gregladen | February 10, 2010We don't know what he's saying yet. He might be talking about the book he read yesterday:
gregladen | February 9, 2010Or not.
A repost
Much is made of the early use of stone tools by human ancestors. Darwin saw the freeing of the hands ad co-evolving with the use of the hands to make and use tools which co-evolved with the big brain. And that would make the initial appearance of stone tools in the archaeological record a great and momentous thing. However, things did not work out that way.
It turns out that up-rightedness (bipedalism), which would free the hands, evolved in our ancestors a very long time (millions of years) prior to our first record of stone tools. The earliest upright hominids that are…
gregladen | February 9, 2010Is chimpanzee food sharing an example of food for sex?
One of the most important transitions in human evolution may have been the incorporation of regular food sharing into the day to day ecology of our species or our ancestors. Although this has been recognized as potentially significant for some time, it was probably the Africanist archaeologist Glynn Isaac who impressed on the academic community the importance of the origins of food sharing as a key evolutionary moment. At that time, food sharing among apes was thought to be very rare, outside of mother-infant dyads. Further research…
gregladen | February 9, 2010... and made a real mess of the place when one of them spotted the jar of pickles on the counter. They fought over it until one of them had almost all the pickles and the other one had a number of bruises and a tiny fragment of one pickle that the other chimp dropped by accident.
A repost
That would be the way it would happen if two chimps walked into a bar. Or imagine two chimps, and each finds a nice juicy bit of fruit out in the forest. And instead of eating the fruit, because they are not hungry, they carry it around for a while (this would never happen, but pretend) and then…
gregladen | February 9, 2010I had one of the most interesting dinners anyone has ever had.
I spent the evening at a specially prepared dinner, cooked by chef Chris Olson, and served in the diorama exhibit in the Bell Museum of Natural History. (There are no bells in the Bell Museum.) My job was to interrupt the happy diners with every course and explain to them the anthropology and evolutionary biology of what they were eating, plus a Pygmy story, which was possible in no small part because Chef Olson designed the dinner to be interesting in this regard. David Anderson invented a beer for the occasion, and it was…
gregladen | February 8, 2010Perhaps not what you'd think.
This is not about appeasement. It is about not being a racist slob.
Imagine a firing squad run by a relatively benevolent government (that happens to have not yet gotten rid of the death penalty). The squad consist of a dozen soldiers assigned to the duty. While most soldiers accept the assignment to the firing squad out of a sense of duty and a general cultural belief that it is appropriate, it is possible but unusual to object and get out of it. So there is a modicum of personal reflection involved. A soldier asked to join the firing squad considers the…
gregladen | February 8, 2010The question is: how does a bird "know" when to stop laying? When is enough enough? When is the clutch (all of the eggs laid in one breeding attempt) complete? Most of ecological literature is focused on energetics: are birds getting hungry, have they depleted some important source of energy, etc.
But the circadian field looks for internal mechanisms.
This paper is by Bora! (and co-authors)
Check it out!
gregladen | February 7, 2010A federal appellate court has ruled against a Christian school in Murrieta which had sued the University of California over its refusal to accept high school courses that rely on the Bible as the unerring source of truth.
Details here.
Next step: Homeschoolers!
(Hat tip: August Berkshire)
gregladen | February 7, 2010The number of anti-Semitic incidents in the UK set a new high in 2009, the most since records began, according a report released on Friday.
This is from the Jerusalem Post.
The increase in antisemetic acts has been attributed at least in part to the aftermath of the December 27, 2008 Israeli military campaign in Gaza known as Operation Cast Lead
"The increase in anti-Semitic incidents recorded by CST in the early part of last year is deeply troubling and I want to be unequivocal today; I am a proud friend of Israel and welcome a robust debate about how we ensure both a secure Israel and a…
gregladen | February 6, 2010Don't mess with Al, man.
UPDATED:
If you are impressed with Al, send him money! (That recount was expensive.)
gregladen | February 6, 2010Officials say no one was inside the Joshua Temple Firstborn Church on Sheriff Road this afternoon when a tree fell onto the roof of the church and the weight of the tree and snow made the roof collapse.
source
God is punishing these people for a reason. We just need to figure out why by reference to scripture and historical analysis. Like this.
gregladen | February 6, 2010Michel Bachmann has organized a teabagging protest in Washington to bring right wing voters from across the nation directly into armed and ready, whites of the eye contact with members of Congress to demand that they pass legislation to end the current Snobama that is paralyzing politics and traffic in Washington D.C.
Unfortunately, all 123 Snobama protesting teabaggers got stuck in the snow crossing the mountains in Virginia on their way to Washington so the protest was canceled.
gregladen | February 6, 2010
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Q & O
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes
Political Humor
Health Care Crisis
gregladen | February 6, 2010The baby's sleeping right next to me right now, so I can't watch this, but I'm looking forward to it:
Recreational genetics and self-identity (09:11)
Do racial categories have a biological basis? (09:52)
Will gene sequencing undermine racism? (05:37)
Ways to make awesome babies (12:39)
Are most of us crazy or are we both crazy and stupid? (10:34)
Politicians, scientists, and other nutcases (09:23)
Go here to see it.
gregladen | February 5, 2010Check out the latest cover of Sports Illustrated.
The Raging Grannies address the Super Bowl Ad maneno.
gregladen | February 5, 2010.... because they always shoot first! And it turns out that reaction is faster than action, so the Marshall can shoot the Varmint Bad Guy, and the Sar Wars Storm Troopers didn't have a chance.
[Niels] Bohr was seemingly unhappy with the Tinseltown explanation that the good guy, who never shoots first, always wins. Legend has it that he procured two toy pistols and enlisted the aid of fellow physicist George Gamow. In a series of duels, Bohr never drew first but won every time. The physicist suggested that the brain responded to danger faster than it carried out a deliberate intention.…