emjohnson | July 22, 2009Earlier this week a classified Scientology contract was leaked (full pdf document here), revealing the paranoid nature of the Church. The document is entitled Application, Declaration and General Release Declaration of Religious Commitment and Application for Membership in a Scientology Religious Order and for Active Participation on Church Staff. This contract must be signed by anyone who wishes to engage in "active participation as a staff member within the Church of Scientology" as a Class V Org member.
Among the items they must agree to are:
8. I am not related to or connected with any…
emjohnson | July 21, 2009Dorothea Salo, the Digital Repository Librarian at the University of Wisconsin (see her professional website here) has arrived to teach us a thing or two about information science. She's already taught me something about loading powerpoints as website useful content (see below). It also serves as a great way to learn about her area of expertise.
Save the Cows! Cyberinfrastructure for the Rest of Us
View more documents from Dorothea Salo.
emjohnson | July 20, 2009Mark Hemingway, the Conservative "tough-guy" for the National Review, has just posted a rant against health concerns for the endocrine disruptor Bisphenol A.
I've seen some estimates that over a billion people have had exposure to BPA and there isn't proof of anything. So why the big scare? I assume trial lawyers are involved in the fear mongering. That's a given. But then I saw that last year two reporters from the Milwaukee-Journal Sentinel won a George Polk Award-- a major journalism honor -- for reporting on the "dangers" of BPA. It's another reminder that there are some perverse…
emjohnson | July 19, 2009A gay couple kiss in front of the Salt Lake City Mormon Temple / David Daniels
For the second time gay activists and allies held a kiss-in at Temple Square in Salt Lake City. The action held this morning was to protest the arrest of two gay men two weeks ago who showed "inappropriate" public affection on LDS Church property.
According to The Advocate:
Aune, 28, and Jones, 25, told the newspaper that they were walking back to their nearby home in the evening when they crossed the plaza holding hands, then stopped to kiss on the cheek. Several security guards arrived and told the couple…
emjohnson | July 19, 2009Jorge Cham has just posted his latest PhD Comic, this one taking on the rivalry between Nature and Science. Look behind the scenes at how the science publishing industry REALLY works. It's enough to make you want to publish only in PLoS ONE!
emjohnson | July 19, 2009Monty Python: The scientists of silliness?
I'm currently working on a book (scheduled for release sometime in the 2010s) that intends to be an extension of my research in evolutionary anthropology and the history/philosophy of science. In the coming months I may be tempted to write more about it -- and could be persuaded to publish short excerpts like Brian at Laelaps has been doing with his current opus -- but I'm not quite ready for a grand unveiling.
However, I'm often amazed at the kinds of science related books that are commonly published ("related" being the word to emphasize). These…
emjohnson | July 17, 2009
The World's Fair is recreated in all it's glory! Skulls in the Stars is currently hosting the thirteenth installment of the History of Science Blog Carnival. There are some amazing pieces in this edition so head on over right now and check them out. GG was also kind enough to include my post The Grassroots of Scientific Revolution.
Some of the most interesting pieces I read in this edition include:
Brian at Laelaps discusses the controversy of the cuttlefish:
Meyranx and Laurencet's paper played right into Geoffroy's hands. Even though they had not intended on refuting Cuvier, the…
emjohnson | July 17, 2009How genes for altruism can benefit strangers as well as kin
The generosity of adoption has long been considered a unique human hallmark.
Image: Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
For decades it was conventional dogma that humans were the only species that used tools. "Man the Toolmaker" was our celebrated designation. The hominin fossil Homo habilis (or "handy" man) was even defined within our genera primarily because the skeleton was associated with stone implements. However, when Jane Goodall discovered chimpanzees using modified sticks at Gombe to "fish" for termites, Louis Leakey famously…
emjohnson | July 16, 2009With huge profits reported this week from two bailed-out institutions, Sacramento-based real estate investor Reggie Lal is euphoric:
JPMorgan Chase & Co. posted a 36 percent jump in second-quarter profit Thursday, easily surpassing analysts' expectations, as strength in investment banking offset higher credit losses. JPMorgan, the second big bank to report stronger earnings this week after Goldman Sachs Group Inc., earned $2.72 billion, up from $2 billion a year earlier. Revenues soared 39 percent to $25.62 billion.
