Archives for January, 2012
The Full Monti …
Posted by Greg Laden on January 31, 2012 … can be found HERE. What I’m talking about is the complete series of stories told at The Monti at ScienceOnline 2012. (I mentioned them here.) You will laugh, you will cry, you will go “WTF?”
Actual Scientists Respond to Fake Scientists at Wall Street Journal
Posted by Greg Laden on January 31, 2012 It starts like this: Do you consult your dentist about your heart condition? In science, as in any area, reputations are based on knowledge and expertise in a field and on published, peer-reviewed work. If you need surgery, you want a highly experienced expert in the field who has done a large number of the…
Meteorologist Exposed as Scientific Fraud (And a really cool graphic)
Posted by Greg Laden on January 31, 2012 Brad Johnson at Think Progress has written a piece on Meteorologist Mark Johnson, of ABC’s WEWS-TV in Cleveland Ohio. Johnson has apparently purposefully misrepresented data that was previously pre-misrepresented by the Daily Mail to make the statement that the earth has been cooling since 1998. The earth has actually been warming since the 1990s, and…
Berry Go ‘Round
Posted by Greg Laden on January 31, 2012 Jessica M. Budke has the Berry Go Round carnival up at her site. Have you heard about the plants that eat nematodes? Solar powered sea slugs? Have you considered covering your house instead of painting it? Go here to find out all about these amazing topics and more.
Indiana Senators Support Teaching Religion in Science Classroom
Posted by Greg Laden on January 31, 2012 But with a twist. A Republican sponsored bill required the teaching of Christian Religion ni the science class, but a Democratic Senator has added wording that will require science teachers to teach the origin stories of ALL of the religions. Legislators on Monday broadened a proposal aimed at allowing Indiana’s public schools to teach creationism…
Parallel Evolution
Posted by Greg Laden on January 31, 2012 “Parallel Evolution” is not really a kind of evolution, but rather, an observation we make about the pattern of evolution in particular cases. Many species have a “woodpecker adaptation” by which a hard sharp thing is used to get at grubs and other insect (or non insect) meat hidden beneath bark. Some of the sharp…
The State of State Science Standards
Posted by Greg Laden on January 31, 2012 The vast majority of American public school students are not proficient in the level of science learning expected for their age group. The Thomas B. Fordham Institute has issued “The State of Science Standards 2012” as part of an effort to assess the causes of this dismal state of affairs. Here’s a map summarizing their…
The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars
Posted by Greg Laden on January 31, 2012 Michael Mann, famous climate scientist, has released a book called The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines (also available as a Kindle edition). I’ve not read it yet but I thought you’d like to know about it. Michael Mann is the guy who came up with the Hockey Stick graph…
Unless you really know what you are doing stay off the ice!
Posted by Greg Laden on January 31, 2012 The following is a fictionalized version of a true story recently told to me by two of the people involved. All the names of those still living have been changed. Please do not let this happen to you.
Global Cooling. Is there anything to it?
Posted by Greg Laden on January 30, 2012 Let’s have a look. Bonus commentary HERE.
Senate Resolution Number 92
Posted by Greg Laden on January 30, 2012 I remember the first time I visited a penguin colony. It was not hard to find. Penguin colonies smell really really bad. Here’s why:
Lake Elmo Ice Fishing Contest Canceled
Posted by Greg Laden on January 30, 2012 Organizers with the Lake Elmo Lions Club announced the cancellation of next Sunday’s ice fishing contest… Organizers measured the ice on the lake at about 12 inches, and said it needed to be 18 inches for everyone’s safety, especially because most participants would be parking their vehicles along the lake’s edge. …this is the second…
How do you know when to stop squeezing?
Posted by Greg Laden on January 30, 2012 If you are a snake. And, what causes some island dwelling boas to be smaller than the mainland variety? If you want to know the answer to these two burning questions, click here and visit Smithsonian’s Surprising Science where I’ll be guest blogging for a couple of weeks. For the first question, there is some…
Global Warming Is Ruining The Minnesota Winter
Posted by Greg Laden on January 30, 2012 I suspect that the complexity of global climate change is under-appreciated. If you live in a cold climate and I tell you that things will get warmer, you may see this as good news and look forward to a future where you no longer have to get your antifreeze checked and replace your old battery…
New British Studies Confirms Climate Change Consensus, Daily Mail Gets It Totally Wrong
Posted by Greg Laden on January 29, 2012 Since the Daily Mail is a British thing and the latest form of entertainment in Britain is Libel Tourism, I won’t say to you that the Daily Mail is a rag full of lies and deceit. Instead, I’ll let you be the judge. These studies: Decline in solar output unlikely to offset global warming 23…
Will Coral Reefs be Gone by the End of the Century?
