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Why can't we get along like habiline and erectine?

The New York Times has an article up reiterating the fabled "bushiness" of hominid phylogenetic trees: Scientists who dated and analyzed the specimens -- a 1.44 million-year-old Homo habilis and a 1.55 million-year-old Homo erectus -- said their findings challenged the conventional view that these species evolved one after the other. Instead, they apparently lived side by side in eastern Africa for almost half a million years. My knowledge of bones is not strong, so I leave it to John Hawks or Kambiz to decompose the details. That being said, the big picture is that this is another strike…

The Triumph of the Coalition of the Sane

Tonight is a triumph for the Coalition of the Sane. While legitimized insanity has been happening since the Reagan era (Got James Watt?), the last eight years have been dreadful for those not suffering from massive psychological delusions. Our political discourse (such as it is) has moved well beyond arguing over marginal income tax rates. We are, instead, arguing about basic physical, material phenomena: is global warming real; did evolution actually happen; how does human reproduction work? This is insane. No biologist or climatologist should ever have to waster her time arguing with…

On "Cancer Ridden"

Orac is right to call out Stoller for referring to McCain as cancer-ridden--it's not true. Worse, it's cruel, and I should have made it clear that I've never supported the 'cancer critique.' (I have called McCain many things, but never that). At the time, I thought it would be dishonest to cut out that one sentence, but I was absolutely wrong to not to call out Bowers on this. The part that I highlighted--which was why I thought the post was worth quoting: Our nominee should crush this guy. And if he doesn't, then next year, the Generals are going to come out and undermine Obama unless…

Was the Anthrax Attack Really a Mixture of Two Strains?

In reading this NY Times story about the anthrax investigation, this statement about how the presence of an inversion (a region of flipped DNA) puzzled me (italics mine): The genome of various stocks of the Ames strain of anthrax used in the attacks were almost identical in all the 5 million chemical letters of their DNA. But researchers found enough differences in the attack strain to provide a reasonable chance of identifying its source. The chief difference was that a stretch of DNA was flipped head to tail in some bacteria in the attack strain, but not in any other samples. Further, the…

We're Missing the Point About the O'Keefe-NPR Non-Scandal

If you haven't heard, rightwing slime mongerer James O'Keefe struck again and managed to give National Public Radio (NPR) a black eye, although to a considerable extent, this was a self-inflicted wound. Over at Whiskey Fire, Thers makes a very astute observation (italics mine): The most bizarre aspect of this wingnut "sting" is its intended "gotcha." What the wingnuts thought they would be able to "prove" is that NPR is a biased socialist left-wing organization that would be thrilled to spread Islamist propaganda for a hefty paycheck. What got the NPR executives fired was their alleged…

No, We Don't Need to Slow Down Moore's Law

Matthew Yglesias writes regarding Moore's Law, which states that CPU transistor counts double every two years: My pet notion is that improvements in computer power have been, in some sense, come along at an un-optimally rapid pace. To actually think up smart new ways to deploy new technology, then persuade some other people to listen to you, then implement the change, then have the competitive advantage this gives you play out in the form of increased market share takes time. The underlying technology is changing so rapidly that it may not be fully worthwhile to spend a lot of time thinking…

Saturday Sermon: Waldmann on the Limits of Deduction

A while ago, I discussed the limits of the deductive approach in economics (and, for that matter, in anything). Basically, one can be really clever and derive how the world could or should work. This might or might not have anything to do with how the world actually works. Robert Waldmann takes Matthew Yglesias to task for deducing, when he should be inducing about the effects of state income taxes on the decision by rich people to leave that state: You specifically write "The tax competition issue is real, but limited, and the further you get from New Jersey the less real it becomes." "…

Wisconsin's False Fiscal Crisis

Republican governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, has claimed that he needs to bust unions in order to deal with a budget crisis. Well, he's lying, since this is a 'crisis' entirely of his own doing: The reality is radically different. Unlike true austerity measures -- service rollbacks, furloughs, and other temporary measures that cause pain but save money -- rolling back worker's bargaining rights by itself saves almost nothing on its own. But Walker's doing it anyhow, to knock down a barrier and allow him to cut state employee benefits immediately. Furthermore, this broadside comes less…

