Humanities
A Review of Evolution and Belief by Robert Asher
Posted by jrosenhouse on May 29, 2013 A while back I engaged in an exchange of blog posts with paleontologist Robert Asher. It started with an essay Asher wrote for HuffPo, extolling the virtues of reconciling science and religion. I felt his arguments were insufficient, and said so in this post. Asher eventually replied. I felt his arguments were still insufficient, so…
Occupational Health News Roundup
Posted by Liz Borkowski on May 28, 2013 As immigration legislation passes the Senate Judiciary Committee, a report demonstrates why agricultural employers consider a guest worker program to be so important; Bangladesh garment workers win important improvements; and OSHA penalizes an energy company for firing an employee who raised safety concerns about a nuclear-energy project.
Linguistic Guide to the Vocalizations of American Teenagers
Posted by Greg Laden on May 25, 2013 This guide covers most of the commonly heard vocalizations of American Teenagers. The text accompnaying the audio-video guide is here.
Another Counterintuitive Math Problem
Posted by jrosenhouse on May 25, 2013 A while back I did a post about counterintuitive math problems. However, I deliberately held one back, since I was using it as my Problem of the Week for that week. So here it is: Suppose a steel beam, one mile long, is fastened securely to the ground at each end. As the day heats…
Cosmic Bombardment of the Earth ca 2.2 Million Years Ago?
Posted by Greg Laden on May 25, 2013 
There are bacteria that use Iron (and other elements) to make tiny magnets that they carry around so they don’t get lost. (I anthropomorphize slightly.) There are isotopes of Iron that are not of the Earth, but are found only elsewhere in the universe. Suppose an event happened elsewhere and spewed some of that cosmic…
Study: Sending nonviolent drug offenders to treatment instead of prison saves money
Posted by The Pump Handle on May 24, 2013 When it comes to nonviolent drug offenses, systems that favor treatment over incarceration not only produce better health outcomes, they save money, too. It’s yet another example of how investing in public health and prevention yields valuable returns on investment.
Question for my readers.
Posted by Greg Laden on May 23, 2013 I think the accusation that I’ve “stalked” fellow blogger Abbie Smith have been made one too many times. But I’m not sure. Is this the point where I lay out the exact sequence of events of what happened between us? What do you think?
Can Atheists Be Redeemed?
Posted by jrosenhouse on May 23, 2013 Pope Francis said some interesting things at mass yesterday. From the Vatican Radio website: Wednesday’s Gospel speaks to us about the disciples who prevented a person from outside their group from doing good. “They complain,” the Pope said in his homily, because they say, “If he is not one of us, he cannot do good.…
Healthcare costs and tradeoffs: Air conditioners and teachers’ salaries edition
Posted by Liz Borkowski on May 21, 2013 Ezra Klein talks to Bill Gates and Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber about investing in disease prevention and the tradeoffs in healthcare spending decisions.
A Lesson in Applied Probability
Posted by jrosenhouse on May 21, 2013 Nate Silver provides the antidote to some dubious statistical reasoning on the part of certain conservatives. He was replying in particular to this column from Peggy Noonan. A column, mind you, that opens with, “We are in the midst of the worst Washington scandal since Watergate.” Goodness! Then she presents evidence like this: The second…
