July 29, 2008
An ugly fact killing a beautiful hypothesis I'm not mentioning any names, and don't ask me any details. In fact, don't repeat this story.
Some years ago, when I was a mere graduate student, a fellow student working in an unnamed country in Africa discovered a very very old stone artifact. To…
July 29, 2008
Did Past Climate Changes Promote Speciation in the Amazon?
Any time you've got a whopping big river like the Amazon (or a mountain chain like the Andes, or an ocean, or whatever), you've gotta figure that it will be a biogeographical barrier. Depending on the kind of organisms, big rivers, high…
July 28, 2008
A recent article in PLoS examines the possibility that disease is spreading from domestic to wild bees.
Osmia ribifloris
The conservation of insect pollinators is drawing attention because of reported declines in bee species and the 'ecosystem services' they provide. This issue has been brought…
July 27, 2008
How many Microsoft software engineers does it take to change a light bulb?
None. The burned out light bulb is expected behavior.
In fact, it will be incorporated into the next version as an added feature in the Professional Version (not available at discount).
But seriously folks, if you want to…
July 27, 2008
Strangest thing I've seen all weekend:
The octopuses of the genus Grimpoteuthis are also known as "Dumbo octopuses" from the ear-like fins protruding from the top of their head-like bodies, resembling the ears of Walt Disney's flying elephant. They are benthic creatures, living at extreme depths:…
July 27, 2008
Jim Adkisson entered the Unitarian Church for a children's play earlier today, carrying a guitar case. But instead of taking out a guitar and singing Kumbaya, he pulled out a shotgun, killed two adults, and wounded seven others before being overpowered.
This was in Knoxville Tennessee.
Jim…
July 26, 2008
Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) commandos Nigeria is where Western graduate students in political science who study corruption go to do their fieldwork. There appears to be an ensconced elite and externally connected ruling body and a down trodden underclass organized…
July 26, 2008
Amy Binder and John H. Evans, associate professors of Sociology at the University of California at San Diego, have written a piece on efforts to force religion in the guise of Intelligent Design and Creationism down the throats of children in Texas.
A proposal before the Texas Board of Education…
July 26, 2008
Hat Tip: TUIBG
But wait, there's more:
July 25, 2008
It appears that the Chancellor of the University of Minnesota, Morris put out a statement today regarding PZ Myers' recent activity in relation to the cracker/eucharist. This led to coverage in the Star Tribune where you can, if you like, leave a comment. The story:
Morris chancellor defends…
July 25, 2008
According to the Star Tribune:
But the Star Tribune is wrong, and they know they are wrong (according to sources close in). So, is their front page editor on crack or something? Let's test this hypothesis.
(UPDATE: See: Senate race polling breakdown)
Available recent polling data suggest that…
July 25, 2008
The same guy made this film:
Hat Tip PZ
July 25, 2008
Some current news in the Linuxosphere, and some things going on on my very own desktop, have me wondering about the nature of the Linux Desktop. Here are a few questions to ponder.
Are Gnome and Ubuntu ruining the Linux Desktop? And if they are, what do we do about it?
Is Linux currently at a…
July 25, 2008
Sorry for the mixed metaphor, but I assure you, it gets worse.
Google may be taking a shot at Wikipedia (and similar projects) with its newly unveiled Knol project. Knol was announced many moons ago but has been under cover and password protected with only a few special people allowed in to see…
July 25, 2008
The birth of the world's first "test tube baby" has been announced in Manchester.
Louise Brown was born shortly before midnight in Oldham and District General Hospital.
Weighing 5lb 12oz (2.61 kg) the baby was delivered by caesarean section because her mother, Lesley Brown, was suffering from…
July 25, 2008
Enough monkeys banging on keyboards over enough time should produce, through random chance alone, sensible prose now and then.
But if the monkeys are bloggers and reporters and other people, the noise they generate would become merely pseudo-sensible because of (highly unlikely) chance events,…
July 24, 2008
The following video is NOT for the feint of heart. Not. If your hear is feint, go away. Now. I am not kidding. You have been warned.
Obviously, the rocking chair is going to move. But notice that the clothing (at least I think it is clothing, not a person) on the bed to the right is moving…
July 24, 2008
Tiny microbes beneath the sea floor, distinct from life on the Earth's surface, may account for one-tenth of the Earth's living biomass, according to an interdisciplinary team of researchers, but many of these minute creatures are living on a geologic timescale.
This is from a press release…
July 24, 2008
This blog will now engage in twenty four hours of silence as a show of respect for the all those who have suffered at the hands religious zealots around the world and throughout history.
I say this out of inspiration from a post written on Pharyngula by biologist PZ Myers. PZ makes the link…
July 24, 2008
A recently published study seems to indicate that adult brain volume is reduced in individuals with significant lead exposure during childhood. While this study may lead to important findings linking lead to reduced cognitive function, it is important to note that observed effect is very small,…
July 24, 2008
Claims, "It was a lot like teaching summer school, but with fewer ups and downs."
A Minnesota high school teacher has lasted 20 hours on a carnival ride to win the Ride the Tide Challenge at the Mall of America.
Forty-year-old Jim Salava, of Oakdale, was declared the winner at the Nickelodeon…
July 24, 2008
Ronald Herberman is the director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. Despite the fact that no published study indicates a clear link between cell phone use and cancer, Herberman has warned his staff at the cancer institute a memo warning them of possible risks from cell phones, based…
July 24, 2008
Notice how I put "complete skeleton" in quotes. A paleontologist's idea of complete is not exactly the same as everyone else's.. But this Gobi Desert Tyrannosauris-like Tarbosaurus has a lot of its bone. It was recently extracted from sandstone blocks dug up a couple of years ago.
Another nice…
July 23, 2008
Cute penguin
July 23, 2008
The phrase "genomic imprinting" has come to refer the turning off of a gene (a particular instance of a gene on a particular chromosome duplicated across the cells in a body) so that the gene is not expressed at all, with the turning off of the gene not caused in the body in question, but rather,…
July 23, 2008
90% Geek
Created by OnePlusYou
I lost four percent because I do not read comic books and have not since the magic age of 14.
The other six percent, I'm not so sure about. But I did answer all the questions honestly. I guess 90% isn't bad.
[hat tip Grrrrl]
July 22, 2008
NASA's fire and smoke web site, with photos such as the one shown below, keeps track of, well, fire and the attending smoke.
July 22, 2008
Plants and their herbivores have an interesting and complex relationship. It has been true for quite some time (many tens of millions of years) that terrestrial plants do not move around while animal herbivores do (though I've got friends from Texas who claim that there is a Texan tree that will…
July 22, 2008
Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.
Source
[Hat tip: Bunny]
