Mad rantings about politics, evolution, and microbiology. Comment policy: say what you want, but back it up with an email address. I don't like anonymous trolls.
mikethemadbiologist
Posts by this author
February 21, 2011
A couple of weeks ago, I found a post, "Is HIV 'fingerprinting' junk courtroom science?", which argues:
But calling the comparison of HIV strains' genes "fingerprinting" -- calling to mind the more-familiar matching of human suspects' DNA to blood at a crime scene -- is dangerously misleading, they…
February 20, 2011
It's a sunny Sunday here. Kinda cold though. Links for you. Science:
A better, purer scienceThe Bubble, Genetics Exceptionalism and How Genomics Needs to Get Out MoreBusting the 8-Hour Sleep Myth: Why You Should Wake Up in the NightDrug residues and drug resistance in water: Not goodFriday Weird…
February 20, 2011
It's called living in Boston. Unbeknownst to the Mad Biologist, we read that some mental health professionals believe 'sidewalk rage' is a psychiatric disorder:
Researchers say the concept of "sidewalk rage" is real. One scientist has even developed a Pedestrian Aggressiveness Syndrome Scale to…
February 20, 2011
By now, you might have heard about how the Wisconsin Senate Democrats have fled the state in order to prevent a bill from passing, supported by Republican Governor Scott Walker, that would cripple public sector unions (if it's about redressing the budget, then why does the bill deal with union dues…
February 19, 2011
This edition goes out to the badass parrots. Links for you. Science:
Ordinal Regression: Data to OrderA virtuous intoleranceBudget 2012: NIH and CDCRepublicans are closing their eyes to climate scienceWho dares enter the lair of the stingless bees?The secrets of ant sleep revealed
Other:
Why We…
February 19, 2011
I agree with Atrios--while high-speed trains would be technologically groovy, trains that actually got somewhere quickly would be a major, albeit unsexy, improvement (italics mine):
As for inter-city rail, I certainly support it too on the grounds that driving long distances and flying really suck…
February 19, 2011
A while ago, I discussed the limits of the deductive approach in economics (and, for that matter, in anything). Basically, one can be really clever and derive how the world could or should work. This might or might not have anything to do with how the world actually works.
Robert Waldmann takes…
February 18, 2011
It's warm here. For a day. But I'll take it! And in exchange, you get some links. Science:
The NIH threatenedBizarre mammals filmed calling using their quillsRobert Samuelson Is Dead Wrong About High Speed Rail (he's wrong about everything else too)At AGBT, Sequencing Centers Provide Updates on…
February 18, 2011
Republican governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, has claimed that he needs to bust unions in order to deal with a budget crisis. Well, he's lying, since this is a 'crisis' entirely of his own doing:
The reality is radically different. Unlike true austerity measures -- service rollbacks, furloughs,…
February 18, 2011
...then maybe the middle-aged and the young in the U.S. can too? The most recent attempt to weaken the most effective U.S. anti-poverty program ever--Social Security--involves cutting benefits, but only for those who currently are younger than 55 years old. As Matthew Yglesias notes, this is...…
February 18, 2011
If you haven't heard, Democrats in Wisconsin have refused to allow Republican governor Rick Walker to eliminate the right of public sector employees to collectively bargain. One of the key issues is the cost of public sector pensions. But what's interesting is this little tidbit from David Cay…
February 18, 2011
One reason why Republicans have piled scorn and hatred on House Minority Leader, and former House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi is that she is not part of the house-broken wing of the Democratic Party. She's definitely no saint--and taking impeachment hearings off the table and joining Obama in his '…
February 17, 2011
Go Wisconsin Freedom Fighters! Links for you. Science:
Army Ants As Living LegosEvolution isn't easy, even in GalapagosThe Evolution of Swarm-Raiding Army AntsI think you have all you need for a blog.
