gregladen | March 27, 2009There is a poll on this page that you may be interested in participating in. Hint hint.
Right now the creationists are winning.
gregladen | March 26, 2009When I heard the news that day ... Oh boy. I had received an email from a man whom I knew only as the father of a (now former) student. We had met once, a few years ago when his son graduated, and he gave me a very nice bottle of wine, which I shared with a select group of wine experts only last Christmas. The wine had aged well and was outstanding.
He gave me the wine as a gift for having "done so much for his son" while he, the son, was an undergraduate student. It was true. I had done a lot for the young man. I had many long conversations with him about lofty sciency concepts, and…
gregladen | March 26, 2009Most of Prince William Sound's animal populations will someday recover from the lingering effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. One, however, will not: a community of killer whales unlike any other in the world.
"It's a separate population. Their genetics, their acoustics, are different from any other killer whales that we see in the north Pacific," said Craig Matkin, director of the North Gulf Oceanic Society, who has studied the region's whales for three decades.
Known to researchers as the AT1 pod, the whales' home range fell within the 11,000 square miles of crude oil dumped by the ship…
gregladen | March 26, 2009...The reason people think that Robin Red Breast is a sign of spring is that we believe that robins fly south for the winter and north for the summer, so when we see them, it must be getting near summer. The fact that many robins don't migrate at all, but simply become reclusive for the winter, is not widely known....
Getting ready for Spring and Summer birding.
gregladen | March 26, 2009The following blog post is now required reading for all my students. The comments, in particular.
What one word tips you off that the writer is an idiot?
gregladen | March 25, 2009
Why are we watching this video again? ...
Because Ghost Bird, the documentary, has been accepted to the Toronto Film Festival. That's kind of a big deal.
Here is the Ghost Bird home page
Here is the film festival guide.
This will be in May.
Fly Ghost bird, Fly!
gregladen | March 25, 2009Over 50 scientific societies representing hundreds of thousands of American scientists today publicly urged the Texas Board of Education to support accurate science education....
From the National Center for Science Education
Over 50 scientific societies representing hundreds of thousands of American scientists today publicly urged the Texas Board of Education to support accurate science education. The board--dominated by creationists--has been embroiled in a debate over changes to the Texas science standards that could compromise the teaching of evolution.
"Evolution is the foundation of…
gregladen | March 25, 2009this video is comprised of pictures i took of the lunar eclipse on march 3rd 2007 from pendeli mountain in athens, greece. the music is 'odysseus' by niko (www.nikoonline.com).
- Toomanytribles
gregladen | March 25, 2009As you know if you read my blog, Trivers Willard is an important theoretical construct which has been tested numerous times. TW works in some species, not in others, and overall, that should be predictable (accroding to TW).
It turns out that finches control the sex of their offspring, and do so in a way that TW would predict, apparently. There is a paper in Science that I'll probably eventually get to writing up for you, and in the mean time, here's a quick news report from Scientific American.
See if you can figure out how Trivers Willard is working here, and why the important…
gregladen | March 25, 2009...I am trying to rid the word dilettante of its negative connotations and use it to highlight my interest in scientific research of all kinds. My area of expertise is chemical engineering and food science, however this does not prevent my interest in any other research.
I like any and all science, so this is my playground where I can properly discuss other areas outside my expertise without getting a bad formal peer review!
We like dilettantes. So let's see how The Science Dilettante develops!
gregladen | March 25, 2009A small group of us, including at least two IT workers who are not homophobic, went to the Varsity, which is one of the oft' used venues of Cafe Scientific, to see the revitalized Squirrel Nut Zippers. Ben Zvan, who is the only photographer I've ever heard compared to Jesus Christ (who apparently was one kick ass photographer, to the extend that he existed) was on the scene. You can see a sampling of his shots here. And here's one:
I recognized about a dozen faces in the crowd, but the only person I really had a chance to speak with was blog commenter Serena. Nice to see you Serena!
gregladen | March 25, 2009UPDATE: Read it in his own words! Relive the horror of the road! Cringe as you hear all the gory details of near death and automotive crunchiness, here at Pharyngula!
Myers, trapped in remote region, unable to blog.
UPDATE: Myers has been picked up from the scene by rescue vehicle dispatched from Morris, and is now en route to Saint Cloud airport. where he will take flight to Michigan. Pharyngula readers await direct word from Myers, who may be able to blog from airport.
Approximate Location of Car Wreck University of Minnesota, Morris, Biology Professor and Science Blogger (…
gregladen | March 25, 2009"The Bachmann Effect" is now officially a phenomenon.
Danny Thomas made the spit take famous, in his TV show Make Room for Daddy. He's always be drinking a cup of coffee when someone would say something to which he would react with such great and sudden incredulity as to suffer a visceral reaction making it impossible for him to do anything other than spit the coffee out in an impressive atomized spray. An excellent example of a spit take is in the following video, which is a promo form the re-make of Make Room for Daddy, called Make Room for Granddaddy. It's at 30 to 32 seconds, and it is…
gregladen | March 24, 2009PLoS ONE now has a community blog. You an see it here and read Bora's take on it here.
This is in part to mark the fife thousandth paper published by PLoS ONE, and the growth of the on line community to a level that may sustain a community blog. Check it out.
gregladen | March 24, 2009erp
*/
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
I love Rachel Maddow. You know, in a healthy, non-stalking kinda way. But I do.
gregladen | March 24, 2009Tangled Up in Blue Guy examines Genie Scott's testimony in Texas and takes it to another level. Here.