February 14, 2008
The woman or or representatives were not allowed to attend the trial. Her conviction is based on a written confession to which her fingerprints are attached. She is illiterate and could not read the confession. There are indications that this "conviction" is actually a crime of retribution by a…
February 14, 2008
You probably already knew this, but in case you've been living in a cave (as I have):
Striking Hollywood writers will be back at their keyboards Wednesday after voting overwhelmingly to end a 100-day walkout that essentially shut down the entertainment industry.
Details
February 14, 2008
On Wednesday the Bay District School Board voted to sign a resolution saying it does not agree with the proposed science standards as they are currently written.
The new proposed standards adjust language for life science that would move Florida schools into modern, 21st century thinking regarding…
February 13, 2008
Update every single piece of software on your computer, including your system, by:
Click once on a little orange button,
Click on the button that says "Install Updates"
Enter your security code.
Sit back and have a beer. Or, if you like, keep using your computer.
Later, you'll get a message that…
February 13, 2008
As Raleane (Rae) Kupferschmidt lay motionless in her hospital bed, family and friends said their final goodbyes and the funeral home was called.
But just as the grieving began in her Lake Elmo home, Kupferschmidt woke up from her coma.
"There's no medical explanation for what happened to my mother…
February 13, 2008
What would happen if the Discovery Institute view of Darwinism was True:
Hat Tip: War on Error
February 13, 2008
In a previous discussion on home schooling and athletics, this idea, surprisingly, did not come up:
Some senators worry a bill that passed the Senate this morning might allow student to cheat their way into playing sports.
The bill allows home schooled students to join public school sports teams…
February 13, 2008
Bats; Signaling in the Rain Forest; Sumatran Tiger Body Parts; Humans in the New World 20,000 years ago.
Bats are funny. Funny strange, not funny ha ha. There are two kinds of bats, microchiroptera and megachiroptera. The micros are smaller, the megas larger, by and large. and the micros have…
February 13, 2008
Can you believe this guy? Check it out:
The French anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss once proposed that humanity began with cooking. [a Twin Cities anthropologist] says love may have begun with cooking, as well.
...
The earliest human ancestors, some kind of chimp-like apes, were living off raw…
February 13, 2008
Paul Abramson founded and runs "creationism.org" ... a creation science web site. It is one of those sites that provides parents and students material to use in harassing their life science teachers and generally making an obnoxious nuisance of themselves.
Paul is now seeking the Republican…
February 13, 2008
And good luck to them, they will probably do a pretty good job!
This missive from Birders United comes to us via 10,000 birds.
In November 2008, birders, united in a voting bloc, can determine who will be the next president of the United States.
There are 15 million or more voting age Americans…
February 13, 2008
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 13, 2008
This had to happen eventually...
February 13, 2008
OK, here's a quiz for you. You have a tube that is fixed in space. You cannot move it. It is too small for you to get your hands into it, and there is a peanut in the bottom. You want the peanut. How do you extract the peanut?
Have a look at how this chimp did it:
February 13, 2008
As Europeans plied the seas in search (and ultimately management) of colonies and conquests, they learned the practical geology they needed to find their way and avoid wrecks. Everyone knows that Charles Darwin's opportunity to spend several years on the Beagle ultimately rested on the British…
February 12, 2008
One of the most compelling argument that the story of Noah's Ark is made up is the implausibility of having animals like tigers and lions together with animals like lambs and deer on the same boat for very long. The big carnivores would eventually eat the little cute furry things. The bunnies…
February 12, 2008
A Cafe Scientifique by Yours Truly ....
.... details below the fold.
Cafe Scientifique
Evolution, Cuisine and Romance
Tuesday, February 19, 7 p.m.
Bryant-Lake Bowl, Uptown
$5-$10 (pay what you can)
Were the opposable thumb, an upright stance and a large brain the most important evolutionary…
February 12, 2008
SCIENCE is useful but that is not all it is. Science can be uplifting, thrilling, life-enhancing. Originally broadcast on Britain's Channel 4 in 1996, Break the Science Barrier follows the Oxford Biologist Richard Dawkins as he meets with people who have experienced the wonders of science first-…
February 12, 2008
I'm not big on holidays, so I'm not doing anything special today. But I am big on Darwin, so I am doing something special All Month! And this consists of posting several things on Darwin, in particular, a series of post on the Voyage of the Beagle. You can get a current list of the posts HERE
February 12, 2008
"Disease" is a big word. I'd like to address this question by focusing on the difference, or lack of difference, between a poison, a disease, and a yummy thing to eat. It turns out that they may all be the same. Yet different.
Phenylketonuria (fee-null-keet-o-noo-ria), mercifully also known as…
February 11, 2008
I and the Bird #68 - Winter Doldrum Edition ... the blog carnival, is here, at Biological Ramblings.
February 11, 2008
Who doesn't? Well, for one, all the people who have sipped the Kool-Ade of Microsoft Office. Microsoft Office is adware.
Or at least, this is the arugment made by OpenOffice.orgNinja, and by the way, something I've been saying for years.
Is Microsoft Office adware? Wikipedia defines adware as…
February 11, 2008
Is HERE at the Other 95%
February 11, 2008
Or your dog, or favorite house plant, or whatever.
Via Bad Astronomy, we have learned of the Name That Satellite Project at NASA. NASA is trying to reverse the mistake of naming a sattelite "GLAST."
This appears to be the beginning of a new policy of satellite naming.
Go here to name the…
February 11, 2008
... according to some.
The Veteran's Administration (hospitals) maintains chapels in their facility. In 1953, the VA initiated a policy regarding chapels that states: "Chapels will be appointed and maintained as places for meditation and prayer for members of any faith group or denomination."…
February 11, 2008
In the classic science fiction novel, Venus on the Half Shell by Kilgore Trout, the question of how intelligent life evolved (at many different locations) in The Universe is raised, and pursued by the novel's protagonist. As the novel ends, it turns out that the origin of intelligent life across…
February 11, 2008
It is no secret that shark videos are very, very popular. So, it is not surprising that Mark Powell at Blogfish has posted this rare and unusual footage of shark-human interaction.
February 11, 2008
There is an updated version of this post here: "Is Blood Ever Blue, Science Teachers Want To Know!"
Why ask the question, "Is blood ever blue?"
According to one of the leading experts on the human circulatory system, blood flowing through veins is blue.
I'm not going to mention any names. All I'…
February 11, 2008
Cornell Lab or Ornithology has always had a lot of good stuff on the web. Now, they have a new site called Living Bird. Go check it out.
It's basically an online journal with a lot of cool articles, including some science, birding advice, etc. ... and outstanding bird pictures.
Hat tip:…
