Archives for March, 2009
Tweeted (blogospherics)
Posted by Greg Laden on March 25, 2009 Space bat left behind her babies!!!! Well, not really. But these fruit bats are too cute to …. well, to be bats. Redoubt volcano quiets after 2 morning blasts The Komodo Dragons ate some guy.
Scientists to Texas Board of Education: Teach Evolution Right!
Posted by Greg Laden on March 25, 2009 Over 50 scientific societies representing hundreds of thousands of American scientists today publicly urged the Texas Board of Education to support accurate science education….
Apologies
Posted by Greg Laden on March 25, 2009 “All I can say is, ‘I’m sorry’” Hat Tip Feministing
Much Improved Lunar Eclipse Video
Posted by Greg Laden on March 25, 2009 this video is comprised of pictures i took of the lunar eclipse on march 3rd 2007 from pendeli mountain in athens, greece. the music is ‘odysseus’ by niko (www.nikoonline.com). – Toomanytribles
Finches Determine Sex of Offspring
Posted by Greg Laden on March 25, 2009 As you know if you read my blog, Trivers Willard is an important theoretical construct which has been tested numerous times. TW works in some species, not in others, and overall, that should be predictable (accroding to TW). It turns out that finches control the sex of their offspring, and do so in a way…
A new blog that could be good
Posted by Greg Laden on March 25, 2009 …I am trying to rid the word dilettante of its negative connotations and use it to highlight my interest in scientific research of all kinds. My area of expertise is chemical engineering and food science, however this does not prevent my interest in any other research. I like any and all science, so this is…
Squirrel Nut Zippers at the Varsity
Posted by Greg Laden on March 25, 2009 A small group of us, including at least two IT workers who are not homophobic, went to the Varsity, which is one of the oft’ used venues of Cafe Scientific, to see the revitalized Squirrel Nut Zippers. Ben Zvan, who is the only photographer I’ve ever heard compared to Jesus Christ (who apparently was one…
PZ Myers Car Wrecked in Accident: Myers Suffers Minor Injuries (updated)
Posted by Greg Laden on March 25, 2009 UPDATE: Read it in his own words! Relive the horror of the road! Cringe as you hear all the gory details of near death and automotive crunchiness, here at Pharyngula! Myers, trapped in remote region, unable to blog. UPDATE: Myers has been picked up from the scene by rescue vehicle dispatched from Morris, and is…
The Bachmann Effect
Posted by Greg Laden on March 25, 2009 “The Bachmann Effect” is now officially a phenomenon. Danny Thomas made the spit take famous, in his TV show Make Room for Daddy. He’s always be drinking a cup of coffee when someone would say something to which he would react with such great and sudden incredulity as to suffer a visceral reaction making it…
PLoS ONE gets community blog
Posted by Greg Laden on March 24, 2009 PLoS ONE now has a community blog. You an see it here and read Bora’s take on it here. This is in part to mark the fife thousandth paper published by PLoS ONE, and the growth of the on line community to a level that may sustain a community blog. Check it out.
Lunar Eclipse in Time Lapse
Posted by Greg Laden on March 24, 2009 Hat Tip Wired Science
Rachel Maddow: Sarah Palin is a …
Posted by Greg Laden on March 24, 2009 erp Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy I love Rachel Maddow. You know, in a healthy, non-stalking kinda way. But I do.
Criticizing Evolution Is OK if you are not nefarious about it.
Posted by Greg Laden on March 24, 2009 Tangled Up in Blue Guy examines Genie Scott’s testimony in Texas and takes it to another level. Here.
