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Contrary to antivaccine claims, childhood immunization schedules are evidence-based

I write about vaccines a lot here at Respectful Insolence, and for a very good reason. Of all the medical interventions devised by the brains of humans, arguably vaccines have saved more lives and prevented more disability than any other medical treatment. When it comes to infectious disease, vaccination is the ultimate in preventive medicine, at least for diseases for which vaccines can be developed. We also know that when vaccination rates fall, it opens the door for diseases once controlled to come roaring back. We saw this phenomenon with the measles a year ago in the Disneyland measles…

Advanced Haskell Data Structures: Red-Black Trees

So, we've built up some pretty nifty binary trees - we can use the binary tree both as the basis of an implementation of a set, or as an implementation of a dictionary. But our implementation has had one major problem: it's got absolutely no way to maintain balance. What that means is that depending on the order in which things are inserted to the tree, we might have excellent performance, or we might be no better than a linear list. For example, look at these trees. As you can see, a tree with the same values can wind up quite different. In a good insert order, you can wind up…

The New Andrew Revkin Fan UPDATED

See below for update. Andrew Revkin has a new kind of fan. These are fans that agree with much of what Revkin says, or at least feel comfortable in his community of commenters. These fans feel their views are substantiated by what they read in Revkin's New York Times column, Dot Earth. They seem to be Libertarian, anti-environment, anti-science, pro-fossil fuel, and frankly, anti-green. Not just one or two of Andrew Revkin's fans, but a bunch -- with numbers possibly growing -- are of this mind, and this is very disturbing. If we had the technology to transport these fans back in time and…

Putting the "Ex" in "Exxon": AGU asked to dump big oil sponsorship

It is all about the honest conversation. And the dishonest conversation. Corporate Funding of the Research Endeavor: Good Corporations have an interest in research. They use this research for profit or to minimize liability. Some corporations have their own researchers, some provide grants to scientists to conduct research, and some fund activities that might not be thought of as research, but really are. For example, the publication fees for peer reviewed journals, funds to pay for scientists to attend conferences, and funds to support a scientific conference are paying for an important…

A belated response to a challenge: Differentiating woo from non-woo in medicine

Over a week ago, fellow ScienceBlogger revere fired a bit of a pot shot across my bow regarding my bow regarding a study regarding, of all things, chicken soup. Initially, it was at a bad time, when I had other things to do, having just labored mightily to produce the latest Hitler Zombie extravaganza, after which I had to lay low blogging for a while because of obligations midweek. When those obligations were over, then blogging about the Tripoli Six took precedence, as did this week's Your Friday Dose of Woo (which, by the way, is still overrun by the tinfoil hat brigade). And then I just…

A ghoul descends upon Christina Applegate's "maimed" body

This is getting to be nauseatingly frequent. As my blog bud Mark Hoofnagle pointed out, the hard-core "alternative medicine" mavens, in particular that despicable promoter of quackery and distrust of scientific medicine who runs one of the two or three largest repositories of antiscience and quackery in existence, Mike Adams, seem to have decided that a lovely new tactic would be to descend upon every celebrity death or battle with serious disease, ghoul-like, and blame their deaths or suffering on conventional medicine rather than disease. Both PalMD and I noted this particularly vile tactic…

The Cancer Treatment Centers of America revisited: From "naturopathic oncology" to Burzynski-like genomic testing

Here we go with another one. Three weeks ago, I mentioned in a post that the week of October 7 to 14 was declared by our very own United States Senate to be Naturopathic Medicine Week, which I declared unilaterally through my power as managing editor of Science-Based Medicine (for what that's worth) to be Quackery Week. One wonders where the Senate found the time to consider and vote for S.Res.221, which reads: S.Res.221 – A resolution designating the week of October 7 through October 13, 2013, as “Naturopathic Medicine Week” to recognize the value of naturopathic medicine in providing safe…

