June 6, 2011
Thirty years ago yesterday, "the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMR) published a report of five young men with Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia who were treated at three different hospitals in Los Angeles, California." (see This Blog Post for details). Morbidity and Mortality Weekly is…
June 6, 2011
I'm sitting here looking at Antarctic Wildlife: A Visitor's Guide. I've never been to the Antarctic so I can't tell you what I think of this book from the pragmatic angle of how well it works as a guide, but I can tell you that I've learned a number of things just looking at the book. For one…
June 5, 2011
Life History, Genetic Relatedness, and the Evolution of Menopause
Imagine you're on the Serengeti Plateau and your children are hungry. For miles in every direction there's nothing but dry scrub grass with the occasional flat-topped acacia tree marking the landscape. Your oldest has found a spot to…
June 4, 2011
Don't forget to tune in to Minnesota Atheist Talk Radio on Sunday AM (click the link for details) to hear Desiree Schell and I settle whatever differences we may have on how to BE A SKEPTIC!!! I warn you, this could be gruesome. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Office of Homeland…
June 3, 2011
On of my favorite books is A Bend in the River by V. S. Naipaul. It is a story set in at the junction of a native and expat community in an African rain forest country with a not very despotic leader (the "Big Man") at a time when a civil war was about to arrive on the scene. I like the book…
June 3, 2011
As you know, the NCSE brokers free chapters and sometimes entire books for people to download and read, in order to disseminate knowledge about Important Stuff. They just released a chapter of Darwin's Lost World: The Hidden History of Animal Life by Martin Brasier.
Click here to download the PDF…
June 3, 2011
A hip-hop exploration of modern evolutionary biology, with songs about Sexual Selection, Artificial Selection, Altruism, Morality, and Unity of Common Descent.
The Rap Guide to Evolution by Baba Brinkman
More here.
June 2, 2011
The West Indies includes the Lucayan Archipelago (Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands); the Greater Antilles (Cuba, Hispaniola [Dominican Republic and Haiti], Jamaica, Cayman Islands); the Lesser Antilles (Leeward Islands [the Virgin Islands of Saint Croix, Saint Thomas, Saint John, Water Island…
June 2, 2011
There are many fascinating stories linked to the early days of evolutionary biology and geology, and more than one of them is intertwined with our understanding of coral reefs. I had always thought that Darwin's interaction with the question of how coral reefs form was central to Darwin's own…
June 1, 2011
Even as the situation at the troubled Fukushima Nuclear Reactors ... well, remains troubled ... the post-game analysis of what went wrong and what could have been done better develops. It is becoming clear that the plant had no real plan for the event of a tsunami even though it was built at an…
June 1, 2011
It is Spring in the Northern Hemisphere. This means that US citizens and I'd bet some Canadians will be receiving the annual Brown Recluse Spider Warnings via Email.
In order to reduce the negative effects of this email spamish meme, I hereby inoculate you. If you get the email, which usually…
June 1, 2011
Moms and Dads: Are your children idiots?
There is a distinct possibility. Better check your paperwork from school, see if there's any warning notes in there.
Here's the thing. For some reason, over the last week, I've been the unwitting recipient of mis-dialed text messages from giddy tweens.…
June 1, 2011
I recommend The Birder's Handbook: A Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds. It was written by three serious bird experts and it will serve any bird watcher in North America very well. Here's how you use it. You go bird watching and later, you look up one or two of the birds…
May 31, 2011
Welcome to the Thirty Sixth Carnival of Evolution. The world of blog carnivals is in a state of flux and uncertainty these days, with the distinct possibility of a mass extinction just around the corner. One of the oldest, longest running, and most important carnivals, I and the Bird, issued its…
May 31, 2011
Louisiana Senate Bill SB 70 would have repealed Louisiana Revised Statutes 17:285.1, which in turn imposed the inappropriately named Louisiana Science Education Act which, as Barbara Forrest recently noted "was promoted only by creationists. Neither parents, nor science teachers, nor scientists…
May 31, 2011
Zack Kopplin, the high school senior who led the fight to repeal the creationist Louisiana Science Education Act (LSEA) on MSNBC:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
May 31, 2011
This much:
Benchmark map of carbon stored in Earth's tropical forests, covering about 2.5 million hectares of forests over more than 75 countries. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/Winrock International/Colorado State University/University of Edinburgh/Applied GeoSolutions/University of Leeds/…
May 31, 2011
This is funny. Have you noticed that lately there has been some interesting synchronization between ads on Scienceblogs.com and our blog posts? Just now, DrugMonkey wrote a blog post concerning discussions in the professional community of scientists who use animals in research. Here is a screen…
May 31, 2011
We three had somehow wound our way down into the canyon without experiencing any really steep slopes, but having walked for several miles in the sandy dry riverbed, Trusted Companion, Young One, and I were now looking rather hopelessly at unsafe-to-climb cliffs on both sides, covered with imposing…
May 31, 2011
Using robotics, laser rangefinders, GPS and smart feedback tools, Dennis Hong is building a car for drivers who are blind. It's not a "self-driving" car, he's careful to note, but a car in which a non-sighted driver can determine speed, proximity and route -- and drive independently.
May 31, 2011
You must go read the chilling and amusing account of Jamie Bernstein and Ken Reibel's visit to the AutismOne Conference in the Chicago area. The story has all the elements. Horror:
(that's what they were forced to eat); Police Absurdity (though not brutality); Screeching Breathless Paranoia;…
May 31, 2011
Her statement:
Well, every decision that I make I pray about as does my husband and I can tell you, yes, I've had that calling and that tugging on my heart that this is the right thing to do and because it's such a momentous decision, not only for myself, my husband and our 28 children, it is a…
May 31, 2011
I see the brown streaks and spots and blotches all across your lawn, every brown area exactly like every other in its tone and hue, because all were caused by a single event, that being your misapplication of high-nitrogen fertilizer, as part of your misguided effort to make your lawn look like a…
May 29, 2011
Richard Tokumei has written a book that is so bad he is ashamed to put his own name on it. "Richard Tokumei" is the pen name of a 'writer/editor in Southern California [with] degrees in Humanities and Phychology from the University of California Berkeley" and he has produced a book designed to…
May 29, 2011
Back in my days wandering around in Harvard Square, I used to look at the beautiful churches and think ....
"... those would make great indoor parking garages. And we could put bike racks on the steps. Or maybe indoor farmer's markets...." But it never happened.
Then, the Rapture came.
May 29, 2011
It happens on June 25th. This is going to be a little like the Rapture but it's not the end of the world and it really will happen ....
Water Collection: Ethiopia from water.org on Vimeo.
The Event : Global Water Dances Initiative -
"Dancing for Safe Water Everywhere"
Global Water Dances is a…
May 29, 2011
No! A surprising number of toddlers who manage to get their way through a window opening to fall to the pavement below live. Something just over three thousand toddlers do this every year in the US.
Kids fall all the time. About 2,300,000 US children (under 14 years old) are treated at a hospital…
