Daily Data Dump - October 28th, 2010

A very special note: I endorse Christie Wilcox for 2010 Blogging Scholarship. A map of human genome variation from population-scale sequencing. This paper is getting a lot of play. A taste of things to come from the 1000 Genomes Project. It's OA, so check it out. Difficulties in Defining Errors in Case Against Harvard Researcher. I think Marc Hauser will be an emeritus professor by the time the case involving his alleged misconduct is resolved. Where did all these monkeys come from? – Fossil teeth may hint at an Asian origin for anthropoid primates. We were all Asians before we were all Africans! Before that perhaps were all Laurasians and/or Gondwanans. How about Pangaeans? Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Risk of Metabolic Syndrome and Type 2 Diabetes. "...individuals in the highest quantile of SSB intake (most often 1–2 servings/day) had a 26% greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those in the lowest quantile." Genetic background probably matters in terms of the effect size. The evolution of the marine phosphate reservoir. "We propose that these two factors are intimately linked; a glacially induced nutrient surplus could have led to an increase in atmospheric oxygen, paving the way for the rise of metazoan life." Interesting stuff.