mikethemadbiologist

A recent evaluation of M.I.T.'s efforts to redress the underrepresentation of women on its faculty has been discussed widely on the bloggysphere. I don't have much to add, except that this section from the NY Times' coverage leapt out at me: Because it has now become all but the rule that every…

Links for you. Science: Geographic variation in human penis size Ignorance of the way review goes down is a dereliction of duty, NIH. Out of options: A surprising culprit in the nuclear crisis Other: How Bill Gates misinterprets ed facts Miss Grundy Was Fired Today. Once deified, now demonized,…

If you remember some months ago, NASA scientist Felisa Wolfe-Simon held a press conference announcing that they had discovered a bacterium that uses arsenic in place of phosphorus. The paper, when released, had compromising methodological problems (for good coverage, read here, here, and here; and…

By way of Digby, we come across this proposal of how to reach 95% percent renewable energy by 2050. Before I get to some of the issue I have with the study (which is actually pretty good), I want to lay out my general views on energy use. First, I'm not a 'fan' of nuclear power. While thorium-…

It's...snowing. Links for you. Science: The Lionfish Is Delicious. And it needs to die. Glimpses of the Fourth Domain? Charting the Human Cost of Different Types of Energy Other: On Political Talk Shows, Liberals Can't Finish Their-- Beyond Austerity The NYT Gives Voice to the Educated Ignorant…

Rightwing wackaloon and Minnesota Congresswoman and possible presidential candidate Michele Bachmann has been traveling hither and yon in New Hampshire, which, according to Bachmann, is where the 'shot heard round the world' was fired. For those who don't routinely wallow in the depths of the…

It really does matter: if economists are going to use biology as a model for their discipline, we need them to understand ours, to help improve theirs. But I'm getting ahead of myself. By way of Brad DeLong, we stumble across this Russ Roberts piece discussing the question of what kind of science…

There's a big parade today. But if you're not going, then here are some links for you. Science: Genome Assembly Information Herds on the Street: Why messaging traders are like scared fish Shark Cleaning Stations Identified Felisa Wolfe-Simon (of arsenic infamy) is no more convincing in person…

Because you can policy wonk all you want, but sometimes you need a little poetry:

If you haven't heard, rightwing slime mongerer James O'Keefe struck again and managed to give National Public Radio (NPR) a black eye, although to a considerable extent, this was a self-inflicted wound. Over at Whiskey Fire, Thers makes a very astute observation (italics mine): The most bizarre…

Links for you. Science: The Electric Taxi Company You Could Have Called in 1900 Glimpses of the Fourth Domain? Natural-Born Homophobes? Other: Tripped Up At The Finish Line: The Perils Of Unemployment After 50 San Francisco to Start Smart Parking Management Trial Soon Annual Mis-Reporting on…

Even movie villians aren't this twisted. And, no, I'm not making this up (italics mine): Under a GOP-backed bill expected to sail through the House of Representatives, the Internal Revenue Service would be forced to police how Americans have paid for their abortions. To ensure that taxpayers…

Woozy is the city of Boston recovering from St. Patrick's Day. Links for you. Science: Smaller, cheaper, faster: Does Moore's law apply to solar cells? Why are there no (or almost no) disease-causing Archaea? For Whom the Cell Mutates: The Origins of Genetic Quirks Hog Farmers Overuse Antibiotics…

Jeremy Yoder has a good takedown of another article by Jesse Bering. This time, Bering argues that homophobia is adaptive. This is the key point: Bering's post focuses on a series of studies by the evolutionary psychologist Gordon Gallup. Gallup was interested in the question of whether there…

By way of John Sides, we come across this analysis of some data from the General Social Survey: (the five categories of educational status are, from left to right: didn't graduate from high school, high school graduate, some college, college graduate, post-graduate degree) While connecting the…

Let's celebrate St. Patrick's Day with...links? Science: No Face, but Plants Like Life Too (if plants had vocal chords, they would be SCREAMING) Ocean Acidification Alien vs. Predator: Biocontrol Edition Older female elephants are wiser matriarchs Other: Tax Haven USA attracts over $3 trillion in…

I've written before about the tyranny of double-entry bookkeeping when it comes to budget deficits: decreasing public debt requires either an increase in total private debt or a decrease in the 'trade deficit' (current account balance). Rotten Apple has a very clear explanation of how this works…

I think a lot of people misunderstand what the real corrupting force in federal politics is. It's not campaign contributions, but the desire to have a cushy retirement--something I pointed out two years ago: It's simple: it's about life after politics. One of the dirty secrets about many, if not…

Lots of thermonukular links! Science: Nuclear Overreactors Nuclear energy 101: Inside the "black box" of power plants Sleep is More Important than Food DTC, FDA, regulation, etc. (I don't agree, but different point of view) Coal Ash Is More Radioactive than Nuclear Waste Other: Burning down your…

What I've never understood about the idea of tax cuts for the rich to stimulate the economy is that, as one wealthy person told me, "I spend what I'm going to spend, and the rest goes in the bank." Tax cuts don't stimulate growth, unmet demand stimulates growth. Sure, there are some rich people…

Over at The Art of Science Learning, Peter Economy writes: One of my great concerns for this country's future is the underperformance of our youth when it comes to achievement in math and science. In December 2010, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released the…

Links for you. Science: Are Grad Students Smart? Taxonomy: The naming crisis Are antibiotics making our kids fat? Wind Power Without the Blades: Big Pics Arsenic life, four months later: pay no attention to the internet Other: James O'Keefe and Journalistic Malpractice A child couldn't paint that…

The Sacramento Bee has a good interactive feature of how to balance California's budget*. It puts all of the realistic proposals on the table (i.e., idiots who want California to stop giving out so much foreign aid, or some other hooey need not apply). What you'll notice two things very quickly…

By way of Observational Epidemiology, we find an interesting NY Times article by Michael Winerip describing a seventh grade teacher's experience with value added testing in New York City. I'll get to value added testing in a bit, but the story also highlights why we need more reporters who have…

I'm starting to think that Fox News' primary function isn't catapulting conservative propaganda, but Will Rogers-esque comedy: One name seems out of place on the graphic [of Japan's nuclear power plants] -- that of "Shibuyaeggman." It doesn't show up on the International Atomic Energy Agency's list…

Links for you. Science: Everybody Thinks Scientifically Publication Strategy...If I can't beat 'em, I'll wait 'em out... Can libraries survive in a digital world? Arsenic Author Dumps Peer Review, Takes Case to TED (but bloggers suck. Or something) Other: Fareed Zakaria Is Upset Because the…

In light of the nuclear power plant partial meltdowns in Japan, there are calls for not expanding the U.S. nuclear power plant capacity, and even shutting down existing plants. What bothers me about this is that there is no discussion of how we make up the energy production shortfall--I'll get to…

On what was essentially a party line vote (one Democrat and one Republican each crossed the aisle), the Republicans in the Missouri Senate voted to strip out most of the legislation passed in a referendum that would have regulated Missouri's dog breeding facilities. Missouri has been known as the…

I like springing forward in the long run, but hate the day we do it. Oh well. Links for you. Science: Drug-resistant bacteria: To humans from farms via food Teaching Ambiguity and the Scientific Method Budget cuts at the NIH: Department of nose-cutting, face-spiting (for a layman, gets most of…

Last week, I described how the Texas Republican party proposed legislation that would require a woman who wants to have an abortion to receive a vaginal exam (two actually). Well, the Texas Democrats at least fought back (which is more than the national Dems ever do): Houston state representative…