Reality is always more complicated than you think.
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Jake Young is a MD/PhD student at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in NYC getting a PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience. He holds a BS and MS in Biological Sciences from Stanford University. If a volcano were to erupt Pompei-style in Central Park, his body would be preserved in a scoliotic posture over his lab desk. Archeaologists would later conclude that he spent most of his day training rats to perform tricks, until he went blind building electrical equipment by hand using a dissecting microscope. But, still, he died happy...because science is cool.
Pure Pedantry is a blog about science -- social sciences and otherwise -- as well as academic and scientific culture. No one can live on science alone, so I also like to dwell on pop culture, periodically explore the humanities, and indulge in other types of geeky goodness.
DISCLAIMERS: 1) Jake Young is not a licensed physician (yet). He is merely a medical student. The information published on this site is not intended for use in medical decision-making. Please seek advice from a licensed, medical professional before making any health decisions. 2) The opinions expressed are my own. They do not represent the views of SEED magazine or the educational establishments I currently attend or attended in the past.
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March 31, 2008
Category: Gender
Go read this post at Language Log. It is about race as a confound in interpreting psychological differences between the sexes: On the other hand, the samples used in sex-differences research are often quite small, and are not in general...
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Posted by NotoriousLTP at 2:25 PM • 2 Comments •
Category: Haha, a funny
From NPR this morning: Students at the University of Texas at San Antonio were determined to uphold standards at their school. They wrote an honor code that discouraged both cheating and plagiarizing. But they weren't going to waste a lot...
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Posted by NotoriousLTP at 2:14 PM • 2 Comments •
Category: Sex
Farris et al. have a paper coming out in Psychological Science about how men tend to misperceive sexual interest in women. I get the sense that this is a big problem for many women. Any woman who has spent more...
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Posted by NotoriousLTP at 1:53 PM • 20 Comments •
March 27, 2008
Category: Haha, a funny
The Biggest Toy Theory of Scientific endeavor: Science is not driven by curiosity or the desire for fame. Rather it is driven by the desire to accumulate bigger and more complex scientific gadgets. By this standard, particle physicists are gods...
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Posted by NotoriousLTP at 1:02 PM • 1 Comments •
Category: Science politics
Last night, I saw Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) speak. (I joined this speakers club called the Oxonian Society -- which despite its name is not restricted to Oxford alumni. Why? What can I say. I was bored, and it is...
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Posted by NotoriousLTP at 12:47 PM • 7 Comments •
Category: Politics
Scientists and Engineers for America is hold a workshop on May 10th to train scientists to run for public office. The workshop features Congressman and former physicist Vern Ehlers. Here is the registration page. It isn't open yet, but if...
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Posted by NotoriousLTP at 12:22 PM • 2 Comments •
March 26, 2008
Category: Other People's Work
Megan McArdle posts about the psychology that causes parents to associate their child illnesses with vaccines, but she also reminds us what we can look forward to if parents fail to vaccinate their children: * Leg braces and iron lungs...
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Posted by NotoriousLTP at 12:33 PM • 3 Comments •
March 25, 2008
Category: Healthcare
You be the judge. Over at Justice Talking, Russell Roberts from Cafe Hayek debates Dr. Quentin Young of Physicians for a National Health Program. The mp3 is here. Hat-tip: Cafe Hayek...
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Posted by NotoriousLTP at 12:50 PM • 1 Comments •
Category: Science Life
Anne Casselman at Inkling has this hysterical article on scientists/physicians with beards. Here's a bit on why some public health experts want doctors to lose the beard: Fast forward to 1967, when three scientists from the Industrial Health and Safety...
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Posted by NotoriousLTP at 12:44 PM • 6 Comments •
Category: Art
Virginia Postrel has this fascinating piece in the Atlantic about why hospitals should be designed to be more attractive -- not just the drab taupe to which we have become accustomed: Thank God for intravenous Benadryl, which knocks me out...
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Posted by NotoriousLTP at 12:30 PM • 2 Comments •