December 14, 2009
... On Scienceblogs Dot Com, at least ...
Scale Model of the Solar System
Tiger's Sex Tape Released
Encounters with gigantic orangutans
December 14, 2009
You've met them. "Oh, those scientists. They get their funding from the government/industry/political think tanks. They're just producing the results needed to keep their money flowing. They'll say anything it takes. Besides, it's not like they don't make mistakes. Even Newton and Einstein had it…
December 14, 2009
Imagine the following scenario. Two guys are walking down the street, in different cities. Guy A has two PhDs, one in quantum physics with a focus on dimensionality dynamics, the other in astrophysics with a focus on relativistic aspects of gravity and black holes. She has published dozens of…
December 13, 2009
The Brown Cube is not the Rubik Cube. Anybody who thinks they are the same is ... wrong.
My friend Asha, as I write this, is heading out to the bar to watch the end of the game. It would be great to join her, but I've got some other things going right now. But YOU can join Asha, who is a pretty…
December 13, 2009
This is the problem with Christians. They think they have a special pass to do whatever they want as long as it done in the name of their god. Now don't get me wrong here. The average Christian does not think he or she is above the law on a day to day basis. But it is part of Christian religion…
December 13, 2009
There was a certain amount of Christmas shopping over the weekend, and I have to say the music was over the top this year. Or maybe I'm just getting more sensitive. In any event, it was driving me nuts.
So, I decided that I want to be in charge of the music from now on. And here is the playlist…
December 13, 2009
... SciTen is coming ...
In preparation for Science Online 2010 Session C, Trust and Critical Thinking organized by Stephanie Zvan and including PZ Myers, Desiree Schell, Greg Laden, and Kirsten Sanford, I'll be posting a few items such as Are You A Real Sketpic? over the next few days.
Most…
December 12, 2009
Denialism and Customer Service
What happens when it is your job to help people back out of mistakes, but you are an unrepentant skeptic and most of those people you are trying to help are ... not?
... I want to yell at the naturopath who tells me that vaccination is dangerous and that she is…
December 12, 2009
You see how funny the world is. And I don't mean funny-ha-ha.
Oprah. The show was about all these people who won a million dollars or more. Near the end of the show, Publishers Clearing House drove a van onto the stage and gave a randomly chosen audience member 25 Large. As she and Oprah were…
December 12, 2009
This is a little like comparing apples and oranges...
Kitty:
Wolf:
December 12, 2009
You know the old gag where the woman is in labor, and then gives birth, and asks the doctor "What is it, a boy or a girl?" and the doctor says "Both! You have twins!"
Well, astronomers have been playing this gag for some time now with a particular star system and the latest surprise just happened…
December 11, 2009
More than 24 hours after the incident, the Russian Ministry of Defence confirms that it was a failed Bulava missile launch that caused the strange spiral shaped lights over Northern Norway yesterday....
details
December 11, 2009
Today, Amanda marched for her Masters of Biological Science at the University of Minnesota.
December 11, 2009
If you have not yet read John Wilbanks' posts on OpenSource Science, which is a critique of the idea, than you should. Start with this one. There are two more right after that. But they are very long, so by the time you are done reading all three of those, there will probably be a fourth one!
December 11, 2009
Orac has been blogging for five years. That's a long time, and it is impossible to look at that five years and say that his blog has not made an important difference.
What? Huh? It's "insolence"? Not "innocence"? Oh right.... all this time I was thinking it was Innocence! ... suddenly, it all…
December 10, 2009
Turn the blanket 45 degrees and fold down the farthest corner. Place baby with neck over the fold. Bring one side of the blanket across baby and tuck in behind. Bring lower extension of blanket up over the baby, and tuck one side into the same side you tucked the side into. Bring the opposite,…
December 10, 2009
I mean, you might be, but I'm certainly not going to take your word for it....
I have an email from a blogeague (that's a colleague in the blogosphere) asking for clarification on the use of the word Skeptic in relation to climate change. This is a person very much involved in ocean conservation…
December 10, 2009
Every now and then Rachel goes OTT with her ... disco ball. This is one of those times:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
December 10, 2009
... with a survey.
This is a survey of The Media and your spending habits, which is being done as informal research pursuant to the writing of what will prove to be a very interesting book on a very interesting topic. Please take the survey and then pass on the link to EVERYONE YOU KNOW!!!!11!!…
December 10, 2009
... and other, related issues.
Gore's recent book: Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis
Oh, and did you notice the Inhofe - "kill the gays" link?
December 9, 2009
This decade is on track to become the warmest since records began in 1850, and 2009 could rank among the top-five warmest years, the U.N. weather agency reported Tuesday on the second day of a pivotal 192-nation climate conference.
For central Africa and southern Asia this will probably be the…
December 9, 2009
Google Chrome BETA is now available for Linux. Click here. I get the distinct impression that Google is no taking Linux seriously.
Most interesting Christmas card for under $200.00. ... made out of an iPhone.
Science cookies. (Hat tip PZ)
December 9, 2009
Traumatized By Truth discussed Kids and Drugs: Time for that chat with the kids about drugs...
Comrade PhysioProf notes the non-skeptical nature of some of the reactions among Skeptics to apparent sex bias in the volume edited by Skeptidemigod Dawkins. I had noticed that as well, and the irony is…
December 9, 2009
This is being covered here, at Dynamics of Cats.
I think it might be the Bat Signal.
Here's a cool video of the event:
December 9, 2009
Primate Diaries has an excellent writeup on the very important news that came out overnight regarding the "Danish Text" draft climate agreement, leaked to the UK's Guardian. This climate agreement, if implemented, would significantly change the way climate management happens on this planet over…
December 9, 2009
Carnival of the Elitist Bastards is at Almost Diamonds. It is a particularly literary version of the beast.
December 9, 2009
The other day I was speaking with my future brother in law about the fact that most people remember that there was more snow in the past than there is now. This is totally true for me because I moved from a part of the country with a lot of snow (NY and New England) to a part of the country with…
December 9, 2009
Now, if you would like to examine the significance of this new math, check out this post on Denialism at TUIBG
December 8, 2009
This video does not show the tomato incident, but talks about it. More interesting is the depicted assembly line:
Here's one of our local news reports:
The following is the closest thing I could find to a Japanese simulation of the event:
