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 12, 2011
For those who don't know much about the great Commonwealth of Virginia, Loudoun County is not only the wealthiest county in Virginia, but it has the highest median income in the U.S. ($107,207). These are not stereotypical 'rubes.' Yet Loudoun County has a very serious problem according to…
February 11, 2011
Links for you. Science:
Species, not arbitrary, but not clear & distinct
'Zombie ants' controlled by parasitic fungus for 48m years
Exposure to pesticides in womb linked to learning disabilities
Is it time to refer to mitochondria as bacteria?
Other:
What will "home computers" look like in the…
February 11, 2011
Dean Baker wins the internet today. The set up:
The Wall Street Journal ran a piece on how some companies are unable to fill positions even when more than 14 million workers are unemployed....
All the people used as sources for the article complained that they were unable to find qualified workers…
February 11, 2011
Regular readers will know that one of the things I routinely flog is the errant belief that U.S. schools are failing, even though international comparisons seem to suggest that our educational system is DOOMMEEDD!!! Jennifer Ouellette, in an otherwise superb post about integrating art and science…
February 10, 2011
Links for you. Science:
Flu breakthrough promises a vaccine to kill all strains: British team's success with jab that targets proteins common to every type of flu virus
Sexual discrimination against women in science may be institutional
On Evolution, Biology Teachers Stray From Lesson Plan…
February 10, 2011
I've always thought that if Bill Gates really wanted to make his mark, he should build sewer systems in the developing world (and provide endowments to maintain them). Because I'm getting tired of reading excellent articles like this:
The recent outbreaks of cholera in Haiti, Pakistan, and…
February 10, 2011
There's a very interesting Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences article, "Understanding current causes of women's underrepresentation in science" that's available to the public. Andrew Moseman summarizes it quite well:
...Ceci and Williams say, external and social factors--some matters…
February 9, 2011
Links for you. Science:
Equations that Spell Disaster: Researchers are pinpointing the factors that combine to produce complex diseases.
What are army ants?
Angry Sunday rant on behalf of my friends in the Minority Academic Ghetto*
Falling Off the Ladder: How Not to Succeed in Academia
Will you…
February 9, 2011
Sean-Paul Kelley recounts two prosecutions in Texas. First:
My wife has defended indigent mothers charged with Food Stamp Crime. She has never pleaded one out as guilty.
Here's the typical situation if they do not have a good lawyer, as most do not, because they are represented by public defenders…
February 9, 2011
There's been a lot of craziness regarding NIH funding that I haven't been properly able to slam (had a talk to prepare), but now I can. A recent rant left by D. Noonan about the problems with the NIH grant awarding system has led to a spate of responses in the science bloggysphere. I really don't…
February 8, 2011
Rain, but no snow. Links for you. Science:
A crustacean genome at last
Berg defends NCATS
Oysters disappearing worldwide
Unraveling Arthropoda
Other:
The Most Feminist Place in the World
2 Detained Reporters Saw Secret Police's Methods Firsthand
The courage of journalists, the cowardice of…
February 8, 2011
Lest there be any doubt that I'm not as nuts in real life as I am on the blog, here's a slide I used yesterday during a full-blown fancy-schmancy professional talk:
Just saying.
For context, read this post (IT HAZ SCIENTISMZ!!).
February 8, 2011
Unless a shortage is defined by a 0.1% decrease. Paul Krugman, with whom I often agree, has been crying hither and yon that rising food prices are a result of food shortages and not market speculation. This hasn't made much sense to me. First of all, we saw similar spikes in agriculture futures…
February 7, 2011
Links for you. Science:
Microbial Landscapes
IN WHICH GALILEO PERSECUTES THE POPE.
It May Be a Sputnik Moment, but Science Fairs Are Lagging
Disease v. culture: Botulism in the Arctic
Other:
How To Get Someone With Friends In Egypt To Lose His Temper
Gender divides in Philosophy and other…
February 7, 2011
When I read articles like this and this, it seems that educational 'reformers' are dwelling in a world utterly divorced from reality. If teachers unions and their 'sweetheart deals' are the problem, then why does Massachusetts excel? The teachers unions are very strong, and teachers are well…
February 6, 2011
I hear there is some kind of major professional sporting event today. Until it starts, here are some links for you. Science:
Oral Contraceptives and Weight Gain: Data and Anecdotes
Parallel Parking Better For Pedestrian Health
Is Work Related Stress An Economic Disaster In Waiting?
