gregladen | July 16, 2010Jennifer L. Jacquet has been investigating the results of unfettered "drill baby drill" environmentalism, and in the process came across this impressive collection of tee-shirts that say something about the BP oil spill. For the most part, they are not pro BP.
Bora of A Blog Around the Clock interviews Anne Frances Johnson, in his continuing series of Science Online 2010 interviews.
And finally, science bloggers take note: Scientia Pro Publica Needs Your Writing!
gregladen | July 16, 2010Apparently, BP's well cap on Deepwater Horizon is holding, as the closure of the well cap plays a role in testing the device itself. The cap will stay closed for only a short time, then oil will be allowed to flow to surface ships again while relief wells are drilled into the deposit. One of the relief wells is currently a very short distance (several meters) from the shaft of the main boring.
The relief wells can probably be doing their job by mid August. So, over the next month, oil will continue to be "processed" on the surface (which I assume means that much of it will be burned, but I…
gregladen | July 16, 2010.... because your proof of your god is falsified by science. But that is not a problem that science has. It is a problem that you have. It is also not a problem that the Secular Public School System in the US has. Unless you make it so.
This explored in a recent iNewp piece:
As many biblical literalists maintain, evolution says there is no plan (or Planner) for life; it's random, just one damned thing after another, everything passing and changing (except maybe things like sharks, horseshoe crabs and cockroaches). Nothing's permanent, nothing is special, including us. They contrast…
gregladen | July 15, 2010New research suggests that misinformed people rarely change their minds when presented with the facts -- and often become even more attached to their beliefs. The finding raises questions about a key principle of a strong democracy: that a well-informed electorate is best.
Sound familiar?
See and hear the story here.
gregladen | July 15, 2010The U.S. Department of Transportation has analyzed dozens of data recorders from Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles involved in accidents blamed on sudden acceleration and found that the throttles were wide open and the brakes weren't engaged at the time of the crash, people familiar with the findings said.
The early results suggest that some drivers who said their Toyotas and Lexuses surged out of control were mistakenly flooring the accelerator when they intended to jam on the brakes.
But the findings--part of a broad, ongoing federal investigation into Toyota's recalls--don't exonerate the car…
gregladen | July 15, 2010Nalini Nadkarni challenges our perspective on trees and prisons -- she says both can be more dynamic than we think. Through a partnership with the state of Washington, she brings science classes and conservation programs to inmates, with unexpected results.
gregladen | July 15, 2010Figures.
Alexey Karetnikov, 23, was deported to Russia on Tuesday after admitting "he was present in the United States in violation of immigration law and voluntarily agreed to deportation in lieu of further court proceedings,"...
...
Microsoft confirms Karetnikov worked as an intern in 2008, then was hired an entry-level software tester last year. The company would not elaborate on its former employee's duties, but said Karetnikov worked at Microsoft for less than a year, and no software was compromised.
...
Federal immigration authorities took Karetnikov into custody in Seattle on June 28…
gregladen | July 15, 2010First the good news, then the bad news. Well, first the bad news that precedes the good news.
BP has put a cap on the well, but a crucial test of the cap was delayed because of an unexpected leak. But basically, this is good news, the cap is on.
The cap is not closed ... the well is still gushing oil. But once they close the third of three valves on the cap, the well will be sealed. Then over coming weeks or months, relief wells in the same oil deposit can extract enough underground oil to make this well less of a threat.
But ...
There is a possibility that this could go terribly wrong.…
gregladen | July 15, 2010The world's population will grow to 9 billion over the next 50 years -- and only by raising the living standards of the poorest can we check population growth. This is the paradoxical answer that Hans Rosling unveils at TED@Cannes using colorful new data display technology (you'll see).
gregladen | July 14, 2010The Gulf oil spill dwarfs comprehension, but we know this much: it's bad. Carl Safina scrapes out the facts in this blood-boiling cross-examination, arguing that the consequences will stretch far beyond the Gulf -- and many so-called solutions are making the situation worse.
gregladen | July 14, 2010Jonathan Foley, Director of the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment. Professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior and Head of the Global Landscapes Initiative speaks about what is happening with the latest ecological disaster and what lessons can be learned from it.
Hat Tip: Emily
gregladen | July 14, 2010You know Darwin sailed, famously, on The Beagle. But did you know he also sailed on another boat? Check it out.
More Bird Body Part Blogging: Spurs and blades on the wings of jacanas, lapwings, sheathbills and archaeotrogonids (clubs, spurs, spikes and claws part II)
gregladen | July 14, 2010This could be one of the strangest stories out ... well, this week. Prominent Twin Cities lawyer, Aaron Biber, has been charged with getting a 15-year old boy drunk and sexually assaulting him. I don't know a lot more about the case than that.
In his defense, Biber claims that the 15 year old was in charge of the relationship, and as evidence of this, he has one or more photographs of the youth wearing an Adolph Hitler costume. A judge is current considering whether or not to allow the photographic evidence to be used in court.
Scant details here.
gregladen | July 14, 2010
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Oliver - World Cup 2010: Into Africa - The Amazing Racists
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes
Political Humor
Tea Party
And, let's make some fun of Dan Roodt, who should be flogged. And, then, let us contemplate the importance of primarily American based racist IQ research.
gregladen | July 14, 2010First, strange creature passes in front of BP Oil Spill Cam. Click here to help identify it. Hat TIp Mad Lolscientist.
Second, "Chupacabras in Texas?"
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
See Commentary by Joshua Rosenau.
gregladen | July 14, 2010If you do, now is when you should do something about it. The Planetary Society is asking for Americans to contact their Senators, RIGHT NOW.
It's time to make phone calls to support space exploration. We're sending the following letter to all our members today, and urge everyone reading this to pick up the phone and take action. I've already made my phone calls.
The NASA budget is coming to a critical vote tomorrow, July 15, by the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. This is the Committee that authorizes the NASA program. The planned authorization bill has some…
gregladen | July 14, 2010And we need your help to move it. Please click here so the global network of DNS servers knows that you want to visit the MnCSE. You should really visit the site anyway, it's very cool, even if you are not a Minnesota. I love the graphic thingie on the top of the right sidebar .... click the picture to learn an interesting thing about evolution or related topics.
So? What are you waiting for? Click here!
And, if yo are a parent, teacher, student, or academic interested in excellent science education in Minnesota, bookmark the site and come back often.
Thank you very much, that is all.
gregladen | July 14, 2010Well, at Gombe, the longest running chimp project, fifty years today!
Fifty years ago today, Jane Goodall arrived at Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve (now Gombe National Park) in Tanzania and began documenting the lives of the chimpanzees that lived there. When Goodall ended her fieldwork to advocate for the chimps and the environment in general, other researchers took up the work, and the Gombe chimp research project is now one of the longest running studies of a population of wild animals. Since the study's start in 1960, researchers have published more than 200 scientific papers about the…
gregladen | July 13, 2010Here (below the fold) is my new blog roll. If you were expecting to be there and don't see yourself, let me know. I'm trying to keep my blog roll blog roll-like in that it includes mainly people with whom I exchange linking now and then, and especially whose who's blog roll I'm on. I've deleted seemingly defunct blog as well. It is quite possible that I accidentally deleted a blog that I shouldn't have.
July 14th AM version:
10,000 Birds
A Blog Around The Clock
Almost Diamonds
a Nadder!
Angry by Choice
Archy (John McKay)
Armchair Dissident
Beagle Project
Ben Zvan
(((Billy))) The Atheist…