An amusing "very special issue" of Medical Acupuncture

Every so often, our "friends" on the other side of the science aisle (i.e., the supporters of "complementary and alternative medicine"—otherwise known as CAM or "integrative medicine") give me a present when I'm looking for a topic for my weekly bit of brain droppings about medicine, science, and/or why CAM is neither. It's also been a while since I've written about this particular subject; so it's a win-win for all sides! I get a topic. A certain CAM journal gets extra traffic. And you get the benefit of my usually brilliant deconstruction of dubious science. What could go wrong? In any case…

Evolution and religion, yet again

[Attention Conservation Notice: About 3,500 words on the factual, scientific, and philosophical problems of a paper which was surely not intended to be taken seriously as science or philosophy. Nick Matzke comes at it from a different angle at The Panda's Thumb, and more briefly.] Evolutionary geneticist Jerry Coyne has an article coming out in the journal Evolution, in which he demonstrates yet again why excellence in one field does not guarantee competence in any other field. The paper aims to do several things: to advance an argument about why evolution is so controversial in US political…

Prominent Conservative Bloggers Defend Halliburton Rapists But...

...never fear, Jon Swift is on the case: Rusty Shackleford at The Jawa Report, Curt at Flopping Aces and former humor blogger Ace of Spades (who recently won the Weblog Award for Best Conservative blogger) are three of the most respected conservative bloggers in the blogosphere. They will stop at nothing to protect America from terrorists. If they gave medals for bravery in a war you are not actually fighting in, these guys would win hands down. And that's the nice part. Now go read the whole thing.

God is the god of death and destruction

I'm home again from Iowa, but there was a moment where I just about turned around. Coming up into Minnesota, there is a nice big billboard with the following message on it. I did a double-take and thought about going back around to get a photo of it, but decided it wasn't worth it, as there really wasn't any place to pull over safely. That was a rather vile message, but then, this is Christianity we're talking about, and this was on I-35, which seems to be a focus for religious insanity.

The Duggars visit the Creation "Museum"

The Duggars are that creepy family paraded about on The Learning Channel — the ones with the swarm of kids. It's a horrifying show, but in this episode, the nightmare is compounded by the fact that they visit the Creation "Museum" and even get a personal guided tour from freakishly dead-eyed Ken Ham. Only watch it if you like to torment yourself. One other reason to watch it: they show enough of the "Museum" that you really don't need to go there. Do pity these poor kids, too.

Martin Nowak, man of God

Carl Zimmer has a fascinating profile of Martin Nowak, whose work I have talked about before. Carl saves the best for last: Dr. Nowak sometimes finds his scientific colleagues astonished when he defends religion. But he believes the astonishment comes from a misunderstanding of the roles of science and religion. "Like mathematics, many theological statements do not need scientific confirmation. Once you have the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem, it's not like we have to wait for the scientists to tell us if it's right. This is it."

Neandertal introgression

Hawks on Neandertal introgression: The bottom line is that the bones are modern (i.e., not Neandertal), but they include features that are common in Neandertals. Almost all the other European bones of early Upper Paleolithic date also have Neandertal features. The number and frequency of such features in this earliest Upper Paleolithic sample are greater than in any later sample. In other words, they look like they have genes from Neandertals. And those genes declined in frequency or effect over time. Info on specific genes coming soon....

Nice Conflict of Interest You Got There: The Laura Tyson Edition

So, if you go on the teevee machine and tell people that investment banks should be allowed to pay out dividends, and you're simply an economics professor, we should probably take the claim at face value. But what if you have tens of thousands of shares as compensation for being a board member? Oops: I did some more checking, and Tyson has received over a million dollars in cash and stock options combined from Morgan Stanley. As I've noted before, you can't be a stateman and a salesman.

