retrospectacle | August 9, 2006
You never see graphs this clean in science. But I think most 65-plussers are just angry at and afraid of everything, so this poll might be moot.
Democrats 60%, Republicans 40%. Hmmmmm. I guess we should all just go work at Hooters and let the menfolk do the figgerin'. (Kidding, mostly.)
From PollingPoint.
retrospectacle | August 9, 2006In addition to the below post on gene therapy, keep a watch out for a review paper on the topic (by yours truly) that was just accepted into Hearing Research.
Deafness and hearing impairment are serious medical concerns in America, with nearly 30 million Americans affected to some degree. This is such a widespread problem in our society due to the combined effects of loud noises, aging, and heredity. Hearing loss happens when cochlear hair cells are lost (for a primer on the cochlea and hair cells, go here). Mammals, including humans, are unable to re-grow hair cells although birds and a few…
retrospectacle | August 8, 2006Ok, hold the phone everyone!!!!!!! A volunteer from Irene Pepperberg's lab has informed me that parrot-related merchandise is available for purchase, to help support her lab and research on grey parrots. I am totally going to buy every one of these items, er, once I get my stipend check, that is. Buy some too, and help support parrot research! Also, Alex recently turned 30. Happy Hatch-Day Alex!
If parrots could wear t-shirts, this is the one they'd pick. Feathers are much more awesome though.
Parrot pens! Alex eyes it suspiciously. I think 2 seconds after this photo was taken he either…
retrospectacle | August 8, 2006
From down under, news of parrot conservation! A 52-turbine wind-farm was shot down by local senators due to the large threat it posed to the endangered orange-bellied parrot (pictured above).
After blocking the wind farm in April because of a perceived threat to the parrot, Senator Campbell last week said the company could resubmit the proposal in exchange for dropping a Federal Court challenge to his original ruling.
Wind Power director Andrew Newbold said the company would resubmit the same proposal to Senator Campbell's department in about two or three weeks.
However, he said the…
retrospectacle | August 8, 2006Apparently, an increasing trend is "stem cell tourism"---but not for Alzheimer's or a spinal cord injury. No, rather for aging, wrinkles, cellulite, and general "rejuvenation." This is obviously quackery, as the methods they describe (which range from smearing dead cow cells as a facial, or direct injection of stem cells from an aborted fetus' liver) have not been substantiated, published, or un-biasedly proven to work.
Unfortunately, stem cell detractors are using this type of off-label, shallow usage of stem cells as an excuse to condemn all of stem cell therapy as morally degenerate and…
retrospectacle | August 8, 2006I just had to post this for PZ. This is a tattoo my friend Jenni has on her foot, and I love it! I know all those out there with a tentacle fetish will appreciate this.
retrospectacle | August 7, 2006So, Terra Sigillata recently posted this question:
How can Hooters support the fight against breast cancer, all without being perceived as capitalistic, misogynistic, or otherwise demeaning to women?
While a very interesting and noble question, my feelings can be summed up thusly:
I'm of the opinion there is no way to turn Hooters into a charity bastion. I completely expect them to turn breast cancer awareness into a "Save the Whales" level fiasco, prompting wealthy men to save the endangered Great Tit. I can envision the t-shirt campaign now: a tight white middrift with the word "Save Me" in…
retrospectacle | August 7, 2006Consider the case of Diet Coke. More fat people drink it than skinny people. That means that Diet Coke makes you fat, right?
Well of course not, but this is the same ridiculous backwards logic used in this report that teens who have iPod full of raunchy music have sex at an earlier age than teens with no obscene music. Its a CNN article describing a recent study published in Pediatrics.
Teens who said they listened to lots of music with degrading sexual messages were almost twice as likely to start having intercourse or other sexual activities within the following two years as were teens who…
retrospectacle | August 7, 2006Well my second re-submission of my NRSA is finally on its way to the NIH today. This is my last try (for this grant), so if its still not getting a fundable score, I've got to scrap the whole thing. So, obviously, I'm REALLY hoping I don't have to do that. (Fingers crossed!)
While writing it, I became interested in the dynamics of grant funding (specifically the training grants like mine) at the NIH. Incidentally, Nature published a news piece in 2004 (Nature 428, 879 (2004) doi:10.1038/428879a) that touched on the same topic.
