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
August 31, 2010
Lots of interesting science happening over at Dr. Shock's place. My utterance is this.
As the kids say, check the whole thing out.
August 31, 2010
So, Nature Reviews Genetics has an article, "Computational solutions to large-scale data management and analysis", which claims the following in the abstract (italics mine):
Today we can generate hundreds of gigabases of DNA and RNA sequencing data in a week for less than US$5,000. The astonishing…
August 30, 2010
I'm hopefully in Atlanta by now, en route to St. Louis for Microbiome-y goodness. Links for you:
God, I Need a Cup of Placebo Coffee
Tiny, New, Pea-Sized Frog is Old World's Smallest
On the Luxury of 'Coming Out' When You Feel Like It
Building a Nation of Know-Nothings
A long time ago, before…
August 30, 2010
I'll be at the Human Microbiome Research Conference for a few days. But don't worry, this blog will keep on rollin'.
August 30, 2010
One of the mysteries of genome-wide association studies ("GWAS") is the problem of 'missing heritability': quantitative genetics indicates that a trait (e.g., height, heart disease) has a significant genetic component, but the genetic variation we can link to that trait only explains a small…
August 29, 2010
Hotter than hell today. Stay inside and enjoy some refreshing links. Science:
White Flight in Social Networks? A Story of Another Digital Divide
Cavemen Accused of Wiping Out Cave Bears ('cavemen' implies they weren't human. Bad title)
Tricky margay wildcat mimics its prey
Other:
Identifying…
August 29, 2010
By way of Howie Klein comes this explanation of what makes a successful politician--and what gets in the way:
It goes, "I am not part of the political establishment. I am not a career politician. Trust me, because I am a successful business owner and can run government better."
That's not much of a…
August 28, 2010
Sunny. Warm. Links. Science:
Brief data analysis interlude
Wave of Rhabdomyolysis in Oregon High School Football Players
Darwin wrong--again??
Dude, where are my copy number variants?
Other:
PAC-Man Ate My Ballot
An Infrastructure Perfect Storm: New York Trains Shut Down En Masse
Managing The LA…
August 28, 2010
Fred Clark, at Slacktivist, fires off a essential rejoinder to deficit reductionists and austerians, with bridge reconstruction as the particular example (italics mine):
Let's consider again the objection of deficit spending. The so-called deficit hawks object to repairing structurally deficient…
August 27, 2010
I'm excited about Glenn Beck's "I Have a Nightmare" Rally in DC this weekend (I'm sure my relatives in the area are not). Anyway, links. Science:
What the Egg Recall Says About Our Food Safety System (a surveillance success and regulatory failure)
Tara Parker-Pope and the New York Times Well Blog…
August 27, 2010
While conservatives still blather on about 'judicial activism' whenever a federal judge decides that they've gone too far in cramming their theopolitical crap down our throats, the ongoing housing crisis*, aka Big Shitpile, could result in some honest-to-Intelligent Designer judicial activism. How…
August 26, 2010
Finally, some sun. Let's celebrate with some links. Science:
Russia launches inquiry into Pavlovsk seed bank after Twitter campaign: President Dmitry Medvedev orders immediate inquiry into potential destruction of world's oldest seed bank
Sinus infections: what we do and don't know
'Women are…
August 26, 2010
Marc Ambinder reports that Ken Mehlman has admitted to friends and family that he is gay (did anyone really not know?):
"It's taken me 43 years to get comfortable with this part of my life," said Mehlman, now an executive vice-president with the New York City-based private equity firm, KKR. "…
August 26, 2010
Last week, I wrote about the problems facing genomics and the concept of ownership of data. While I am sympathetic to researchers' career needs under the current system, I don't think we can, in good conscience, let that get in the way of rapid data release, especially in applied areas.
