gregladen | January 20, 2008The Bell Museum, in Minneapolis, will sponsor a Valentine's Day Cafe Scientifique that will be especially close to my heart ...
... mainly because it is me doing it.
Evolution, Cuisine and Romance
Tuesday, February 19, 7 p.m.
Bryant-Lake Bowl, Uptown
Were the opposable thumb, an upright stance and a large brain the most important evolutionary events in human history? According to Anthropologist Greg Laden, these and other traits are only the byproducts of the truly important evolutionary transitions for our species: the rise of romance and the evolution of cuisine. Join Laden for a…
gregladen | January 20, 2008The National Science Board this week said leading science and engineering indicators tell a mixed story regarding the achievement of the US in science, research and development, and math in international comparisons.
For example, US schools continue to lag behind internationally in science and math education. On the other hand, the US is the largest, single, R&D-performing nation in the world pumping some $340 billion into future-related technologies. The US also leads the world in patent development.
Details here.
gregladen | January 20, 2008The World of Emetrece Productions presents:
"Ritmos Unidos"
3rd Annual Afro-Latin Tribute to MLK Day
Featuring Maria Isa & CubanÃa
Sunday, January 20th, 2008 // First Avenue Main Room
Doors 8PM // Show 9PM - 2AM // $8 Advance // $10 Door // 18+
In remembrance of King's legacy, "Ritmos Unidos" celebrates the hyphen between Afro & Latin.
Advanced tickets available on-line at First Avenue & Ticketmaster
In contrast to the American 'One Drop Theory,' of African racial classification, in Latin America there are various names for differing degrees of Blackness such as prieto, negro,…
gregladen | January 20, 2008Florida State Board of Education (Panda's thumb)
Ignorance By Design: Florida School Board Resolutions (Panda's Thumb)
What's your school board like? (Pharyngula)
Where did those anti-evolution resolutions come from? (Panda's Thumb)
gregladen | January 20, 2008Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have found that a naturally occurring peptide known for its antibacterial action can also inhibit viral infection.
The study was published in the January 17, 2008 edition of the journal Cell Host & Microbe.
The new study shows that defensins, short antimicrobial peptides that disrupt bacterial membranes and prevent bacterial invasion, use a separate mechanism to ward off adenovirus. Adenovirus is a group of viruses responsible for a number of respiratory diseases as well as infection of the stomach and intestine, eyes, bladder, and skin. While…
gregladen | January 20, 2008Apropos the fight over excellent science education (as opposed to creationism) in Florida schools, is it OK for a church, which I presume has religious non profit status, to engage actively in an attempt to sway elected officials?
Regarding the State Board of Education meetings to discuss this issue in Florida ...
Also present at the Tampa SBOE meeting was Terry Kemple, member of Bell Shoals Baptist Church in Brandon where he is a leader of the church's Community Issues Committee. Kemple told the Witness his church has been informing its members about the science standards and encouraging…
gregladen | January 20, 2008 Home School
A big chunk of the reading world is going to have a great time devouring a Home School, new semi erotic, not-very-family values novel by the very author that gave us The Graduate (which was made into that movie with Dustin Hoffman ... one of the classics). This is ironic, because the book's plot, which continues the original story of Benjamin and The Robinson's, is advanced partly at the expense of the self-same self-righteous Homeschoolers that will be forced, due to a neurotic sense of shame, to ban the book from their own homes.
The Graduate, Webb's earlier book on which…
gregladen | January 20, 2008What is Atheism? How many Atheists are there? What does the public think about Atheists? How are Christians viewed by non Christians? Also featuring a special interview with Jennifer Tuder of "Sex Across the Curriculum."
AM 950 Air America Minnesota
Sunday 9:00 AM
[Hat Tip PZ Myers]
gregladen | January 19, 2008This is Part 1 because there is more than one part. But I'm only going to do one of them, so it is Part 1 of 1. There is more than one "kind" of home schooler, home schooling parent, home schooling family, etc., and thus there are multiple attitudes. But a good chunk of the home schooling population, represented by these excerpts from their own rhetoric, are more than a little annoying, and are the reason why we should always be suspicious of home schooling and home schoolers until we see their credentials.
