Archives for June, 2011
For your amusement
Posted by Greg Laden on June 15, 2011 Who’s smarter, humans or non-human animals?
This and that.
Posted by Greg Laden on June 14, 2011 While I’m busy in Saint Paul doing this, I think you should have a look at this and this, because summer is just around the corner. Later, I’ll be working on a post for this because I do one every four weeks. How time flies. I’ve already done two of them (this and this). Oh,…
How are art and human evolution related?
Posted by Greg Laden on June 13, 2011 My interest is in developing a plausible evidence-based story of how modern humans emerged from ancestral species. This means guessing at what features of humans make us “human” and attempting to see the emergence of each of these features in the fossilized record of our bodies (bones) and behaviors (artifacts and archaeological sites). This question…
Miss USA Contestants: Is Evolution OK for US Schools?
Posted by Greg Laden on June 13, 2011 Miss USA contestants have been asked for the upcoming beauty contest if evolution should be taught in US schools. In a seemingly unrelated question, they are also to be asked if they would ever pose nude for photographers. It is not clear what the correct answer to either question is supposed to be.
Dawn Closing In on Vesta: The Movie
Posted by Greg Laden on June 13, 2011 NASA’s Dawn space ship is getting closer to the asteroid Vesta, and has produced a very short movie. The movie is a compilation of 20 frames, shown here repeating several times:
Gay Judges should NOT be allowed to rule on Gay Laws
Posted by Greg Laden on June 13, 2011 I agree that a gay judge should not rule on a gay marriage issue. He’s biased. He’s gay, and in a gay relationship and will therefore be biased in favor of gay rights. Of course, non-gay judges should never be allowed to rule on issues of straight marriage or other private matters, legislatures should not…
Ed Brayton on Atheist Talk Radio
Posted by Greg Laden on June 12, 2011 Ed Brayton, journalist, commentator, speaker and blogger at Dispatches from the Culture Wars, was the guest on Atheist Talk Radio this morning. The podcast is now available here. It was a great conversation but way too short with too many commercials! (The commercials have been removed from the podcast for your listening pleasure.)
How to clean a camera lens
Posted by Greg Laden on June 12, 2011 Version 1: Version 2 (video may not show): Version 3: Version 4 (whole camera approach, video cameras) Version 5:
Netflix Breaks Self, Annoys Everyone
Posted by Greg Laden on June 12, 2011 Even though some time back Netflix fixed their interface exactly as I wanted them to do it, and within hours after I asked them to (see this), they have now developed a new web interface to their site that many people appear to hate. I tend to agree with the haters. What I found is…
A Tale of Two Towers
Posted by Greg Laden on June 11, 2011 We often drive on a stretch of Minnesota State Route 10 that runs from Elk River to Big Lake and eventually to a point past Saint Cloud that takes about an hour to drive on a normal day, and we see trains. The railroad track runs along this route, and during the hour it takes…
Steve Gey has died
Posted by Greg Laden on June 11, 2011 See Ed’s writeup And speaking of Ed, don’t forget this!
Look Out Below!
Posted by Greg Laden on June 11, 2011 This happened not far from me:
Damon Horowitz calls for a “moral operating system”
Posted by Greg Laden on June 11, 2011 I assume he means Linux …
Aaron O’Connell: Making sense of a visible quantum object
Posted by Greg Laden on June 10, 2011 Will there be wieners in Sarah Palin’s gubermail?
Posted by Greg Laden on June 10, 2011 It is very likely that Sarah Palin’s political career will end in a few hours from now.
Cthulhu Lives in The Blog Cave
Posted by Greg Laden on June 10, 2011 Apropos Linux in Exile losing his Linux System to a Predatory Windows Install the other day (see Windows killed my laptop, again) I’ve been thinking about and beginning to do something about cleaning house. See below for my latest Windows mini-horror story (not as bad as LIE’s). But first, a word about Cthulhu. Who lives…
Netroots Nation in Minneapolis
Posted by Greg Laden on June 10, 2011 Netroots Nation is coming up in a few days, and there will be a Science Policy panel that will include scienceblogger Joshua Rosenau (representing the NCSE), John Abraham (St. Thomas), Darlene avalier (Science Cheerleader), Heidi Cullen (Climate Central) and Rick Loverd (Summet on Science). Details are here. The panel itself is on June 17th.
