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
May 21, 2011
Earlier this week, Republican presidential hopeful Governor Tim Pawlenty uttered something, that if it had been said by a Democrat, would have led to accusations of elitism, snootiness, and disdain for 'real' Americans. Faced with the question of why he decided to run for president, Pawlenty…
May 20, 2011
Links for you. Science:
Hey, where did all the women go?
New study dramatically cuts treatment for latent TB
Things do get better, sometimes
Other:
A Thought Experiment On Spending, Monetary Expansion, Output, Employment, and Gold
How Mass BitTorrent Lawsuits Turn Low-Budget Movies Into Big Bucks…
May 20, 2011
Let's just say that throwing up between 1am and 5am the week you have to prepare for a scientific conference (ASM) is, well, suboptimal. Anyway, I'm fine (thanks for asking), but Tuesday I had plenty of time to think about this NY Times article about the increase in healthcare deductibles (the…
May 19, 2011
Links for you. Science:
The Loneliest Plant In The World
Evolution is a Jewish conspiracy
What Is Wrong With Asking Why Black Women Are Less Attractive (very good points about factor analysis)
Other:
The NYT Doesn't Understand Marginal Tax Rates (we've been through this before; anyone whom this…
May 19, 2011
The Wall Street Journal reports an estimate of the economic impact of the Human Genome Project (italics mine):
Of the $3.8 billion federal funding for the human-genome project, $2.8 billion originated at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, and the rest at the Department of Energy.
That $3.8…
May 18, 2011
Links for you. Science:
Is Nathan Myhrovld's Intellectual Ventures behind the iOS in-app purchase patent troll job?
What Does it Mean to be "Museum-Worthy?" How a Political History Curator Defines the Term (will have to ask biology/paleontology curators same thing)
The evolutionary tree of fungi…
May 18, 2011
So batshitloonitarian libertarian Ron Paul, who isn't a racist, but just happens to adopt civil rights positions completely identical to those held by racists, has a slight problem. As Brad DeLong notes, he does believe in a very active role for government--but only on behalf of certain people (…
May 17, 2011
Links for you. Science:
We Won't Become Giants
Which is right: 'In your face' or staid professionalism?
Scientists Discover Bacterium in Mosquitoes' Gut That Destroys Malaria
Other:
Actually, "The Rich" Don't "Create Jobs," We Do.
As the door turns
Feedback: Florida's Student Success Act &…
May 17, 2011
It might come as a shock to some readers, but I actually don't mind investing--that is, long-term value investing--as long as it's not valued more than labor through the tax code (Got Capital Gains Tax?). But this isn't value investing, but surfing electrons:
The most striking periodicity involves…
May 16, 2011
Links for you. Science:
MRSA, Meat, and Motown
More on the criteria for earning the Ph.D.
N50 talk length at CSHL Biology of Genomes conference
Other:
If You Haven't Been On Food Stamps, Stop Trying to Influence Government Policy (must-read)
The Koch Brothers and the End of State Universities…
May 16, 2011
A couple of weeks ago, I came across this discussion thread "Will you stop using 454?" It's a pretty good thread--not much to disagree with there, although, from my perspective, it missed a key point (I'll get to that).
But my answer is simple: I already have. My work focuses primarily on…
May 15, 2011
I'm old enough to remember when there was sun in the sky. Anyway, links for you. Science:
Can we overfish the lionfish?