I don't know which way I want this poll to go

Some guy named Gerard Alexander has an opinion piece in the Washington Post titled "Why are liberals so condescending?" I will say one thing in its favor: it gets to its point quickly and clearly in the first few sentences. Every political community includes some members who insist that their side has all the answers and that their adversaries are idiots. But American liberals, to a degree far surpassing conservatives, appear committed to the proposition that their views are correct, self-evident, and based on fact and reason, while conservative positions are not just wrong but illegitimate,…

The Foreclosure Mess Is About the Rule of Law

Note: I wrote this before stumbling across this post which provides pretty good evidence that President Obama's recent sale of his house was also signed by a robosigner. Brazen doesn't even begin to describe the situation.... It's beyond trite to state that the foreclosure crisis has had a huge effect on the economy. But I don't think most people realize how much of the crisis--and the response by banks to the crisis--involves flat-out law-breaking. A small anecdote related to if banks will refile foreclosure applications in Florida from Yves Smith (italics mine): To be blunt, whether…

Race: The Long Hard Road

I've been very leary of all of the discussions of Obama as a transformative figure: I remember in Virginia when Doug Wilder was elected as the first black governor since Reconstruction and then...a few years later, a wave of conservatism washed over, well, everything. But, nonetheless, Obama's nomination does lend itself to some optimism: Here is the fundamental tragedy of the backlash [against civil rights]: Voters like this empowered a party that decided they didn't need protection against predatory subprime mortgage fraud. Didn't need affordable, universal health insurance; made it…

McCain's Healthcare 'Plan' Makes Families Spend More on Healthcare

I was going to discuss why I don't think the STAAR Act is particularly useful for combating antibiotic resistance, but McCain's healthcare plan is so ridiculously stupid, it requires comment. McCain's proposal would give a five thousand dollar tax credit to every household to pay for healthcare. (It's not clear how this would lead to the claimed $3.6 trillion in savings, since we 'only' pay $2 trillion annually for healthcare). The ultimate goal is to move away from an employer-based system. That means, in plain English, McCain's ultimate goal is that you will have to pay the entire cost…

Framing and the Low Information Voter

In an attempt at calm discussion, ScienceBlogling Chris Mooney is trying to explore some of the issues around framing. With that in mind, I want to raise one unacknowledged 'axis of argument': the extent to which various sides in the debate are willing to have the ranks of science supporters filled by complete fucking moronslow information content supporters. I don't mean informed non-scientists, I mean flat-out ignoramuses. For example, consider this story about the Clinton-Obama race set in Hazelton, PA: A couple blocks east, at Jimmy's Quick Lunch, Clinton's the favorite of many…

We're doomed.

The world will not end in 2012. Harold Camping lets out a hearty chuckle when he considers the people who believe the world will end in 2012. Yeah, it's ridiculous, but you knew that all along. This nonsensical 2012 date for an apocalypse is pure numerology: one of the great cycles of the Mayan calendar comes to an end in that year, but it simply means that if you were a Mayan, you'd flip the page on your calendar then (or start carving a new symbol on your stone tablets). Only a loon would attach so much significance to an arbitary magical date that they would think it implies the world…

The Leap into Insanity Tour begins today!

It's kind of like stage diving into a mosh pit, I think. I'm leaving for Santa Barbara this afternoon, beginning a week-long tour of a big chunk of California. Zeno has cruelly pointed out that my itinerary is a bit convoluted, but I say you take the tour you've got, not the one you wish you had. The amazing thing is that I scarcely know what I'm doing. I show up in Santa Barbara tonight, and I'm hoping I'll be caught by the locals (you know who you are: you should get in touch with Lyz at the SSA, who'll give you my secret cell phone number), who'll show me a couch or a bed or something,…

