gregladen | June 27, 2010Even at the most extreme edges of the flow of stuff out of the volcano Pompeii, at the far edge of the mud and ash that came from the volcano's explosion, the heat was sufficient to instantly kill everyone, even those inside their homes.
And that is how the people at Pompeii, who's remains were found trapped and partly preserved within ghostly body-shaped tombs within that pyroclastic flow, died. They did not suffocate. They did not get blown apart by force. They did not die of gas poisoning. They simply cooked. Instantly.
That is the conclusion of a study just published in PLoS ONE by…
gregladen | June 27, 2010I'm not going to say anything about the methods the Belgian authorities have used, because I don't know anything about due process in that country. (Though I did notice that that Belgian police carry big machine guns, at least when I've been there.)
Anyway, the Vatican has it's shorts in a twist because civilian police have, apparently, treated church property and priests as non-sacred.
Police in Leuven seized nearly 500 files and a computer from the offices of a Church commission investigating allegations of sex abuse.
They also searched the Church's headquarters, the Brussels…
gregladen | June 26, 2010 He swam straight over to the German glass, climbed in and even put a lid on top once he was sitting inside."
Huh?
Yes, it's true. Paul the octopus has been predicting German soccer outcomes for some time now, doing slightly better than random.
Here he is in action (Do watch to the end. Maybe you can explain to me who those strange people in robes are):
So, what's an octopus going to do with one million dollars?
gregladen | June 26, 2010In which I provide my two cents regarding the current discussion between PZ Myers, Pamela Gay, and others.
The relevant posts and threads:
Should skeptic organizations be atheist organizations? by PZ Myers.
Why are we lying to Pamela Gay? by Seth Manapio
Separation between Scientific Truth & Belief by Pamela Gay.
I'm going to assume that you've read these, or are at least familiar with the main points of the argument.
I know Pamela Gay well enough to know that she is a smart person, a nice person, a well meaning person, an important member of the science education community, an…
gregladen | June 26, 2010I know you don't like when I say this, but you people living in Florida through Louisiana (and points in between) are not exactly the sharpest knives in the drawer. As it were.
(I said it that way because I figure you won't understand what I mean.)
I think it's funny that I enraged people with my comments on Florida being full of stupid people the other day. And I explained why I said those things (click here), but none of you managed to click on the link (click here) to understand the bigger picture. Apparently, you are even less smart than I was giving you credit for. (click here)
At…
gregladen | June 26, 2010If you've not seen this graph, or read this blog post, you should:
From here.
gregladen | June 26, 2010According to some sources, yes.
News has just emerged from the Gulf Coast that BP is burning endangered sea turtles alive. 1
A boat captain who has been leading efforts to rescue the endangered turtles says BP has blocked his crews from entering the areas where the animals are trapped, effectively shutting down the rescue operation.
BP is using "controlled burns" to contain the oil spill. Shrimp boats create a corral of oil by dragging together fire-resistant booms and then lighting the enclosed "burn box" on fire. If turtles are not removed from the area before the fire is lit, they are…
gregladen | June 26, 2010Linux in Exile has a new post on the approach an organization may take in moving to Linux. The post is here, and I recommend reading it.
I have a few comments on JH's commentary. I won't quote what he says (you should just go there and look at it), but my responses correspond to his numbering system.
1. I disagree, despite JH's experience, that video and wireless cards are a problem in migrating to Linux. If one is looking for pure FOSS approach, then yes, but otherwise, there really should not be much difficulty. But yes, an inventory of these issues is worthwhile, and when doing so,…
gregladen | June 26, 2010It is hard to prove, but the evidence certainly leads in that direction.
The former Bachmann campaign official in question is Luke Hellier, previously featured on Quiche Morain here. There is no doubt whatsoever that Hellier's commentary on the Minnesota Democrats Exposed blog, regarding editing of Jim Meffert's Wikipedia entry was dishonest. I had not mentioned this in my earlier post at QM, but Ed Kohler of The Deets clearly and painstakingly documents that Hellier "quote mined" the Wikipedia change log to make it look like a Meffert volunteer was acting inappropriately. It turns out…
gregladen | June 26, 2010It's called Staring Down the Brilliant Dream.
I'm especially excited about the new versions of Shame on You and Wild Horses
The disk is a collection of 31 songs selected from live shows during 2006-2009. Brandi Carlile and Jill Hennessey do some of the singing.
Technically, it comes out on the 29th, but Staring Down the Brilliant Dream can be pre-ordered here.
gregladen | June 26, 2010I've reposted this once already, but it is so important and cool .... we're going to do it again. (And by "it" I mean the research, not this post!)
The perfect bird family tree ...
... is certainly still in the future. But we have seen a step in that direction in a new paper, coming out this week in Science. This research applies intensive and extensive genomic analysis to the avian phylogenetic tree. The results are interesting.
This paper is summarized in a number of locations, most notably here on Living the Scientific Life. Here, I will summarize it only very briefly. However,…
gregladen | June 25, 2010Michael Jackson died one year ago. The following is a repost of something I wrote at that time:
~~~~~~
I have only one Michael Jackson story.
Michael Jackson was an international pop icon for a very long time, because he started his career so early. He was also African American. Bob Marley predated Jackson, and was Afro-Caribbean. For these and various other reasons, the face of Bob Marley and the face of Michael Jackson adorned the walls and backbars of clubs and taverns throughout Zaire in the 1980s. Moreover, these were the ONLY faces one saw in these contexts.
Now, you have to…
gregladen | June 25, 2010... Where you pay a little every month and get something for it, or even don't pay but become a "member" and get something for that?
At the moment there are no plans for such a thing, but there is a survey for you to offer your opinion. Click here to take the survey.
gregladen | June 25, 2010The next installment of my new falsehoods series, on Skeptically Speaking radio with Desiree Schell, is tonight at 6PM Mountain Standard Time. You can listen on line or wait until emacsDay, I mean Sunday, and download it.
The main guests (my bit is a little add in pre-recorded thing) are George Dvorsky and Greg Fish. Details, and a place to leave comments are here.
I will post this installment's sister blog post some time before the show. The falsehood in question is: "Humans Evolved from Apes" ... A statement that is indubitably true yet clearly wrong.
gregladen | June 25, 2010First, I want to point out this post which describes an interesting example of Michele Bachmann Republicans making stuff up to harm a Democratic contender for a congressional seat.
Then, I want to show you a video from Jim Meffert's campaign which relates to the above linked post AND points out what a crappy representative I have here in Minnesota's 3rd district, where I live. Help!
gregladen | June 25, 2010Is it a Falsehood that Humans Evolve from Apes?
How about this one: Is it a Falsehood that Humans did NOT evolve from Apes????
Yes and no. Humans descend from a population of primates from which other apes also descended (minimally the two species of living chimps) and which was part of the panoply of late Miocene forms, all related to each other, that we call apes. So yes, humans evolved from apes.
There are people who don't believe that. They, creationists, think that apes are apes and humans came from somewhere else, like the Garden of Eden or Mud or whatever. (This may depend on…