The A&P Professor Science & Education Updates - Issue #169

Life Science

A novel atlas reveals region-specific links between structural, mechanical, and genetic properties within the heart.

Study of tiny parasites points to gene loss from adaptation putting them on dead-end evolutionary course

Emotional regulation was linked to theta wave activity in the frontal cortex of the brain.

AgRP neurons in the hypothalamus control the release of endogenous lysophospholipids, helping to control the excitability of cerebral cortex neurons and stimulating the desire for food intake.

Have you ever met a perfect stranger and felt like you 'clicked' almost immediately? Well, that feeling of chemistry might actually be chemistry. But what if perfect strangers "begin to interest us at first sniffs rather than at first sight alone?", the neuroscientists asked.

In a sample of older men and women ages 63 to 84, those who were exposed to any amount of light while sleeping at night were significantly more likely to be obese, and have high blood pressure and diabetes compared to adults who were not exposed to any light during the night, reports a new Northwest

We usually think of bacteria as organisms so small they can be seen only through a microscope. But scientists discovered a giant white bacterium lurking on rotting leaves in the brackish waters of a red mangrove swamp in Guadeloupe in the Lesser Antilles.

Science is increasingly conducted by teams. But within those teams, credit isn’t always allocated equitably: Women are less likely to be authors than men in their research group at the same career stage, even accounting for the hours each individual worked on the project, according to a study published today in Nature.

Teaching & Learning

Scott Freeman has assembled the evidence: When STEM courses are taught using active-learning techniques rather than a standard lecture, students perform better, according to a widely cited meta-analysis he published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal. And not only that, Freeman’s work shows, when much of class time is devoted to active learning, it reduces gaps in student performance.

So why aren’t more courses being taught this way? And how might that finally change?

TAPP News & Notes

Dr. Judi Nath discusses her new book about how misinformation affects our lives and laws with host Kevin Patton