Arthur Frommer "Considers Skipping Arizona" Due to Gun-Wielding Protestors

If you're wondering who Arthur Frommer is, he's the chief author of Frommer's Travel Guides, which can be found at virtually every U.S. bookstore. So when Frommer argues that people should reconsider visiting Arizona, that's not definitely good for Arizona's tourism sector. But Frommer's reasons are...interesting (italics mine): I am not yet certain whether I would advocate a travel boycott by others of the state of Arizona... But I am shocked beyond measure by reports that earlier this week, nearly a dozen persons, including one with an assault rifle strapped about his shoulders and others…

Regionalism, Birtherism, and a Desegregation Amendment

Recently, I described polls that described how half of Southerners did not believe that President Obama was born in the U.S. David Weigel examines how many Southern whites believe Obama was born outside of the U.S.: In the South, like everywhere else, the vast majority of non-white voters said that Obama was born in the United States; 97 percent of black voters, 87 percent of Hispanic voters, and 88 percent of other minorities. The extremely low overall percentage? That's due to white Southerners, who dragged down the average with an extremely high level of doubt about Obama. So what…

Saturday Sermon: Editing Obama on Civil Liberties

Last week, Glenn Greenwald annotated a campaign speech by Obama about civil liberties and the rule of law (boldface mine): We know it's time to time to restore our Constitution and the rule of law. This is an issue that was at the heart of Senator Dodd's candidacy, and I share his passion for restoring the balance between the security we demand and the civil liberties that we cherish. The American people must be able to trust that their president values principle over politics, and justice over unchecked power. I've been proud to stand with Senator Dodd in his fight against retroactive…

On Scientific Embargoes: What Exactly Would Journalists Investigate?

ScienceBlogling Ed Yong asks a good question about scientific embargoes--the practice of giving reporters press releases about to-be-published research on the condition that they don't publish before a certain date: "Does science journalism falter or flourish under embargo?" Opponents of embargoes believe that the practice, to use Ed's phrase, leads to shoddy 'churnalism.' But it's not clear to me how one investigates published research. First, most science journalists lack the expertise to criticize much of what they cover--it's not that they're stupid, but they're not going to know more (…

Free Samples in Medicine: FAIL?

A recent PLoS Medicine paper suggests so: Everybody likes something free, and free prescription drug samples are no exception. Patients love to receive them, and doctors feel good about handing them out. The practice of providing free drug samples is based on the tacit assumption that "sampling" does much more good than harm. In two separate news releases within the past year by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the trade organization that represents the country's largest and leading drug companies, a senior vice president claimed that free samples improve…

Don't Let Animal Rights Terrorists Shift the Overton Window

Many of my ScienceBloglings have rightly called out animal rights terrorists who target researchers' children. They are absolutely right to do so. The one issue I have is that I often read something along the lines of "Terrorism is wrong, regardless of if you're for or against animal rights..." Actually, I'm not willing to disregard that at all. In the midst of condemning these thugs, we need to remember something very important: the consequences of the ideas that non-violent animal rights advocates hold are still reprehensible. Outsourced to ScienceBlogling Mark (italics mine):…

Democratic Senators Party with Banking Lobbyists at Miami Beach Ritz Carlton

Are Democrats intentionally trying to lose the next election? Because that's the only possible way to explain this: Twelve Democratic Senators spent last weekend in Miami Beach raising money from top lobbyists for oil, drug, and other corporate interests that they often decry, according to a guest list for the event obtained by POLITICO. The guest list for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee's "winter retreat" at the Ritz Carlton South Beach Resort doesn't include the price tag for attendance, but the maximum contribution to the committee, typical for such events, is $30,000. There…

Sen. Gregg: A Case Study in Why Obama's Approach to Governing Stinks

Add this to the list of symptoms of post-partisanship depression. Do you remember Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), who was originally nominated by Obama as Secretary of Commerce because he was viewed as a moderate? Well, 'moderate' Gregg (did I mention that he almost joined the Obama Administration were it not for opposition from we Dirty Fucking Hippies?) has this to say about recent legislation: American government changed last night. "We are now functioning under a parliamentary form of government," says Sen. Judd Gregg (R., N.H.) in a conversation with NRO. "An ideological supermajority in…

