October 25, 2008
America is the country where you buy a lifetime supply of aspirin for one dollar, and use it up in two weeks.
- John Barrymore
October 25, 2008
There is an interesting post (and comment thread) on Kevin Kelly's blog about the exponential growth of available information. It is quite thought-provoking, but there are a couple of issues I have with it.
First issue is that Kevin took the old adage that "every answer leads to at least two new…
October 25, 2008
Zombies pose no threat at Palin event:
ASHEVILLE - Supporters of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin will have plenty to see outside the Civic Center if they are unable to get inside for her Sunday appearance.
As many as 700 zombies are expected to amble up Flint Street past the Civic Center…
October 25, 2008
Peter Suber, James Love and Glyn Moody have already blogged about this, but we need to make sure this spreads far and wide:
The AAP and Copyright Alliance want to prod the next President of the US to tilt the unbalanced US copyright law further toward publishers. According to a letter the AAP sent…
October 25, 2008
You have probably heard that Governor Palin, in a recent speech contradicted herself within a span of a couple of sentences. So, she said that "Early identification of a cognitive or other disorder, especially autism, can make a life-changing difference.", then in the next breath dissed that same…
October 25, 2008
Phony Friends? Rejected People Better Able To Spot Fake Smiles:
"There are hundreds of languages in the world, but a smile speaks them all." It's true too--next time you are lost in a foreign country, just flash a smile and the locals will be happy to help you find your way. An honest smile can…
October 24, 2008
I keep a conscience uncorrupted by religion, a judgment undimmed by politics and patriotism, a heart untainted by friendships, and sentiments unsoured by animosities.
- Ambrose Bierce
October 24, 2008
What is the mathematical description of the treshold point at which any old generic FAIL suddenly becomes Epic FAIL? Is there a similar curve (EWRC) for WIN?
October 24, 2008
So, let's see what's new in PLoS Genetics, PLoS Computational Biology, PLoS Pathogens, PLoS ONE and PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases this week. As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. Here are my own picks for the week -…
October 24, 2008
While most of the sessions at ScienceOnline09 will be highly interactive, we have also planned for a Sunday morning series of demos, or "show-and-tell" sessions. This will be a series of short (12-15 minutes) demos of various websites, blogs, applications, programs, etc. We will try to record and…
October 24, 2008
Fourth Stone Hearth #52 is up on Greg Laden's blog
Friday Ark #214 is up on Modulator
And announcing MetaCarnival: A Carnival of Blog Carnivals.
October 24, 2008
Less than a week to go in our DonorsChoose drive! Good news from the Seed Overlords:
Though we're already well into the campaign, ScienceBlogs has finally gotten a Double Your Impact donation set up with DonorsChoose for the Blogger Challenge; this means that $15,000 of Seed money will be…
October 24, 2008
Voters Swayed By Candidates Who Share Their Looks, Researchers Say:
Made up your mind who to vote for? Maybe it's because you like the looks of the candidate. Or maybe it's because the candidate looks a little like you, even if you don't realize it.
Memories Selectively, Safely Erased In Mice:…
October 23, 2008
Family values are a little like family vacations - subject to changeable weather and remembered more fondly with the passage of time. Though it rained all week at the beach, it's often the momentary rainbows that we remember.
- Leslie Dreyfous
October 23, 2008
A couple of minutes of quick science news every week:
October 23, 2008
The W. M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology at North Carolina State University (which includes students, faculty and staff from Departments of Biology (formerly Zoology, my own Department), Genetics and Entomology) is a group I called home for a large chunk of my own graduate experience. Every…
October 23, 2008
If you check out the Program of the ScienceOnline09 conference, you will notice that there will be three sessions that address, each from a different angle, the question of building and maintaining scientific authority and reputation online: in scientific papers, in comments on scientific papers,…
October 23, 2008
Study Of Polar Dinosaur Migration Questions Whether Dinosaurs Were Truly The First Great Migrators:
Contrary to popular belief, polar dinosaurs may not have traveled nearly as far as originally thought when making their bi-annual migration.
ADHD Appears To Increase Level Of Nicotine Dependence In…
October 23, 2008
The 10th Edition of the Cabinet of Curiosities is up on Destination: Austin Family
The 97th Skeptic's Circle is up on The Uncredible Hulk
Grand Rounds Vol. 5 No. 5 are up on Pallimed
Carnival of the Green #150 is up on The Good Human
Carnival of Education - the Mole Day Edition - is up on…
October 23, 2008
Yes, this has been in the works for a long time, and a few hints have been planted here and there over the past months, but now it is official - NASA and The Beagle Project have signed a Space Act Agreement and will work together on a host of projects including scientific research and education.…
October 23, 2008
Time Lapse Of The Embryonic Development Of Drosophila Melanogast - Watch the top videos of the week here
October 22, 2008
Sometimes the first duty of intelligent men is the restatement of the obvious.
- George Orwell
October 22, 2008
How many moles of Guacamole did Bishop Ussher consume on this day? How about Samuel S. Snow on the same day some years later? Not that this Epic FAIL is going to deter the True Believers - dealing with them is a "a repetitious and futile task" and they'll keep coming up with fresh dates. I bet…
October 22, 2008
Under the fold, as it is a LOT of links....
I am the angry left:
It is a matter of survival of our way of life, of our basic values, of our democratic system, not to mention several important elements of that system such as education, affordable health care, social security, and a reasonable degree…
October 22, 2008
...and Natalie Portman Wants You to Have "The Talk":
In a sense, this is also one of the videos of scientists endorsing Obama.
October 22, 2008
There are 26 new articles published last night and 12 new articles published today in PLoS ONE. As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. Here are my own picks for the week - you go and look for your own favourites:
Sexual…
October 22, 2008
Hmmm, let's see who is coming from really far away, crossing borders and such.....
Richard Grant is coming from Sydney, Australia.
Chris Rowan is coming from Johannesburg, South Africa.
Paula Signorini is coming from Sao Paulo, Brasil.
Carlos Takeshi Hotta is coming from Sao Paulo, Brasil.
Vedran…