Rachel Maddow: AIG -> AIU
Posted by Greg Laden on March 24, 2009 … and related matters. Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Owning the Weather
Posted by Greg Laden on March 24, 2009 Hat Tip The Intersection (where you will find details on the film)
Obama Cool = Cheney Smackdown
Posted by Greg Laden on March 24, 2009 … Cheney has been rather out of line. And now he’s out of breath. Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Gay worker sues Microsoft for discrimination
Posted by Greg Laden on March 24, 2009 (London) A British worker for Microsoft is suing the computer giant in London, alleging discrimination. Jamie Durrant, 38, claims in his complaint to the labor tribunal that the company failed to take action despite numerous complaints he was being harassed by fellow workers. Durrant … claims emails were circulated among employees with headings including “I’m…
The Replace Michele Bachmann Web Carnival is Back
Posted by Greg Laden on March 24, 2009 Back before the election in November, Stephanie Zvan and I had dinner to discuss the idea of forming a community of like minded bloggers to exchange resources and information. Mike Haurbrich was part of that conversation as well, but not at dinner that particular evening, which was at The Blue Nile. During that conversation, and…
Minnesota Senate Recount: Refining the prediction on how it ends
Posted by Greg Laden on March 24, 2009 In conversation with reporters earlier today Coleman noted that he does not anticipate this case going to the US Supreme Court, though he did apparently say this in his usual smarmy way so he can change his mind later. He did indicate that he DOES anticipate bringing the case to the Minnesota Supreme Court if…
Michele Bachmann: Time for a censure. Seriously
Posted by Greg Laden on March 24, 2009 I live next to this crazy person’s congressional district and I do not want the yahoos who live there pouring over the border of My Fair City with their guns and rabid dogs, mullets and swastika-bearing pickups. Michele Bachmann barely makes it to Winged Monkey level, and this is well demonstrated here: More details here.…
Texas Evolution-Creationism Smackdown Part 3
Posted by Greg Laden on March 24, 2009 This just in from the NCSE: The future of science education in Texas is on the line. The Texas Board of Education, after two previous contentious public hearings on high school science standards (TEKS), meets March 25-27 for its final vote. As you may recall, at the previous meeting (January 23rd), the board voted to…
Let Academic Freedom Ring
Posted by Greg Laden on March 24, 2009 As long as we understand exactly what it really is… Debbitage has an excellent post responding to a piece in Higher Ed about critique v. objectivity in the classroom. The comparison is between “Objectivist” teaching and “Criticism Based” teaching… An important aspect of criticism-based teaching is that if done right, it is able to correct…
Blogospherics
Posted by Greg Laden on March 24, 2009 Tangled Up in Blue Guy has this: Angela Belcher and Batteries. Belcher, a bioengineer at MIT, is hacking biological systems within viruses to create new kinds of batteries That would be so cool. Joe My God has this: Gainesville FL Votes Today On Repealing LGBT Discrimination Protection Do the right thing, Gainesville! The Carnival of…
The Intersection Flees to Discover Blogs
Posted by Greg Laden on March 24, 2009 The Intersection, the Scienceblogs.com blog written by Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum, filed its last post on Scienceblogs.com yesterday afternoon. In closely related news, The Intersection, written by Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum, has just started up at its new home on Discover! You know that Chris and I have disagreed on a number of…
The Best of Twitter
Posted by Greg Laden on March 23, 2009 Macroblogging the microblog so you don’t have to. From BoraZ: Texting Your Catch: New Technology For Recreational Fishing Data … At nearly every fisheries management meeting he attends, Baker hears the same complaint: North Carolina’s recreational fishermen don’t have to account for their catch. Two years ago, during a regional meeting about snapper and grouper,…
Minnesota Recount End Is In Sight
Posted by Greg Laden on March 23, 2009 So, my friend Phil was in the Air Force up near Grand forks (where the flooding is happening now). He told me today they use to use a super tall radio tower to spot weather, and this tower was something like 70 miles away. So it was in sight, but almost unbelievably so. Similarly, there…
Yet Another Flying Car …
Posted by Greg Laden on March 23, 2009 Or, perhaps, a garagable aircraft. First Flight: Landing and parking animation (video may load very slowly): MIT press release.
Which boots faster, Linux or Windows?
Posted by Greg Laden on March 23, 2009 Everybody knows the answer is almost always Linux, and one of the reasons for that is because Windows cheats. Mr. Exile has run a test in which he compares two laptops, one with four times the memory and about double the processor speed and a more advanced processor, with the hotter computer running XP and…
New Particle Throws Monkeywrench in Particle Physics
Posted by Greg Laden on March 23, 2009 We know where Dora’s monkey is…. She’s over at Fermi Lab throwing a wrench in Teh Physics: … scientists have detected a new, completely untheorized particle that challenges what physicists thought they knew about how quarks combine to form matter. They’re calling it Y(4140), reflecting its measured mass of 4140 Mega-electron volts. “It must be…
, which is now available for the 