Afghanistan: When the Mad Biologist's Rule of Base Ten Numbers Turns Deadly

I've described the Mad Biologist's Rule of Base Ten Numbers before: My colleagues have all heard of the Mad Biologist's Rule of Base Ten Numbers: when you see too many numbers that end with zero, become skeptical. That's because only one in ten numbers should do should end in zero. I then added: ...if you read news reports that routinely say, "Today, American forces blew the crap out of [number that ends with zero] enemy forces" (and with a globe-spanning garrison empire, we do read a lot of those, don't we?), nobody has a good idea what actually happened. Sadly, thirty has become the new…

And the Mad Biologist Endorses...

There's an election Tuesday in Massachusetts, and here's who the Mad Biologist endorses. U.S Senate: This is tough. Both Rep. Mike Capuano and Attorney General Martha Coakley have strengths and weaknesses. Both are reliable liberals, but they have different emphases. Capuano has very good constituent services, and he understands the importance of scientific research to the MA state economy. He does, however, have some shady fundraising associations with Rep. Murtha. Coakley has a very good record as Attorney General, including bringing successful suits against Wall Street firms for…

Senator Collins Opposed Pandemic Flu Spending

Republican Senator Susan Collins went along with Karl Rove and cut or eliminated funding from the stimulus package for pandemic influenza spending. While Democratic Congressman Obey was able to restore $50 million for infection reporting, all state and local funding was eliminated. Nicely done, 'moderate' Senator Collins (italics mine): Did Rove, Collins and their compatriots want a pandemic? Of course not. They were just playing politics, in the exceptionally narrow and irresponsible manner that characterized the Republican response to the stimulus debate - and that, because of Democratic…

Obama to Circumvent Congressional Pay Restrictions...

...I'm sure this will work out just fine: The Obama administration is engineering its new bailout initiatives in a way that it believes will allow firms benefiting from the programs to avoid restrictions imposed by Congress, including limits on lavish executive pay, according to government officials. Administration officials have concluded that this approach is vital for persuading firms to participate in programs funded by the $700 billion financial rescue package. The administration believes it can sidestep the rules because, in many cases, it has decided not to provide federal aid directly…

This Is What Class Warfare Looks Like: The So-Called Free Market Edition

Can we please stop claiming that prices and wages are determined by the invisible hand? This supposed inscrutable force is often quite scrutable and goes by the name power. Consider this hate email liberal activist David Sirota received after a TV appearance (boldface original): I made a simple point that America is now more economically unequal than it was just before the Great Depression. I subsequently received a wave of very angry hate mail...[one such email]: I think I am in the majority of Americans who are sick and tired of the unproductive living off of the government. They have…

Oldest Muncipal Bonds EVAH!

In the midst of all of the financial turmoil, it's good to see that municipal bonds can be a good investment--especially if you bought them in 1868: Anyone who has failed to keep track of a winning lottery ticket for all of 12 months may want to consider the efforts of 39 bondholders who have been safekeeping valuable, tissue-thin, New York City securities since shortly after the Civil War. Next month, one of the bonds, issued in 1868 and thought to be one of the oldest active municipal bonds in the country, will come due. And the city stands ready to retire the debt incurred when Winston…

Did I Mention Something About Democrats Not Getting It?

Why, yes, I did. And Senator Evan "I'm dumber than a sack of hammers" Bayh illustrates exactly what I'm talking about: Today, MSNBC's Chuck Todd asked Bayh about the poverty data, and whether there is a disconnect between the real economic pain that people are feeling and lawmakers squabbling over tax rates for the wealthy. Bayh agreed that there is a disconnect, but then concluded that the poverty increase means lawmakers should forget about "fairness and things like that" and cut taxes for the rich: TODD: Yesterday, the Census came out and said one in seven Americans are living below the…

