Uncategorized

Category archives for Uncategorized

Recent reconfiguration of federal funding for STEM education has resulted in important programs at the NIH losing their funding. Below is information on Health and Biomedical Science Education Programs Aimed at Grades K–12 at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). _________________________________ In the proposed FY 2014 budget, President Obama has set a policy that all…

The Boy Scouts have ended their ban on openly gay members. Gay scout leader still have to pretend they are not gay.

Question for my readers.

I think the accusation that I’ve “stalked” fellow blogger Abbie Smith have been made one too many times. But I’m not sure. Is this the point where I lay out the exact sequence of events of what happened between us? What do you think?

Who are the Illuminati?

From Wikipedia: “Illuminati” refers to various organizations … links to the original Bavarian Illuminati or similar secret societies, and often … conspire to control world affairs by masterminding events and planting agents in government and corporations to establish a New World Order and gain further political power and influence. … the Illuminati … lurk… in…

How can I get rid of foot fungus?

You can’t! There’s a fungus among us—a hundred different species in fact—and nearly all take up residence on our feet, according to a study that appears in the journal Nature this week. Only a few fungi species were found on other body parts known to house fungi—such as behind the ears and on palms—according to…

Do mites really live on my face?

This is the question everyone eventually asks themselves. The answer is no. They live all over your body in the follicles of your hair. But, the situation is much more complicated than that, and in fact there is a lot we don’t know about these mites. But, there is a scientist who may be willing…

There are good reasons to believe that global warming leads to more storminess, but the exact nature of that transition is unclear and hard to measure. Part of the reason for this difficulty is that a given type of storm may become more likely under certain conditions caused by climate change, while a different kind…

Hahaha Ha. This is about solar energy being repressed by energy interests in Arizona.

You might be interested in the latest Skeptically Speaking podcast: This week, Skeptically Speaking looks to the stars that light up the night sky, and fuse hydrogen and helium into the elements that make life possible. Science writer Jennifer Ouellette examines the possible evidence of ancient supernovae in bacterial fossils. Astrophysicist Ethan Siegel explains the…

Creationism du jour

Genie Scott of the NCSE gives a talk on Creationism. Executive director Genie Scott talks about the history of creationist legislation, including bills that allow teachers to “critically analyze” evolution or present the “full range of scientific views of origins”. Strategies, tactics, and more. When: 12/1/2012. Where: Eschaton 2012, Ottawa. Video courtesy of www.youtube.com/user/AtheismTV (Don’t…

Look at this tweet by Obama

Ninety-seven percent of scientists agree: #climate change is real, man-made and dangerous. Read more: OFA.BO/gJsdFp — Barack Obama (@BarackObama) May 16, 2013

This is the time of year, spring, when a lot of people switch to drinking bottled water instead of tap water. They do this because in their particular area the tap water seems to “go bad” … usually it is a mild smell or a slightly icky taste. This makes people fear their tap water,…

Vote with your wallet. Tired of the Koch Brothers ruining everything for everybody? Prefer to buy products from companies that contribute to Sandy relief? Do you just want to know which major megacorporation produced the item you are considering putting in your shopping cart? Wouldn’t it be nice to have an app that allowed you…

This came up the other day, so I figured I’d note the answer(s) down and share it with you so we don’t have to look this up in the internet again until 2013 is over. The, I think they get new richest people. Most of these answers come from Forbes, which appears to be in…

The Story of Genie

As you know, Genie Scott of the NCSE will retire this year. Here is her story.

This is interesting and important. Hello Bethany, I’ve always been a huge fan.

An Amazing Infographic on Coffee

Your morning caffeine fix is but a drop in the global bucket that makes coffee the number two most traded commodity in the world after petroleum. But with 100 million Americans like you drinking coffee every day, the bucket easily overflows to make the US the world’s top coffee consumer… Courtesy of: Online Finance News…

Stop lying to your fans. They are beginning to figure it out. Watch: Here is some background.

Bee loss be bad this year

In the united states, bee keepers lose a certain number of colonies over the winter. This is normal, but bee keepers maintain that losses of about 15 percent or less are “acceptable.” I don’t know what the logical or empirical basis for that number is, however. Yesterday, the results of a report that surveys bee…

This is fairly amazing. Watch:

The Zodiac

Standing there chest deep in the waves, my first thought was “I am so glad the bottom of The Big Lake is sandy and not muddy” When we abandoned ship, I knew shallow water was nearby, but I thought it might be mud, maybe something like quicksand. I thought this because the nearest ‘dry’ land…

Two young boys are having an argument while their fathers, resting in hammocks, look on. The argument is over something silly but escalates until the dads decide to intervene. They equip each boy with a small pole and position them face to face, explaining the rules of the game. Each child has the opportunity to…

Vonvo.com is a new thing. We had a conversation about the Boston Marathon Bombing. I wish there had been a sound check, I could have had my mic up higher. Also, that notification beep you will repeatedly hear is not your computer (or mine) so just ignore it! Anyway, it is in two parts:

Global Warming vs. Climate Change

This video by Media Matters on the Zany Denialists on Fox News ……… ….. is nicely augmented by this blog post by Phil Plait: Climate Change or Global Warming? Both.

Almost a year ago, Edwina Rogers took over as the executive director of the Secular Coalition for America. It’s been an ambitious, busy year for the Secular Coalition. This Sunday, Rogers joins us to talk with Scott Lohman about what they’ve accomplished and where they’re going in the next year. They’ll also discuss the formation…

Genealogy, Kinship and DNA …

… Or, Why Did Your Great-great-grandfather Marry His Cousin? A talk I’m giving …. Genealogy reveals the structure of family relationships among distant relatives. Why do certain families intermarry while others shun each other? For the young singles, how do you calculate your suaboyä, in order to find the ideal spouse? Brookdale Library Thursday, April…

Congressional Republican #Fail

Every disaster in the US has at least three Congressional representatives associated with it (2 Senators, one House rep). Those representatives have at least two roles: 1) Causing/avoiding the disaster or making it less/more bad, to begin with, by way of their efforts in congress; and 2) Helping or not helping once the disaster happens.…

Well, not everybody. First lets talk about some losers. Someday a brave journalist will ask the FBI why they had one of the suspects in sight a couple of years ago but this still happened. Chances are there is a very good answer and we should not be mad at the FBI for this, but…

Geology vs. Cars

One of these days I’ll tell you the story of when I was almost killed permanently by sink hole. I’ll probably have to package that story with the time I was buried alive in a trench (for symmetry). These things happen to archaeologists. Not as often as getting pinned down by gunfire, or running out…