June 4, 2010
UN chief Ban Ki-Moon has called for an independent investigation in the Democratic Republic of Congo into the death of a human rights activist.
Floribert Chebeya's body was found in his car after he was called to a meeting with the national police chief, which did not take place, on Tuesday.
A…
June 4, 2010
Lately I've been reading the 19th and early 20th century traveler's accounts of what is now known as the Western Rift Valley and the Ituri Forest, Congo. Some are written by the famous 'explorers' such as H.M. Stanley, others written by scientists on expeditions in the area, and still others by…
June 4, 2010
Or, at least, it may not be "protected" speech.
Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia have submitted a brief to the Supreme Court in support of a father who sued anti-gay protesters over their demonstration at the 2006 funeral of his son, a Marine killed in Iraq.
source
Obviously we're…
June 4, 2010
Rocks examined by NASA's Spirit Mars Rover hold evidence of a wet, non-acidic ancient environment that may have been favorable for life. Confirming this mineral clue took four years of analysis by several scientists.
An outcrop that Spirit examined in late 2005 revealed high concentrations of…
June 3, 2010
A leading rights activist in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been found dead in the capital, Kinshasa.
Floribert Chebeya's body was discovered, partially clothed, on the back seat of his own car.
source
He was last known to have gone to a meeting with the national chief of police, Genral John…
June 3, 2010
Doesn't fit very well in our fixed 500px format. But, it's a funny cartoon and suggests that Dilbert is a skeptic.
Hat Tip: Hemant Mehta
June 3, 2010
The Carnival of Evolution is a NeuroDojo.
June 1, 2010
Possibly. Quite possibly:
Diaspora: Personally Controlled, Do-It-All, Distributed Open-Source Social Network from daniel grippi on Vimeo.
Hat tip: Ronja Addams-Moring
June 1, 2010
Have you ever bought a cell phone at one of those kiosks, or in a storefront for the carrier? Actually, if you are in the US I should ask "Have you ever NOT bought a cell phone in such a place?" (In at least some other countries they don't make the process so religious and obnoxious. You just go…
June 1, 2010
... is covered in my latest weatherblogging post.
June 1, 2010
I'm very please that my discussion of the "we can't ever know what a word is" Internet meme has elicited a response from Mark Liberman at Language Log. (here) Mark was very systematic in his comments, so I will be very systematic in my responses.
1. Without a careful definition of what you mean…
June 1, 2010
discussion is happening at The Reef Tank:
Ocean Woes by Doreen
and
More on The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a reprint from moi.
June 1, 2010
to Bioephemera, at least for now.
June 1, 2010
From PBS, hat tip DSN
May 31, 2010
One very important difference was brought to our attention by Digital Rabbit:
May 31, 2010
A black four door older model caddy in need of some body work and a new muffler turned into our street. The car drove quickly but furtively, the driver seeming to not quite know where she wanted to go, to the end of the faux cul-du-sac off of which each development's street radiated. A sharp left…
May 31, 2010
I have about ten favorite species of tree, and one of them is the corotú. Why? Because of one of the most interesting plant-animal interaction stories of recent times. The story, complete with extinct elephant-like creatures and a real Sherlock Holmes science theme can be read, along with some…
May 31, 2010
I am looking at the question: How many words are there in a language? I'd like to know for languages in general, comparatively, and for pedagogical reasons, in some well known western language which may as well be English.
What I found quite incidentally is a hornets nest of curmudgeonistic…
May 31, 2010
This just in from OZ:
Scientists say an Aboriginal rock art depiction of an extinct giant bird could be Australia's oldest painting.
The red ochre painting, which depicts two emu-like birds with their necks outstretched, could date back to the earliest days of settlement on the continent.
It was…
May 30, 2010
The podcast version of Everything You Know is Sort of Wrong with me, and Bonobo Handshake with Vanessa Woods, all on Skeptically Speaking with Desiree Schell, is available on line here
For those of you waiting for the Berry Go Round carnival: It will be out on Monday some time. I sniffed the…
May 30, 2010
The Nature of Things / Martin Gardner from Wagner Brenner on Vimeo.
Hat Tip: Ana
May 29, 2010
And what can you really do with them?
I am not an expert on consumer technology. I stay a few miles behind the cutting edge where I can pick up the orts at a discount, and most stuff works. Last time I checked, newer (faster, bigger, whatever-er) versions of technology cost more per unit (of…
