Link roundup March 11, 2012

Some of the science and SF links originally posted on Google+ , Twitter , and Facebook  this week:

• Living Plastic Eats Spilt Food: Scientific American Podcast
• Center for PostNatural History: Sterile Male Screwworms
  the original screwfly solution...
• Spider silk violin strings made
• An Absurdly Cool Behind-The-Scenes Look At The Jurassic Park Dinosaur Puppets
• Scientists and tourists bring thousands of alien seeds into Antarctica | Not Exactly Rocket Science | Discover Magazine
• Amateur Biologists Are New Fear in Making a Mutant Flu Virus
• Bjork Explores The World Within For 'Hollow' : NPR
  In the spirit of exploring the science of music, +Bjork turns the complex process of DNA replication and transcription into something as simple and beautiful as a pop song.
• [GUEST POST] Jason Sanford Asks: Where Are All the Science Fiction Readers? - SF Signal 
  
  At +SF Signal Jason Sanford argues that there should be more "entry level" science fiction. I'm not familiar enough with current kid and YA fiction to know if this is really a problem or not.
• ladybusiness: Coverage of Women on SF/F Blogs
• Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle and Hummingbirds - Mad Art Lab
  
  +Amy Roth illustrates the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle with hummingbirds.
• Kim Stanley Robinson: "Art is strongest when it is inspired by science"
  "Art in our time is strongest when it is aware of science, includes science, is inspired by science, or is about science. [... ]. Then conceptually, science is creating new stories to tell, by deluging us with new information and potentialities."
• A User's Guide to Hosting Beneficial Foreign Lifeforms (@io9)
  
  What can probiotics do for you?
• How the hunt for Mars life evolved
  "an hourlong chat about the search for life on Mars, and why the Red Planet isn't exactly the way it looks in "John Carter."
• Blastr: Are writing professors biased against sci-fi? Michael Chabon says yes
• The Prozac Yogurt Effect: How Hype Can Affect the Future of Science | The Crux | Discover Magazine
  Is overblown hype about synthetic biology affecting the future of science? +Christina Agapakisargues that it may be doing just that:
  "The exuberant over-optimism about the possibilities of genetics, both sequencing and now synthesizing genes, has created outsized expectations of what DNA can do, blurring the lines between science fiction and science fact. [. . .] Cells are simply too complicated for the “gene for that” paradigm."
• Could Humans Evolve into a Giant Hive Mind? (@io9)
  
  Are we too individualistic and xenophobic for our minds to come together as one?
• MIND MELD: The Secrets Behind Speculative Fiction’s Love Affair With Mars - SF Signal 
• The Fact and Fiction of Fantastic Hybrids
  Artistic "mutants" created by artist Sandra Yagi and writer Julie Benbow.
• The cell biology of regeneration (@JCB)
  Earthly animals that regenerate better than +Doctor Who 
  "The Doctor’s slightly defective regenerative power is not only a boon for the show’s fans (and producers), but it is also a rare example of science fiction being outdone by the real world. On Earth, a wide range of actual organisms can regenerate missing parts after injury. Unlike the fictional Doctor, these animals can rebuild new structures that are indistinguishable from those they are replacing"
• Jane Goodall on the Lazarus Effect | New Species | DISCOVER Magazine
  Rediscovery of a long-lost species sends a message of hope about second chances for all of us"
• DIY Kit Overclocks Your Brain With Direct Current - Technology Review
• Welcome to the Brain Bank (YouTube)
  Visit the Harvard Brain Bank, where there are never enough normal brains to go around.

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