Current Research in Evolutionary Biology By: Harvard Museum of Natural History … Continue reading →

"BOTAMAGIC" - ( DLSLU BS. Biology Q1A ) This video was requested to me from my special friend in DLSLU. It was entitled "BOTAMAGIC". I really love this video among the previous videos that I've created because I learned new things... By: Christian Jay Solis … Continue reading →

A tomato expert and viola player uses plant statistics to trace the history of the violin Slight differences in formthe outline or the shape of the f-holeshave little effect on tone quality compared to the arched shape of the instrument, its varying thickness and its wood. Credit: Tarvisio Auctions via Wikimedia Commons ST. LOUIS By day, Dan Chitwood of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis is a plant morphologist who studies how the form and structure of tomatoes evolves differently as they adapt to new environments. By night, when he needs to think through a problem or take a break, he plays the viola. Chitwood has now crossed his passions for plants and stringed instruments by publishing a study that documents the evolution of violin shapes using the same methods that he uses for charting the evolving form of leaves. The study published Oct. 8 in PLoS One used these methods to examine the shape of 9,000 instruments built over a period of 400 years. The morphological analysis Chitwood used enabled him to classify violins according to region and violinmakers lineages. He identified four major groups of stringed instrument makers, or luthiers, who each crafted their own … Continue reading →