What We're Talking About Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Coming Back for More
Good things are great, but too much of a good thing can be bad. Especially when you keep coming back for more. On The Frontal Cortex, Jonah Lehrer introduces us to ChatRoulette, a website that allows you to get “rejected, propositioned and yelled at” by other live strangers with webcams. With a single click, users can dump whomever they’re looking for a new face, hopefully. Jonah says it “reminds me of Vegas, where people are willing to endure big losses for the occasional thrill of a surprising gain.” Of course, if chocolate is your choice compulsion, gain is to be expected. Jessica Palmer on Bioephemera describes an experiment where mice disregarded electric shocks so they could eat some chocolate, but only if they had once been starved. Having known starvation, these now-healthy mice submitted to pain for the extra calories. Finally, you can read up on a few other habit formers. David Dobbs discusses the last things any civilized expedition would run out of on Neuron Culture, and DrugMonkey digs through case reports for a rare and unpleasant consequence of chronic cannabis consumption.
Primary Source
- More news of the week on Page 3.14.
ChatRoulette
the frontal cortexFebruary 8, 2010
It's like a subway ride on your computer, a chance to bump into strangers on the "street" without leaving your desk. Sure, there are lots of weirdos out there, and plenty of those strangers won't stare back. But every once in a while, a meaningful interaction might occur, as the social slot machine dispenses a few quarters.
Cocoa Madness: aberrant chocolate-seeking mice run rampant!
bioephemeraFebruary 8, 2010
Of course my cynicism reared its ugly head immediately and said "they totally used chocolate just to get A) internet buzz, B) completely misleading mainstream media coverage, and C) invited to be on Oprah." But the authors plead innocent, saying "milk chocolate was chosen based on previous studies showing its rewarding properties in animals.
Shackleton's whiskey; Powell's coffee
neuron cultureFebruary 5, 2010
This puts me in mind of John Wesley Powell's Grand Canyon expedition, as described in his classic account of same. Powell had nearly as trying an adventure as Shackleton did — an 8, I would say, to Shackleton's 10 — and when he and his party finally emerged from the canyon into the world of relative safety and food, he took account of their remaining food supplies.
Cannabis Hyperemesis
drugmonkeyJanuary 28, 2010
Cannabis use was also fairly heavy with the afflicted individuals smoking multiple times per day. In those cases where individuals were able/willing to stop using cannabis, the cyclic vomiting remitted. In at least three cases individuals were unable or unwilling and the cyclic hyperemesis continued.
Video
Like Super Bowl halftime viewers, dogs are easily entertained by lasers on Uncertain Principles.
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Space shuttle Endeavour rockets into the night sky on Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted).
Community
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a bestseller on Amazon.com, having garnered a perfect five-star rating from its readers. If you haven't heard of this book you can get a good sense of it from our bloggers, all of whom applaud Rebecca Skloot's riveting tale of science, history, and American family.
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In Conversation
“The style of argument used by modern ID folks is not some aberration within the context of Christian theology. Indeed, in the nineteenth century Paley's version of the design argument was one of the centerpieces of natural theology. This is precisely why the theory of evolution was such a blow to the enterprise.”February 9, 2010
Channel Surfing
Life Science
Religion: adaptation or by-product?
For years, whenever someone asks me about the evolution of religion, I explain that there are two broad...
Photo of the Day #850: Gorillas
Lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla), photographed at the Bronx Zoo....
New and Exciting in PLoS ONE
There are 18 new articles in PLoS ONE today. As always, you should rate the articles, post notes...
The Life Science Channel RSS FeedPhysical Science
Amazing Laser Application 2: Laser Cooling!
What's the application? Using lasers to reduce the speed of a sample of atoms, thereby reducing their temperature...
Wednesday Whatzits: Kilauea takes out the last Royal Gardens home
Kilauea has spent the last ~20 years paving over the Royal Gardens subdivision with lava ... and now it looks like its going to finish the job. Also, a stunning shot of lightning and eruption at Sakurajima.
Sport Science, Pulling and Friction
In the short episode recently, Sport Science compared a football player pulling a sled with huge tires on it to a truck pulling stuff. I think their goal was to compare the power per kg from for the player and the truck to show how awesome humans are (and let me just say that humans ARE awesome). The problem was that they really didn't give the truck a fair chance.
The Physical Science Channel RSS FeedEnvironment
The NYTimes, the IPCC, and Perceived Conflict of Interest
Time to think carefully about perceived conflict of interest....
The Heaving, Voluptuous Breasts of the IPCC Chief
I've often wondered what I should write after everyone is already living the Zombie attack and is bored with hearing about how to grow food and mend your socks. I figure at some point, the market will be saturated by such things, and people will want to escape - and I should start thinking now about escapist fiction. I was thinking detective novels, but I clearly should have been thinking "porn."
Father and Mother and Uncle John...: Tribalism and a Place at the Table
This morning, during school time, Isaiah asked me just how many Aunts and Uncles he had. Asked to...
The Environment Channel RSS FeedEducation
NIH Peer Review Outcome: A Reader Poll
Okay DearReader. Believe the NIH grant review process is irretrievably broken? Now's your chance. If you have ever...
Grades and Learning - poor marketing
This came in the mail. This is an ad for someone's online homework service (I am not saying...
Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted)
Scientia Pro Publica: One Week from Today!
Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People) is a blog carnival devoted to sharing the best science, medical and nature writing with the public, and it is seeking submissions and hosts!
