Archives for March, 2011
How To Identify Hawks at a Distance (and a recommendation on binoculars)
Posted by Greg Laden on March 23, 2011 Imma let you hear all about how Hawks at a Distance: Identification of Migrant Raptors is a remarkable and important field guide, but first I want to mention that one of the most interesting parts of that guide is the forward by Pete Dunne, who himself has written a bird book or two. Dunne reviews…
Coming soon to a Wii near you: LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean
Posted by Greg Laden on March 22, 2011 Julia always lets me be Indy. But I have a feeling she’s not going to let me be Jack.
Isabel Behncke: Evolution’s gift of play, from bonobo apes to humans
Posted by Greg Laden on March 22, 2011 With never-before-seen video, primatologist Isabel Behncke Izquierdo (a TED Fellow) shows how bonobo ape society learns from constantly playing — solo, with friends, even as a prelude to sex. Indeed, play appears to be the bonobos’ key to problem-solving and avoiding conflict. If it works for our close cousins, why not for us?
I know where I’m eating lunch tomorrow! (Fund Raiser for Japan)
Posted by Greg Laden on March 22, 2011 And maybe dinner, too. This will mainly affect our local Twin Cities folk: Thom Pham and the staffs of Wondrous Azian Kitchen and Thanh Do Restaurant with support from World Class Wines and Joto Sake will host two fundraisers to support the people affected by the Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami. On Wednesday, March 23rd…
Nuclear Fuel Mining in Niger
Posted by Greg Laden on March 22, 2011 In one of the poorest countries in the world, ranking last in the Human Development Index of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), where more than 40% of children are underweight for their age, water and access to improved water sources is scarce and almost three quarters of the population are illiterate, the French nuclear…
Reconsidering Nuclear Energy
Posted by Greg Laden on March 22, 2011 Risk, Trust, and the Arrogance of Numbers …The coal and biofuel safety numbers don’t come with a disclaimer that the greatest number of additional deaths from these fuels are due to indoor use for cooking, not from industrial energy production. Wind and solar energy numbers don’t reflect that these are developing industries, without decades of…
Community Owned Wind Power
Posted by Greg Laden on March 22, 2011 From communities demanding more wind turbines to a Government-backed plan to spread income from renewables to surrounding residents, we’ve seen a lot of stories lately about harnessing renewables not just to create clean energy, but to also build wealth in our communities. Yet the idea is not new–and I’ve just come across a great video…
If Chernobyl is as bad as it gets, then GIVE ME MORE! The Annotated Version
Posted by Greg Laden on March 22, 2011 With the current nuclear power plant kerfuffle1 in Japan, people are making comparisons with a TMI-Chernobyl scale, with TMI being a nuclear accident that is not bad at all2 and Chernobyl being the worst case scenario.3 This is actually very reassuring, because Chernobyl was really no big deal.4
Japan quake, tsunami, nuke news 07
Posted by Greg Laden on March 22, 2011 Ana’s Feed Starting March 21 3PM Radioactive iodine 126.7 times higher detected in seawater near nuke plant – kyodo news Radioactive cesium 24.8 times higher detected in seawater near nuke plant – kyodo news Too early to assess contaminated seawater’s impact on fishery product: TEPCO – kyodo news Gov’t orders 4 prefectures to suspend some…
Why did Knut the Polar Bear Die?
Posted by Greg Laden on March 22, 2011 It is not yet certain, but preliminary tests indicate no change in any of Knut’s organs other than his brain. Further tests, including those for an infection, are being performed. I’ll update this post when I hear more.
Shabaka, He’ll time when the LSD came by to oil me up.
Posted by Greg Laden on March 22, 2011 Huh? Ooops, auto-correct turned my well consolidated and carefully composted text menage into crush! NPR points out this great site called Damn You Auto Correct Dot Com. Visor Dam You Autocrat!
A Young River in an Old Valley
Posted by Greg Laden on March 21, 2011 The Red River in Minnesota flows backwards in its channel, in a northerly direction. Its course is backwards not because it’s going north (many people in America do think that rivers flow south), but rather, because its channel is part of a larger channel that historically carried more water than any other river on this…
DN Lee’s stuff
Posted by Greg Laden on March 21, 2011 I just wanted to let you know about two recent on line items concerning my fellow blogger DN Lee: Henrietta Lacks Gave You Life: Black woman who died of cancer helped advance cell culture and develop drug treatments. By: Dr. Danielle N. Lee Black folks gave America (and the world) gospel music, blues, jazz, hip-hop,…
And the 2011 Friend of Darwin Award goes to ….
Posted by Greg Laden on March 21, 2011 The Friend of Darwin Award, also known as the Chucky, honors NCSE members for outstanding effort to support NCSE and its goals. Here’s what it looks like. And this year’s award goes to ….