Art and Human Evolution at the Black Dog Cafe
Posted by Greg Laden on June 9, 2011 Please join Abbi Allan and me at the black Dog Cafe next Tuesday. Art and Human Evolution – June 14, 2011 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Are humans the only creatures who create art? At what point in human evolution did artistic creations become separate from tools, become art for arts’ sake? What in us…
Gingrich Campaign Implodes
Posted by Greg Laden on June 9, 2011 This is not an Onion story, this is for real.
Jessi Arrington: Wearing nothing new
Posted by Greg Laden on June 9, 2011 Designer Jessi Arrington packed nothing for TED but 7 pairs of undies, buying the rest of her clothes in thrift stores around LA. It’s a meditation on conscious consumption — wrapped in a rainbow of color and creativity.
So, what’s this about killing a wolf at the Minnesota Zoo?
Posted by Greg Laden on June 9, 2011 The Minnesota Zoo has been involved in a Mexican Gray Wolf breeding and reintroduction program for some time now. Last I checked, it was not going well …. they were not having mush success in getting the wolves to produce offspring. I think they had some puppies in 2003, but I’m not sure of their…
Please try not to think about Global Warming
Posted by Greg Laden on June 9, 2011 There is no chance that there is any connection between the release of fossil carbon into the atmosphere, no chance, for instance that severe weather is increased because of global warming. Don’t give it a second thought. The following video proves that you have nothing to worry about:
Bachmann, Anti-Vax, Bradley Dean, Ed LIberty Watch, share bed
Posted by Greg Laden on June 9, 2011 There’s nothing wrong with like minded people forming coalitions and working together to achieve similar goals. That’s what everybody does. But when you look at who is doing what to and with whom, it is revealing. Unsurprisingly, probably presidential candidate Michele Bachmann has ties to “Kill the Gay’s” preacher Bradley Dean, the Anti-Vax movement, and…
How to choose a president
Posted by Greg Laden on June 9, 2011 “I gotta make a choice and go with the intelligent woman who’s every bit as attractive”
Water Water Everywhere but ….
Posted by Greg Laden on June 8, 2011 Don’t forget to include Global Water Dances on your calendar. That date would be June 25th, 2011. For those of you in the Twin Cities, it is happening at the Stone Arch Bridge. There are about fifty locations world wide. Find your nearest event here. Check out the details here. And now, your depressing yet…
Japan Nuclear Disaster Update 27: They should have seen the tsunami coming.
Posted by Analiese Miller and Greg Laden on June 8, 2011 In terms of radiation fallout Fukushima is said to be approaching Chernobyl by at least certain measures, and the potential for Fukushima to be worse in terms of total radioactive material released is very real. However, the two disasters really can’t be compared sensibly because the circumstances of release, and the potential effects, are very…
The Birds of New Jersey
Posted by Greg Laden on June 8, 2011 I’ve recently reviewed bird or nature books for some fairly exotic places (see this for all the reviews) including the Antarctic and the West Indies. Now, I have a book on the birds of one of the most exotic places ever: New Jersey! OK, if you are from New York like I am, you know…
Jack Horner: Building a dinosaur from a chicken
Posted by Greg Laden on June 7, 2011 Renowned paleontologist Jack Horner has spent his career trying to reconstruct a dinosaur. He’s found fossils with extraordinarily well-preserved blood vessels and soft tissues, but never intact DNA. So, in a new approach, he’s taking living descendants of the dinosaur (chickens) and genetically engineering them to reactivate ancestral traits — including teeth, tails, and even…
Ed Brayton on Atheist Talk
Posted by Greg Laden on June 7, 2011 Ed Brayton, known to many of you as the Dispatches from the Culture Wars blogger, as well as co-founder of Michigan Citizens for Science and The Panda’s Thumb, will be on Atheist Talk Radio this coming Sunday. Mike Haubrich, Ed and I will chat about the very current, often disturbing, and occasionally entertaining subject of…
If we’re ever going to get out of here alive, we’re going to need some golf shoes.
Posted by Greg Laden on June 7, 2011 I have four or five things for you.
, which is now available for the 