Links 3/15/11

Links for you. Science: Are Grad Students Smart? Taxonomy: The naming crisis Are antibiotics making our kids fat? Wind Power Without the Blades: Big Pics Arsenic life, four months later: pay no attention to the internet Other: James O'Keefe and Journalistic Malpractice A child couldn't paint that - can people tell abstract art from a child's or chimp's work? The record needs breaking very soon! (about budget deficits) Due to his emotional blockage, David Brooks can't tell the truth Dropping Rocks: Los Angeles The Fukushima legacy

Tuesday Links

Merry Tuesday. Links for ya. Science: FDA Urged to Ban Feeding of Chicken Feces to Cattle The Swine Flu Vaccine Screw-up: Optimism as a Public Health Problem What does not kill the group, makes it stronger! Other: Los Angeles Without Traffic Destroying the Democratic Majority Gladwell for Dummies The Case for Karen Armstrong Health Care Reform Update: Who's Selling Out and Why I'm Done Talking About Abortion Acknowledging Obama's failures What I Trust Obama For (and why he gets NOTHING from me) Why won't Obama give you a job?

Some Thursday Links

Merry Thursday! Here are some links for you. Science: Bad Economy Causes Bronx Zoo to Evict Animals Everything you wanted to know about dying in Massachusetts Swine flu and Woo Swine Flu Genes From Pigs Only, Not Humans or Birds Retrocyclins: a defence against HIV, reawakened after 7 million years Other: Devolved Late Night: Only Socialism Can Save Conservatives Now A Tale of Two Exurbs Global pandemics make stupid people even stupider They Fixed Downtown Too Oklahoma GOP Platform: Absolutely batshit insane. Blame It On the Parents

Links 9/26/10

I think we had our last weekend day of summer yesterday. Let's mourn with some links. Science: Another new bad resistance factor. (Bonus: Another city stigmatized!) Whooping cough epidemic suggests bacteria are adapting (TEH DARWINISMZ! AAIIIEEE!!!!) What's not to love about baby seahorses? Other: Curse of the control freaks We Should Have Gone Swedish . . . (file under, "It wasn't just predictable, but it was predicted") Going Galt Why We Don't Need to Pay Down the National Debt THE DRIVE TO BREAK FROM FORCED NEUTRALITY.... Obama's Forgotten Base

Links 11/18/10

Links for you. Science: You (patent pending) Drug testing and basic statistics HPV Vaccine: Why Are So Few Women Getting Vaccinated? (when HuffPo gets it right, reward good behavior) Other: Vouchers only for the faithful Teachers Take Charge To Save Ailing Public Schools (interestingly, the very first charter schools were created by teachers who wanted independence from centralized administration) Glenn Beck's Anti-Semitic Attacks The Mandate Generation Why? (since I'm a Facebook Luddite, I'm inclined to agree) The man who writes your students' papers tells his story

Links 10/29/10

It's Friday. Links for you. Science Why don't we just leave it to antimicrobials? Influenza Vaccine Mandates Few health benefits from genomic discovery Other: On "looking forward, not back" How to fix our schools Ultimate $uperpower: Supersized dollars drive "Waiting for Superman" agenda Backdoor Bailout, Tea Party Fakeout: The GOP's Secret $90 Billion Gift to Wall Street (describes how students will get screwed through loans) CFTC Corruption: One Judge Accuses Another of Protecting the Banks (Dems could do well for themselves if they impeached this guy)

Never Say Goodbye: Vanishing Glaciers

tags: glaciers, global warming, Alaska, environment, streaming video Tom Gaylord's glacier photos tell a story, in pictures, about Alaska's beautiful but dwindling glaciers. These photos, along with a brief in-flight helicopter movie, were taken in June 2006. The rapid retreat of glaciers throughout the world is an undeniable observation, and that human activities are the major reason for this is a scientific fact. The world needs to move away from speculation and start taking steps to prevent even more devastation to the planet's life [3:02]

Finger of Light

tags: National Geographic, 2008 International Photography Contest, Antelope Canyon, nature, image of the day Image: Michael Tuttle, United States. My friends at National Geographic have provided permission for me to share some of the images from their recent 2008 International Photography Contest. Places Honorable Mention. The photographer writes; This is Antelope Canyon in Page, Arizona, at mid-day, as a sunbeam was shining directly through the canyon entrance above. The room was filled with glowing light as the dust and sand particles illuminated the light beam.

