purepedantry
Posts by this author
When I first read this it summoned immediate images of the robot from Lost in Space. Fortunately, these X-ray wielding robots seem decidedly less sinister. Instead, it is a better way to deliver X-rays to lung tumors, accounting for motion of the lungs during breathing:
Super-intense radiation…
That's quite clever:
Instead of using expensive photovoltaic cells to convert solar radiation to electricity directly, Matteran's solution uses far-cheaper thermal-collection technology to heat a synthetic fluid with a very low boiling point (around 58°F), creating enough steam to drive a…
The entry that I posted on research challenging the idea that Hummers are worse for the environment than hybrids has sparked a great deal of contreversy and criticism. I cannot say that I find this entirely surprising.
There have been several very reasonable criticisms related their failure to…
The Chronicle of Higher Education is running a symposium on the benefits of academic blogging. This symposium addresses ostensibly the failure of Juan Cole, a prominent Middle East scholar and proprietor of the blog Informed Comment, to recieve tenure at Yale University. Many have attributed that…
Fellow Scienceblogger Jonah Lehrer has this nice little vignette in Seed arguing that practice is more important than ability. Two examples that could be forwarded for the idea of innate genius are Mozart and Tiger Woods, two child prodigies that practiced a lot harder than most people give them…
The Economist has an article about an economist using evolutionary ideas. To wit:
...Eric Beinhocker, of the McKinsey Global Institute, has undertaken his own 500-page haj, entitled "The Origin of Wealth: Evolution, Complexity, and the Radical Remaking of Economics". In places (such as its…
Fanged killer kangaroo fossils discovered:
Forget cute, cuddly marsupials. A team of Australian palaeontologists say they have found the fossilized remains of a fanged killer kangaroo and what they describe as a "demon duck of doom".
A University of New South Wales team said the fearsome fossils…
Roger Pielke Jr. from Prometheus has posted his recent Congressional Testimony before the House Government Reform Committee. I am big fan of him simply because I think he is genuinely looking for solutions in a debate that is stuck in an impasse.
Here are some choice morsels:
Take Home Points
1.…
Synapse #3 is up at The Neurophilosopher's Blog. Thanks to everyone that submitted.
The next Synapse is at Neurotopia, hosted by fellow Scienceblogger Evil Monkey. It is on August 6th.
Submission guidelines here.
If you could have practiced science in any time and any place throughout history, which would it be, and why?...
OK, so this is going to sound incredibly trite, but my answer is right now...
...but I have a reason, and it doesn't involve kittens.
I am happy to be a scientist right now because we…
Whereas Merriam-Webster has been adding words to the dictionary like unibrow and drama queen, Time Out New York has some more interesting words. Check out definitions for underboob, aireoke, etc.
Hat-tip: Gawker.
Hybrid vehicles clearly have better gas mileage than many SUVs on the market, but does the gas mileage as a figure accurately represent the total energy usage required to build, market, use and destroy the vehicle?
Art Spinella, in a huge study by CNW Marketing Research, has endeavored to find the…
This article is not my fault. It is in the NYTimes Business Section; therefore, this constitutes real news that I have to report, dammit. It just happens that the real news is about bull semen.
I love the title.
Farmers Use Bull Semen to Inseminate Cows
The article is about artificial…
Reminder: The Synapse #3 is being hosted on Sunday at The Neurophilosopher's Blog. Submission information is available here.
In an earlier post about Bush's stem cell veto, I mentioned that I am a libertarian. One of the comments got me thinking, and I want to answer it in detail. Posted by Quitter:
Libertarian? And you're a scientist? Where do you think your funding comes from?
Usually big "L" Libertarian is defined…
Kate Hudson sues magazine for pictures that made her look too skinny:
Actress Kate Hudson accepted libel damages on Thursday from a magazine that printed a photo making her look too skinny, alongside an article that said her movie star mother Goldie Hawn wanted her to eat more.
Hudson had sued the…
Who says that being smart hurts your reproductive success?
Albert Einstein had half a dozen girlfriends and told his wife they showered him with "unwanted" affection, according to letters released on Monday that shed light on his extramarital affairs.
The wild-haired Jewish-German scientist,…
Does anyone actually believe this is going to work?
Japan is planning ultra long-range 30-year weather forecasts that will predict typhoons, storms, blizzards, droughts and other inclement weather, an official said Tuesday.
The project, to start next year, will harness the powers of one of the…
Scientists ask twins to comment on clones, twins smack scientists upside head:
A cloned human would probably consider themselves to be an individual, a study suggests.
Scientists drew their conclusions after interviewing identical twins about their experiences of sharing exactly the same genes with…
Keith Richards pardoned for crimes he cannot entirely recollect:
The state of Arkansas is prepared to pardon Keith Richards for being a reckless driver, 31 years later.
The state Parole Board on July 3 approved an application for clemency submitted on behalf of Richards, the 62-year-old guitarist…
AP is reporting that Bush has indeed vetoed the stem cell bill:
President Bush cast the first veto of his 5 1/2-year presidency Wednesday, saying legislation easing limits on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research "crosses a moral boundary" and is wrong.
"This bill would support the…
Now I study oligodendrocyte development, and if you ask me they are a truly unappreciated cell type. Here is yet one more piece of evidence: synapses have been detected between neurons and oligodendrocytes in CA1 of the hippocampus AND these synapses can undergo a kind of LTP.
Glial cells in the…
Nifty:
Astronauts travelling beyond the Earth's orbit would be at risk of cancer and other illnesses due to their long term exposure to cosmic rays. Some of these energetic particles are spewed forth during outbursts from the Sun. Others come from outside our solar system and are more mysterious in…
Huh:
Representative Jim Kolbe wants to do away with the penny - and for a second time has introduced legislation that would effectively kill it.
The Currency Overhaul for an Industrious Nation (COIN) Act would force the rounding off of all cash transactions to the nearest 5 cents, making the penny…
You have to read this post at The World's Fair. It is too funny. It is summaries of exhibits at a 2001 Creationist Science Fair.
We have all been talking about this to death, but I figured I would add my two cents. Ben Barres wrote an editorial in the most recent issue of Nature about the issue of gender disparity in science. He mentions the comments of Larry Summers among others things and that he felt that those comments…
Grand Rounds is up at ChronicBabe. It is also all about the ladies, and it is pink. I do not believe the two are necessarily related.
I am doing Western blots today, and none of them are working.
For those of you who do not know what a Western blot is, a Western blot is a technique to detect proteins in a sample of cell lysates. First the proteins are purified. Then the protein in the sample are suspended in loading buffer…