"I Was Wrong": Some Refreshing Candor

One of science's saving graces is that a fair number of scientists will publicly admit that they are wrong (and then there's Marc Hauser*...). Last week, at the Human Microbiome Project meeting, Jonathan Eisen gave a talk about the GEBA project which is an effort to sequence the genomes of a diverse group of bacteria to create a bacterial genomic encyclopedia. At one point during his talk, Eisen mentioned that originally all of the genomes in the project were to be finished, although that standard has been relaxed. Eisen then noted that with the new sequencing technologies, it's feasible…

Wheels within wheels

Ben Stein wins another honor. He has been declared the Rosa Parks of Darwin skeptics on the Rosa Parks of Rosa Parks Blogs, which points out amusing and offensive instances of rhetorical hyperbole. The amusing bit here, though, is that he got named this on the basis of an old post by creationist Kevin Wirth which does literally say Ben Stein is the Rosa Parks of Darwin Skeptics, right in the title. I'd seen this before, way back in the old days of the Expelled hoo-ha, but this time I noticed an interesting connection. At the bottom of the article, it has this brief biographical note: Seattle…

I, For One, Welcome Our Gammaproteobacterial Arsenic-Using Overlords: Why Old School Microbiology Still Matter

I don't see the need to redescribe the recent paper about the discovery of bacteria that can might replace, in extremis, phosphorus with arsenic, which was overhyped by NASA, was poorly covered by most journalists, and which has compromising methodological problems (for good coverage, read here, here, and here; and snark). But what the paper does demonstrate is the importance of culturing microorganisms, knowledge about which is becoming rapidly lost by younger scientists. With the advent of DNA-based, culture-independent techniques, where we can look at the DNA and RNA of microbes without…

A Nation of Deluded Dependents: An Effect of Our Toxic Discourse

Anyone who follows politics regularly is aware of the phenomenon of the voter who "wants the government to stay out of my Medicare" (Medicare is a government program). But a huge fraction of recipients of government aid do not believe they have received government aid. I'll get to why I think that's the case in a bit, but first consider this chart: Like I mentioned, mind-boggling. How can 43% of those who received a Pell Grant--college aid--not know that it came from the government? Not only is it all over the grant application forms, but, presumably, at least some of the recipients were…

Theopolitical Right to Texan Jews: Jews Need Not Apply

It's not that some Texas Republicans are anti-Semitic, it's just that they need a Christian in charge. A bunch of angry Texan evangelical Republicans are trying to replace House Speaker Joe Strauss, and aren't having much success. So: And, not surprisingly, the effort has started to take on religious overtones: [A] handful of outside socially conservative groups are running a fairly deceitful but noisy campaign trying to pressure lawmakers who actually like the speaker's management style to vote against him. They blame him for the failure of the sonogram bill but the pro-life Texans for…

More on the Deficit Reduction Con

Following on yesterday's post about the use of the "OOH! SHINY PEBBLE!" trick by focusing on deficit reduction, we find that, over at TPM, Rotwang nails the deficit reduction misdirection hooey too: I beg you all to not get embroiled in the bankrupt pastime of figuring out how to balance the budget. That is what all the very serious people, the economic royalists of The Washington Post ("If you don't get it, you've got a quarter!"), the ignorant television talking heads, and now a parade of bankrupt commentators and commissions would have us do. This is the ultimate sucker's game. Amen.…

In Search of Fossil Birds in China

Normally, I do not advertize for third parties on my blog, except in several situations: first, I am happy to help non-profit organizations raise funds if I believe in their mission; second, I mention events or services when I am attending and when I think this is something you'll also enjoy; or third, I mention interesting adventures when I think they are something educational and worthwhile -- especially when this is something I want to do! So this third reason is why I mention this particular event on my blog. As you are aware, I have written about the discovery of several important…