Home Schooling Is a Good Choice for Christian Parenting
If you want to impart a…
gregladen | January 19, 2008"A fundamental difference in the way men and women respond to chronic liver disease at the genetic level helps explain why men are more prone to liver cancer, according to MIT researchers."
"This is the first genome-wide study that helps explain why there is such a gender effect in a cancer of a nonreproductive organ, where you wouldn't expect to see one," said Arlin Rogers, an MIT experimental pathologist and lead author of a paper that appeared last month in the journal Cancer Research.
Men develop liver cancer at twice the rate of women in the United States. In other countries, especially…
gregladen | January 19, 2008Today's St. Petersburg Times has a letter from Bill Foster. Foster was the outgoing city councilman who wrote a letter to the school board opposing the teaching of modern Evolutionary Biology, or at least, the teaching of modern science without wrapping it in a medieval blanket of Christian Inquisitorial reasoning. Let's have a look at Bills latest letter.
On Jan. 2, I spent my last day as a St. Petersburg city councilman. I was heralded by my colleagues and received a key to the city from the mayor. After almost 10 years of service, I was forced out of office due to term limits. Many nice…
gregladen | January 19, 2008Sorry, this is not as fresh and current as I would like, but you will still find it interesting. The National Center for Science Education has a news release covering a number of topics:
DECISION ON ICR'S GRADUATE SCHOOL DEFERRED
The Institute for Creation Research's quest for Texas certification of its
graduate school, which would offer a master's degree in science education,
is on hold, at the ICR's request. A preliminary assessment of the ICR's
facilities described the educational program as "plausible," adding, "The
proposed degree would be generally comparable to an initial master's…
gregladen | January 19, 2008Discovery of 'creator' gene for cerebral cortex points to potential stem cell treatments
University of California, Irvine researchers have identified a gene that is specifically responsible for generating the cerebral cortex, a finding that could lead to stem cell therapies to treat brain injuries and diseases such as stroke and Alzheimer's.
Dr. Edwin Monuki, doctoral student Karla Hirokawa and their colleagues in the departments of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and Developmental & Cell Biology found that a gene called Lhx2 serves as the long-sought cortical "creator" gene that…
gregladen | January 19, 2008Education committees are beginning to review the science standards for Texas Schools this month. There are indications that efforts will be made to weaken the standing of evolution, or insinuate creationism, creation science, or intelligent design into the standards.
The current Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills standards includes a statement that sudents must learn "the theory of biological evolution." The standards also specify that students must apply critical thinking, address "strengths and weaknesses" in theories.
This does not sound like a bad idea, but it is exactly the kind of…
gregladen | January 19, 2008First, from the standard news sources in Jacksonville:
Despite impassioned opposition from science experts, teachers and some clergy, Clay County School Board members unanimously resolved Tuesday night that evolution should be presented as a theory, and not fact, in the classroom.
The board passed a resolution, proposed by Superintendent David Owens, asking the Florida Department of Education to reword its newly proposed state standards, which presents evolution as "the fundamental concept underlying all of biology and is supported in multiple forms of scientific evidence."
Baker County…
gregladen | January 19, 2008From the Texas Citizens for Science:
In an email message to its friends, the Institute for Creation Research proposes The Disjunctive Duality of Science Distinction, a new argument to support its effort to obtain Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board approval for its masters degree program in science education. The argument is actually an old one. It posits that two types of science exist, "experimental" science and "forensic, historical, or orgins" science. Only the first is real science, while the second--which, needless to say, includes evolutionary biology--is not a reliable science…
gregladen | January 18, 2008The Year 2038 problem could begin today. Similar to the Y2K problem, certain operating systems cannot handle dates after about 3 AM Universal Time on January 19th, 2038. If your bank is handling a 30 year mortgage starting today, funny things could happen starting now.
The Y2K problem occurred because the amount of space allocated in computer hardware and software to store the date was insufficient to handle a year greater than 1999. A huge amount of effort and funds were spent in preparation for Y2K. Arguments have been made that the problem was overblown (including the fact that across…