September 9, 2009
Is that a lot or a little?
PAX organizers say they have confirmed nearly 100 cases of H1N1 virus infections, or swine flu, in the wake of the Seattle videogame convention, which drew approximately 75,000 gamers to the Washington State Convention and Trade Center between Sept. 4 and 6.
source
So,…
September 9, 2009
Here's the whole thing:
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
John Dingell's Wikipedia page is here.
September 9, 2009
My friend Virginia Hughes is asking this question on her blog pursuant to a conference she is going to. She has a survey she'd like people to take. The survey takes about 15 seconds so please go and help her out.
For background: Virginia was the blog herder for Scienceblogs.com for a while. She…
September 9, 2009
The following video is mercifully missing its sound. Go to 1 minute and start watching there.
From the youtube site:
At 2:00 in the morning, five guys broke into the Marlton, New Jersey Apple Store and in 31 seconds flat they leave with 23 MacBook Pros, 14 iPhones and 9 iPod touches.
September 9, 2009
Did you need proof that the Right Wing is stocked with nefarious morons? And I'm not sure which word to emphasize, nefarious or moron. Both, I guess.
About a year ago today was the Republican National Convention, and at that time (and prior, during, and after) numerous arrests were made under…
September 9, 2009
a repost
Fossils of a newly discovered species of dinosaur -- a 10-meter-long, elephant-weight predator -- were discovered in 1996 along the banks of Argentina's Rio Colorado, and are now being reported after a long period of careful study. This dinosaur dates to about 85 million years (which…
September 9, 2009
Barach Obama could stumble in drunk and spend a half hour picking his nose and it would be better than what we are used to.
September 8, 2009
There is a story written in ancient Chinese documents that goes something like this:
The Emperor has become enraged at a peasant who committed a misdemeanor. The Emperor has unjustifiably beheaded the peasant.
The Emperor has asked the court historian (me) to remove the previous reference to his…
September 8, 2009
Nye ran afoul of the faithful by remarking that it is not true that the moon generates its own light as opposed to reflecting light. This contradicted Genesis 1:16, which says quite clearly (if only Nye bothered to read it) that "God made two great lights -- the greater light to govern the day and…
September 8, 2009
Then it will probably veer north, spin down, and by the end of the weekend be a bit wet spot in the middle of nowhere.
But, I thought you'd enjoy a picture of this tropical storm itting rignt now closer to West Africa than any other continental region.
September 8, 2009
Well, actually, a bunch of questions, and its about fund raising.
If memory serves (memory enhanced by little birds that tell me things), it is in the fall that many Sciencebloggers engage in the DonorsChoice 2009 fund raising effort.
Last year was my first opportunity to do this, having joined…
September 8, 2009
I'm an anthropologist and a biologist, so really, I have no problem with the idea of a "placebo effect" in which people become convinced that they are being given an effective treatment and thus, because of that thought in their mind, improve.
Editorial Note: I'm classifying this post as a "…
September 8, 2009
The next version of the Linux Kernel will be very noticeably faster on computers with limited memory.
Most "improvements" of certain unnamed operating systems (such as Microsoft Windows) involve more demand on hardware, so upgrades slow your computer down and eventually you have to throw it out and…
September 8, 2009
A three year old study has resurfaced on the blogosphere with this recent mention on the daily atheist. The study (cited below) is here, and the older commentary is here.
Since this is still utterly relevant, I thought I'd make it the subject of a post. I don't think there is anything in it…
September 8, 2009
The claim was recently made that Placebos are getting more effective. That would be like water getting less wet. It makes no sense. White Coat Underground dismantled that claim (see that post for the original claim) but I mention it here because Slashdot has now picked up the story. So lookout…
September 7, 2009
An Irish astronomy group is calling for help in tracing the origin of a huge explosion in the skies over the country on Thursday evening.
Astronomy Ireland said it was currently investigating the explosion, which occurred at 2100 BST.
A spokesman said the most likely explanation was a space rock or…
September 7, 2009
In a remarkably rich haul from just five weeks of exploration, the biologists discovered 16 frogs which have never before been recorded by science, at least three new fish, a new bat and a giant rat, which may turn out to be the biggest in the world.
Story here.
Hat tip: Ana
September 7, 2009
She wore pants.
A Sudanese woman has been jailed for a month after refusing to pay a fine for "dressing indecently" by wearing trousers, her lawyers say.
Lubna Ahmed Hussein did not want to "give the verdict any legitimacy" by paying the fine of about $200 (£122), her lawyer, Nabil Adib, told the…
September 7, 2009
Don't miss the B-Girl Be Block Party 2009, an all day festival at Intermedia Arts that brings international, national and local female hip-hop artists together in Minneapolis for music, dance, live mural painting, film and an art marketplace!
Details here. f
September 7, 2009
Lifehacker has a comparison of Chrome 4.0, Firefox 3.5, and Opera 10.
Firefox boots slowest, Opera fastest. Opera takes longest to load eight tabs, Chrome the least time. Chrome totally cooks on the JafaScript Test, while Opera and Fierefox are left way behind.
Chrome uses the most memory,…
September 7, 2009
... not the whole thing, but some good bits:
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
September 7, 2009
The Actual Words of Afroleninist Barack Hussain bin-Obama's planned speech to the School Children of Amerika have been obtained by this blogger, and I have few comments on them.
A Guest Blog by Jimmy James Bettencourt
Until I read this speech, I was pretty happy with Obama. I have not been paying…
September 7, 2009
What happens when a little kid is not afraid of heights at all?
What happens when a little kid IS afraid of heights, and all?
Back to back essays worth reading at Quiche Moraine.
September 7, 2009
Since the bloggingheads "diavlog" with David Dobbs and me was the first science-oriented installment to come out (more or less) since the repudiation of Bloggingheads.tv by Carl Zimmer and Sean Carrol, and now Phil Plait and PZ Myers, I think I should say something about why I did it and what I…
September 6, 2009
Devorah Bennu is the pseudonym for the pseudonymous blogger kown as Grrrrrrrl Scientist, of Living the Scientific Life. In the ongoing contest to send a blogger to Antarctica, she has sat in third place, just a few dozen votes behind Don Osmond (who is, indeed, related to the original Mormon…
September 6, 2009
The Bloggingheads with David Dobbs and Moi is now up at Blogginheads, and embedded here:
I had just posted a review of Dobb's book, Reef Madness, which I enjoyed a great deal, and here we discuss the book in more detail. I left out a lot of detail, especially the exciting multi-part ending, in my…
September 6, 2009
Ah... Now, I get it!
September 6, 2009
An oldie but a goodie:
