retrospectacle | November 24, 2006
African Grey Parrots are so loved, they've even been honored with stamps in many countries! The stamp on the upper left was a 3 cent stamp issued in Cuba in 1967, one of 15 in a collection of birds in the Havana Zoo. The lower right stamp is from Sierra Leone in Africa, issued in 1999. It was also part of a set of 20 stamps entitled 'Beautiful Parrots and Parakeets of the World.' I once collected stamps as a kid but quit after my precious collection was water-damaged beyond repair. However, these stamps are really beautiful, and I wish I had them!
Here's another sheet of parrot stamps with…
retrospectacle | November 24, 2006This recent discovery actually makes a lot of sense: errant stem cells are often the cause of cancers and tumors, and therefore should be better targeted with chemotherapy. Stem cells are the precursors to all tissues, good and bad, and many cancers could be considered the result of stem cells' division process gone awry. Suddenly, stem cells may be producing massive amount of cells with no particularly purpose, which don't belong, and actually destory healthy normal cells. This is often the result of genetic mutations caused by chemicals, age, radiation, UV exposure, genetic predisposition,…
retrospectacle | November 23, 2006A reader (hat tip Bob Abu!) sent me this staggeringly good article written by long-time political journalist Seymour Hersh, appearing in the New Yorker, entitled "The Next Act." Specifically, it addresses whether the recently humbled Bush Administration is now more likely, or less likely, to invade Iran.
What was Cheney's reaction to the possibility of a Democratic Congress and Senate?
Cheney began reminiscing about his job as a lineman, in the early nineteen-sixties, for a power company in Wyoming. Copper wire was expensive, and the linemen were instructed to return all unused pieces three…
retrospectacle | November 23, 2006In case you can't make it to the grocery store, or all the turkeys are sold out, just take a peek into your own backyard.
There's a lot of wild turkeys just walking around. And they all look delicious.
Happy Thanksgiving!
retrospectacle | November 22, 2006Well, I'm not. But I am a B-List blogger, which might get me into some parties on the east side of Detroit.
Kineda's blog has a cute little app that measures your Technorati status to tell you what 'list' you'd be on.
What is a B-List Blogger defined as?
The High Authority Group [B-List Bloggers]
(100-499 blogs linking in the last 6 months)
The third group represents a decided shift in blog age while not blogging much more frequently than the last. In keeping with the theme of the maturation of the blogosphere, it seems evident that many of these bloggers were previously in category two and…
retrospectacle | November 22, 2006
Its on my wishlist.
Too bad there's not a Flying Spaghetti Monster one, praise pasta.
retrospectacle | November 22, 2006In an effort to "encourage discussion" on race-based scholarships, a student group called the Boston University College Republicans (BUCR) has instituted a controversial $250 "Caucasian Achievement and Recognition Scholarship". Applicants must be at least 25% Caucasian, have a 3.2 GPA, and submit an essay on what it means to be a Caucasian-American in today's society. BUCR argues that scholarships that are preferentially given to members of a certain race, and excluding others, are a form of bigotry no matter which way the discrimination swings. By their own definition, this scholarship is…
retrospectacle | November 21, 2006For those friends and relatives who read my blog and are wondering about Xmas or birthday ideas, why just cast thine eyes to my sidebar to note that I have added some links to my Amazon Wishlist, the Alex Foundation, and serotonin jewelry. Not that I expect or deserve anything other than coal, but if you're feeling generous, you now where to look.
retrospectacle | November 21, 2006By now, much of academia has heard about the goings-on at MIT. Susumu Tonegawa, head of the prestigious Picowar Institute at MIT and Nobel Laureate, is stepping down from his position following a university review which found he "behaved inappropriately when he tried to discourage a young female scholar from accepting a job offer from MIT." He was accused by 11 other faculty memebers of stating that he would not interact with her if she accepted the position, and that her presence would make for an uncomfortable situation for the neuroscience institute due to perceived academic competition…
retrospectacle | November 21, 2006How did I ever miss Steven Pinker getting wasted with Dr. Steve Steve?
C'mon people, you're suppost to tell me about these things!
Should I include a question for him regarding his favorite brew? I KNOW I'm going to have to ask him about his membership in the esteemed Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club For Scientists. Cause I think I might want in too.
"Luxuriant hair is always pleasing, possibly because it shows not only current health but a record of health in the years before."
Steven Pinker, LFHCfS
retrospectacle | November 21, 2006Some fantastic morning reading from a USA Today opinion article entitled '"When Religion Loses Its Credibility," critiques the current religious stance on homosexuality---and wonders, what if religion is yet again proven wrong? This was written by a well-spoken, pro-science Baptist Minister (yes, they do exist.)
