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jake-head-shot.jpgJake Young is a MD/PhD student at Mount Sinai School of Medicine focusing in Neuroscience. He is due to graduate in 2032. He received a BS and a MS in Biological Sciences from Stanford University -- where he spent most of his time drinking heavily and building vegetable catapults instead of learning information that would now be eminently useful. When he is not failing terrifically to perform his sworn duties, he enjoys watching bad movies, ethnic food, and running.

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.

Jake is joined periodically by two wonderful guest bloggers: Kara Contreary and Kate Seip. See the About Page.

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 or those of my co-bloggers. They do not represent the views of SEED magazine or the educational establishments we currently attend.

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May 12, 2008

Encephalon #45 is up

Category: Carnivals

Encephalon #45 is up at Podblack Blog....

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The Minimum Wage and the Importance of Conditional Models

Category: Labor

Recently, there were a set of posts arguing for different models of the effects of the minimum wage on employment. Megan McArdle argues that perfect competition models of the effects of minimum wage on the labor market implies that increases...

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May 9, 2008

Daniel Drezner on the Benefits of Full Professor

Category: Haha, a funny

This is funny. Daniel Drezner, having received the full professor status, lists the benefits: 6) Something better than that stupid f@#%ing pen ceremony. As this site observes, "The scene in the movie A Beautiful Mind in which mathematics professors ritualistically...

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A birdsong model of creole languages

Category: Linguistics

Language Log has a fascinating article about creole languages and birdsongs: Zebra finches are among the songbirds who learn their songs by imitating adults, just as human children learn their language by interaction with those who already know it. Male...

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Double dissociation of sound localization and identification in the auditory cortex of cats

Category: Neuroscience

We have known for some time that there is a double dissociation (I will define that term in a minute) between location and identification in the visual system. Neuroscientists speak of a "where" pathway that goes from the primary visual...

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May 8, 2008

Stephen Colbert on Gas Tax Holiday

Category: Haha, a funny

Stephen Colbert skewers as per usual......

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Running Outside Burns a Smidgeon More Calories

Category: Exercise

Thank you, NYTimes, for clarifying something I have always wondered about: how does running outside compare to running on a treadmill? A number of studies have shown that in general, outdoor running burns about 5 percent more calories than treadmills...

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Elsewhere on the Interweb (5/8/08)

Category: Other People's Work

In honor of Mother's Day, NPR has a great piece on the difficulties of being a modern Mom and delaying having children: Fertility seems to peak at about age 22, says Marcel Cedars, director of reproductive endocrinology at the University...

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The Gas Tax Holiday as a Symbolic Gesture

Category: Energy Policy

Bryan Caplan writing in the NYTimes suggests that in spite of making no economic sense whatsoever the gas tax holiday might be a good idea as a symbolic gesture: The first is that the tax holiday is a relatively cheap...

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May 7, 2008

Different Thinking about Drinking on College Campuses

Category: Alcohol

There is an interesting article by Brandon Busteed in the Chronicle of Higher Ed about college drinking. Busteed argues that the problem is not the population that addiction specialists tend to focus on: the really heavy drinkers. Rather the problem...

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May 5, 2008

Elsewhere on the Interweb (5/5/08)

Category: Other People's Work

Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone! Down with that imperialist aggressor Napoleon III! (The painting to the right is Manet's Execution of Maximillian. Supposedly, the chap on the right looks like Napoleon III, in a zinger to his administration which Manet...

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English: the Lingua Franca of Science?

Category: Linguistics

A post over at the Scientist blog laments the difficulty in getting people to acknowledge the English-language bias in science: Many, perhaps most, scientists are grateful that English has become the international language, but an informative protest comes from Prof....

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May 4, 2008

Fun with YouTube: Metronome Edition

Category: Movies

Check out this video of synchronizing metronomes......

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May 2, 2008

Are Academics Bitter?

Category: Academia

There is a great blogginghead.tv conversation up between two of my favorite bloggers, Megan McArdle and Daniel Drezner. They discuss whether academics are bitter. McArdle argues that the labor market makes their lives very unfortunate. Drezner argues that the issue...

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May 1, 2008

A Genetic Variation May Hide Steroid Abuse

Category: Sports Doping

After the whole Floyd Landis thing, I wrote a long post about the science of detecting steroid abuse. The primary test uses something called the T/E ratio to determine whether the athlete has injected steroids. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)...

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