Technology Extinction – NYTimes.com

Saturday, February 22nd, 2014

How to Survive the Next Wave of Tech Extinction: Use $AAPL hardware, $GOOG services, $AMZN media & connector products
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/13/technology/personaltech/how-to-survive-the-next-wave-of-technology-extinction.html

Avoid Delicious!

German Education Chief Quits in Scandal Reflecting Fascination With Titles – NYTimes.com

Saturday, February 22nd, 2014

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/world/europe/german-education-chief-quits-in-scandal-reflecting-fascination-with-titles.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0