Religion's only real commodity, after all, is its moral authority. Lose that, and we lose our credibility. Lose credibility, and we might as well close up shop.
It's happened to Christianity before, most famously when we dug in our heels over Galileo's challenge to the biblical view…
retrospectacle | November 20, 2006Today has been an exciting day for me! First of all, although Steven Pinker had to decline my invitation to speak at UM (during the Neuroscience Spring Symposium), he did agree to do an interview here on Retrospectacle. So, similar to the Q's and A's I posted for review for Irene Pepperberg, I will post some for Pinker in the next few days to get feedback.
And speaking of Dr. Pepperberg, guess who WILL be speaking at the Spring Symposium? That's right, my favorite parrot researcher, Irene herself! I can't wait to meet her and (hopefully) Alex.
As for the interview with Dr. Pepperberg, it…
retrospectacle | November 20, 2006According to a study of dog owners, people who own vicious and dangerous dogs, like pit bulls, have significantly more criminal convictions than the owners of tamer breeds. A vicious dog was defined as a breed that, without provocation, has killed or seriously injured a person, killed a dog, or was a pit bull. It excluded guard dogs and law enforcement canines.
Could this be used as a new form of profiling? (Continued below the fold....)
The study included 355 dog owners in Ohio, and was published in the Dec edition of the Journal of Interpersonal Violence. The results showed that 30% of…
retrospectacle | November 18, 2006Knock knock.
Who's there?
T-Rex.
T-Rex who?
T-Rex has just eaten everything on the Ark, and you're next punk. (Caution, a little profanity. You can take it, right? :D )
retrospectacle | November 17, 2006This news is of ill portent to UM, and right before the big Ohio State game?? Bo Schembechler, a former head coach here, is a legend to UM football. He used to be a OSU assistant coach, and dying today just seems like a really bad sign. I mean, if you believed in that kinda thing.
Michigan coaching legend Bo Schembechler has died after collapsing Friday morning, Detroit-area television station WXYZ reported. He was 77.
Schembechler collapsed at WXYZ's studios in Southfield as he prepared to tape the "Big Ten Ticket" show and was taken to Providence Hospital, the ABC affiliate said.
What did…
retrospectacle | November 17, 2006
The wild bird trade, which is where exotic birds are trapped in their natural habitats and shipped away for pets, has devastated many types of parrot species. Thankfully this practice is now illegal in much of the world, however many parrot species have the unfortunate luck as to live in countries where these laws are enforced somewhat less that stringently. Up until now, African Greys have been spared this fate. However, recent data on their populations in the 23 countries in which they reside show their numbers rapidly on the decline. In fact, they may soon be added to the official 'red…
retrospectacle | November 17, 2006This is just plain heart-breaking. Even these Inuit seem sad to kill these poor belugas.
About 200 beluga were first spotted in early August by hunters in the Husky Lakes area south of Tuktoyaktuk, a string of saltwater inlets north of the Arctic Circle that are linked to the ocean through a 300-meter-wide [980-foot-wide] channel.
There still were about 80 of the white mammals left in the lakes by late October, but the lakes and the channel are quickly freezing over and the whales' air hole shrinking.
Residents were cheering for the belugas to escape, even though each animal could provide…
retrospectacle | November 17, 2006These stories are true, however names and a few details have been changed to hide the identity of parties involved.
Anecdote #1:
Let's just say a college professor and science-blogger, we'll call him Dr. Bob, assigns a term paper on ecology to his class. The semester is winding to a close, and this paper will constitute a fair amount of the students' class grade. Upon reading the papers, one catches his eye. It is well-written, informative, possess both depth and clarity.......why, its almost as if Dr. Bob had written it himself.
In fact, he did write it himself. As a blog post--and one he…
retrospectacle | November 16, 2006I'm about to send these questions out to Dr. Pepperberg (hopefully for next week's Grey Matters), and wanted some feedback. Also, please suggest questions if you have some!
Q. Initially your research background was not in comparative cognition and language. How did you become interested in this field?
Q: Human language processing and production relies on specific brain structures (Broca's and Wernicke's areas). Are there thought to be equivalent structures in the avian brain?
Q. Why might parrots have evolved to be such superior mimics, and how would this serve them well in the wild?
Q. Do…
retrospectacle | November 16, 2006More on bears today: go vote for the name of the newest member of the Atlanta Zoo, a panda cub.
I wonder if its part of China's policy that all the baby pandas have to be named Chinese names. Cause I haven't ever heard of a panda named Fred or Joe.
And speaking of China, I'm spending Xmas there with my family! (And my bday, which is the 21st....)