gregladen | July 20, 2011I've spoken about Uncanny Valley before. Here's a little write-up from Wired Science on some related brain research.
gregladen | July 20, 2011People are screaming at me over on ERV blog about not making a formal announcement that Richard Dawkins is god-like because he's donated a bunch of foundation money to a child care project. That's wonderful that he did that, but I'm not a member of JREF, was not at TAM, do not get newsletters from any of these people and the last time I had a conversation with Dawkins it was at a memorial service of a shared fallen colleague which had nothing to do with atheism or skepticism. So, I was never sent anything about this, didn't hear about it anywhere except from ERV, and officially I don't know…
gregladen | July 20, 2011Scienceblogs Abbie Smith (ERV) will be the guest on this weeks Skeptically Speaking:
Skeptically Speaking #122 HIV and AIDS
This week, we're joined by graduate student and Scienceblogs writer Abbie Smith, to learn about the latest research on the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. How does HIV cause AIDS? What are the latest treatments? How close are we to a cure? What strategies are most effective at stopping the spread of infection ? And what are the arguments that denialists make for alternate causes of the disease? Tune in and find out!
We record live with Abbie Smith on Sunday, July 24 at 6…
gregladen | July 19, 2011Marc Hauser, whom I've discussed before a few times, has resigned from his position at Harvard. This was somewhat unexpected.
Marc Hauser, a well-known Harvard psychology professor who has been on leave since an internal investigation found him guilty of eight counts of scientific misconduct, is leaving the university.
"Marc Hauser has resigned his position as a faculty member, effective August 1, 2011," Harvard spokesman Jeff Neal wrote in an e-mail statement today.
Hauser was a popular professor known for his research and writing on the evolutionary underpinnings of morality and the…
gregladen | July 19, 2011I've only got random stuff for you now, but it is all good stuff. Well, not really all good, but it is most definitively all stuff.
First, we have Chris Mooney interviewing Rebecca Watson in a Point of Inquiry Podcast. Give it a listen.
I'm happy to be one of the men who supports Rebecca. Those of you who are mad at me for that please continue to comment here, because Imma write a book about WTF is going on in your heads. Along the lines of a Stephen King novel, I think.
On a more mundane and immediate note, we just received word of a four year old girl drowned in Clearwater Park.…
gregladen | July 18, 2011So, I push you.
Then, you push me.
Then, I push you.
Then, you push me.
Then, I push you.
Then, you push me.
And I go "Hey, no pushing! Unfair!!!!"
Or perhaps it goes like this, a little more complicated:
Rebecca says something
Stef says something
PZ says something
A buncha people say something
Richard says something
A buncha people say something
And at any point in there, depending on which thing was said by which person, you yell "Hey, stop all the argument, we're done now!!! This has gone on too long!"
It's like a New York subway. You get on the subway near the beginning, and that…
gregladen | July 18, 2011The first crane I ever saw is a bird burned permanently in my memory. It came out of nowhere and flew close by, staying in view lit by a nearly setting sun for about five wing beats. A gun was raised to shoot it but the trigger was not pulled.
