Catherine Walker

Well done! - Katie Samantha Jolly

This paper on animal behaviour is particularly interesting. It highlights the empathetic behaviour shown by hens when their chicks were in distress. However, it comes with some controversial comments suggesting that this is not a display of empathy, but a show of the innate mothering instinct present in these females from birth. I would argue that the two options, empathy and instinct, are in fact quite hard to distinguish, and perhaps they are one and the same. If so, this paper is not a revelation, but just a confirmation of what we already knew about the broody nature of hens. It could be loosely linked with #BS1008, as this behaviour is the way the Mothers have evolved in response to their environment. - Catherine Walker

Glad exam period is over, but it wasn’t easy getting up in the mornings to go to lectures yesterday! I thought that maybe this time there would be a couple of lie ins- I should be so lucky! But I am glad to get back into it, and particularly looking forward to the animal lectures in #BS1013. - Catherine Walker

I'm finding the same, i'm really struggling to remember all the equations, the theory of how and why things work is ok but the math stuff just isnt sticking!! - Grace Hodson

A new study contradicts previous thinking, showing that the epithelium of sponges does actually function as an organ. This finding is significant in evolutionary terms like those discussed in the animal #BS1012 lectures, as it poses that all complex life has a skin. - Catherine Walker

Same here it was really helpful for revision :-) - Rachel Nolloth

Im doing 3 slides a day from lectures and reading over it. - Arnold Gangaidzo

the extra notes from prof. cundliff and prof schwabe are really good because they sort of give me an idea about the direction i need to go in terms of knowing what's relevent to the module . - Lydia Mary Davis

This article brought to mind a lot that we have discussed in recent #BS1012 lectures- it suggests that the most likely predator of the extinct ammonite was a cephalopod :) it reminded me of the evidence that giant squids were taking on the sperm whale. - Catherine Walker

Yeh, it's shown me how much easier it is to write an essay when it is all laid out to begin within and you're just filling in the gaps so to speak. - Joe Bailey

I agree Joe, I think your planning has made our essay so much easier. We have been able to be more efficient with our time, because we know exactly what we need to research. - Katie Samantha Jolly

it took me literally two minutes to use the spectrophotometer.... the electrophoresis at the end was very cool :) - Mohamed

I found this article really interesting as it highlighted one of the many diverse uses for the knowledge we are gaining in our degree- if it saves lives, it's definitely worthwhile! The fluorescent proteins described brought to mind Friday's #BS1003 practical, where the fluorescent product MU was expressed in our samples via gene fusion. - Catherine Walker

One thing to do is discuss things at the edge of knowledge - where is current research leading us? What is new in the last couple of years? Many of the posts here on Friendfeed give useful links to current research relevant to the essay. Most tutors will be looking for more than just a statement of well-known facts, and of course the use of advanced books and articles from journals as references is important. Hope this comment is useful. - Pat Heslop-Harrison

Thank you everyone for all your help! All the ideas were really useful, and I finished my essay over the weekend and have now submitted it :) - Catherine Walker

This article is directly related to our #BS1015 module, as it covers variation in the amino acids of proteins, and the resulting changes to characteristics. It's really interesting that such a minor mutation can be so beneficial to the few lucky individuals who possess it, and who knows? This knowledge could bring us one step closer to an HIV cure, and at the very least, it has furthered our understanding of the virus. - Catherine Walker

This article is interesting from an natural selection point of view: mass suicide in lemmings is well known to be a myth, but is also a trait that could never evolve, as all the individuals that carried out the selfless act in order to preserve the rest of the population wouldn't survive to pass on their genes. - Catherine Walker

Which module is this relevant to? - Dr Alan Cann

I think a lucky thing about science is things almost always follow patterns, so learning bond angles helps you with every molecule with that number of lone pairs, that number of valencies etc. I used little flash cards to remember them all, which is a bit young, but it does get it stuck in your head. - Xanthe Simpson-Gray

A great example of evolutionary biology :) further evidence to suggest that cats are adapted to their environments through the camouflage of their coats, which is obviously advantageous to any predator. - Catherine Walker

This is my thing for Professor Heslop-Harrison's tutorial!!! x - Katie Samantha Jolly

exactly the type of articles i love to read: scientific, but short and applicable! Love BBC's look on science - Teodora Petrova

Good job!! - Joshua Bower

Well done! - Philip Higgs

Good to hear :) What interested you most? - Joshua Bower

It was good to go over some of the organelles from A Level and refresh them, but interesting to find out about some aspects we hadn't covered :) - Catherine Walker