retrospectacle | January 5, 2007I never knew there were such things as "orinithological quiz bowls," but apparently there are and the final question in one at Arizona State had to do with my favorite bird!
"Who is Alex?"
With the correct answer to that question, the team of Melissa Meadows, Matthew Toomey, and Bobby (Haralambos) Fokidis, all graduate students in the School of Life Sciences, won the inaugural quiz bowl at the fourth North American Ornithological Conference, held in Veracruz, Mexico.
The conference was the largest ornithological meeting in history and was attended by scientists from across the Americas.…
retrospectacle | January 4, 2007 I came across an interesting topic on the Irascible Professor's blog: whether or not banning harmful food product such as trans-fat infringes upon a person's right to eat whatever they want, healthy or otherwise. This question is in response to libertarian John Stossel's article "What Will They Ban Next?" where Stossel opines that citizens' eating habits should not be monitored by the government. Stossel says trans fat gives French fries "that texture I like" and since heart disease in America is declining, "So, if they're [trans fat] killing us, they're not doing a very good job." Booooo.…
retrospectacle | January 3, 2007Hey Wall Street Journal! I say boooooo to you and this worthless article on the "impending hearing health crisis." The title of the article ("Resolve to Turn Your Ipod Down") itself is rather silly, now that Ipods come with volume limits under the range of the levels that cause hearing loss. Plus, its not like earbuds or portable music is anything new: we've had the Walkman for years, and before that kids would just hold boom-boxes by their ears. Concerts have been around for ages, yet no one says "Resolve To Stop Attending Concerts." Boo.
(Continued below the fold.............)
The article…
retrospectacle | January 2, 2007So, I've been in the North Country for the weekend, and have mixed feelings about Toronto. On the one hand, its the metropolitan city that Detroit could only dream of being (I live in Ann Arbor, MI). Cool underground mall, pretty decent public transport, fun and safe nightlife. On the other, getting a cab or decent service in any bar or restaurant is quite a challenge. Me and a few friends went to a nightclub called Fluid for the countdown to party, and while it was a pretty ok club, I almost lost it at the plethora of Canadian thug wannabes. Hello, I'm more likely to be packing a piece than…
retrospectacle | December 31, 2006Most people who have known a drug addict, or have watched Trainspotting or ER, know that one of the more insidious parts of addiction is the need for more and more drug to achieve a "high." This leads the addict into a spiral of drug-seeking behavior, and brain changes, which lead to the person just trying to feel normal again. Why is it that, over time, opiate drugs lose their rewarding effects? Until recently, the molecular mechanism behind "why" was unknown, but a new study published in Nature (subscription required) this month explains that has to do with the decrease of a certain…
retrospectacle | December 30, 2006Well, that was certainly quick. Convicted last month, handed over to the Iraq authorities yesterday, and hung (hanged, whatever) this morning. Guess no one can complain that justice wasn't swift.
His last words?
'God is great. The nation will be victorious and Palestine is Arab.'
Our soldiers' words?
"First it was weapons of mass destruction. Then when there were none, it was that we had to find Saddam. We did that, but then it was that we had to put him on trial," said Spc. Thomas Sheck, 25, who is on his second tour in Iraq. "So now, what will be the next story they tell us to keep us over…
retrospectacle | December 28, 2006Well, sorry for the long hiatus in blogging, but it was nice to just have a little break and relax for the holidays. Hope everyone also had a restful and safe holidays (of whatever you celebrate--or not!). I just arrived back in the US yesterday, and after another 14 hour flight I gotta admit I'm pretty jet-lagged today.
My Christmas was pretty interesting. In China, the native people swarm to American or western restaurants like Starbucks or KFC, so our initial plan to have a quick dinner at Papa John's pizza was de-railed when we saw the line out the door. I was secretly happy because i…
retrospectacle | December 16, 2006Due to some rather obnoxious putrid trolls, went back to commenter moderation. No big deal, I'll let all comments through as long as they aren't abusive nor spam.
Also, while I'll be checking in, I'm taking the week off blogging until I get back to the US on the 26th. This is because my family is going to the Wolong Panda Reserve in Chengdu and won't likely have internet access. However, expect panda pictures galore when I return shortly!
Everyone have a happy holidays and Appendagemas in my absence. :)
retrospectacle | December 14, 2006The New York Times was reporting this story like it was surprising in the slightest:
A rare, nearly blind white dolphin that survived for millions of years is effectively extinct, an international expedition declared Wednesday after ending a fruitless six-week search of its Yangtze River habitat.
The baiji would be the first large aquatic mammal driven to extinction since hunting and overfishing killed off the Caribbean monk seal in the 1950s.
For the baiji, the culprit was a degraded habitat -- busy ship traffic, which confounds the sonar the dolphin uses to find food, and overfishing and…
retrospectacle | December 12, 2006......yet men somehow stay the same. Or worse, regress.
Not sure whether to be more irked that Razib suggests that smart women aren't hot (and vice versa), that hot women don't like sci fi, or than sci fi somehow denotes intelligence. Booooooooo.