Let's get rid…
February 6, 2011
Wired has a fascinating article about a statistician who figured how to beat the odds on the scratch-off lottery tickets--that is, pick cards that are more likely to produce winning combinations. And "more likely", I mean getting it right up to 95 percent of the time.
But the article mentions…
February 6, 2011
At D-squared Digest, some ruminations about Egypt lead to the bestest political science theory EVAH! (italics original; boldface mine):
...so that brings me to a useful piece of advice for any readers who are aspiring dictators, one that the Communists knew, Suharto knew, but that some modern day…
February 5, 2011
At least, it's not snowing. Let's celebrate with some links. Science:
This post is about vaginasâââââ
93 Percent of Wall Street Journal's Climate Op-Eds Misrepresent Science
Land fizzing like soda pop: farmer says CO2 injected underground is leaking (I want my thorium-powered reactors)…
February 5, 2011
While there is a strong economic argument for tenure in higher education, let's not forget that the ability to speak freely is vital:
This attack on academic freedom -- an adjunct hired to teach a course was fired by Brooklyn College [part of the CUNY system] administration after a state…
February 4, 2011
Ugh. What a week. Links for you. Science:
Perspective on the Parenting Debate: Rich Parents Don't Matter?
Children's Genetic Potentials Are Subdued by Poverty
The shape of social progress - I
Other:
Too Bad Facts Don't Deter Anti-Choicers
The danger of certainty (it really is astonishing just…
February 4, 2011
Over at New Economic Perspectives, William Black makes a good observation about the basic arithmetic skills of the educational reformers--specifically Obama's claim that we will add 100,000 new teachers:
Obama correctly identified a critical need and stated that we must make dramatic changes to…
February 4, 2011
Robert Scheer comments on Obama's State of the Union speech (italics mine):
His references to education provided a convenient scapegoat for the failure of the economy, rather than to blame the actions of the Wall Street hustlers to whom Obama is now sucking up. Yes, it is an obvious good to have…
February 3, 2011
I really, really wish it would snow. Regardless, here are some links. Science.
Throw the snow in the Harbor! (not convinced about the environmental impacts; I don't mind shipping some of them back to the burbs)
Bats in Borneo roost in carnivorous pitcher plants
The NIH reduces proposed budgets to…
February 3, 2011
Recently, I claimned nothing in movement conservatism makes sense except in the light of creationism. One example is Paul Krugman's recent observation:
It's kind of shocking if you think about it. Here we have a huge, hard-won intellectual achievement [the recognition that depressions are caused…
February 3, 2011
Mind you, I'm not talking about 'framing', but simply the justification for the policy (I'll the propaganda for another time). I'm encouraged that Matthew Yglesias, who writes for the Center for American Progress, a progressive outfit, has stumbled into modern monetary theory (italics mine):
Does…
February 2, 2011
How many links would a linkbot link if a linkbot could bot links? Dunno, but here are some links. Science:
Development of resistant Staphylococcus aureus over time
One of the first published accounts of sexual selection in koalas: What does it take for koala boys to get lucky?
Do Not Eat the "…
February 2, 2011
Does failing to teach evolution qualify as bad teaching? Because, then, I might get behind the idea that teacher tenure should fall by the wayside:
Now several Republican governors have concluded that removing ineffective teachers requires undoing the century-old protections of tenure.
Governors…
February 2, 2011
If you haven't heard about Sarah Palin's latest inanity (it's hard to keep current...), she offered an ungrateful nation this utterance:
But after this, for several minutes that we as a nation will never get back, you rambled about a bakery called the "Spudnut Shop," that doesn't want the…
February 2, 2011
Oddly, curriculum--what is taught--is rarely discussed when the subject of educational 'reform' is broached. It's odd, since most reformers, when trying to push their agenda, spend a good deal of time figuring out what to communicate and how to communicate it (like most of us). Yet, how one…