Mike Dunford was a graduate student in the Department of Zoology at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, where he studied evolution. Life as an army spouse has since moved him on to Pensacola, where he's currently trying to figure out what to do next. While he's doing that, he writes stuff here, although not usually in the third person. He's also a contributer to The Pandas Thumb. As is the case with everyone else here, his opinions are his own, and do not necessarily represent those of any organization he is affiliated with.
August 30, 2008
Category: The Blog
I'm sitting in the Faraday Theatre at the Royal Institution right now, at the Nature Network's Science Blogging 2008 conference. There are about 100 people in the room, 90% of whom I don't recognize at all. 90% of the...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 5:04 AM • 8 Comments •
August 28, 2008
Category: Presidential
The Democratic nominee for President is giving one hell of a kick ass speech at the moment. I really hope this is the Obama we see for the rest of the campaign....
Posted by Mike Dunford at 10:28 PM • 2 Comments •
Category: Travel
Only now, as I sit here in my hotel room eating a cheddar and roasted tomato sandwich, with a packet of Worcester Sauce crisps on the side, is the fact that I'm in London starting to sink in. In...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 12:41 PM • 3 Comments •
August 26, 2008
Category: Picture Posts
Congrats to John Lynch for quickly coming up with the correct answer to the previous picture quiz. The man in the statue is Richard Owen; the statue sits inside the Natural History Museum in London. Since that quiz was...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 9:46 PM • 7 Comments •
Category: Picture Posts
Just the statue of some dude....
Posted by Mike Dunford at 1:06 PM • 16 Comments •
Category: Accidental
I went birding again this morning. There's a nice, peaceful nature trail on base that's usually deserted if you're there before 7:30. The trail runs near the shoreline, and there's enough beach access to make it easy to watch...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 10:56 AM • 3 Comments •
August 24, 2008
...and all the whos down in whoville, the tall and the small......
Posted by Mike Dunford at 8:32 PM • 5 Comments •
Category: Anti-Evolutionism
If you're going to read anything today, you should read Amy Harmon's article on teaching evolution in Florida. I haven't taught high school, but I've had similar experiences teaching evolution in an introductory level college course. Evolution shouldn't be...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 10:54 AM • 0 Comments •
August 23, 2008
Category: Animals
I've only recently started birding with any sort of regularity or enthusiasm, and I'm not all that good at it yet. I snapped a couple of pictures of a bird in flight the other day, and I've been trying...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 10:24 PM • 2 Comments •
Category: Flaming Small-Minded Stupidity
I know I'm far from the first to go off on this commercial, but... No, vehix.com commercial lady, you cannot go online and "literally take a test drive". It doesn't work that way. The tubes that connect your computer...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 12:24 PM • 7 Comments •
August 22, 2008
Category: The Blog
Next week I'll be in London for Nature Network's Science Blogging Conference. It's entirely possible that I'm looking forward to the trip as much as GrrlScientist is, and not just because I'll be hanging out in the UK for...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 1:30 PM • 2 Comments •
August 13, 2008
Category: Misc
Seed is trying to figure out who you are, why you read our material, and what you like. If you're willing to help us out, head over to the survey and fill it out. You'll help us, and you...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 10:24 PM • 0 Comments •
Category: Flaming Small-Minded Stupidity
I used to have a hard time explaining the anger, resentment, and hostility that many scientists feel toward the big academic publishing houses. It's been getting easier, though. Recent events have, unfortunately, provided people with an experience that makes...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 2:44 PM • 21 Comments •
August 12, 2008
Category: Flaming Small-Minded Stupidity
Like most bloggers, I have an ego. I'm not mentioning that by way of apology, but as an explanation for why I was browsing through my sitemeter statistics last Friday. Every now and then, I head over to sitemeter, call up the view that lets me see what websites referred people
Posted by Mike Dunford at 8:50 AM • 19 Comments •
August 11, 2008
Category: Science, Policy, and Management
This should come as no surprise, coming as it does on the heels of last week's revelation that the Bush Administration is planning to change the federal definition of abortion in an effort to make it easier for our...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 8:35 PM • 8 Comments •
Category: Education
The initial phase of the California Creationist Lawsuit is over, and quality education is the decisive winner. Kevin Vicklund has Judge Otero's decision, as well as a very nice analysis of the ruling up over at his blog. If...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 9:54 AM • 53 Comments •
August 10, 2008
The American Men's 4x100 freestyle relay team just gave the French a very painful lesson in why it's really not a good idea to talk smack: "The Americans?" Bernard recently told the sports newspaper L'Equipe, "We're going to smash...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 11:57 PM • 12 Comments •
August 8, 2008
Category: Politics
The camera at the opening ceremonies just captured our President, sprawled in his chair, binoculars dangling limply from one hand, looking blankly out in space, and generally appearing to be thoroughly bored. That appearance was not dispelled when he...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 10:02 PM • 4 Comments •
As I mentioned earlier, the current issue of Nature has a perspectives article by Donald Berry, a statistician at the MD Anderson Cancer Center that addresses problems with the current system for testing athletes. I more or less agree...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 12:56 PM • 12 Comments •
Category: Science and Public Safety
The latest issue of the journal Nature has two articles (an editorial and a perspectives piece) on the topic of drug testing for athletes. Both the editors and Donald Berry (the author of the perspectives article) argue for the need for both more scientific
Posted by Mike Dunford at 9:32 AM • 5 Comments •
August 7, 2008
Category: War and Peace
...by attempting to depict their client as a semi-literate Bedouin with a fourth grade education, who knows how to drive, wash cars, load trucks, and change oil filters and tires. They apparently were successful in this, even in the face of damning testimony from al-Qaeda leader Khalid Sheik Mohammed claiming that behind Hamdan's convincing facade there lurked
Posted by Mike Dunford at 12:21 AM • 4 Comments •
August 6, 2008
Category: Life in an Army Family
Don't get me wrong. Living on base has some huge advantages for military families. The kids are around other kids who also move a lot. My wife can bike to work (on days when she doesn't walk). There are...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 7:51 AM • 5 Comments •
August 4, 2008
Category: Politics
There have been a number of indications that the Associated Press isn't being as neutral in the election as we would expect from a major media outlet. At an event in April, two Associated Press employees gave McCain a...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 9:31 AM • 4 Comments •
August 1, 2008
Category: Medicine
Apparently, the Bush administration has come up with another way to attack reproductive rights. The department of Health and Human Services has come up with a draft regulation that changes a number of definitions in an effort to make...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 12:54 AM • 18 Comments •
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(Non-U.S. subscribers, click here.)
