I And The Bird #29 is up on Alis Volat Propiis

A number of media outlets are reporting on the new Duke University study on the effects of time-of-day on the outcome of surgery: Patients who undergo surgery late in the afternoon are more likely to experience unexpected adverse events related to their anesthesia than are patients whose operations begin in the morning, a new analysis by Duke University Medical Center researchers suggests. -------------------snip----------------------- In addition to spotting problems related to anesthesia, Wright and her colleagues also found that surgery patients experienced a significant increase in "…

I wrote this on March 03, 2005 on Science And Politics and reposted it on December 10, 2005 on The Magic School Bus. The title says it all... I guess it is the time of year when college professors get their student evaluations back and, of course, some of those who blog have written about their experiences. For instance Bitch PhD cites some really hillarious ones, but concludes with this: IMHO, while evaluations are important, one down side is that they can and do encourage this kind of "customer service" attitude towards the professoriate--an attitude that I think is inimical to really…

Being out of the lab, out of science, and out of funding for a while also means that I have not been at a scientific conference for a few years now, not even my favourite meeting of the Society for Research on Biological Rhythms. I have missed the last two meetings (and I really miss them - they are a blast!). But it is funny how, many years later, one still remembers some posters from poster sessions. What makes a poster so memorable? I guess it has something to do with one's interests - there is just not enough time during a session to check out every single one out of hundreds (or…

That is what the SEED overlords are asking this week: What movie do you think does something admirable (though not necessarily accurate) regarding science? Bonus points for answering whether the chosen movie is any good generally. Jeff Goldblum comes to mind.... But no, the most admirable thing a movie can do about science is make it look cool to kids. Many kids' movies (and TV shows) are doing a pretty good job at turning science-geeks into superheroes. My all-time-favourite is Jimmy Neutron. Why? Jimmy is not just an inventor and engineer (like Dexter, for instance) but a real scientist…

WillR explains exactly what the "heat index" is.

"....asking Woody to name-check a mere mortal like David Blaine would be like asking Ingmar Bergman to acknowledge ABBA...." David Fellerath in today's review of Scoop, new Woody Allen's movie which, once it opens nearby, I will see out of religious and patriotic duty - and I am not talking about Johanssen here, just that even the worst Woody Allen movie is better than pretty much anything out of Hollywood in any given year.

You should really go now and read the "Meet The Enemy" interview with me on a satirical blog called God, Country & Apple Pie. Check out the rest of the far right-wing Christian, anti-science, fascist-theocratic fare there as well.

David Dobbs is an accomplished science journalist and writer. I am sure you will enjoy reading hs new blog, right here on SEED scienceblogs - Smooth Pebbles! So, go say Hi! He's already moved the archives from his old blog to the new place so there's plenty of good stuff to read already.

KIm, the nursing goddess of Emergiblog. Go say Hi!

Tangled Bank #59 is up on Science And Reason.

This is a post from June 28, 2005, reviewing one of my favourite new evolution books: Ever since I read Gould's Ontogeny and Phylogeny in about 1992 or 1993., I knew I wanted to do research that has something to do with evolution, development and timing. Well, when I applied to grad school, I could choose between evolution OR development OR timing, but not any combination of two or more - the true evo-devo folks were just not available for me at that precise moment in history. I chose timing and than worked dilligently to infuse my work with as much evolution and development as I could. I…

When I saw this article in SEED Maagazine, I had only one thought - Mokie-Koke! Readers of science fiction know what I am talking about. I was reminded of "The Merchant's War", the 1984 sequel to the 1952 brilliant dystopia "The Space Merchants", the book that beat "1984" and "Brave New World" in its accuracy of prediction. The initial novel - one of the all-time-greats of the genre, was written by Frederick Pohl and Cyril Kornbluth. The sequel, 32 years later, was written by Pohl alone. It's been at least 15 years since I last read The Merchants' War, but if I remember correctly, each…

Carnival of Liberals #18 - The No Rules Edition - is up on Rey On The Hill

The Carnival Of Education # 78: Ferris Wheel Edition is up on This Week In Education Carnival of Homeschooling #31 is up on Phat Mommy.

Along with my earlier post (the "can of worms..." one) you should really read these two together. Superposing them works synergistically: the whole is greater than the sum of parts: Republican Crows Archetypes (via Mike)

..are wrong with this article?

Wow! In just a couple of days, SEED scienceblogs.com moved up from #100 to #78 on Technorati Most Favourited list. While the numbers are still small it is easy to game the system, but in the long run, the most popular blogs will emerge on top. If you click on this and make SB one of your favourites - and just one more person is enough for this - we'll overtake PowerLine! Update: You did it! Thank you! Now on to greater hights, to reach Wonkette and Pharyngula and BoingBoing!

The eyes of the nation today are (or should be) on Kansas elections, as many Creationists on the school board are facing tough reality-based challengers. If you are in Kansas - go and vote. If you want to know how it all goes, check what Josh and Pat report during the day. Update: Science won!

It's been a while since I've written anything about one of my pet topics - the way the changes in the society are resulting in the change in attitudes towards sex and gender, and the change in the institution of marriage, and how it all relates to politics of the moment. I've been playing it pretty carefully since my move here to SEED scienceblogs, not firing away with my biggest artillery yet. I want to get back there again, gradually, so this is going to be just a summary and an opportunity to get you to read some of my older stuff to see where I stand. It is a also a test balloon to see…