Simpler Genome Sequencing (I'll believe it when I see it--nanopore technology is like Zeno's paradox, the spear never hits the wall)
Hospital-Acquired Infections: Beating Back…
May 15, 2011
A while ago, I discussed how dogs have evolved to live with humans: being around humans is part of their environment, and they have undergone specific adaptations to live in that--our--environment. At this point, their 'natural' environment should contain people. Which brings me to this funny…
May 15, 2011
A couple of years ago, regarding the typical charter school model, I argued that the model of overworked, undercompensated, and under-'resourced' teachers was not sustainable:
One of the things that I've long suspected about charter schools is that they're an unsustainable model: they rely on…
May 14, 2011
Links for you. Science:
How Nature's lawyers drown investigative science journalism
Free Science, One Paper at a Time
Destructive Asian longhorned beetles found near quarantine boundary; zone expanded to Auburn
Let us eat (other people's) fish
Other:
Simply The Best
The Unbearable Lightness of…
May 14, 2011
If you thought I could be critical about economics, Peter Radford, at Real World Economics, is vicious in answering the question "Do We Need Economists?":
Take, for instance, the current spat between Paul Krugman and John Taylor. Both extremely well educated and intelligent economists who have very…
May 14, 2011
Last week, a story about a burning North Carolina wildlife refuge that forced the evacuation of an entire town (said town was spared thankfully) came over the transom. What struck me was this little bit:
Meanwhile, single-engine tanker aircraft and helicopters dropped water on the fire. Federal…
May 14, 2011
You might have heard about the recent purchase gift to Florida State University's economics department that gives a Charles Koch-funded group veto power over who is appointed to the department. I've known for a while that Koch has been influencing political science and economics departments: the…
May 13, 2011
We have sun! Even if only for a day. Let's celebrate with some links. Science:
Changes afoot at NSF's MCB
At least one of these Horseshoe Crabs is very confused
Orlando breakthrough destroys sewage, produces power
NSF, feasibility and impact
Other:
"Mediscare" And The Conventional Wisdom
Ancient…
May 13, 2011
Recently, I described how unreliable value-added testing is when used to determine teacher performance. Whenever I write about that subject, inevitably someone raises the suggestion, either in comments or email, of developing a better method of evaluating teachers, such as more frequent tests.…
May 12, 2011
Links fahr ya. Science:
On the "Hot Hand" in Basketball
"There's no crying in baseball" . . . the status quo of Ph.D. programs?
Farm antibiotics: "Pig staph" in a daycare worker
GOP Assault on Truth: Why Do Conservatives Pretend They Know More About Science Than Scientists?
Other:
But For One…
May 12, 2011
So Ezra Klein, along with many other progressives, has been offering alternatives to the Republican call for the slash-and-burn of Social Security. But what's annoying about all of this is that the prediction that Social Security revenues plus the accumulated U.S. securities (yes, the U.S.…
May 11, 2011
Unnatural selection: Wily weeds outwit herbicides
The Lazarus File
First look at Ion Torrent data: De novo assembly
Ion Torrent's Data Quality Is Pretty Good (and Better Than Ion Claims)
Other:
Punished for Poll on New Mother
Paper Tigers: What happens to all the Asian-American overachievers when…
May 11, 2011
...someone makes an animated cartoon about it. Charlie Foster sends us this clever little animation about the human gut microbiome, narrated by 'Barry fragilis' (Barry is, of course, short for Bacteroides). Anyway, enjoy:
May 11, 2011
...that's pretty good, even if you're not a wackaloon Chartalist like the Mad Biologist. Andrew Samwick writes:
The right reasoning is that with aggregate demand lower by hundreds of billions of dollars a year, there are unemployed and underemployed workers and underutilized capital whose services…
May 10, 2011
Happy Tuesday! Links for you. Science:
Why we keep calling Osama "Obama": Linguists and speech pathologists explain why we constantly make this mistake -- but not the other way around
Why Every Child in America Needs an iPad (Doesn't have to be an iPad, but the point is interesting; full…
May 10, 2011
...you know things are getting weird. David Warsh writes:
I belong to a luncheon club whose smartest member is a longtime investment manager whom I have observed for many years, He walked out of the room after a global tour d'horizon talk the other day and said on the sidewalk in front of the…
May 10, 2011
Last week, E.D. Kain took Megan McArdle to task for promoting the use of student testing as a means to evaluate teachers. This, to me, was the key point:
....nobody is arguing against tests as a way to measure outcomes. Anti-standardized-tests advocates are arguing against the way tests are being…
May 9, 2011
Links for you. Science:
What's the difference ? Two recessions.
FDA Clears First Test To Quickly Distinguish MRSA And MSSA
Amphibian alert
Other:
Evaluating Mitch Daniels' Education Agenda
Former Military Interrogator Matthew Alexander: Despite GOP Claims, "Immoral" Torture "Slowed Down" Effort to…
May 9, 2011
Roger Lowenstein discusses the problem with the 'goldbugs', those who want to return to the gold standard (italics mine):
Let us interject that in any monetary system, some authority must fix either the price of money or the supply. McDonald's can either set the price of a hamburger and let the…