gregladen | January 26, 2008In an exclusive preview of his new book, The Stuff of Thought, Steven Pinker looks at language, and the way it expresses the workings of our minds. By analyzing common sentences and words, he shows us how, in what we say and how we say it, we're communicating much more than we realize.
gregladen | January 26, 2008As PZ Myers reminds us, it is time to start planning for the Twin Cities Home Schooling Science Fair at Har Mar Mall, in Roseville, Minnesota.
Before we go any further, I want you to understand that Roseville is not a bastion of crazy creationist yahoos. In fact, the Roseville School District, where my daughter is a Student of the Month most months, is a good district, and as far as I know, mostly teaches good science and does only the average amount of Christianity bending, for a public school system.
Anyway, some of you will remember last year, when crazy things happened in relation to…
gregladen | January 26, 2008This is a repost of an item from my old blog.
The Twin Cities Creation Science Fair association usually posts "random" photographs of the children's exhibits on their web site after the fair is over. You can go and see them for the last few years. (Don't look for a place to click on this post, I don't provide it here.)
But this year, something different happened, and if you go to the site where the photographs are supposed to be posted, you get this:
Interesting, huh?
Now, to really get the context of this, you may need to read at least the blog post and the last six or so comments in…
gregladen | January 26, 2008This is a repost of an item from my old blog.
The Twin Cities Home Schooling Creationist Science Fair at Har Mar Mall in Roseville, Minnesota happened last month. The organization that (at least partly) sponsors this event (Twin Cities Creation Science) usually posts photographs of the science fair, but this year they got into a tizzy about it for some reason and removed the photographs from their web site.
I was at the science fair, and I snapped a couple of photos, and I think there are interesting points of discussion that are lost with the TCCSA dropping the ball. Unfortunately, many…
gregladen | January 26, 2008This is a repost of an item from my old blog.
The fear of God is the beginning of knowledge.
Proverbs 1:7
This is an Absodoodly-don't miss event!
Har Mar Mall, Rosedale District
Roseville Minnesota
Feb 17 and 18 2007
Exhibits must be set up between 8:30 and 10:00 am Saturday and will remain up until 4:00 pm Sunday
Judging begins at 10:00 am and finishes at about 12:30 pm Saturday
According to Russ McGlenn (the dapper gentlemen in the photo, shown here at the Har Mar Mall during a previous Creation Science Fair), of Adventure Safaris (facilitator and coordinating agency of the Home…
gregladen | January 26, 2008I'm serious. You can't see this post until you put down your coffee and make sure your airways are clear. Then you can click on the heading and laugh, and cry, and everything...
This is a repost of an item from my old blog.
OK, I think this is fake, it can't be real. This was spotted on Pharyngula, and PZ Myers is a smart guy, but maybe this time he was fooled.
I'm talking about the "Twin Citeis Creation Science Association 2007 Home School Science Fair" planned for February 17th and 18th.
Here is the link if you want to see their site.
The following are my favorites form a list of 114…
gregladen | January 26, 2008New York Times tech columnist David Pogue is back with a satirical mini-medley that explains the legal and social history ofmusic and media on the Internet in 4 minutes.
gregladen | January 26, 2008Yes, even serious topics like Open Access can be funny.
From Vimeo, moments from the SPARACRL forum. You will laugh, you will cry.
SPARC Forum: The Flip Side from Matt Agnello on Vimeo.
gregladen | January 25, 2008"This is the story of a battle between faith and knowledge..."
The first in a series from the BBC
Next in the series
gregladen | January 25, 2008
Did humans wipe out the Pleistocene megafauna? This is a question that can be asked separately for each area of the world colonized by Homo sapiens. It is also a question that engenders sometimes heated debate. A new paper coming out in the Journal of Human Evolution concludes that many Pleistocene megafauna managed to go extinct by themselves, but that humans were not entirely uninvolved.
The paper by Pushkina and Raia ("Human influence on distribution and extinctions of the late Pleistocene Eurasian megafauna") examines sources in the literature and a number of databases for Eurasian…
gregladen | January 25, 2008China Spacewalk; India bird flu outbreak spreading; Pollution and diabetes linked?; Cryptosporidium; Controversial theory of Alzheimer's
China may broadcast first spacewalk live from PhysOrg.com
China may broadcast its first ever spacewalk live when it launches its third manned space mission later this year, state media reported Friday.
[...]
India worst bird flu outbreak spreads from PhysOrg.com
India's worst outbreak of bird flu spread as health authorities battled on Friday to stop it reaching the densely populated city of Kolkata amid heavy rain that hampered culling efforts…
gregladen | January 25, 2008Speaking of Hagfish, check out this pig:
Ick.
This bizarre-looking piglet has been nicknamed Cyclops because one of its three eyes is in the centre of its head.
And the little pig was also born with two mouths, one on each side of its head. It also has two noses and will have two sets of teeth.
[source]
[hat tip: The Science Buzz]
gregladen | January 25, 2008From the NCSE newsroom:
At least nine county school boards in northern Florida have adopted resolutions calling for the state board of education "to revise the new Sunshine State Standards for Science such that evolution is not presented as fact, but as one of several theories," according to a January 23, 2008, report from Florida Citizens for Science. These resolutions represent a backlash to a draft set of new state science standards, which are presently undergoing revision in response to comments from the public. The state board of education is expected to consider the revised draft set of…
gregladen | January 25, 2008UC Berkeley biologist Robert Full shares his fascination with spiny cockroach legs that allow them to scuttle at full speed across loose mesh and gecko feet that have billions of nano-bristles to run straight up walls. His talk, complete with wonderful slow-mo video of cockroach, crab and gecko gaits, explains his goal of creating the perfect robotic "distributed foot."
gregladen | January 25, 2008You can say whatever you think, or believe, or want to think or believe, about the importance of Clinton's whiteness, Obama's blackness. and Edward's southern whiteness. As the primaries move south of the Mason Dixon line, race has become the only issue of importance.
Why do I say this? Because of this new polling data:
QUESTION: If the 2008 South Carolina Democratic primary were held today, which one of the following candidates would get your vote:
WhiteBlack
Obama10%59%
Clinton36%25%
Edwards40%4%
[source]
gregladen | January 25, 2008
Jan 25
Robert Burns born, 1759
Jan 25
Virginia Woolf born, 1882
Jan 25
W. Somerset Maugham born, 1874
Jan 25
Conversion of St Paul
Jan 25
First U.S. meeting of ALGOL definition committee, 1958
Jan 25
Passing of Gandalf
Jan 25*
Parashat Yitro
Jan 25
Bob Dylan plays the second "Hurricane" benefit, in the Astrodome, 1978
Jan 26
EDVAC demonstrated, 1952
Jan 26
Sydney, New South Wales settled, 1788
Jan 26
Australia Day in Australia
Jan 26
Republic Day in India
gregladen | January 25, 2008Frank Gehry wanted to be a scientist when he grew up. But after blowing up a part of his house, at age 14, he decided against it. He's gone on to create some mindblowing buildings, including the Guggenheim at Bilbao and LA's Walt Disney Concert Hall. This wildly entertaining conversation with Richard Saul Wurman (then host of TED) touches on many topics, including the power of failure, the importance of collaboration, and the need for architects to bring personal expression to the table.