gregladen | May 2, 2012Martha and I were walking down the street...Downer Street, if I recall correctly...heading north from the campus of the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. We were close to the Kinko's, which was on the west side of the north-south trending street, and about to cross. We were in fact off the curb and checking for traffic. A car was heading to the north, away from us. Since we were walking north and crossing the street diagonally, we were looking at the car from behind, but I could see that the light blue sedan was driven by a middle-aged woman with curly hair and largish glasses.…
gregladen | May 1, 2012Sometimes it's spelled "Waco" but we all know that it should be Wacko. Yet Another Zany Thing (YAZT) has happened there which you may find amusing.
Bill Nye the Science Guy gave a talk there in which he made the claim that the Moon does not emit its own light. Rather, he said, it reflects the light of the Sun. Now, that probably wouldn't have bothered anyone in the audience because most of them were what you might call situationally informed. In other words, they would not know a thing unless it was pointed out to them, so without any added information they would not know that a thing they…
gregladen | April 30, 2012Yes. But don't assume you know a stupid person when you see one.
Our governor just vetoed a bill passed by our Pointy Headed Republican Legislature which would have significantly reduced regulation on dangerous fireworks in the state, allowing everyone access to explosives that are currently banned.
Which reminds me of a story.
When I first moved to the Twin Cities, I was told by people at the University that there was only one Saint Paul neighborhood to live in. All other neighborhoods were inadequate. The same exact people who told me that then later said things that confirmed that…
gregladen | April 30, 2012I don't know if this phrase ...
... originally from Adam Savage or if he's quoting someone. I think it might be his.
Today, I was in an internet argument with someone (can you believe how many people on the internet are WRONG???) and I used a phrase like that. Then I instantly lost the argument. Here's how it went:
We were arguing about whether or not JFK was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald shooting from the sixth floor of the Book Repository. This guy was claiming that the evidence was pretty clear that something else was going on, and I was challenging him with facts.
He told me that my…
gregladen | April 30, 2012So you can help them collect data????? OMG, this is so cool!
The USGS is trying to achieve a denser and more uniform spacing of seismographs in select urban areas to provide better measurements of ground motion during earthquakes. These measurements improve our ability to make rapid post-earthquake assessments of expected damage and contribute to the continuing development of engineering standards for construction.
To accomplish this, we developed a new type of digital seismograph that communicates its data to the USGS via the internet. The seismographs connect to a local network via WiFi…
gregladen | April 29, 2012Technically, it was a few days ago, but I missed it. Here's Rachel Maddow's coverage:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
gregladen | April 29, 2012Features Michael E. Mann, author of The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines
gregladen | April 29, 2012For the second time in six months, a wild black bear was found wandering around deep in the urban zone in Saint Paul. I'm not sure what happened to the last one, but this one was killed by Saint Paul police under advisement of the Department of Natural Resources. To give you an idea of the location, here's a view of the cities with the bear marked:
This image represent an area that is approximately five miles across.
There are a lot of bears in Minnesota, but it is a little surprising to see one get this far into the city. It could have come down train tracks and/or via any of several…
gregladen | April 27, 2012Staring tomorrow morning, if you are in the Twin Cities, there is Lynn Fellman's talk at the Hennepin County Library downtown.
Lynn Fellman creates art that combines genetic data with creative imagery. Fellman will discuss basic genetic concepts, how art can uniquely express science concepts, and why many of us may find Neanderthal genetics in our DNA. Q&A session will follow.
Click here for more details on Lynn's talk.
Then, on Sunday Morning, listen to Richard Fortey on ATT:
"Living fossil" is a term that might well have been calculated to drive evolutionary biologists insane.…
gregladen | April 27, 2012The attention of the Two Little Cousins and Huxley the Baby was easily diverted to the back of the house while Cousin Randy slipped out the front door into the cold dark night wearing the red suit and fake beard, carrying a bag of toys and a strap of sleigh bells. Suddenly, Cousin Chris exclaimed that she heard ringing sounds, and this made everyone stop talking and listen, theatrically. Sure enough, there was the sound of bells from somewhere outside! The two little cousins had a good idea what this meant; Huxley the Baby did not. Then, Grandpa exclaimed that he thought an animal had…
gregladen | April 27, 2012Have you been getting bitten by a lot of spiders lately? Are you concerned about Brown Recluse Spiders?
Well, I know people don't like to hear this, but those spider bites you woke up with this morning were probably not spider bites. Spiders don't really bite people.
Or, more accurately, if I had a dime for every time I've heard someone claim they were bitten by a spider, and had to give back 20 dimes every time they actually were bit by a spider, I'd have a lot of dimes.
If you want to get rid of an excessive number of spiders in your house, click here for instructions.
Meanwhile, this…
gregladen | April 26, 2012Before reading any further, you need to know that the transport and release of trapped animals, such as mice or squirrels, is regulated and may be illegal in your community.
Having said that, there are times when people want to live trap a mouse or squirrel, and this is one of the two times of year when people's interest in doing so seems to increase, based on google search terms that bring people to my site.
The short version for mice: Mice are granivores, so a wheat germ is to a mouse what bacon is to a human. Yumm. People often think peanut butter is great mouse bait, and it can be, but…
gregladen | April 25, 2012Here is a way you can support the Life Science teachers in your local school. Give them a poster or a hat or a T-shirt or a book or something. I'll tell you why in a moment.
First, you have to find the teachers and start up a relationship with them. I have various relationships with various teachers around the Twin Cities area, but strangely enough my efforts to strike up a relationship with the Life Science teachers at Coon Rapids has led to nothing. The school is very close to my house. I go by it every day to do one thing or another. But when I've emailed the staff there I've never…
gregladen | April 25, 2012Skepticism is a cultural phenomenon. I know that many self-declared skeptics prefer to ... ah ... believe otherwise, or as they would perhaps say, they have deduced from pure principles using sound logic that Skepticism is rational behavior and there is nothing cultural about it. But they are wrong, and that is trivially easy to prove.
Sarah Moglia is the event specialist for the Secular Student Alliance1 and has written an interesting piece on "Why [she doesn't call her]self a Skeptic" in which she asserts that there are people who call themselves "Skeptic" who are not, at least…