What is the role of culture in defining differences? Check this out. Gender differences: blue for boys and pink for girls? Check this out. Not all stars are created equal.

Yes, There Are Religious Scientists, and They Aren’t the Enemy The Three Musketeers of Woo attack science-based medicine Deconstructing Social Darwinism, Part II Fox News: volcanic coal kills off dinosaurs before they even evolved

Rush Limbaugh is OK. Latest report here. Does HP make racist computers? Gendered Color Dichotomies with science toys at Toys R Us

On Scienceblogs ….

Hanukkah starts tonight, as you probably know. This is the celebration of the Jewish version of Peak Oil. My family will be celebrating Hanukkah Sunday night (though we probably won’t go with the newborn) but you can celebrate now by visiting two interesting blog posts and reflecting on their meaning: White Coat Undeground: Just a…

Hey, it turns out Zicam works! Oh, no, wait, it just causes you to lose your sense of smell. Maybe. –> New Zicam study shows possible mechanism for anosmia YA Virgin Mary Sighting –> O Most Holy Pancake! Is that a banana in your pocket, or are you just some kind of freakin’ moron? –>…

The world’s most gruesome regular expression. The world’s tallest virtual building

Once again, it is time for a summary of last month’s blogospheric activities.

MMR-autism link is clearly “busted” Onions and Swine Flu The Never-Ending Conservative Obstructionism Over Climate Change The Falklands Wolf: A Darwin Mystery Solved Pitcher-plants: Nature’s toilet bowl. Bigotry rules in Maine

Human Cultural Transformation Triggered by Dense Populations A few words on Maine and the dying hog of homophobia Mid-continent earthquakes are often aftershocks of centuries-old tremors Nature Blog Networking: Nature in your Backyard

at Marmorkrebs.blogspot.com I am doing the next circus of the spineless. Please send me your submissions and have something like “circus” or “spineless” in the subject line.

Hello, Negro: Are you a racist?: Now there’s a test! But who will use it? Joe. My. God. sets us up with a post from Dan Savage and a video. Which reminds me of my friend Emily, whom I miss. Morning stupid. Let’s deconstruct this: “I, like any sane human, think Hitler was the worst…

This is really interesting: What is squalene? Next time you are talking to an antivaxer, just say “We have the squalene. We win. Shut. up.” White Coat Underground suggests that … The anti-vaccination movement is morally bankrupt. It’s always a good idea to Fight the intrusion of quackery and religious woo in health care reform…

Having a hard time keeping track of internet memes? Click here. Fifty essential swine flu resources for school nurses. Here. Did you know that Republicans have lower testosterone? (Because they lost!) Click here.

It’s all good, but this is what tickled my fancy today:

There’s a vegetarian spider?????? Holy crap: Bagheera kiplingi – the mostly vegetarian spider Viruses and icebergs … What’s the connection? DDT resistance in Mosquitoes … “It is now beyond obvious that science is liberal because conservatives don’t like to see proof that they are wrong.” Indeed

I posted 299 items during the month of September, about average. However, I had another month of increased hits on the blog and I’m not prepared to increase my estimate as to how many regular readers I have to fourteen! The most popular post of the month was this one: Franken talks down angry mob…

Listen to Blogger Chris Rowan on the BBC … he’s talking about the science of natural disasters.

Whatever she wants – sexual selection …. A post translated by Igor Santos from the original published by Atila at the Brazilian blog Rainha Vermelha. Check out what is New and Exciting in PLoS ONE, including “The Genome of the Stick Insect Medauroidea extradentata Is Strongly Methylated within Genes and Repetitive DNA” Will ants trump…

Eric Johnson has a review of Frans de Waal’s book in Seed, readable here at Seed Dot Com. Brian writes up fossils found by Bain (and later studied by Brain, of course) that I find near and dear. Both Brian’s review and the fossils themselves. From South Africa. We’re more likely to behave ethically when…