Helsinki Finland Update

Finnish Lawn Ornaments. Chilean Flamingos, Phoenicopterus chilensis, Korkeasaari (Helsinki Zoo). Image: GrrlScientist, 20 November 2008 [larger view]. What have I done and seen so far in Helsinki? So far, I've; visited the Korkeasaari (Helsinki Zoo), where, among other things, I watched endangered Przewalski's horses actively working at increasing their tiny population -- and no, I did not photograph that, but it sure was tempting! met some of my host's friends over beers .. many many beers ... had beers on the SS Hyöky, oddest quaintest little boat-bar/museum I've ever visited (yes…

Birdbooker Report 100

tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, animal books, natural history books, ecology books "How does one distinguish a truly civilized nation from an aggregation of barbarians? That is easy. A civilized country produces much good bird literature." --Edgar Kincaid The Birdbooker Report is a special weekly report of a wide variety of science, nature and behavior books that currently are, or soon will be available for purchase. This report is written by one of my Seattle birding pals and book collector, Ian "Birdbooker" Paulsen, and is edited by me and published here for your information and…

TODAY in NYC: A Sea Change: What if There Really Were No More Fish in the Sea?

tags: conservation, environmentalism, global warming, ocean acidification, AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, New York City, A Sea Change, film premier Image: A Sea Change [larger view]. Can you imagine oceans that have been emptied of all fish? What would life be like for other life forms on this planet if there really were no more fish in the sea? This is not science fiction: human-caused ocean acidification is already making its effects known. Sometimes known as the "wet underbelly" or "evil twin" of climate change, ocean acidification is caused by excess carbon dioxide from…

Tomorrow: A Sea Change in NYC

A Sea Change in NYC: What if There Really Were No More Fish in the Sea?

Sunset over the Baltic Sea

tags: Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia, cities Sunset over the Baltic Sea. Photographed in Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia. Image: GrrlScientist, 22 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image) This is a look at the sun as it sets over the Baltic Sea. I was ensconced in front of a window under a stairway (since the boat ran out of places to sit .. I know, this was almost impossible for me to believe, too, given the overall size of the ferry). I sat there in front of that window for the duration of the journey, drinking beer, taking pictures (nearly all of which were ruined by glare from the window glass) and…

I Get Books ..

I receive a fair number of books to review each month, so I thought I should do what several magazines and other publications do; list those books that have arrived in my mailbox so you know that this is the pool of books from which I will be reading and reviewing on my blog. I should point out that (sadly!), my book reviewing days may be (possibly) ending soon because I will be relocating to Frankfurt, Germany in two weeks. According to my experiences, postage to Germany is at least three times what it is to anywhere in the USA, and I get an impressive headache when I read electronic…

Scientia Pro Publica: One Week from Today!

Image: wemidji (Jacques Marcoux). Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power) -- Sir Francis Bacon. Would you like to share your excellent writing about science, nature or medicine with the world? Now you can! There is a blog carnival that celebrates the best writing in the blogosphere about these topics and we are seeking submissions from you, the reading and writing public that you think are suitable for this blog carnival. Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People) is a traveling blog carnival that celebrates the best science, nature and medical writing…

Birdbooker Report 80

Foil the depraved designs of a dastardly duo!

Back in June, I reported on this new sleazy tactic by Ray Comfort: he produced an abridged edition of Darwin's Origin of Species, and then had the gall to tag on a preface that he had written himself, full of the standard creationist misconceptions. Comfort is astoundingly ignorant of basic biology; the best analogy to what he's doing here would be if I were to give a chimpanzee a few blank sheets of paper and a convenient pile of his own feces and ask him to write a theological exegesis of the book of Genesis. Oh, wait. On second thought, the chimpanzee would probably do a smarter job of his…

Birdbooker Report 77

The US State Dept. answers a question about the Tripoli 6

I don't know whether it is a preoccupation with Iraq or a preoccupation with oil or whether there's a difference, but the US State Department doesn't seem to have a clue about the Tripoli 6 case. This, is from yesterday's State Department press briefing, courtesy Declan Butler's ongoing roster of links to the case (McCormack is the State Department spokesperson): [Reporter's] QUESTION: There's a scientific study published in -- by a British magazine today that would seem to set a scientific basis that those accused in the Libya HIV trial could not be guilty just because of findings that…

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