:/
Paging Zuska?
retrospectacle | December 12, 2006Arrived in China last night (although night is subjective when you have a 12 hour time differential), and after a bit of a drive to Suzhou we had dinner at a fantastic little Malaysian place which served something called 'Roti'. Roti is apparently phyllo dough with stuff inside and then fried. The "stuff" usually consists of bananas or chicken and is damn delcious! I'm a bit exhausted and about to go out shopping but just wanted to post a funny anecdote and some pictures of my parent's house (which has been converted into a museum in my absence!)
The story is a run-in with police that my dad…
retrospectacle | December 11, 2006I have perhaps found the most annoying device ever You know how irritating it is when your smoke detector needs new batteries and just beeps every now and then? Like the telltale heart, it drives you slowly bonkers. Now, imagine a gadget that did that intentionally, forever, and it was hidden!
With its thin design and embedded magnet for easy hiding, the Annoy-a-tron can be placed in a variety of locations. Select one of the three sound choices (2 kHz, 12 kHz, or alternating) and push the switch to the on position. Place it in a proper hiding spot and let the "fun" begin.
The Annoy-a-tron…
retrospectacle | December 11, 2006Scientists love good gossip as much as any 'Us'-magazine reader, and we take the same car-wreck interest in seeing our lofty demagogues topple in disgrace. The 'Huang stem cell scandal's' shame infected not only the fraudulent scientists involved, but also the journal that published his unsubstantiated work. A new scandal of a similar ilk involving a German physicist is underway, with a retraction of a staggering 21 papers from Science, Nature, and Physical Review. Are these journals to blame for the sloppy science they publish, and is it a syndrome of a larger problem: top journals want '…
retrospectacle | December 11, 2006Poor gorillas. At least they have an excuse not to believe in evolution, however crappily it might impact their lives.
Recent outbreaks of Ebola among people in Africa also killed thousands of gorillas, animals already threatened by hunting, a new study reports.
Outbreaks in Congo and Gabon in 2002 and 2003 killed as many as 5,500 gorillas and an uncounted number of chimpanzees, a research team led by Magdalena Bermejo of the University of Barcelona in Spain reports in Friday's issue of the journal Science.
While conservationists had raised concern about gorilla mortality previously, Bermejo…
retrospectacle | December 10, 2006French art is downright weird sometimes, never illustrated better than through SpermCube. From what I can gather, its a "public art project" that everyone is supposed to "contribute" to. Oh man, I can't even keep a straight face typing this. :D
More pictures under the fold (may not be work safe)......
Now there are two options on how to support SpermCube. Weigh these options carefully!
1. Donate your own gametes to the cubical masterpiece.
2. If that makes you queasy, fear not. You can still support this 'joy forever' through a monetary contribution. Wouldn't you like to become a SpermCube…
retrospectacle | December 9, 2006From December 11th to the 26th I'll be in Shanghai visiting my parents there, for my birthday and the holidays. Fear not, I'll still be blogging and probably posting interesting pictures from China. I always have a blast when I go and am really looking forwards to having a bit of down time away from school, work, and stress. I think we might even fly out to the Wolong Panda Reserve where China's panda breeding and research facility is.
Don't be surprised if posts go up at 3am, as the time difference is 12 hours. Not looking forward to that loooong flight. Thank the FSM that they have free…
retrospectacle | December 8, 2006
Well, its been a long time coming, and further delayed by grants, labwork, and Irene's hand injury. But, Irene and I finally got on the phone last weekend and chatted a bit about her work, her birds, and her uncertain future in the field. Irene Pepperberg is someone who I've admired since early undergrad, and she's been a bit of a role model for me. During grad school interviews, I tried to track her down and interview with her at the University of Arizona (who lied and told me she was there, despite her moving to MIT). I would have loved to have worked with her, although now I realize that…
retrospectacle | December 7, 2006Go check out this post over at OmniBRAIN about ...er....illustrative warnings against smoking the ye old cancer stick. Then, riddle me this? Is the tumor scarier, or the mustache?
Either way, nightmares are in my near future.
retrospectacle | December 7, 2006 Ok this one literally "tastes like neuroscience." (Oh ho ho, I kill me.)
Seriously though, this discovery that it may be possible to diagnose depression through altered taste may one day result in a clinically useful (if unconventional) 'depression test.' A group at the University of Bristol, who have published the study in the recent edition of the Journal of Neuroscience, found that the levels of the neurotransmitters serotonin and noradrenaline affect how a person perceives taste. These two neurotransmitters are also implicated in depression, and are potential pharmacological targets in…
retrospectacle | December 7, 2006 To be filed under "How Did This Ever Survive?" is a box containing 23 glass light bulbs used by Thomas Edison in a 1890 court battle to defend his patent on them. They will be auctioned this month, with expected bids being around $600,000!
The case which Edison was fighting (Edison Electric Light Company vs. United States Electric Light Company) is considered one of the most important technology infringment cases in history. After the case, famous rich guy J.P Morgan helped formulate General Electric Company out of a merger of Edison's company and a rival firm. However, the bulbs are…