mikethemadbiologist

The Smithsonian recently revamped its exhibit on human evolution, and the brand new Hall of Human Origins is definitely worth seeing. Unlike exhibits from the Small era, there is no equivocation here: humans evolved over millions of years from primates. Period. There's no ambiguity, no attempt…

When I'm not fighting the forces of evil or calling idiots who desperately need my help fucking morons, I'm doing various genomics-related things. One of the things I'm involved with is a project to sequence a bunch of commensal (not associated with disease) E. coli. When most people think of the…

A while ago, I described how previous decisions allowing the patenting of human genes--and thereby making cheap, affordable diagnostics impossible--flew in the face of the goal of federally-funded research. There's no reason to patent something and charge thousands of dollars for something a high…

The Washington Post covered an interesting study by the Chicago-based nonprofit Center for Neighborhood Technology. Basically, to determine the cost of housing, the authors included the costs of transportation along with the cost of housing. Some findings: ...the combined cost of a home that…

Since healthcare is temporarily off the radar screen, despite Republican attempts to have Romneycare declared unconstitutional (how Romneycare would be unconstitutional, but Medicare wouldn't, well, that would be fun...), we can now return to the never-ending attempt by conservatives to gut Social…

While I'm away, here's something from the depths of the Mad Biologist's Archives: By way of ScienceBlogling Razib, I came across this Reason article by Ronald Bailey summarizing the presidential candidates views' on evolution. Bailey highlights two reasons what lack of support for evolution says…

Happy Saturday. While I'm away, here are some links for you. Science: Significant But Wrong: Are Open Data Advocates Asking Too Much From Statistics? Hobbit version 2.0: the undiscovered hominin China, Japan and Cuba ignore science, vote against shark protection Other: Fundies don't really…

The NY Times has an interesting story about how state tax agencies are stepping up their efforts to collect money from people who earn money in another state, but don't pay the taxes they owe in that state: When Josh Beckett pitches for the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium, New York collects income tax on…

And it could, if done right. Even those of us who read really fast max out at around 600 words per minute. This is a result of what is known as saccadic eye movement. When we read, only a very small part of the retina, known as the fovea, is used, so as we read a line of text (and it doesn't…

One of the weird things (of many) about using the reconciliation process is that it can only be used once per session. So when the Democrats passed Romneycare, they also had to deal with getting student loan reform past conservative obstruction. From The Washington Post (italics mine): The…

I heard some kind of healthcare bill was passed or something. While I puzzle this out, here are some links for you: Mass. tops nation in flu shots, report says Aaand, Point Proven Financial Shenanigans: the Repo 105 Explaining the Impact of Ultra-Low Rates to Greenspan Parenteau: The…

Granted, the healthcare reform bill is an improvement, at least for the poor Republican welfare states of the South (and they're 'real' Americans too!), but, as I've said before, this is a conservative, not centrist, healthcare plan. Brad DeLong: ...the essence of the reform -- which is that the…

...too bad MA Governor Deval Patrick, and for that matter, President Obama, don't. The recent educational regression reform plan in Massachusetts and the Obama Administration's educational proposals both seem to misunderstand what has made Massachusetts' educational system one of the best in the…

Since the Congress passed Romneycare, it's worth looking at the major driver in Massachusetts of medical inflation--price gouging by hospitals and physicians groups that are able to set prices due to de facto monopoly power. From the MA Attorney General's office (italics mine; underscore original…

Diane Ravitch, along with releasing her new book The Death and Life of the Great American School System, has been issuing a lot of mea culpas about her role in advocating for a lot 'accountability' educational reforms. When I first started reading this NY Times article, which signaled the…

One of the things Newbury Street has lacked is a used book store. Now it has one: Raven Used Books. This could be really bad as it's about four minutes away. Unlike most Boston area used book stores, Raven Used Books' business model isn't to sell really expensive rare books and then stock the…

There's nothing like the prospect of a black person receiving a government service to rile up the Republican base. Anyone who has spent extended time in the South, when listening to the Tea Partyers, has heard this ugly, racist dogwhistle. But with the possible passage of Romneycare--for people…

Happy Sunny Saturday! If you're trapped inside, I have links for you. Science: Love p-values for what they are, don't try to make them what they're not Genomics: High-throughput "Next-Generation" Sequencing Facilities Map Illumina still dominate sequencing market: ABI and 454 Jockey for 2nd Place…

Chris Bowers and Digby both comment on the failure of the Congressional progressives to exact demands on healthcare (and many other issues), as opposed to the conservative Democrats who really did drive the debate. Digby writes: In the case of health care, as I wrote way back when, the…

I realize that the Boston Public Library is facing budget cuts, but in the last couple of months, even very basic services have been off. Three times I've returned books days ahead of their due dates, only to be nailed for fines; this isn't an issue of returning something the evening it's due--I…

Universal Hub linked to my post about the non-existent educational crisis in Massachusetts. In the comments was this really good point about not racing to the bottom (italics mine): While I am a frequent critic of the Boston schools and government waste, on the whole Mass is fantastic thanks to…

Happy Post-Evacuation Day. Links for you. Science: Do Most Of NYT's Science Staff Doubt The Dangers of Global Warming? That's What One Prominent Science Journalist Claims. CDC today Mexican Cave Scorpions Show Specialization Not Evolutionary Dead End Other: Michael Kinsley Cries "Fire! Fire!!" in…

After finding this post about income inequality and social problems, I decided to check out the 'book version', The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always do Better, by epidemiologists Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett. It has a lot to recommend it (if you want the short pdf version…

And Evacuation Day, which truly is a silly holiday, is a wonderful way to allow everybody to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day without violating all that church and state stuff. One unique Massachusetts tradition is that, on this day, some tightwad state representative rails against how much…

It's bad enough that the Texas Board of Education, through its new 'standards', will result in the mass mental disability of millions of American students. But the new federal standards could potential harm Massachusetts' educational system--and if it's working well (and it is)--then don't fix it…

There's this big ball of fire in the sky. It scares me, so how about some links? Science: The language of elephants Anti-HIV properties of... bananas? Journalistic malpractice on global warming The value of "this is cool" science stories Measles week, part II: Emerging disease NASA finds shrimp…

Right wing TV bloviators oppose scientific research. And in other news, dog bites man. By way of Bug Girl, I came across this story about Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson opposing the use of $187,632 of stimulus money to buy storage cabinets for Michigan State University's Albert J. Cook Arthropod…

Quelle surprise. David Brook's recent burbling, "Getting Obama Right", seems to have garnered a lot of attention, to the point where several people sent it to me (approvingly, which is puzzling). Basically, Brooks makes the argument that Obama is "a center-left pragmatic reformer." As John…

Friday, The NY Times reported on Greece's ongoing financial troubles. There is something to be said for discussing whether pensions should begin at age 50--it touches on economics, social values, and so on. But then the reporter refers to some 'analysis' by the Cato Institute: According to…

Still raining. While I'm off building an ark, here are some links for you. Science: MIT researchers discover new energy source Former astronauts criticize US moon decision Another scary aspect of the mainstreaming of global warming denialism Other: Exclusive: Senators Accuse Homeland Security…