Jake 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.
September 25, 2008
Category: Haha, a funny
Not really a lot for me to say about the bailout package, but I stumbled on this funny sentence in the NYTimes: After the overnight drafting efforts on both sides of Capitol Hill -- with pizza on the House side,...
Posted by Jake Young at 2:12 PM • 3 Comments •
September 24, 2008
Category: Blogging
For those of you who are interested in science blogging -- either to ask questions or to start one of your own -- I will be participating in a panel discussion about science blogging next week (Wednesday, Oct. 1st at...
Posted by Jake Young at 10:42 AM • 3 Comments •
September 23, 2008
Sorry about the light blogging everyone. I am super-busy at work preparing for an upcoming vacation, so I just don't have the time for it at the moment. I expect light-blogging between now and the middle of October, so check...
Posted by Jake Young at 3:41 PM • 0 Comments •
September 18, 2008
Category: Economics
Here is a clever idea for making sure you never have to search for a parking space: congestion pricing. San Francisco is trying out a system based on this principle: The SFpark project will begin early in 2009 with a...
Posted by Jake Young at 5:49 PM • 2 Comments •
Category: Environment
A recent report questions the wisdom of an outright ban on bushmeat sales: The report from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), based in Bogor, Indonesia, suggests instead that the bushmeat trade should be regulated, with hunting allowed for...
Posted by Jake Young at 5:41 PM • 3 Comments •
Category: Economics
As we witness the self-destruction of portions of our financial institutions, many of us have been ask ourselves: what the hell is going on? University of Chicago economists, Doug Diamond and Anil Kashyap, have a Q&A at the Freakonomics blog...
Posted by Jake Young at 5:31 PM • 1 Comments •
September 17, 2008
Category: Medicine
USA Today prints a (sort of) joke job description for the next generation of doctors: Idealistic Generation X/Y overachievers with low- to mid-six-figure student loans to work in imploding health care system currently subject to runaway entitlement spending. Future salary...
Posted by Jake Young at 6:42 PM • 3 Comments •
Category: Physics
Apparently, some people think that the name "Large Hadron Collider" fails to capture the terrific grandeur of the device's mission. The Royal Society of Chemistry had a contest to pick an newer, better name, but the winning name proved to...
Posted by Jake Young at 6:40 PM • 5 Comments •
Category: Space
It is speculation time. My roommate and I were watching a story this morning on CNN by Sanjay Gupta about how astronauts lose bone mass while in space. One of the limitations with space travel is that because of the...
Posted by Jake Young at 6:16 PM • 24 Comments •
Category: Genetics
An Israeli town has come up with an aggressive method to fight uncollected dog poop: DNA IDing the "originator." An Israeli city is using DNA analysis of dog droppings to reward and punish pet owners. Under a six-month trial programme...
Posted by Jake Young at 5:35 PM • 0 Comments •
Category: Blogging
Scienceblogs is heading toward its one-millionth reader comment, and to celebrate bloggers are throwing millionth-comment parties all across the globe. The London edition will be held on Saturday, September 20th at the Calthorpe Arms. Starting from 7:00 PM, readers in...
Posted by Kara Contreary at 7:30 AM • 1 Comments •
September 16, 2008
Category: Science politics
Both candidates have answered the questions about scientific issues posed by the ScienceDebate2008. You can read their answers side by side here. Several comments in no particular order: McCain mentions ending earmarks in reference to supporting scientific funding. How are...
Posted by Jake Young at 6:15 PM • 1 Comments •
September 12, 2008
Category: Evolution
Philosopher Thomas Nagel, writing in the journal Philosophy and Public Affairs, criticizes the exclusion of Intelligent Design from science classes on the grounds that evolutionary science too rests on an assumption: the naturalistic assumption. He argues that both evolution based...
Posted by Jake Young at 4:29 PM • 24 Comments •
September 11, 2008
Category: Healthcare
The New England Journal of Medicine compares the candidates visions for health care reform. (Hat-tip: PalMD)...
Posted by Jake Young at 1:39 PM • 2 Comments •
September 10, 2008
Category: Haha, a funny
Now -- via this useful website -- you can check whether the activation of the Large Hadron has destroyed the Earth. Go ahead...click it...you know you want to......
Posted by Jake Young at 12:29 PM • 5 Comments •
Category: Quotes
From Russell Roberts at Cafe Hayek: There are two ways to reduce the connection between politicians and money. One is to reduce the role of money. The other is to reduce the role of politicians. I choose the latter. I...
Posted by Jake Young at 12:23 PM • 2 Comments •
Category: Academia
Inside Higher Ed describes a study of complete rates for PhD students broken down by race/ethnicity, gender, whether the student is international or domestic, and by discipline. Here is the key chart: Cumulative Completion Rates for Students Starting Ph.D. Programs,...
Posted by Jake Young at 12:08 PM • 9 Comments •
September 9, 2008
Category: Media
Over at Economics of Contempt, there is an argument that liberal media bias has to exist because there is evidence that partisanship changes the way that our brains process information. (This is not his only evidence, but it is part...
Posted by Jake Young at 2:31 PM • 4 Comments •
September 6, 2008
Category: Haha, a funny
OMG! This is the best commercial ever. Check out this commercial for epMotion automated pippeting machines by Eppendorf....
Posted by Jake Young at 1:53 PM • 4 Comments •
September 4, 2008
Category: Medicine
Kara asked whether this article about the sudden death of young men when arrested by police is for real. The article details data presented before the European Society of Cardiology concerning 60 unexplained deaths over 10 years in Spain. The...
Posted by Jake Young at 11:40 AM • 5 Comments •
September 3, 2008
Category: Public Health
Okay, Jake or anyone else out there with medical training--is this for real? Apparently there may be a new syndrome whereby young men suddenly and inexplicably die following police arrest. The phenomenon is being compared to a similar one wherein...
Posted by Kara Contreary at 11:23 AM • 4 Comments •
Category: Politics
I don't want to get into the issue of whether the nuclear storage site at Yucca Mountain is a good idea. (The folks over at SEA know a whole lot more about the subject than I do.) My gut instinct...
Posted by Jake Young at 10:53 AM • 4 Comments •
September 2, 2008
Category: Haha, a funny
Too good. What do atheists yell during sex? Stephen Colbert asks Lori Lippman Brown, director of Secular Coalition for America....
Posted by Jake Young at 12:48 PM • 3 Comments •
Category: Haha, a funny
In honor of the opening of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, Michigan State University graduate student Kate McAlpine has an LHC rap on YouTube. The best part: the science is dead on....
Posted by Jake Young at 12:04 PM • 4 Comments •
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