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Three video talks from Columbia University explore the value of biodiversity, why its loss matters, and what people can do to fix the problem.
Teach and learn the nuts and bolts of evolution with this website from the University of California Museum of Paleontology.
A leading educator presents compelling evidence for evolution in this video lecture from HHMI's Biointeractive.
A college professor suggests ways to enhance the teaching of evolution in this Web extra from the HHMI Bulletin.
Check out the first three classroom lessons on natural selection and the role of gene switches in evolution on this resource page from Biointeractive.
The bacteria on your body outnumber your own cells. But that's not the most surprising thing you'll learn from Bonnie Bassler, an HHMI investigator at Princeton University. Bassler, one of the researchers featured in the 2009 Holiday Lectures, studies how bacteria talk to each other. This communication allows these seemingly solitary creatures to coordinate their activities and, sometimes, work together to attack. She first learned about this bacterial back-and-forth studying glowing bacteria that live inside the squid.
Cone snails, on the other hand, don't need help to attack their prey. Baldomero Olivera, an HHMI professor at the University of Utah and the other Holiday Lecturer, will explain how the snails use intense venom to kill fish, worms, and even people—if they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. The video below will give you a sneak peek. Each of the 700 cone snail species churns out highly specialized venom, which targets the victim’s nervous system and can cause sedation, shock, or paralysis.
To find out more about the lectures—and this exciting science that may lead to new medicines—go to www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/. There's still time to join in the fun! Tune in to the live webcast on December 3rd and 4th. And if you can't participate now, look out for a DVD of the lectures in April 2010.
Talking Bacteria
How do bacteria communicate to coordinate an attack on their host—and what strategies are being developed to interfere with the “quorum sensing” process? For the answers, watch HHMI investigator Bonnie Bassler’s video lecture for advanced students from iBioSeminars.
Cone Snail Peptides
Marine cone snails are venomous creatures—but their toxins are excellent candidates for new drugs to treat neurological diseases. HHMI Professor Baldomero Olivera explains cone snail biochemistry and tells the story of the discovery of a key drug in a video talk for advanced students from iBioSeminars.
What Is Cool Science?
At Cool Science, we entertain questions of all kinds (Ask a Scientist). We encourage young scientists to get their hands dirty-virtually (Curious Kids). We offer high school and college students new approaches to cutting-edge science topics (BioInteractive). We provide educators with a host of innovative resources they can use in their classrooms (For Educators). We reveal what it takes to become a scientist (Becoming a Scientist). And we showcase an undergraduate science discovery project that may one day change the way science is taught (SEA).
We invite you to explore the many cool features of Cool Science.
Photos: Michael Marsland/Yale University and Mark Wilson
Learn how antibiotics work—and when they don't—with this multimedia tutorial from HHMI's Biointeractive.
Read about researchers' success in creating images of the bacterial cell wall—a new target for drugs.
Learn how “right-handed” amino acids can spur bacteria to adapt to changing environmental conditions.
HHMI investigator Bonnie Bassler has deciphered the molecular language of cholera bacteria. Find out what this discovery might mean for treating the disease.