Posted by Greg Laden on January 28, 2012 Quiet possibly. Ocean acidification caused by the same CO2 that causes global warming is causing them to die. You might think you can take solace in the idea that coral reefs have been with us forever even when ocean chemistry changes, that there must be some way in which coral reefs survive through changing conditions,…
Evolution and Menstruation on Skeptically Speaking Podcast
Posted by Greg Laden on January 28, 2012 This week, we’re talking about what may be the most stigmatized facet of human reproduction. We’re joined by Dr. Kate Clancy, anthropology professor and science blogger, to learn about the physiology and function of menstruation, and the history of how it’s been considered in medicine and myth. And on the podcast, biologist P.Z. Myers of…
Two incontrovertible things: Anthropogenic Global Warming is Real, and the Wall Street Journal is Political Rag UPDATED
Posted by Greg Laden on January 27, 2012 The Wall Street Journal has published one of the most offensive, untruthful, twisted reviews of what scientists think of climate change; the WSJ Lies about the facts and twists the story to accommodate the needs of head-in-the-sand industrialists and 1%ers; The most compelling part of their argument, according to them, is that the editorial has…
Sad Anniversary, Apollo 1
Posted by Greg Laden on January 27, 2012 I met Amy Shira Teitel at the Science Online 2012 conference, and we had an interesting conversation about the risks of spaceflight. Have a look at this extensive coverage by Amy of the Apollo 1 fire, which happened 45 years ago.
“Lord Lawson should name funder of climate sceptic think tank, judge told”
Posted by Greg Laden on January 27, 2012 An anti-science climate denialist “think” tank (the word “think” clearly does not actually applyl here) is said to have received a big chunk of money from some anonymous source, and an effort has been made to find out who that source is. This is all happening in Britain where all the legal systems are strange…
You Can’t Trust Science!
Posted by Greg Laden on January 27, 2012 … or can you???
New Planetary Systems Discovered
Posted by Greg Laden on January 26, 2012 Kepler has discovered 11 new “solar systems” with 26 confirmed planets among them. They: Range from 1.5 Earths in radius to bigger than Jupiter 15 are between Earth and Neptune in size They have years ranging from 6 to 143 days. Their rockiness or gaseousness remains unassessed to date. This artist’s concept shows an overhead…
How and why are our brains wired to believe weird things?
Posted by Greg Laden on January 26, 2012 That question and others will be addressed on Friday, January 27.
Giant X-Ray Machine to be Hurled Into Space!
Posted by Greg Laden on January 26, 2012 It is called NuStar, for “Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array,” and NASA will be launching this giant thing that looks like a dumpster on March 14th. NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, mission is seen here being lowered into its shipping container at Orbital Sciences Corporation in Dulles, Va. The spacecraft is headed to Vandenberg…
Vaccines Save Lives
Posted by Greg Laden on January 26, 2012 I would have used a different script, in part, but the animation is good and it makes the point. Hat Tip: Deanna Joy Lyons
Petrels, Albatrosses, and Storm-Petrels of North America
Posted by Greg Laden on January 26, 2012 Did you know that there is an entire group of birds called “Tube Noses” because they have tubes on their noses? Well, to be more exact, the term is “tubenoses” and the noses are beaks. The tubes are tubular nostril-like thingies that most (all?) birds have which are extra tube-like in the tubenoses. Thus the…
LiveScribing #scio12 … SciScribing = Art ~ Science ~ Culture ~ Pen ~ Ink
Posted by Greg Laden on January 26, 2012 Live Scribing is like live blogging or note taking but it is done in the form of drawing. To get an idea of what this is all about, check out this blog. Science Online 2012 was “Live Scribed” which meant that for most (all?) sessions, someone was making a drawing which built a stylized visually…
New Open Access Journal
Posted by Greg Laden on January 26, 2012 From a Press Release: Asia-Pacific Signal and Information Processing Association and Cambridge University Press launch new Open Access journal The Asia-Pacific Signal and Information Processing Association (APSIPA) and Cambridge University Press announced today the launch of the APSIPA Transactions on Signal and Information Processing – a groundbreaking new Open Access journal that will serve as…
A nail in your brain can cause dizziness
Posted by Greg Laden on January 26, 2012 Global Warming is Real
Posted by Greg Laden on January 25, 2012 ‘Round here, people are using phrases like “That’s Crazy Talk” and “Outlandish” and other quaint Aphorisms of the Great Plains. Why? Because the USDA has just released its new Planting Zone Map. It turns out that all the climate zones have moved north permanently. Thus the new map. You can plant stuff never before plantable…
, which is now available for the 
