February 9, 2009
We're half way through Darwin Month, and only a tiny ways through the voyage. Need to hurry up! So, let's skip ahead a bit and hit the Gauchos....
reposted with minor modifications
Well, you don't really want to hit at Gaucho ... they hit back rather hard....
The Gauchos are the cowboys of the…
February 9, 2009
A Much Earlier Start for Animals
Where did all the animals come from? ... The problem with the earliest animals, from a paleontologist's perspective, is that they lacked hard parts.
...
The answer lies in the unique molecules they left behind.... one such molecule [c]alled 24-IPC, ... is only…
February 9, 2009
Eventually, the Beagle headed south to the area of Uruguay and Argentina, still on the Atlantic Coast, where extensive mapping of the coastal waters was required.
The Parana and Uruguay Rivers meet in the Atlantic estuary known as Rio de la Plata. On the north side of this huge body of water is…
February 9, 2009
For the past few days I have been in contact with Mr. Richard Mullens a school teacher in Brookeland Tx. Brookeland Tx, is an incredibly "Conservative" area of Texas, and only 16 miles up the road from Jasper Tx. the scene of several incidents of racial violence and murder. Mullens has been the…
February 9, 2009
The mother of the woman who used a fertility doctor to give birth to octuplets, despite already having six young children, called her daughter's actions "unconscionable" in an interview posted online Sunday.
details
I'm not sure my hypothesis of a race effect has been fully falsified, but the…
February 9, 2009
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We shall now have a moment of silence from the Global Warming Denialists. (By the way, did you notice? No praying or exortations to a creator or savior during this report. That was nice.)
February 9, 2009
When reading the Voyage, it is impossible to miss the observation that much of the time Darwin was engaged in adolescent boy behavior: Pulling the heads off insects, noting how long they would wiggle after cut in half, closely examining the ooze and guts, occupied much of his time. Obviously,…
February 9, 2009
Genie Scott's new edition of Evolution vs. Creationism is especially useful for people in the trenches in this so called 'debate' because Scott manages to touch on virtually every point of argument you will run into if you are, say, a life science teacher. For instance, the role of 'theory' vs. '…
February 8, 2009
The publishing industry is dangerous. Why? Because it is big and rich, but it is also in danger. The publishing industry, like the music industry, and like the commercial proprietary software industry, faces structural reorganization of the markets served and uncertainty in the flow of cash into…
February 8, 2009
Turtles Island-Hopped Their Way Across a Warm Arctic
Sometime about 90 million years ago, Asian turtles hit the road for North America. Although researchers thought that these reptiles had crawled around the globe via Russia and Alaska, new findings suggest that they may have taken a shortcut--over…
February 8, 2009
First I thought: "... noooo.." Then, I thought: "hmmmmmm."
Hat Tip Miss Cellania.
February 8, 2009
We Minnesotans are so funny.
Hat Tip Colin.
February 8, 2009
This is an oversimplification, but it is exactly what the archaeology and physical anthropology had previously told us. Except the physy and archy data give us more detail. But, important and interesting nonetheless:
Short people known as pygmies are scattered across equatorial Africa, where they…
February 7, 2009
From slashdot:
"Microsoft is advertising for a new director of open source strategy, but this one has a specific purpose: fight the Linux desktop. 'The Windows Competitive Strategy team is looking for a strong team member to lead Microsoft's global desktop competitive strategy as it relates to open…
February 7, 2009
Hat Tip: Hello Negro. Read HN's commentary on this, here.
February 7, 2009
A fresh look at ornate 1000-year-old vases from New Mexico's canyons has unearthed a surprise: They were used as mugs to drink chocolate. The findings are the first record of the food in North America, long before its introduction in colonial times. They also reveal that chocolate was an expensive…
February 7, 2009
I heard these folks talking on the radio. It is all very interesting. Here's a piece in Science by Greg Miller:
If you're thinking of hiring a tax accountant, you might want to note the color of his office. According to a new study, the color red can improve performance on detail-oriented tasks--a…
February 7, 2009
North American gray wolves that crisscross the frozen tundra after migrating caribou tend to be light colored, blending in with snow and ice. But dark wolves are common in forests, possibly because there they can slink through the woods unnoticed. Geneticists have pinpointed the gene variant that…
February 7, 2009
An investigation by the Sunday Times (UK) indicates that the doctor who reported information suggesting a link between MMR vaccine and autism may have "misreproted results in his research." The investigation purpots to show that ...
...Andrew Wakefield manipulated patients' data, which triggered…
February 7, 2009
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February 7, 2009
"Race Doesn't Exist, Continued"
February 7, 2009
I don't normally do cephelopods, but I cam across this one and thought you'all might find it ... interesting:
Source.
February 7, 2009
Miami school officials can remove from library shelves a book about Cuba that depicts smiling children in communist uniforms but avoids mention of problems in the country, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the Miami-Dade County School District…
February 7, 2009
Good morning. First, briefly, we have a podcast of yesterday's radio show here, a brand new book review of Scott's Evolution vs. Creationism here, and a new Congo Memoir here.
The minimal funding levels for science in the currently debated bill have been replaced, owing to activities of Senators…
February 6, 2009
It's out! Evolution vs. Creationism: An Introduction Second Edition is now available on line and in bookstores (or at least it is being shipped out as we speak).
This is the newly revamped edition of Genie Scott's essential reference supporting the Evolutionist Perspective in the so called "…
February 6, 2009
This was at the Washington Press Club. A sample of her jokes:
"I'd like to make this as short as Bill Richardson's tenure as Commerce Secretary," she opened. "I raised $17,000 from ex-boyfriends -- true story! I know that is the record in the Senate, but in the House it's held by Barney Frank…
February 6, 2009
I am hosting The Giant's Shoulders this month. Please get me your submissions by the 15th. Hint: Darwin's birthday is this month. Hint: Darwin was a giant. Do Darwin!
Send submissions via the blog carnival submission thingie.
Berry Go Round #13: Winter-Tough is here, at Watching The World…