I was a teenager, and the brother of a co-worker invited me to go hunting with him. The idea was not for me to actually hunt, but rather, for me to see what hunting was all about. It was a social gesture and a manly gesture. If I like hunting perhaps I would join one of their hunting groups, get a firearm, learn to shoot, and become one of the boys…
gregladen | July 17, 2011Technically, hurricane season has been going for a while now but I've not found any reason to start discussing disturbing weather until now. And, we have two items of interest. First, a storm is blowing up off the east coast of Florida. This is a tropical storm forming in the western Atlantic. That is not particularly strange. Most years, however, storms form by the time the associated wave has reached the middle of the Atlantic, or at least, are far enough along that you can think of tropical storm formation in the Atlantic as a phenomenon directly linked to West Africa and the eastern…
gregladen | July 17, 2011The International Atomic Energy Association issued its last report on Fukushima on June 2nd and appears to not be keeping their web site up to date any more. This is the last time I'll be checking with them unless I hear otherwise. The email scandal reported last time continues "Analysts say the scandal reflects panic in Japan's atomic power industry, long coddled by political, corporate and regulatory interests dubbed the "nuclear village" but now facing growing anti-nuclear sentiment as workers battle to end the Fukushima crisis.? (from Ana's Feed, below). The magnitude of the tsunami…
gregladen | July 17, 2011This from Julie at 10,000 Birds:
Kentucky's Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources unanimously passed its sandhill crane hunting proposal. All eight hunters on the commission think it's a good idea to shoot cranes in Kentucky. The proposal now goes to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for final approval or denial. The public comment period on the Kentucky sandhill crane hunting proposal ends AUGUST 1 2011.
Read the details here, including information on what you need to do to help stop this. Take action and spread the word. Julie's post has the address for submitting written comments…
gregladen | July 16, 2011When I first arrived in the Ituri Forest I was shown a camp a group of Efe Pygmies all typically lived in, and told "everyone lives here but the old man and his wife ... he's a bit contentious and there was an argument." Having read all the literature written in English about Pygmies, I was aware of the fact that these foraging people, who moved frequently -- perhaps ten times a year or more -- would often change the composition of their residence groups to reflect forming and breaking alliances among people who often, but not always, lived together. After hanging out in the camp, which was…
gregladen | July 16, 2011People on Google+ are discussing what to do with their circles. Here, I'm not going to explain what circles are; I wish merely to record for the moment what I'm doing with them on my account for others to consider and criticize. If you don't know what circles are, join Google+ and find out, and don't forget to put me in one of your circles! (Put me in a good one!)
I have the following circles at the moment:
Friends
Family
Acquaintances
Following
Anthropology
BlogComs
NewsOutlets
Linux
The first four are default for google+ though I think you can delete them. The remainder are ones I…
gregladen | July 16, 2011
If you are annoyed with Michele Bachmann's racism and anti-gayism please donate to a candidate that opposes her. She is using the video you watched to raise money. Good idea.
Do spread this video around, please.
Below the fold: Michele Bachmann's gay step sister and her friend in DC supporting Obama.
Helen LaFave and Nia Wronski at the Inauguration Jan. 20, 2009 from julie phillips on Vimeo.
Hat Tip Dump Bachmann
gregladen | July 15, 2011At about this time in 1931, a black family moved into an all white neighborhood. The resident whites tried to stop it from the beginning, even offering to buy the house at a price over that paid by Army vet Arthur Lee and Edith Lee. When these early efforts failed, the denizens of the segregated neighborhood found the solution that what was most obvious to them: Thousands of them surrounded the home, screamed racial slurs and threw stones at the house and family until they finally moved out.
Except that last part didn't happen. Arthur and Edith stayed, and the racist citizens of this…
gregladen | July 15, 2011... no matter how we interpret what happened for Darwin on his route from Potential Country Pastor to First Evolutionary Biologist, the mocking birds figured in because they impressed young Charles when he first saw them....
Read about Darwin's Other Birds
gregladen | July 14, 2011This is not new but it is current. In 2009, Michele Bachmann donated several thousand dollars to an organization that carries out exorcisms mainly on teenagers who have bee posessed by multiple demons. This has become increasingly popular among Christians ... the idea that demons posses people on a regular basis. Right now, at least three of the possible contenders for the Republican presidential nomination: Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin have been endorsed by, or raised funds for, or have promoted or are actively promoted ministers and ministries that are established on the…
gregladen | July 13, 2011The twain shall never meet. Below the fold. Not work safe. Do not be drinking coffee. Sex with demons!
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
I always thought homosexual were savage. Glad to see the Illuminati are in charge still.
Thank you Right Wing Watch and Rachel Maddow. Hat Tip PZ Myers.