clock | September 25, 2008The cover graphics designer at Nature is not going to sleep very well tonight (and will, in the future, always open up the mag to see both the front and back covers at the same time), after making this gaffe:
clock | September 25, 2008
With almost a hundred people already signed up for ScienceOnline'09, we are busily working on the Program.
But we do not want to force a program on you - we want you to help design the program that you will enjoy and find useful. We need you to look at the Program page and tell us what you think and what you offer to do. You can e-mail me or you can edit the Program page and add your name next to one of the suggested topics or add a new topic on the bottom.
Keep in mind that this is the Third conference. While it needs to cover some of the basics (e.g., "Why blog?" or "What is Open…
clock | September 25, 2008At the time of complicated economic and financial news, I am reminded that the economic system and the financial system are quite separate in this country. The proposed bailout of the financial system only tangentially affects the economy - banks are needed to give out loans, so banks need to have the ability to do so. But the core of the crisis is the housing mortgage problem - shouldn't the Feds use those $700 billion to pay off all those foreclosures and iffy loans? That would give the banks and lending companies money AND at the same time ensure that people get to keep their houses and…
clock | September 25, 2008To Irena Ilic (see here) for winning the Junior Division of the Show Jumping Balkans Championship a couple of weeks ago in Istanbul.
clock | September 25, 2008As you may have already heard, Alias Zerhouni will step down from his position of the NIH director in October, not waiting for the inauguration of a new Administration. He has been a strong and effective proponent of Open Access and I hope his successor will be as well. The blogospheric responses are all over the spectrum, from very positive to very negative, depending on what aspects of his tenure are the focus. Here are some examples:
Heather Morrison:
Dr. Zerhouni has led the NIH through the long process of the NIH Public Access mandate, first the voluntary policy, then the mandatory…
clock | September 25, 2008Skeptic's Circle #96 is up on Endcycle
Also, it's time for you to write and submit posts (or submit other people's posts that you have noticed recently) for The Giant's Shoulders (October 15th on Second Order Approximation) and Praxis (on October 15th on The Other 95%).
clock | September 25, 2008A follow-up on last night's repost (originally from April 06, 2005)...
-----------------------------------------------
I've been wavering in how to call the Right Wing. When I say "conservatives" I get attacked for equating conservatism with GOP (with implication that conservatism is good but GOP is not conservative any more). When I call them Regressives, I am told I miss the point, because they should be described as conservatives. Should I just call them Republicans? Not damning enough. People, make up your minds!
What follows is a mix of stuff I have already written before on this blog…
clock | September 24, 2008The longer I live the more I see that I am never wrong about anything, and that all the pains I have so humbly taken to verify my notions have only wasted my time.
- George Bernard Shaw
clock | September 24, 2008The PLoS Biology article about science blogs and their (potential) relationship to the academic institutions has, as expected, received quite a lot of coverage in the blogosphere. Nick collects the responses and responds to the responses - join in the conversation in the comments there. Update: So does Tara.
Update: Jessica's post is what I would have written. Now I don't need to - go read hers.
clock | September 24, 2008There are 6 new articles in PLoS ONE today - and one of them has nothing to do with biology or medicine (ONE is meant to be for all areas of science, after all). As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. Here are my own picks for the week - you go and look for your own favourites:
In Situ Observation of Modulated Light Emission of Fiber Fuse Synchronized with Void Train over Hetero-Core Splice Point:
Fiber fuse is a process of optical fiber destruction under the action of laser radiation, found 20 years ago. Once…
clock | September 24, 2008Go to Mimi's place and state your position:
For a long time, if you wanted to read up on science news or get background information for research, you had to hope that the media got it right, have a subscription to a few journals ( there are thousands though, so you are missing out), or be lucky enough to work at an institute/organization that gives you access to journals online and has a few (hundred) bound copies. Before legislation was passed to make NIH funded research available to the public after a year, no one really knew what was going on in the world of research and development.
This…
clock | September 24, 2008Formula Discovered For Longer Plant Life:
Molecular biologists from Tuebingen, Germany, have discovered how the growth of leaves and the aging process of plants are coordinated.
Human Or Animal Faces Associated With At Least 90 Percent Of Cars By One-third Of Population:
Do people attribute certain personality traits or emotions to car fronts? If so, could this have implications for driving and pedestrian behavior? Truls Thorstensen (EFS Consulting Vienna), Karl Grammer (Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Urban Ethology) and other researchers at the University of Vienna joined economic interest…
clock | September 24, 2008An oldie (March 28, 2005) but goodie, bound to stir up the comment section..........
WHAT SHOULD WE CALL THEM?
First, who is "them"? Second, why should they be "called"? Third, who are "we"? Fourth, why "should" we call them anything? Finally, "what" is the appropriate name? These are all interconnected questions, dealing with the current US political environment, and the notion of "framing".
In his book Moral Politics (MP) and later, more explicitely, in "Don't Think Of An Elephant" (DTOAE), George Lakoff struggles with the nomenclature. He is not entirely happy with words "…
clock | September 24, 2008Four Stone Hearth #50 is up on Yann Klimentidis' Weblog
Carnival of Feminists #65 is up on Green Gabbro
Grand Rounds 5.1 - 5th Year Anniversary Edition - are up on Revolution Health
74th Edition of Carnival of the Liberals is up on XXBN Radio
Carnival of Education #190 is up on Steve Spangler's blog
The 143rd Carnival of Homeschooling is up on A Pondering Heart
clock | September 24, 2008Since BlogHer cancelled several parts of their Fall Tour, including the one in Greensboro, this does not mean that you go home on Friday night after ConvergeSouth as there WILL be a Saturday program, says Sue.
clock | September 24, 2008Michael Nielsen wrote another long thought-provoking essay (for his book, I guess):
............Two clarifications are in order. First, when I say that these are examples of scientific facts beyond individual understanding, I'm not saying a single person can't understand the meaning of the facts. Understanding what the Higgs particle is requires several years hard work, but there are many people in the world who've done this work and who have a solid grasp of what the Higgs is. I'm talking about a deeper type of understanding, the understanding that comes from understanding the justification…