Results were driven by record investment banking fees and revenue in its…
emjohnson | July 14, 2009On this day 76 years ago (July 14, 1933) a sterilization law was passed in Nazi Germany, known as Gesetz zur Verhütung erbkranken Nachwuchses (Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring). Any German was a target if they were found to be suffering from a range of perceived hereditary ailments, such as congenital mental deficiency, schizophrenia, manic-depressive insanity, epilepsy, Huntington's chorea, blindness, deafness, any severe hereditary deformity or even severe alcoholism. Official pronouncements insisted that these individuals were a drain on the German people, both…
emjohnson | July 13, 2009Greenpeace banner deployed on Mt. Rushmore. Image: S.J. Carrera / Greenpeace
There have been few more passionate and prescient figures in the history of science than the Russian naturalist and political radical Peter Kropotkin. Upon the confirmation of his geological research that demonstrated an ancient ice sheet had once extended across the Russian landscape, this evolutionary theorist and gentle anarchist reported in 1894 that "we must accustom ourselves to the idea that climate, like everything else on the earth, is a changeable element." In his many books and articles he regularly…
emjohnson | July 12, 2009Picnic. Rob Sheridan / Creative Commons
In the second of my 226,000 part series (as yet unnamed) in which I help promote my favorite photographs and artwork bearing a Creative Commons attribution license, I would like to introduce my readers to the amazing work of Rob Sheridan. Picnic is his latest piece, in honor of the Fourth of July, and I think everyone will agree it's as twisted as it is hilarious. I encourage everyone to check out his entire collection of work at his Flickr account and at his Sketchblog: Rob-Sheridan.com.
emjohnson | July 10, 2009Many of you on ScienceBlogs will probably already know the fabulous blog Living the Scientific Life, but did you know she could soon be your Antarctica blogger? Wouldn't you love it if she were? If so she really needs your help RIGHT NOW. Click on this link and vote. Then, contact all of your friends and tell them to vote. THEN, tell your friends to tell their friends.
A Primate of Modern Aspect combines two of my favorite things in his blogging: excellent analytical skills and blog posts filled with primates. Make sure to add him to your RSS feed. To get a sampling of his work,…
emjohnson | July 10, 2009
The "Revelation" as described by St. John, though likely inspired through the
use of hallucinogens (see The Mystery of Manna).The title for this post comes from a terrific book by the neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, but I think it's appropriate for a discussion on faith, feeling and reason. Francis Collins' nomination as Director of the National Institutes of Health has effectively gotten people talking about religion, science and what, if anything, each should have to do with the other. I recently brought up Sam Harris' critique of the editor's at Nature for their praise of Collins' book…
emjohnson | July 10, 2009
Science and religion bicker in the backseat. Collin Purrington / Creative CommonsWith Francis Collins' nomination as head of the National Institutes of Health I felt it was appropriate to bring up Sam Harris' letter to the journal Nature objecting to what he called "high-minded squeamishness" on the part of the editors for their praise of his book The Language of God. In the book Collins states:
As believers, you are right to hold fast to the concept of God as Creator; you are right to hold fast to the truths of the Bible; you are right to hold fast to the conclusion that science offers no…
emjohnson | July 9, 2009On July 9, 1858 the German-American anthropologist Franz Boas was born. To honor the man widely held as the "father of American anthropology" the American Anthropological Association offered a tribute for Boas today on their blog. What conveniently went unmentioned was the fact that the AAA censured Boas in 1918 for revealing that American anthropologists were covertly working as spies for the US government.
As Boas wrote to the editor of The Nation:
The point against which I wish to enter a vigorous protest is that a number of men who follow science as their profession, men whom I refuse…
emjohnson | July 9, 2009Ernest Cline, director of the recent film Fanboys, has this hilarious spoken word piece that pretty sums up my philosophy perfectly. It's put to music by The Penguin Cafe Orchestra and is accompanied by an 80's style film strip which only adds to the fun.
For more of his great work (including spoken word, info on his films and his blog) click here.
*Obligatory note: Humans are not monkeys. We're apes along with chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, orangutans and gibbons. In general, monkeys have tails whereas apes do not. But I agree that the word monkey is much funnier.
[Video below the fold…
emjohnson | July 8, 2009Offspring Abandonment in the Ancient and Natural World
In the Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex the great kingdom of Thebes is condemned following a case of mistaken identity (and a little patricide). The sordid tale begins when the infant prince is abandoned by his parents (see right) after learning of a prophecy that his son will one day murder his father, marry his mother and assume the throne. His ankles pierced with a spike, young Oedipus is sent to be abandoned atop mount Cithaeron. While this tale sets up a beautiful tragedy it also hints at a common reality in both the ancient and natural…
emjohnson | July 7, 2009"It seems really very unfair that man should have chosen the gorilla to symbolize everything that is aggressive and violent, when that is one thing that gorillas are not, and that we are."- Sir Richard Attenborough
This quote sets the tone for a new award winning short film (see below) from the non-profit organization Explore. Primates, and great apes in particular, have long fascinated and repulsed us based on their uncanny resemblance. In order to deflect this repulsion they have frequently been portrayed as monstrous, violent and expressing a host of bestial attributes. A case in point…