January 12, 2008
Hat tips:
Evolgen
Biorad
Biosingularity
..And, pretty much everybody else on the Internet.
Can you identify the singers that are being parodies? (or at least, imitated?)
January 12, 2008
There are about 100 billion stars in our galaxy. Imagine taking twenty percent of those stars and stuffing them into one, single black hole. That would be one hell of a black hole.
Well, there is such a black hole, called OJ287 (no relation to the ex foot ball star/murderer). It is about 3.5…
January 12, 2008
Or, one of those 1960s flowers similar to bathtub decals. Who cares, it runs Linux and is only $199.00 US.
It'll have an Intel Celeron processor, a 945GC chipset, 512MB of memory and either a 60GB or 80GB hard drive. What it won't have: an optical drive or a PCI Express slot. Despite that, it's…
January 11, 2008
I will not be outdone by my fellow bloggers 3-quarks, Thoughts from Kansas, Pure Pedantry and A Blog Around the Clock. They are all putting up these "electoral compass things" where you ask a bunch of questions and get in return a graph showing where you are in relation to the US presidential…
January 11, 2008
An Einstein Ring is one of those freaky relativistic predictions that can't possibly be true unless Einstein was right. Well, Einstein Rings have been observed in the past, and now, we have a double Einstein Ring. Doubly proving that Einstein was right!
Click here for a bigger picture of the…
January 11, 2008
MIT scientists have found a new way that DNA can carry out its work that is about as surprising as discovering that a mold used to cast a metal tool can also serve as a tool itself, with two complementary shapes each showing distinct functional roles.
Professor Manolis Kellis and postdoctoral…
January 11, 2008
Gemina (pronunced Gem eee na) the Crocket Neck Giraffe died for reasons unrelated to her neck.
We prefer to remember Gemina in life rather than as, well, a dead giraffe.
Details of her death are here.
January 11, 2008
Translation below the fold...
January 11, 2008
This just in from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory:
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has detected plump black holes where least expected -- skinny galaxies.
...
Scientists have long held that all galaxies except the slender, bulgeless spirals harbor supermassive black holes at their cores. Furthermore…
January 11, 2008
The latest on the Florida fight over the use of the actual word "evolution" in the classroom. (Or, more specifically, in the science standards)
A panel of education experts just wrapped up three days of meetings at the state Department of Education to hammer out new standards. The state Board of…
January 11, 2008
An asteroid heading for Mars is going to miss the angry red planet. Too bad, that would have been cool.
But there is a very cool graphic that results from the science surrounding this non event.
This is a moving GIF showing the evolution over time of the uncertainty region for the collision. You…
January 11, 2008
Sure, the Taylor County school board was apparently the first to pass a resolution complaining about evolution, but they're not the only one.
Two more counties passed resolutions, too: Baker County and Holmes County.
Florida Citizens for Science and Dispatches from the Culture Wars are covering…
January 11, 2008
Everyone these days knows about the "island effect" where certain animals evolve to a diminutive size because they live on islands. You know this because of the Flores hominid. Now, it has been shown to have operated in a dinosaur.
Thecodontosaurus Thecodontosaurus is also known as the Bristol…
January 11, 2008
In a very important ruling, a Federal district court in Missouri has ruled that allowing the Gideons to come into elementary schools and distribute Bibles to students is a violation of the establishment clause .... This is a key ruling that could be replicated nationwide, where many schools still…
January 11, 2008
They were possessed by the devil. She claims the demons did the killing but authorities may not be buying it.
Banita Jacks, 33, is charged with three counts of felony murder and one count of first-degree murder while armed.
The victims, who range in age from 5 to 17 years, are thought to be her…
January 11, 2008
Here's a novel idea for creationists: Be honest!
As you know, the Institute for Creation Research is trying to get an online Masters Degree in "science education" approved in Texas. A faux committee comprised of nincompoops and creationists has approved the degree at the first stage, and it is…
January 11, 2008
... will be featured on Science Friday with Ira Flatow, today (Friday), January 11th. Details are here.
Thanks Sheril for the info.
January 11, 2008
I'm going to make a prediction. Just remember, you heard it here first....
First, let's lay out a few truths that need to be understood in order to embrace this bold prediction.
You may have noticed the latest news on the shenanigans the Iranians are playing with the US navy. They've been driving…
January 11, 2008
Sir Edmund Hillary Died of Heart Failure at the Auckland City Hospital at the age of 88.
Hillary is most famous for being the first european, with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, to reach the top of Mount Everest and return alive (and possibly the first to reach the summit).
Today, there are streams of…
January 10, 2008
Accepting his 2006 TED Prize, Dr. Larry Brilliant talks about how smallpox was finally eradicated from the planet. In a conversational style that belies the deadly seriousness of his subject, he describes the dangers of pandemic disease, and offers a solution in his dramatic TED Prize wish, a plan…
January 10, 2008
Author Robert Wright explains "non-zero-sumness," a game-theory term describing how players with linked fortunes tend to cooperate for mutual benefit. This dynamic has guided our biological and cultural evolution, he says -- but our unwillingness to understand one another, as in the clash between…
January 10, 2008
Why is there no Birth Control Pill for men?
This latest "Ask a ScienceBlogger" question will certainly engender a wide range of responses from the Scienceblogs.com team. Answers may address physiology, endocrinology, pharmacology, economics, and other areas of scientific thinking and practice…
January 9, 2008
... Brings a tear to my eye...
January 9, 2008
Accepting his 2006 TED Prize, Cameron Sinclair demonstrates how passionate designers and architects can respond to world housing crises. The motto of his group, Architecture for Humanity, is "Design like you give a damn." Using a litany of striking examples, he shows how AFH has helped find…
January 9, 2008
Economist Eleni Gabre-Madhin outlines her ambitious vision to found the first commodities market in Ethiopia. Her plan would create wealth, minimize risk for farmers and turn the world's largest recipient of food aid into a regional food basket. "There is no place in the world and no time in…
January 9, 2008
A glow in the dark pig has given birth to more glow in the dark pigs.
Fluorescent Chinese pig passes on trait to offspring from PhysOrg.com
A pig genetically modified in China to make it glow has given birth to fluorescent piglets, proving such changes can be inherited, state media said…
January 9, 2008
Totally ripped off rom Quantum Pontiff
When you think about it, this guy had/has more power than even Robert Altman...
January 8, 2008
[Hat Tip: Tangled Up in Blue Guy]
We are going to have the coolest Senator!
January 8, 2008
University of California, Irvine infectious disease researchers have shown the effectiveness of a potential alternative to the existing smallpox vaccine that can replace the current biodefense stockpile for this lethal virus.
Philip Felgner and Huw Davies with the Department of Medicine found that…