I, and…
August 25, 2010
Still gray and ugly. But never fear, links are here! Science:
Alligator Surfaces Beneath a Car in Queens
Scientists hail breakthrough in fight against deadly Ebola virus
Analysis: Half of published URLs are dysfunctional a decade later
City mockingbirds can tell the difference between individual…
August 25, 2010
Having parasitized private industry, our economic betters are now turning their sights on the public sector:
The most popular deals in the works are metered municipal street and garage parking spaces. One of the first was in Chicago where the city received $1.16 billion in 2008 to allow a…
August 25, 2010
So there's an article that a fair number of people have gotten all het up about in The Scientist which criticizes peer reivew. I'll state for the record that I agree with the article in that the review process needs to be much faster, and more people need to be reviewing (the burden is too great…
August 24, 2010
We've been lucky this summer, and had very little gray cruddy days. But they're baaackkk! Let's celebrate with some links! Science:
Immunizations: "If your children have been vaccinated against xyz disease, why would you care if others are NOT vaccinated"
Nanofibre paint that kills MRSA
Male and…
August 24, 2010
Or bigotry. Because union carpenters are the new Muslim. Or something. Here's a refreshing exchange of free speech (italics mine):
...at an anti-Mosque demonstration down in Lower Manhattan, when a black man walking through the crowd was... mistaken for a Muslim by the crowd -- angrily.
The…
August 24, 2010
In the movie Quiz Show, which is about the quiz show scandals of the 1950s (and a wonderful period piece), there is a scene at the end of the movie which has always stuck with me. Van Doren, the disgraced upper-class professor who cheated, gave a teary mea culpa in front of Congress. The gallery…
August 23, 2010
Monday. Rainy. Links. Science:
Astronaut Strength In Space Equal To 80-Year-Olds
Wake Forest projects worth every penny spent
Seasoning Livestock Feed With Curry Spices Cuts Methane Emissions 40 Percent
"Hausergate" is good for science
Other:
Is 'More Efficient' Always Better? (a little painful…
August 23, 2010
Meet your new Treasury Secretary
My guiding political principle is "people have to like this crap." That is, if a policy makes peoples' lives worse, then it's a shitty policy*. More about that in a bit.
Last week, a bunch of bloggers went to visit the Treasury Department, and one of the topics…
August 22, 2010
It's kinda cloudy. Brighten your day with some links. Science:
Do Big Cats Like Catnip?
Is this the answer to latent TB?
Updated: Harvard says Marc Hauser guilty of science misconduct
Ultraviolet light reveals how ancient Greek statues really looked
Other:
Proud Brothers, Do Not Fret
US Dodges…
August 22, 2010
Amanda Marcotte makes a very astute observation about the opposition to the non-mosque not-that-close-to-the-former-World-Trade-Center* that has arisen over the last month (italics mine):
Make no mistake---all soft language about how it's just too close to the WTC or how this is an assault on 9/11…
August 21, 2010
It's nice out, but if you're stuck inside, here are some links for you. Science:
This Hauser thing is getting hard to watch
Creation Museum Creates Discomfort For Some Visitors (didn't know that guard dogs are what 'teaching the controversy' meant. Also, creationists 'debunk' evolution in real…
August 21, 2010
Razib, in a link roundup, wrote:
A Grand Unified Theory of Palinisms. Jacob Weisberg, Yale grad and Rhodes Scholar, wonders why Sarah Palin says "stupid and ridiculous things." An easy answer is that she's stupid. But I think the truth is that Sarah Palin is closer to the norm in intelligence and…
August 20, 2010
Thank Intelligent Designer it's Friday. Links for you. Science:
Acupuncture, Real or Fake, Eases Pain
NDM-1: The early warnings
Carnal Carnival #1 - Essentials of Elimination
Other:
The Christian Reconstructionism Dodge
Attacking Social Security
Damn It: For Once, Obama (Briefly) Happened to be…
August 20, 2010
No, really. It's very crappy. And it's all about poop.
So grab a...stool....
Just go read it, as there's lots of interesting stuff there.
August 20, 2010
I've spent the last two days discussing the problems with value-added teacher evaluation, and I thought I would turn it over to the readers, since there has been some really good discussion. At the end, I'll revisit some statistical and methodological issues, but I want to address a good question…
August 19, 2010
Happy Thursday. Some links for you. Science:
The misuse of terms 'homology' in bioinformatics community (excellent point, although can we stop referring to every group of people as a 'community'--e.g., the asshole community)
Disease by coincidence - why we're caught in the crossfire of a hidden…