Greg Laden is a biological anthropologist and science communicator. His research has covered North American prehistoric and historic archaeology and African archaeology and human ecology. He is an OpenSource and OpenAccess advocate. Greg's wife, Amanda, is a High School biology teacher, his daughter Julia is a world traveler and his son Huxley is 2.
Tomas is nicely demonstrating the degree to which meteorological models depend on the context of experience. This season I've read most of the discussions and advisories for most of the Atlantic storms, and generally speaking, the forecasts change only a little from time to time once a storm is…
According to the current models, Tomas the Hurricane will stay around the Category One/Category Two boundary over the next four days as it moves to the west then north. The predictions are very uncertain at this point, but Wednesday night or Thursday morning, Tomas may be near western Haiti and…
I'm writing something about the concept of "The Missing Link" which may also end up as an episode of "Everything you Know is Sort of Wrong" on Skeptically Speaking. The fact that I'm working on this is of no interest to you, I'm sure, until I actually finish it and post it. But, in the mean time…
And do NOT vote for Willie Dove. Willie, a Republican candidate for District 1 seat on the State Board of Education says, in relation to evolution and creationism in science classrooms, "One without the other, that's when we have the problem."
Kansas, you don't need this. Check out the details…
"We're going retro"
"However improbable we regard [an] event, or any of the steps which it involves, given enough time it will almost certainly happen at-least-once."
George Wald, parahprased and quote mined. I am under the impression that GG Simpson or someone used a similar phrase in relation…
Yes, it does matter what is in a placebo (as well as how it is administered, and so on) because the placebo is an important part of the experimental protocol used in pharmaceutical research. Before we get to why this question has even been raised, and an interesting point or two about it, lets…
I already posted my Page One voting choices for this year's election. Now it is time to turn the ballot over and talk about judges. In the mean time, if you are in or near Minneapolis, Hennepin County or the Fifth Congressional District, I invite you to have a look at this ballot, as it might be…
... and almost as interesting as his enigmatic sister, Shary. Tomas formed farther south than Hurricanes often do, hung around for a long time as a tropical depression, then blew up to hurricane strength very quickly. Having been declared a hurricane just a few moments ago, it may reach Category…
Try to pick out the hurricane in this picture:
Possible but difficult. Click here to see an animation (if it is still on line), then it is easy to see this most unusual hurricane.
Shary is cnfusin the weather experts ath the HPC. words like "conundrum" and "system not handling this well" and "…
I was wrong. I was expecting Right Eye to turn into Shary, and it did but I was expecting Left Eye to turn into Tomas, but it dissipated. Mouth turned into Tomas.
In any event, we have two new named storms in the Atlantic. One more and we'll run out of names!
Shary, a tropical storm, is the…
Elderly Black Voters Allegedly Intimidated At Their Homes In Texas
Two middle-aged white Republican activists in Texas allegedly harassed and intimidated at least seven elderly African-American voters at their homes in eastern Texas, according to a complaint filed with the Justice Department on…
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The gullies on a Martian sand dune in this trio of images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter deceptively resemble features on Earth that are carved by streams of water. However, these gullies likely owe their existence to entirely different geological processes apparently related…
A settlement is in the works in Doe v. Mount Vernon Board of Education et al., the case in which John Freshwater, a Mount Vernon, Ohio, middle school science teacher, was accused of inappropriate religious activity in the classroom -- including displaying posters with the Ten Commandments and Bible…
If you are a teabagger or a Republican, don't read below the fold. Just go away.
My close personal friend Al just sent me this and even though it's junk mail I thought you should read it.
Dear Greg,
Here are two thought experiments. Indulge me, won't you?
It's the morning after Election Day.…
US Representative to the House, District 3
Jim Meffert
I'm very familiar with Meffert's stand on the issues, and agree with them fully.
State Senator District 47
Leo Foley
Leo Foley is a centrist Democrat who has done a great job to date.
State Representative District 47A
Denise Dittrich…
Interesting to look back at this now that the Arctic Ice Cap is opening up and disappearing:
A new NASA study shows that the rising frequency and intensity of arctic storms over the last half century, attributed to progressively warmer waters, directly provoked acceleration of the rate of arctic…
... and I thought I'd share it with you ...
Dear Greg,
If you met "Don W" (not his real name) on the street, you might suspect that something was wrong with him. Listless, exhausted, glassy-eyed, Don exhibits all the symptoms of donor fatigue.
Yes. Donor fatigue. After responding generously to…
