November 22, 2008
A protist is a single celled eukaryotic organism, and they are usually pretty small. You can often see them, though! Before you put that sample of pond water under the microscope, take a close look: Many protists are at the boundary of visibility for humans.
Then, there are the giant protists…
November 22, 2008
Watch the whole thing, especially starting around 2:30.
\
November 22, 2008
Today, in 1963, President John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas.
I have only the vaguest of memories of this event, but I do remember it. I remember being sent home from school, and I remember anguish and uncertainty, and I remember hearing the report of Kennedy's assasin, Lee Harvey Oswald, being…
November 22, 2008
... and there is strong evidence of shenanigans on the part of Coleman supporters (or someone).
As I mentioned earlier, the idea is afoot that there will be more of a shift towards Al Franken in geographical regions that favor Franken than in Coleman-sympathetic regions, in the current US Senate…
November 22, 2008
As a very hectic week settles down a bit, I can give you a little more information and perspective on the Minnesota US Senate Race recount. There are a number of misconceptions circulating about this process that I can dispel, and I have a pair of predictions for you: Taking the same exact data,…
November 22, 2008
An otter has survived a "perilous" three-mile sea crossing to the Farne Islands for the first time, the National Trust has said.
The animal, more commonly found in rivers, has swum from the coast of Northumberland despite rough seas.
Head warden David Steel said he was stunned to find 60 yards of…
November 21, 2008
It might be a grape size protist. Those were the days...
A single-celled ball about the size of a grape may provide an explanation for one of the mysteries of fossil history.
Writing in Current Biology, researchers say the creature leaves tracks on the seabed which mirror fossilised tracks left…
November 21, 2008
NASA's Dawn spacecraft shut down its ion propulsion system today as scheduled. The spacecraft is now gliding toward a Mars flyby in February of next year.
"Dawn has completed the thrusting it needs to use Mars for a gravity assist to help get us to Vesta," said Marc Rayman, Dawn's chief engineer,…
November 21, 2008
Computer reconstruction of Copernicus from skull discovered in the cathedral in Frombork, Poland.
Researchers in Poland say they have solved a centuries-old mystery and identified the remains of astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus.
A comparison of DNA from a skeleton in Poland and strands of the…
November 21, 2008
The 3,000 extra UN troops being sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo need to be elite soldiers from Europe, the UN's ex-peacekeeping chief says.
Jean-Marie Guehenno told the BBC there was an urgent need for an effective international force in the east.
He said an offer from Europe would send a…
November 20, 2008
The United Nations Security Council has voted to send 3,000 more troops to the Democratic Republic of Congo following renewed fighting in the country's east.
The increase means the peacekeeping mission, Monuc, will have about 20,000 troops and police on the ground - the biggest UN force of its kind…
November 20, 2008
IMOVIO launched today a smaller alternative to a subnotebook -- much smaller. The new iKIT is about the size of a PDA from ten years ago, but has a QWERTY keyboard and connects to the Internet at 3G speeds via your cell phone or Wi-Fi.
The $175 Linux-based system has a Webcam built in, as well as…
November 20, 2008
This is a story some of you know, and the rest of you should. Saartjie (Little Sarah) was a woman variously claimed to have been San, Bushman, or Grikwa (and one can in fact be all three easily) ... but anyway, South African ... and and with a number of physical features typical for the women of…
November 20, 2008
In an act of utter cynicism, continuing with the right wing mandate that has propped up the Bush Regime for the last eight years, the Winged Monkeys of the Bush Inferior Department of the Interior plans to eliminate restrictions on federal agencies carrying out projects that negatively impact…
November 20, 2008
http://www.2012draftsarahcommittee.com/
here
Click on "straw poll" in the sidebar.
November 20, 2008
I have signed a non-disclosure agreement regarding information that I personally obtain during the recount process, but I can certainly report on the publicly available data.
The difference between Coleman and Franken at the start of the recount was about 250 votes. Two things are happening…
November 20, 2008
Last night I had only minute to address this issue, so I simply posted the video with no comment. (Except maybe a little snark). Now, I'd like to take a moment to describe this in more detail.
This is on Fox News:
Alan Colmes askes Michele Bachmann about her comment on Countdown prior to the…
November 19, 2008
See also THIS.
November 19, 2008
One of the most amazing scenes in Bill Maher's Religulous is the scene from The Holy Land Experience, which is like Disney Land, but instead of fictional characters that are sometimes charming sometimes scary and that everybody goes nuts over, it's got ... well, fictional characters that are…
November 19, 2008
Hat tip: Colloquy
November 19, 2008
Post Election 2008, Liberals have the blues. Two kinds of blues.
First, we have BLUE STATES!!! Lots of them! Unsurprisingly, many of the submissions for this edition of the carnival are about the election. Second, we have the blues over Proposition Eight, which we Hate. Many of this edition'…
November 18, 2008
You do know that it works like this:
Fungus and animals are sister taxa to the exclusion of plants.
This might make the following less scary. Or more scary.
Hat tip: The Lorax. The Lorax is here:
http://angrybychoice.blogspot.com/
(Warning, that site will make noise when you open it.)
November 18, 2008
It started out as a church. Then the children were taken away because, according to authorities, they were being held in some sort of hareem of young girls for the church leader's pleasure. Now, they will probably start calling it a 'cult.' But it isn't. It's just a church.
State officials on…
November 18, 2008
And the winner is ......
Democrat Mark Begich called winner over Ted Stevens. The count is still on, but MSNCB is reporting that AP is calling the race. A recount could be requested.
Now, everything is ruined for Sarah Palin.
