Mike the Mad Biologist

Links 8/24/10

Posted by Mike on August 24, 2010
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We’ve been lucky this summer, and had very little gray cruddy days. But they’re baaackkk! Let’s celebrate with some links! Science:

Immunizations: “If your children have been vaccinated against xyz disease, why would you care if others are NOT vaccinated”
Nanofibre paint that kills MRSA
Male and female ability differences down to socialisation, not genetics (the article makes the subtle point that gender differences are very small, relative to variation. It’s all about the R2, baby).
Secondhand Cigarette Smoke Alters Genes, Study Says

Other:

Threats
Taking Bin Laden’s Side
High-tech carts will tell on Cleveland residents who don’t recycle … and they face $100 fine
Back to the Heart of Darkness in America’s Unended War in Iraq
WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AT WAR WITH MIDDLE-EASTASIA

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Comments

  1. #1 NewEnglandBob
    August 24, 2010

    These are NOT cruddy days. We seriously needed days of rain for the grass, trees, flowers, shrubs, etc. and to fill reservoirs. I think these are the great days.

  2. #2 william e emba
    August 25, 2010

    The article on Cordelia Fine Delusions of Gender was very silly. For example, Men are From Mars, Women are from Venus takes no stand on whether the gender differences expounded on are innate or learned. The author was quite frank that he was working with stereotypes. His point was that most people are completely unaware of the implications these stereotypes–to the extent they are valid for any given individual–have for the relationships they are in.

    The question of when children begin speaking, on average, is almost completely irrelevant. The question is what role does speaking have in the mental/social life of individuals.

    There is certainly plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest the differences are real. The Israeli kibbutzim that tried to raise children in a gender neutral way and failed. The botched circumcision that led to a boy being raised as a girl, to no real effect. The very existence of the transgendered!