clock | August 19, 2008Yup, I've been hearing about this Amethyst Initiative about lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 and wondered if I should blog about it from my perspective. Then I saw that Jake wrote a good post about it (and also see his older post on the topic and good comments by his readers) and decided to chime in.
I grew up in a country with no drinking age laws at all. When I was very young, perhaps as young as five, one of my regular chores was to go to the corner shop to buy things like bread, milk, yoghurt or whatever else was needed. Sometimes that meant I would get some beer or wine or…
clock | August 19, 2008Support Beverly Purdue:
Bev and Pat McCrory will face each other tonight in the second televised debate of the general election. The debate will be broadcast live at 8pm on WTVD in the Triangle area and streamed live on ABC11.com. Tune in tonight as Bev continues to prove why she's the best candidate to move North Carolina forward.
New ad, including Charlotte
Click here to see Bev's new ad, which is also airing in the Charlotte media market -- the first ad by either side to air in Charlotte. It focuses on Bev's extraordinary record of accomplishment and her plans for North Carolina's future…
clock | August 19, 2008Sweets Make Young Horses Harder To Train, Study Finds:
Young horses may be easier to train if they temporarily lay off the sweets, says a Montana State University study where two-year-olds wore pedometers, wrist watches and Ace bandages. A commercial mixture of corn, oats, barley and molasses -- sometimes called "sweet grain" or "sweet feed" -- gives horses the glossy coat and lively spirit that makes them attractive to prospective buyers, said Jan Bowman, an animal nutritionist at MSU.
Mirror Self-recognition In Magpie Birds:
Self-recognition, it has been argued, is a hallmark of advanced…
clock | August 19, 2008Last night I made another room in FriendFeed - PLoS ONE in the Media/Blogs. I made it primarily for my own use, linking to the media and blog coverage of PLoS ONE papers so I can have everything in one place.
But this should not stop you from using it, as well as from adding to it - if you read (or write yourself) a good article or blog post about one of the PLoS ONE papers, old or new, please place the link there and help me in my work. See the 'Green Sahara' example for the format I prefer (use the title and link of the paper, then add URLs of posts/articles in comments).
clock | August 18, 2008Our ignorance of history causes us to slander our own times.
- Gustave Flaubert
clock | August 18, 2008Try this search but click on "Sorted by date with duplicates included":
(Click here to see enlarged)
Hat-tip to Anonymoses (also see Kevin Z)
clock | August 18, 2008I was just on my way to Raleigh this morning, among other errands also heading to Quail Ridge Books to pick up a book there, when I heard Nancy Olson's interview on NPR's The State Of Things. Very nice interview with the owner of my favourite bookstore! I drove slowly in order to hear the whole thing:
When Nancy Olson opened a small bookstore back in 1984, she wanted it to be more than just a place to find bestsellers. Today, Quail Ridge Books and Music is a community anchor, an incubator for Raleigh's creative class and a dream come true. Nancy joins host Frank Stasio to share stories from…
clock | August 18, 2008When I got a job a year ago, I decided not to quit teaching, but just to "ease up" a little bit. So, I taught the lab (BIO102) my regular 4-5 times per year on Saturday mornings, but took a break in teaching the lectures (BIO101). I have been teaching introductory biology at NC Wesleyan College for eight years now, in adult education on their Triangle campus.
Last week I finished teaching - both lecture and lab again - and turned in the grades this morning. I have to say that it has been nicer and nicer teaching there over the years. I think the students are getting better and better (…
clock | August 18, 2008That is an interesting question, an answer to which was attempted in this paper:
Who blogs? Personality predictors of blogging:
The Big Five personality inventory measures personality based on five key traits: neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, openness to experience, and conscientiousness [Costa, P. T., Jr., & McCrae, R. R. (1992). Normal personality assessment in clinical practice: The NEO Personality Inventory. Psychological Assessment 4, 5-13]. There is a growing body of evidence indicating that individual differences on the Big Five factors are associated with different types…
clock | August 18, 2008Fairness Doctrine Panic hits FCC, spreads through blogosphere:
The Fairness Doctrine will come up again and again over the next few years--mostly invoked by Republicans. Barack Obama says he opposes the Fairness Doctrine. But expect everything that he asks of broadcasters and the Internet to get called the Fairness Doctrine anyway. You can also expect conservatives to see the Doctrine in any telecom proposal that sounds too regulatory: requiring a minimum of local radio fare, restrictions on product placement, caps on how much junk food advertisers can hawk to children on digital TV, etc. All…
clock | August 18, 2008Save the planet? Buy it:
Millionaires are purchasing entire ecosystems around the world and turning them into conservation areas. Their goal? To stop environmental catastrophe.
But will they know how to do it well? Will they inject some of their own incorrect ideas into their projects? Who will they listen to when designing these? Will their kids continue?
clock | August 18, 2008Light Receptors In Eye Play Key Role In Setting Biological Clock, Study Shows:
Biologists at the University of Virginia have discovered a switching mechanism in the eye that plays a key role in regulating the sleep/wake cycles in mammals.
A Therapy For Baby Boomers To Sleep On: New Drug For Insomniacs Over 55:
If you're over 55 and have spent more than a few sleepless nights, you're not alone -- insomnia affects about half of all people over 55 -- but you may also be at increased risk for physical and mental ailments.
Why An Exciting Book Is Just As Thrilling As A Hair-raising Movie:
Watching…
clock | August 18, 2008Encephalon #52 is up on Ouroboros
Carnival of the Green #141 is up on Enviroblog
clock | August 18, 2008
Tell Vedran what else should be included in the RSS Feed aggregator about Open Access....
clock | August 18, 2008I did already.
Female Science Professor (the Grand Dame of science/academic blogging) has just published a blook - a collection of her best blog posts.
You can and should buy "Academeology" on Lulu.com and later nominate it for the Blooker Prize.
And while you are shopping at Lulu.com, do I really need to remind you that this and this are still available there?
clock | August 18, 2008Some really cool stuff just got published a few minutes ago in PLoS Biology:
A cool paper: Mirror-Induced Behavior in the Magpie (Pica pica): Evidence of Self-Recognition:
A crucial step in the emergence of self-recognition is the understanding that one's own mirror reflection does not represent another individual but oneself. In nonhuman species and in children, the "mark test" has been used as an indicator of self-recognition. In these experiments, subjects are placed in front of a mirror and provided with a mark that cannot be seen directly but is visible in the mirror. Mirror self-…
clock | August 18, 2008How much is four blog years in dog years? Half a century?
After about a year of posting comments elsewhere, I started my first blog and my first post on August 18th, 2004. Seems like a lifetime ago....