July 22, 2006
Apparently, it's not over until it's over. The removal of the cohabitation law I wrote about yesterday may apply only to a few people in NC, not the whole state: Cohabitation law ruling doesn't apply statewide:
Legal experts said Friday that a Superior Court judge declaring a law that makes it a…
July 22, 2006
Link found on Ed Cone's blog: The Fog of Cable:
As someone who lives and breathes Middle East politics and media, I have had the bizarre -- and frustrating -- experience of watching the current conflict play out on U.S. cable television, and I am reminded once again why many Americans have such a…
July 22, 2006
This is by far the most popular of the four installments in this series because it contains the nifty puzzle exercise. Click on the spider-web-clock icon to see the comments on the original post.
Just like last week, I have scheduled this post to appear at the time when I am actually teaching this…
July 22, 2006
The Authoritarian Streak in the Conservative Movement:
The despotic personality types we see in the Bush White House have their origins in the amoral politics practiced by the low-lifes of the Nixon administration.
That is an excerpt from John Dean's new book (which is on my amazon wishlist....…
July 21, 2006
According to the referrers pages of my Sitemeter, a lot of you are excited by strange penises, strange penises, strange penises and strange penises (or something like it). So, today we have to move to a different topic, traffic-be-damned, for those without phallic fixations. So, read on....
If…
July 21, 2006
Survey questions themselves may affect behavior:
Simply asking college students who are inclined to take drugs about their illegal-drug use in a survey may increase the behavior, according to a study that's making researchers understandably nervous.
"We ask people questions, and that does change…
July 21, 2006
Technorati treats each of SEED blogs as anindividual entity but also the whole scienceblogs.com site as a single blog. Over the past week or so, the SB gradually moved up from #51 to #32 on the Top 100 Most Popular Blogs list. More you link to each one of us, or the site as a whole, higher up we'…
July 21, 2006
Judge rules against cohabitation law:
"Those of you shacking up, have no fear: A judge has thrown out a 201-year-old North Carolina law making it illegal for unmarried couples to live together."
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"I am absolutely thrilled with the court's decision," Hobbs, 41, said…
July 21, 2006
Owner of the very popular French blog, La Petite Anglaise got Dooced:
She kept her popular blog anonymous, never revealing her full name or workplace. But despite her attempts at secrecy, her employer found out and fired her -- unusual in labor-protected France, where workers have strong legal…
July 21, 2006
I wrote this on September 21, 2004, as a reaction to the misunderstanding of Lakoff's term "Nurturant Parent". Slightly edited (eliminated bad links and such).
Discussions of Lakoff's theory are going on in several places in the blogosphere, including on DailyKos and many other places...just…
July 21, 2006
Some plants do not want to get eaten. They may grow in places difficult to approach, they may look unappetizing, or they may evolve vile smells. Some have a fuzzy, hairy or sticky surface, others evolve thorns. Animals need to eat those plants to survive and plants need not be eaten by animals…
July 21, 2006
Mendel's Garden, the carnival of genetics, is up on Viva La Evolucion.
July 21, 2006
I had lunch with Anton yesterday. We talked about the upcoming busy blogging Fall and he showed me his new book.
We ate in my neck of the woods, at Town Hall Grill in Southern Village in Chapel Hill. Anton brought his laptop - the wi-fi signal is strong, so, after Brian and Ruby get married…
July 21, 2006
Coturnietta is on the front page of the newspaper today. No, she's not in jail for a drive-by-shooting. After all, she is only nine years old.
Last week she spent the weekend in Raleigh with her grandmother, two aunts and three cousins and, while there, they saw a big injustice happen - the…
July 20, 2006
I wrote this first in February 2005, then republished in December 2005. After War Churchill got fired last month, I think that this post is still relevant.
I was asked the other day what I thought about the Ward Churchill affair. Frankly, I had not followed it at all (but you can) . Apparently,…
July 20, 2006
There is a new question in the Ask a ScienceBlogger series:
If you could have practiced science in any time and any place throughout history, which would it be, and why?...
Let me get the two runner-up answers out of the way first:
- the romantic time of mid-19th century England around the…
July 20, 2006
Of public opinion, exit polls and fraud (or the lack thereof) (Part 3)
Maybe that is the main point that gets missed: reality is messy. Science in general, and certainly "social science," proceeds incrementally and cautiously on the basis of radically incomplete information. Some folks have argued…
July 20, 2006
Natural scientists (unlike social scientists and humantities folk) are cautious, perhaps overcautious, about publishing data on blogs. So, it is really nice to see original research on a blog every once in a while. So, you should read this nifty little paper by Miss Prism. Rejected from Nature?…
July 20, 2006
I and the Bird #28 is up on Bogbumper
July 19, 2006
Big Heathen Mike just produced an issue of the Skeptics Circle that IMHO will be one of the most memorable ones! Who can resist taking a little trip with skeptics AND the Scooby Doo gang all together!
July 19, 2006
Anton has announced a brief summer break in MeetUps (I doubt I'll make it to the last one before then) followed by an ambitious Fall: a Triangle Bloggers barbecue in August, a science blogging workshop, a parent blogging workshop, a storyblogging event, and bloggers meeting with John Edwards. Of…
July 19, 2006
Attention span:
With a daily newspaper, there is a tacit understanding: That day's paper is the latest news; yesterday's paper becomes old news -- recycling-bin fodder, fishwrap, bird-cage liner, art-project makings, whatever.
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The Internet is a 24/7 environment, where…
July 19, 2006
This is pretty common knowledge, but it's nice to see it supported by data:
In `food deserts' of city, healthy eating a mirage:
For African-Americans who live in "food deserts" on Chicago's South and West Sides, where fast-food restaurants are plentiful and grocery stores are scarce, a lack of…
July 19, 2006
Carnival of the Liberals #17 is up on Brainshrub and I really like the ontogeny theme...
July 19, 2006
If you are bored, read this. Know thyself!
July 19, 2006
Map projects regional population growth for 2025:
The number of people living within 60 miles (100 km) of a coastline is "expected to increase by 35 percent over 1995 population levels, exposing 2.75 billion people worldwide to the effects of sea level rise and other coastal threats posed by global…
July 19, 2006
Sometimes a metaphor used in science is useful for research but not so useful when it comes to popular perceptions. And sometimes even scientists come under the spell of the metaphor. One of those unfortunate two-faced metaphors is the metaphor of the Biological Clock.
First of all, there are at…
July 19, 2006
Evolution of Female Orgasm is one of the ever-recurring themes on blogs. This post was first written on June 13, 2005. There were several follow-ups as well, e.g.,here, here and here. Under the fold.
The discussion about the recent studies on female orgasm, first about its adaptive function and…
July 19, 2006
Carnival of Feminists XIX is up on Figure: Demystifying the Feminist Mystique.
July 19, 2006
The 76th Edition of the Carnival of Education is up on Education in Texas.
Carnival of Homeschooling #29 is up on Nerd Family.