An outstanding example of Authority, Conspiracy Theory, and Confirmation Bias
Posted by Greg Laden on March 21, 2011 Former USGS geologist Jim Berkland links tides, whale beaching, magnetic fields, lunar cycles, earthquakes, and stuff to predict that there will be a major earthquake on the North American west coast between March 19th and March 26th. The following video is rather mixed up but it will amuse you:
Women@NASA
Posted by Greg Laden on March 21, 2011 New Web Site is Here. And here’s the video:
Those who can do. those who can’t teach.
Posted by Greg Laden on March 21, 2011 Live and unplugged version. Send this to your governor and state reps wherever you live.
Fukushima smokes, steams, puts self out again.
Posted by Greg Laden on March 21, 2011 There are new fires at the Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plants. There was a fire on the roof of Reactor Unit 3. It burned for several hours causing workers to pull out of the area to have radiation levels tested. The radiatoi levels did not, however, change. About 6:00 PM local time fire went out…
Japan quake, tsunami, nuke news 06
Posted by Greg Laden on March 21, 2011 Continued from here … Ana’s feed starting Friday 8 PM TEPCO has raised the occupational limit of radiation for its workers to 150mSv/hr. Some workers have already been exposed in excess the old limit of 100mSv/hr. Workers who have been exposed to the limit will not be sent back in. -NHK morning broadcast Saturday: Those…
The Story of Nuclear Boy
Posted by Greg Laden on March 21, 2011 So that Japanese children can be traumatized by the Fukushima in a more appropriately Freudian way and never really learn to love properly: Personally, I think this would be more accurate if Nuclear Boy was sitting next to three or four Diaper Genies on fire. See also this post at Class:M … “At first glance,…
Paul (the movie)
Posted by Greg Laden on March 20, 2011 See Paul. I won’t tell you why, but I will tell you this: Drive out of your way if you need to in order to see the film at a theater that will be filled mainly with very Christian Christians. Then, as you watch the movie, pay attention to the audience. You’ll love the movie,…
Remembering Red River Flooding
Posted by Greg Laden on March 20, 2011 This is the time of year the Red River floods (or not). This is an item that appeared on Quiche Moraine last year during flood season: A Simple Assignment Red River Flood Mike Haubrich This was a simple assignment, really. Drive to Lakeville, examine a car for flood damage and send an estimate to the…
Knut is Dead
Posted by Greg Laden on March 20, 2011 Cuddly Cub Polar Bear Knut has died unexpectedly, at the age of four. The cause of death is unknown but speculation abounds. In memoriam, please remain silent for a moment while we play the Knut Song:
PZ and Greg’s Excellent Party: The Movie
Posted by Greg Laden on March 20, 2011 Some time ago we had a party in Minneapolis to celebrate the one millionth’s comment on Scienceblogs. Finally, I’ve uploaded the video taken at that party, at the Black Forest Inn.
Gay? There’s an app for that.
Posted by Greg Laden on March 20, 2011 Apple has screwed the pooch, and it was inevitable. Apple decided that they would decide what apps would be available in their app store and what apps would not. The moment they did that they avoided a whole set of problems, but created other ones that are a bit more subtle. A couple of days…
Sunday Sermon: Can There Be aTestable Hypothesis for the Existence of God?
Posted by Greg Laden on March 20, 2011 Reverend Mike gives it a try. Also, don’t forget that March 16th is St. Urho’s Day! What? We missed it? I guess I’ll have to save my purple beer for next year.
A Christian Perspective on the Japanese Earthquake
Posted by Greg Laden on March 20, 2011 I will be over by the holy water waiting for an apology on behalf of most of humanity from the nearest religious person …
Traumatized by the Ultimate Truths: Happy Birthday DuWayne Brayton
Posted by Greg Laden on March 20, 2011 Today is DuWayne Brayton’s birthday. His web site is here, but his best writing is in comments on my blog! Happy Birthday DuWayne. Many happy returns. Though I actually have no idea what that means, and assume it has to do with gift receipts.
Bloggy Threads of Interest
Posted by Greg Laden on March 19, 2011 “Power Concedes Nothing Without a Demand” by Chris Hedges was brought by Mike the Mad Biologist to the attention of Stephanie Zvan who wrote: Rights Must Be Protected *and* Shared Nature Blog Network turns us on to a blog of photos and video about about wildlife conservation, and a blog by a forest conservation officer.…
Death of a Russian Cosmonaut
Posted by Greg Laden on March 19, 2011 Starman: The Truth Behind the Legend of Yuri Gagarin is coming out next month and it sounds pretty amazing. …The space vehicle is shoddily constructed, running dangerously low on fuel; its parachutes — though no one knows this — won’t work and the cosmonaut, Vladimir Komarov, is about to, literally, crash full speed into Earth,…
, which is now available for the 
