Sex in plants

So, after wondering about evolution of words meanings and issues about gender and sex, I may post a very basic summary of how botanists happen to characterize sex in their study species. There’s indeed many levels, from flower to population, and sex (reproductive organs arrangement) and gender (relative investment into male and female functions) vary [...]

La dure vie de Grain de Pollen

Les grains de pollen sont fabuleux. Si, si, je vous assure. Bon, d’accord, certains sont responsables d’allergies pour le moins désagréables, mais ils ne sont pas si nombreux que cela. La plupart sont innoffensifs… Pour ne rien gâcher, les grains de pollen sont vraiment ravissants. La preuve ? Voici un merveilleux grain, un peu épineux [...]

Sender and Gex

In a letter in Nature Genetics [1], and more recently as a paper in Archives of Sexual Behavior [2], Pr D. Haig digs into a curious but nevertheless interesting case of evolution in the use of words: the replacement of “sex” by “gender“, a replacement which occurred during the mid-80s (though the observed trend indicates [...]

Latest Additions to the Blogroll

I don’t know what will happen when the blogroll will be too long yet, but let’s keep adding some more interesting blogs… You may have a look at – Smal Things Considered, about the bacteria world, and there’s also a nice documentary about microbe-blogging (which I was thinking blogging about since without actually finding time). [...]

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22.

(Some English below the youtube screens/ Un peu d’anglais plus loin sous les écrans de youtube) L’expatriation a des bons cotés, notamment celui d’être en terrain inconnu, celui d’être pleinement confronté à la différence culturelle dans toute sa splendeur. Je ne vais pas détailler dans ce post les moultes frustrations qui naissent du simple fait [...]

Beauté Printanière

Hum, bon, c’est déjà l’été. Mais bon, j’avais l’intention d’écrire ce post au printemps, bien que la saison de terrain en ait décidé autrement. Il n’est jamais trop tard cependant, puisque la Beauté Printanière dont il s’agit aujourd’hui est une beauté plutôt spéciale: Claytonia virginica, une merveilleuse fleur de printemps. Cette petite plante appartient à [...]

Spring Beauty

Hum, yep summertime already. But hey, I intended to write this post in spring, though field season decided otherwise. It’s never too late anyway, since Spring Beauty is about a specific kind of beauty: Claytonia virginica, a wonderful spring species. This little plant belongs to the Portulacaceae. As an ephemeral, it is blooming early in [...]

Umoja, the village forbidden to men

(Some French below/un peu de francais ci dessous) Umoja is a village in Kenya founded by women repudiated by their husband. A friend of mine is producing a documentary about history and life in the village, you can see bits here. Go have a look! Of course, there is also some handicraft you can buy to help the village [...]