purepedantry
Posts by this author
July 9, 2006
I think this paper sounds fascinating but we don't have access to NBER papers here. Anyway, check out this abstract:
Cultures of Corruption: Evidence From Diplomatic Parking Tickets
Corruption is believed to be a major factor impeding economic development, but the importance of legal enforcement…
July 9, 2006
Jonah at The Frontal Cortex posted a great article exposing the limits of genetic determinism. Sometimes a genetic explanation seems so obvious, but further study shows that environment also plays a prominent role. Definitely read the whole thing.
July 9, 2006
The American Journal of Psychiatry has this very interesting case, but first you should know some background. There is a pathway in the brain that is commonly referred to as the reward pathway. It is referred to as the reward pathway because if I were to -- for instance -- implant an electrode…
July 9, 2006
This paper in Proceedings of Royal Society Biology purports to show that there is an investment trade-off between immunocompetence and animal growth. In cases where parasitism is high, the trade-off tends to tilt towards investment in immunocompetence.
I love this article for two reasons.
1) It…
July 9, 2006
Several bloggers and columnists have been expressing skepticism as to the concept of energy independence, and I think they make some good arguments.
John Fialka in the WSJ:
The allure of energy independence is easy to see. It reinforces the belief that Americans can control their own economic…
July 8, 2006
The Synapse #2 is up at A Blog Around the Clock.
The next Synapse is to be hosted by The Neurophilosopher's Blog on July 23rd. Submission guidelines are here.
July 7, 2006
Prosopagnosia is a rare disorder that can result from strokes where the individual is unable to recognize faces but maintains the ability to recognize other non-face objects. Disorders like prosopagnosia suggest to neuroscientists that the machinery for processing faces in the brain is in part…
July 6, 2006
What does a scanner see? Into the head? Into the heart? Does it see into me? Clearly? Or darkly?
Think about it this way. Everything that you have ever been or ever will be, everything you have loved, every preference, every joy, every sweet or sordid memory is contained in a squishy mass of about…
July 6, 2006
The Department of Energy has begun a Nuclear Film Declassification Project where they are going to release the footage of old nuclear weapons tests. Sample videos and a statement below the fold.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has embarked on the Nuclear Weapons Film Declassification Project…
July 6, 2006
The New York Times has a interesting article about the long term consequences to adolescent brains of early drinking. To whit:
In experiments conducted by the Duke team, the reformed rat drinkers learned mazes normally when they were sober. But after the equivalent of only a couple of drinks,…
July 5, 2006
...I am just concerned that she needs to stay out of the sun because being a redhead she is at high risk for skin cancer:
Fair-skinned redheads are known to have increased risk of developing melanoma. Now researchers may have pinpointed one of the reasons: variations in a gene called MC1R. This…
July 5, 2006
FuturePundit posted an article about the decline in American's social attachment that my Mom actually emailed to me. My Mom being a Mom has a continuing interest in my social health, particular where this is related to my reproductive success (just kidding Mom).
Anyway, this article is about a…
July 5, 2006
Anabolic steroid abusers get gingival overgrowth (that would be big gums), or so says this study in the Journal of Periodontology:
Researchers found that prolonged use of anabolic androgenic steroid (AAS) is closely associated with significant levels of gingival enlargement, according to a new…
July 4, 2006
Every time I think that Britney Spears cannot become more trailer trash, she goes and becomes the black hole into which all other trailer trash in the Universe is sucked:
That would be Britney Spears in the latest issue of Bazaar being her very pregnant self.
1) That was disturbing when Demi Moore…
July 4, 2006
This weeks Ask a Scienceblogger is:
What are some unsung successes that have occurred as a result of using science to guide policy?
I don't know if this is unsung but it bears repeating because it is truly a triumph of science over those who would prefer the research had not been done.
In 1964, the…
July 4, 2006
When a man wakes up after a 20 year coma, you know that people are going to pay attention. Particularly after the Terry Schiavo business, I think it is important to add some facts to this debate as early as possible before it gets completely out of control.
So let's talk about this guy. In 1984…
July 4, 2006
Neurodudes has an excellent article on software intended to reduce medical errors.
Just from my limited personal experience, I would say that such software would be useful if people understand that it is limited in scope. There are three general reasons I think that software is useful in…
July 4, 2006
In 4th of July related news, Takeru Kobayashi has yet again proven that stomach size and total body size have no clear correlation.
A 160-pound wonder from Japan set a new record by devouring a sickening 53 3/4 frankfurters in 12 minutes to win the annual Independence Day hot dog eating competition…
July 4, 2006
You remember what you learned in biology right -- or maybe health. A woman is born with all the eggs she will ever have. Well some researchers in Australia are disputing that point.
By doing stereology on mice aged 1 to 200 days they claim to show that the overall number of eggs does not…
July 3, 2006
The first issue of another neuroscience carnival called Encephalon is up.
Coturnix at A Blog Around the Clock will be hosting the next The Synapse on July 9. Submission guidelines here.
Also, I will be hosting the next Encephalon on Jul 17th, 2006. Click here for submission guidelines.
July 2, 2006
A clip of Shatner honoring George Lucas. Hilarious. Video below the fold.
Hat-tip: Volokh Conspiracy.
July 2, 2006
The Family Guy has a great spoof on the religious interpretation of evolution.
July 2, 2006
When you get in a conversation about pharmaceuticals, everyone always asks me: "Why can't they just give them away? Drug companies make so much money anyway. Why do we even have patents?"
Well, the reason is that piracy stifles innovation. If people can't make any money off what they make,…
July 2, 2006
Hellllloooooo, love-dart. When molluscs mate, the male shoots this little spear into the female depicted here protruding from the female's head:
Hot.
But why all the she-snail hating. Chase and Blanchard show in this work that the purpose of the dart is for the male snail to convey his man mucus…
July 2, 2006
What is wrong with this picture?
It's wrong for one. What this picture represents is what is called the "motor homunculus." The motor homunculus is the idea that on a particular gyrus of the brain -- the precentral gyrus -- all muscle are represented by discrete pools of neurons. Activation of…
July 2, 2006
Popular Science has a great article on the recent advances in prosthetics. They hit on one of the topics that I think has been really under-researched: neural to machine interfaces. What you would really like to do with a prosthetic is have it communicate directly to and recieve information…
June 30, 2006
Who Killed the Electric Car? opened this evening. As Seed has a nice interview with the filmmaker, Chris Paine, I thought I would see it and write of a review.
(Incidentally, I saw this film tonight in a theater of a whopping 27 people in downtown Manhattan. Considering that this is Manhattan,…