retrospectacle
Posts by this author
January 5, 2007
Although I thought about making a post about the refusal of the corrupt earmark system to just die already, I think something more in my scope of interest is the current ethics debate regarding a severely mentally handicapped child. Specifically, her parents have opted to surgically stunt their…
January 5, 2007
I never knew there were such things as "orinithological quiz bowls," but apparently there are and the final question in one at Arizona State had to do with my favorite bird!
"Who is Alex?"
With the correct answer to that question, the team of Melissa Meadows, Matthew Toomey, and Bobby (Haralambos…
January 4, 2007
I came across an interesting topic on the Irascible Professor's blog: whether or not banning harmful food product such as trans-fat infringes upon a person's right to eat whatever they want, healthy or otherwise. This question is in response to libertarian John Stossel's article "What Will They…
January 3, 2007
Hey Wall Street Journal! I say boooooo to you and this worthless article on the "impending hearing health crisis." The title of the article ("Resolve to Turn Your Ipod Down") itself is rather silly, now that Ipods come with volume limits under the range of the levels that cause hearing loss. Plus,…
January 2, 2007
So, I've been in the North Country for the weekend, and have mixed feelings about Toronto. On the one hand, its the metropolitan city that Detroit could only dream of being (I live in Ann Arbor, MI). Cool underground mall, pretty decent public transport, fun and safe nightlife. On the other,…
December 31, 2006
Most people who have known a drug addict, or have watched Trainspotting or ER, know that one of the more insidious parts of addiction is the need for more and more drug to achieve a "high." This leads the addict into a spiral of drug-seeking behavior, and brain changes, which lead to the person…
December 30, 2006
Well, that was certainly quick. Convicted last month, handed over to the Iraq authorities yesterday, and hung (hanged, whatever) this morning. Guess no one can complain that justice wasn't swift.
His last words?
'God is great. The nation will be victorious and Palestine is Arab.'
Our soldiers'…
December 28, 2006
Well, sorry for the long hiatus in blogging, but it was nice to just have a little break and relax for the holidays. Hope everyone also had a restful and safe holidays (of whatever you celebrate--or not!). I just arrived back in the US yesterday, and after another 14 hour flight I gotta admit I'm…
December 16, 2006
Due to some rather obnoxious putrid trolls, went back to commenter moderation. No big deal, I'll let all comments through as long as they aren't abusive nor spam.
Also, while I'll be checking in, I'm taking the week off blogging until I get back to the US on the 26th. This is because my family is…
December 14, 2006
The New York Times was reporting this story like it was surprising in the slightest:
A rare, nearly blind white dolphin that survived for millions of years is effectively extinct, an international expedition declared Wednesday after ending a fruitless six-week search of its Yangtze River habitat.…
December 12, 2006
......yet men somehow stay the same. Or worse, regress.
Not sure whether to be more irked that Razib suggests that smart women aren't hot (and vice versa), that hot women don't like sci fi, or than sci fi somehow denotes intelligence. Booooooooo.
:/
Paging Zuska?
December 12, 2006
Arrived in China last night (although night is subjective when you have a 12 hour time differential), and after a bit of a drive to Suzhou we had dinner at a fantastic little Malaysian place which served something called 'Roti'. Roti is apparently phyllo dough with stuff inside and then fried. The…
December 11, 2006
I have perhaps found the most annoying device ever You know how irritating it is when your smoke detector needs new batteries and just beeps every now and then? Like the telltale heart, it drives you slowly bonkers. Now, imagine a gadget that did that intentionally, forever, and it was hidden!…
December 11, 2006
Scientists love good gossip as much as any 'Us'-magazine reader, and we take the same car-wreck interest in seeing our lofty demagogues topple in disgrace. The 'Huang stem cell scandal's' shame infected not only the fraudulent scientists involved, but also the journal that published his…
December 11, 2006
Poor gorillas. At least they have an excuse not to believe in evolution, however crappily it might impact their lives.
Recent outbreaks of Ebola among people in Africa also killed thousands of gorillas, animals already threatened by hunting, a new study reports.