The Education Channel RSS FeedPolitics
Dispatches from the Culture Wars
FARK Headline of the Day
Scott Brown sworn in as US Senator, giving the GOP a 41-59 majority Very nice....
Dispatches from the Culture Wars
South Carolina's Brilliant Idea
Sometimes I have to wonder what's in the water down in South Carolina. They've now passed a law...
Dispatches from the Culture Wars
Affirmative Action and Political Hypocrisy
Rush Limbaugh has once again accused Barack Obama of having gotten special help in college and not having...
The Politics Channel RSS FeedMedicine & Health
Report a bad doctor to the authorities, go to jail? The trial, day two
While I'm at it blogging about the trial of Anne Mitchell, the nurse who is being maliciously prosecuted...
ScienceOnline2010 session videos - Privacy, ethics, and disasters: how being online as a doctor changes everything Part 4
Privacy, ethics, and disasters: how being online as a doctor changes everything Saturday, January 16 at 10:15...
Dr. Rolando Arafiles: Antivaccine rhetoric, colloidal silver for the flu, and Morgellons disease
The case in west Texas: It really is worse than I thought. Anyone there wanting to stand up for science-based medicine needs to be very afraid.
The Medicine & Health Channel RSS FeedBrain & Behavior
Proposed Diagnostic Criteria Revisions
The American Psychiatric Association has gone public with the details of their proposed revisions to their Diagnostic and...
Cocoa Madness: aberrant chocolate-seeking mice run rampant!
Well, not quite. I got an intriguing abstract in my inbox earlier today, to this new paper from...
Clean smells promote generosity and fair play; dark rooms and sunglasses promote deceit and selfishness
The English language is full of metaphors linking moral purity to both physical cleanliness and brightness. We speak...
The Brain & Behavior Channel RSS FeedTechnology
The Computer Industry Is Making Us Crazy
We had a meeting yesterday with the chair of the CS department, who wanted to know about our...
Adventures in Ethics and Science
Some reflections on my fifth blogiversary.
Taking stock of opportunities that blogging has given me.
A scientific ethics of code
Code wants to be free.
The Technology Channel RSS FeedInformation Science
Academic samizdat
Since early days indeed, it's been possible to bypass journal publishers and libraries in a quest for a...
The new evil empire has closed access to Ageline
A brief note. Remember when I told you about free to you research databases? Remember when some other...
Journalism wrap-up from ScienceOnline2010
The complete list of blog/media coverage of ScienceOnline2010 is becoming huge (and also swiftly falling down and off...
The Information Science Channel RSS FeedJobs
ScienceOnline2010 session videos - Privacy, ethics, and disasters: how being online as a doctor changes everything Part 4
Privacy, ethics, and disasters: how being online as a doctor changes everything Saturday, January 16 at 10:15...
NIH Peer Review Outcome: A Reader Poll
Okay DearReader. Believe the NIH grant review process is irretrievably broken? Now's your chance. If you have ever...
Complaining about the system is well and good but remember it isn't personal.
There is no such thing as a perfect grant proposal. Deal.
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ScienceBlogs Super Photos
Top Lists
- 1Great Moments in Human Evolution: The Invention of Chipped Stone Tools : Greg Laden's Blog
- 2Chimpanzee Food Sharing : Greg Laden's Blog
- 3Racehorse Research Identifies Speed Gene : Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted)
- 4Clean smells promote generosity and fair play; dark rooms and sunglasses promote deceit and selfishness : Not Exactly Rocket Science
- 5Laacher See: The caldera in the middle of Europe : Eruptions
- 1Nothing will stop the never-ending thread! Nothing!
PZ Myers 02.08.2010
- 2Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came to Be
PZ Myers 02.09.2010
- 3What does an atheist firing squad look like?
Greg Laden 02.08.2010
- 4The death of Tetrapod Zoology
Darren Naish 02.10.2010
- 5Creationists are *WEIRD*
ERV 02.09.2010
- 1
The Greatest Story Ever Told -- 04 -- The Expanding Universe
starts with a bang! 02.08.2010
- 2 How I Know the Universe is Screwing With Me...
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The Saints have Won the Super Bowl: Some Science Analogies
the world's fair 02.09.2010
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A travesty in Texas
the white coat underground 02.08.2010
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Racehorse Research Identifies Speed Gene
living the scientific life (scientist, interrupted) 02.08.2010
From NYTimes.com
Latest science stories | More at nytimes.com
From Futurity.org
Smart health commentary | More at GetBetterHealth.com
SB Basics
Synthetic Biology
Some engineers use cranes and steel to make their designs reality, but synthetic biologists engineer using tools on a different scale: DNA and the other molecular components of living cells. Synthetic biology uses cellular systems and structures to produce artificial models based on natural order. Read these posts from the ScienceBlogs archives for more:
Pharyngula May 30, 2007
“Playing God”
The Loom January 31, 2008
"Frankenstein Was Here": Synthetic Biology as Graffiti
Discovering Biology in a Digital World July 2, 2006
Build your own virus
Humanities & Soc. Sciences
bioephemera
"CSI: Transylvania"? Reviewing "Vampire Forensics"
On Tuesday, Feb. 23, National Geographic Explorer will be devoting an episode to "Vampire Forensics." You can...
Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted)
CATalunia Boy's Choir
This amusing video should go into the "what did we do before YouTube?" category. This video captures the CATalunia Boy's Choir singing classical music with feline vocals .. it's a 'must view' for all cat owners and cat fans!
Greg Laden's Blog
Great Moments in Human Evolution: The Invention of Chipped Stone Tools
Or not....
The Social Sciences Channel RSS Feed