Other:
Blockbuster Decision: MERS Does Not Comply with Law28 hours in the dark heart of Egypt's…
February 17, 2011
I wish national Democrats and their hangers-on had half the guts the Wisconsin Senate Democrats do. If you haven't heard, Wisconsin's Republican governor Scott Walker is attempting to strip public sector unions of their collective bargaining rights. This comes on top of other recent stupidities by…
February 17, 2011
One of the maddening things about the Social Security 'debate' is the assumption that Social Security will be 'insolvent' in several decades (oddly enough, every year like clockwork, the several decades prediction is renewed....). It won't be. The Social Security Trustees release three estimates…
February 17, 2011
One of the justifications for outsourcing (firing productive U.S. workers and shipping the jobs overseas) is that it will lower costs. Then there's reality, in which firing productive U.S. workers and shipping the jobs overseas actually costs more. Consider this from the CEO of Boeing about their…
February 17, 2011
If you care about science, then contact your representatives and ask them to oppose the Republican NIH funding cut proposals. As JuniorProf notes, most of the leads in terms of therapeutics are happening in the public sector, not the private sector.
While you're at it, how about mentioning the CDC…
February 16, 2011
I am linkbot, hear me roar. Links for you. Science:
Views of an Unfunded Established ProfessorEgyptian science community celebrates a free EgyptUA Experts Determine Age of Book 'Nobody Can Read'Cell Phone Towers To Be Replaced By Tiny Antennas
Other:
The Trouble With Foul Trouble (Syracuse-…
February 16, 2011
For those who haven't heard, CBS news reporter Lara Logan suffered a "suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating before being saved by a group of women and an estimated 20 Egyptian soldiers." Just last week, conservative pundit Ann Coulter uttered the following while at the…
February 16, 2011
Tom Levenson responds to the articles by John Tierney and Megan McCardle which ask why conservatives are so rare in academia (in science, anyway, creationism might have something to do with it. Just saying). Anyway, Levenson makes a good point, although I think he misses one thing:
...the only…
February 15, 2011
54F yesterday, 25F today. Oh well, we still have links. Science
Q&A: The insidious -- and incestuous -- risks of genetic testingHow to Photograph Army AntsWhy havent we cured cancer yeeeeeet?Friday Sprog Blogging: science fair experimental design.What would you do with $500 million? (…
February 15, 2011
Last week, The National Journal broke the story, since confirmed by other sources, that the Obama administration plans to cut billions of dollars from the LIHEAP program that subsidizes energy costs for the needy (italics mine):
President Obama's proposed 2012 budget will cut several billion…
February 15, 2011
A study showing that many people who receive assistance from government programs don't believe they have done so has been making the rounds once again (you heard it here first! Months ago!). My favorite idiocy is how 43% of Pell Grant recipients--federal aid for college--don't realize it's a…
February 14, 2011
Links for you. Science:
Fear and Its Consequences: Why States Should Get Tough with VaccinationsIf you love nature, move to the cityNew antibiotics: Not many and fewer all the timeResearchers are punks: The fields of science and punk rock share some surprising similarities, according to the people…
February 14, 2011
I've often discussed on this blog how the advantage of having a fiat currency is that one can deficit spend when you need to (think of it as being on the gold standard, except that you can mine as much gold as you need, when you need it)*. Of course, if you deficit spend when there is no idle…
February 14, 2011
You might have heard of by now rightwing activist Lila Rose's attempted sting operation of Planned Parenthood, which resulted in the shocking finding that Planned Parenthood workers follow the law (and don't endanger themselves or their patients by physically confronting potentially dangerous…
February 13, 2011
Links for you. Science:
Women "computers" of World War II (great post, but no reason to put computers in quotes--at the time, computing was a full-time job)Opposing industrial-scale pig farming -- in EuropeOne database to hold them allAnglerfish: Lophius piscatoriusRavens stressed by 'gang life'…
February 13, 2011
No, I'm not referring to the Radical Homosexual Pirate Menance. I'm referring to Boston's ongoing fight with the galliform hordes.
Unspeakable, I tell you.
February 13, 2011
One of the annoying claims by the so-called fiscally responsible is that we can't "print prosperity"--that is, we can't deficit spend in order to help the real economy. It's derided as unrealistic and 'ideological' (whereas fiscal austerity is implied to be 'common sense'). Peter Cooper explains…
February 12, 2011
Sunny and above freezing! Let's celebrate with some links. Science:
What is systematics and what is taxonomy?Less Is More: Sequencing on the BenchtopNew Zealand scientists record 'biodiversity breakdown'Toddler obesity tied to introduction of solid foods (Does a really good job of putting '…