Outbreaks in Congo and Gabon in…
December 10, 2006
French art is downright weird sometimes, never illustrated better than through SpermCube. From what I can gather, its a "public art project" that everyone is supposed to "contribute" to. Oh man, I can't even keep a straight face typing this. :D
More pictures under the fold (may not be work safe…
December 9, 2006
From December 11th to the 26th I'll be in Shanghai visiting my parents there, for my birthday and the holidays. Fear not, I'll still be blogging and probably posting interesting pictures from China. I always have a blast when I go and am really looking forwards to having a bit of down time away…
December 8, 2006
Well, its been a long time coming, and further delayed by grants, labwork, and Irene's hand injury. But, Irene and I finally got on the phone last weekend and chatted a bit about her work, her birds, and her uncertain future in the field. Irene Pepperberg is someone who I've admired since early…
December 7, 2006
Go check out this post over at OmniBRAIN about ...er....illustrative warnings against smoking the ye old cancer stick. Then, riddle me this? Is the tumor scarier, or the mustache?
Either way, nightmares are in my near future.
December 7, 2006
Ok this one literally "tastes like neuroscience." (Oh ho ho, I kill me.)
Seriously though, this discovery that it may be possible to diagnose depression through altered taste may one day result in a clinically useful (if unconventional) 'depression test.' A group at the University of Bristol,…
December 7, 2006
To be filed under "How Did This Ever Survive?" is a box containing 23 glass light bulbs used by Thomas Edison in a 1890 court battle to defend his patent on them. They will be auctioned this month, with expected bids being around $600,000!
The case which Edison was fighting (Edison Electric Light…
December 6, 2006
At the urging of others in the science blogging community (and rightly so!), we've been asked to highlight the situation of the tragic Tripoli 6 (or Benghazi 6) and the new developments going on. A bit of a recap though, for those not familiar with who they are.
The Benghazi Six consists of five…
December 6, 2006
Now I'm not a fan of Jeb Bush by any means. But compared to Georgie Porgie, he's gotta look like the golden son to George Bush, Sr. And thats saying something.
Evidenced by a recent emotional speech given by the elder George Bush, in which he broke down to tears when talking about being proud of…
December 6, 2006
I like MySpace, it brought me over from Friendster and now I use it almost exclusively. I've found old friends, new friends, and also a nasty virus which hijacked my profile last week and used my name to post a bunch of crapola ads on the Message Boards. I wondered what the heck happened, how did…
December 5, 2006
Not the greatest litmus test, but kinda fun and interesting. I'm more conservative than I thought. I was sure I'd get "Raving Atheist Baby-Eating Level Liberal"........
Your Political Profile:
Overall: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal
Social Issues: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal
Personal…
December 5, 2006
My oh my oh my, parrots really are the cause of so much human suffering aren't they? I couldn't wait to post this until Friday Grey Matters, well, because Irene Pepperberg's interview will be featured this week (a long time coming, but we finally had a little chat Sunday night). So stay tuned for…
December 5, 2006
Remember that scene in 'Karate Kid' when Daniel-San walked in on Mr. Miyagi trying to catch a fly with a pair of chopsticks? In response to Daniel-San asking what the heck he was doing, Mr. Miyagi replied cryptically, "He who catch fly with chopstick can do anything." (Or something like that.) Oh…
December 4, 2006
This generation of students will graduate with more student loans and debt than any previous to it (adjusted for inflation, of course). Rising school costs, living costs in college towns, and credit card debt may all be to blame. I came across a state-by-state interactive map over at USA Today,…
December 3, 2006
First, watch this:
I saw that on Yahoo last night and thought it would be kinda fun to try to figure out how it was done. Here's my guess. So, first of all, it seems that there are 5 toothpicks, broken in half (but not completely in half). The wood has been compressed due to the bending of the…
December 2, 2006
This sounds eerily similar to another kind of 'forced identification'..........
When radio host Jerry Klein suggested that all Muslims in the United States should be identified with a crescent-shape tattoo or a distinctive arm band, the phone lines jammed instantly.
The first caller to the station…