Budget pressures caused by flat funding at the US National…
retrospectacle | August 6, 2006Former Tour de France champ Floyd Landis is now disgraced. His "B sample" came up positive for synthetic testosterone.
Bumblebees like their nectar warm, thank you. (Read about bee intelligence here!)
Top ten places for future disasters in America to occur.
Body modification is an increasing trend. Ever seen a split tongue?(ouch!)
Masterbate-a-thon trying to lift taboos?
Global warming could increase the price of food.
E-passports: Good idea, or an invitation to hackers?
Law enforcement using shame to curb speeding.
Generation Y turning away from religion. Only 48% believe in a god.
retrospectacle | August 4, 2006
Object permanence refers to the notion that objects are separate entities that continue to exist even when we can't see them. Its the opposite of "out of sight, out of mind" in the sense that the person (or animal) realizes the object still exists in space somewhere. This may lead to searching behavior, or a memory of where the object last was placed. Human children are not born with object permanence--it develops over the first two years of our lives. This was quite a big discovery that made a psychologist named Piaget very famous in the 1950s. Turns out, African grey parrots share this…
retrospectacle | August 3, 2006According to a recent survey of 11,000 people, 75% of obese Americans think their eating habits are healthy. In addition 40% claim to exercise vigorously at least 3x a week! The survey was conducted by an Ann Arbor based group called Thomson Medstat
"There is, perhaps, some denial going on. Or there is a lack of understanding of what does it mean to be eating healthy, and what is vigorous exercise," said Dr. David Schutt of Thomson Medstat, the Michigan-based health-care research firm that conducted the survey.
Obese people were slightly more likely to read food labels and eat out at…
retrospectacle | August 3, 2006According to a recent study, reported on in Forbes magazine, the chemicals in marijuana may prevent pregnancy by making it difficult for a fertilized egg to implant in the uterus.
Dey, the Dorothy Overall Wells professor of pediatrics, cell and developmental biology and pharmacology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and his colleagues conducted their experiments in mice. It's known that marijuana, the most widely used illegal drug among women of childbearing age, binds to two receptors, called cannabinoid receptors 1 and 2 (CB1 and 2). These receptors are found in the brain and also in…
retrospectacle | August 2, 2006Poor alcoholic Mel!
I haven't been able to find the police report from his fateful drunken driving incident, but I did find a humorous one that I'm sure is almost as crazy as the real thing!
Some highlights?
After attempting to flee the scene, Gibson shouted that "Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world." These outbursts continued for the next five minutes. Mr. Gibson claimed the Jews were also responsible for:
the death of Jesus;
the impalement of William Wallace;
the disfigurement of The Man Without A Face;
the ransoming of his son;
the plot holes in Signs;
and the overall…
retrospectacle | August 2, 2006One only has to turn on a TV, or browse through any news site, to read the story of disgraced Tour de France winner Flloyd Landis. Landis, an American, was reported to have an abnormally high testosterone to epitestosterone ratio in one of his urine samples given right before the end of of the race. Landis has vehemently denied the allegations, and a secondary "backup" test is being conducted; those results will be released this Saturday. If the test again comes up positive, Landis must relinquish his winner's jersey and title (he would be the second to do so). But, what is testosterone…
retrospectacle | August 1, 2006In honor of His affinity to parrots, Flying Spaghetti Monsterists hold a festival each year to honor the pirate's best friend and prophetic vessel. It is widely believed that the Flying Spaghetti Monster prefers followers who accessorize with parrots because they allow Him to communicate with them more easily. During this festival, several hundred million parrots are gathered in one spot and set free. This symbolizes spreading across the land, granting His followers a great boon, and his enemies a head topped with bird guano. For 3 days prior to their release, Flying Spaghetti Monsterists…
retrospectacle | August 1, 2006
I'm sure you've all heard of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM), right? Sure, its the cute flying pasta plate that's trying to stick it to organized religion. FSM is a farcical "religion" created by a 24 year old guy named Bobby Henderson in 2005, based on the idea that a flying....er....spaghetti thingamajig created the world. I too had *heard* about it, but little did I realize how truly awesome the FSM was. Praise pasta!
So, what do "Pastafarians" believe?? (from wikipedia)
- An invisible and undetectable Flying Spaghetti Monster created the universe, starting with a…