ELCA will have non-celibate gay pastors

In their national convention in Minneapolis, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America voted to allow gay pastors. Good for them. I guess that lightning bolt that struck the convention center was a warning from god to the intolerant conservative wing of the church that he loves his sexy homosexual worshippers, too. Now we just have to hope that the residents of Kansas and Oklahoma and all those bible-belt states will someday figure out that he's zapping them with lightning and tornadoes because he loves evolution, too.

Carnivalia

Here's the latest carnivalia for you to read and enjoy; Oekologie is undergoing a revival after a near-extinction event, so please be sure to go there to read it, then link to it from your blog and also be sure to consider sending your own blog entries to this carnival. On Giant's Shoulders, issue #5. This blog carnival focuses on how our current knowledge is built upon previous research. Friday Ark, issue 217. This weekly blog carnival links to images of animals! Just Write, 14 November 2008 edition.

Mystery Bird: Purple Finch, Carpodacus purpureus

tags: Purple Finch, Carpodacus purpureus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz [Mystery bird] Purple Finch, Carpodacus purpureus, photographed at the Big Sioux Recreation Area near Brandon, South Dakota. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours] Image: Terry Sohl, 4 November 2007 [larger view]. You are encouraged to purchase photographs from this photographer. I am happy to email his contact information to you. Canon 20D, 400 5.6L. Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification. Review all mystery birds to date.

Pieni Saari

tags: Pieni Saari, Helsinki, Finland, nature, image of the day Pieni Saari (Tiny island). Photographed from the ferry on the way to Soumenlinna. Helsinki, Finland. Image: GrrlScientist, 19 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image) You can just barely see a large ocean-going Silja line vessel in the right side of the picture that was taller than the island when it floated by a few moments after I snapped this picture. Unfortunately, you can see the reflection of the ferry in the window glass that I was photographing through. Bummer.

Painting the Brown Anole Portrait

tags: art, wildlife art, stop-motion painting, Brown Anole Portrait, Brown Anole, Anolis sagrei, entertainment, Carel Brest van Kempen, streaming video This is a fascinating stop-motion video documenting the creation of artist Carel Brest van Kempen's painting, Brown Anole Portrait. Probably Florida's most common reptile, the Brown Anole, Anolis sagrei, was introduced from Cuba. Carel Brest van Kempen published a stunning book, Rigor Vitae: Life Unyielding [my review] and writes the art blog that goes by the same name, that might be of interest to you.

Painting the Call of the Flood

tags: art, wildlife art, stop-motion painting, Call of the Flood, Poison Rock Frog, entertainment, Carel Brest van Kempen, streaming video This is another fascinating stop-motion video documenting the creation of artist Carel Brest van Kempen's painting, Call of the Flood. Here, a male Poison Rock Frog, a common Southeast Asian species, calls from a flooded spiny bamboo. Carel Brest van Kempen published a stunning book, Rigor Vitae: Life Unyielding [my review] and writes the art blog that goes by the same name, that might be of interest to you.

Pareidolia for the godless

Hey, those other people get their Jesus in a pita, their Hebrew blessings from croaking fish, and Allah in their sliced fruit, so it's about time we got something. How about a fifteen foot tall A in a geological anomaly? Sean Murphy sent me this; you can find it in Boulder Canyon up Sugarloaf Road, in Colorado. I don't expect to hear in the news that the Colorado atheists are all lined up there with candles and anointing oil, OK, or I'll be very disappointed in you. It's just a rock.

TEDTalks: Why We Have Virus Outbreaks and How We Can Prevent Them

tags: TEDTalks, virology, epidemiology, Nathan Wolfe, SARS, Influenza, streaming video I am very lucky to be attending a New York Academy of Science (NYAS) conference about H1N1 Influenza today, so I thought I'd share this TEDTalk video about viral outbreaks, a talk presented by virus hunter Nathan Wolfe. His goal? Outwitting the next pandemic by staying two steps ahead: discovering new, deadly viruses where they first emerge -- passing from animals to humans among poor subsistence hunters in Africa -- and stopping them before they claim millions of lives. [13:05]

TEDTalks Prize Winner: E.O. Wilson Asks for Help Building the Encyclopedia of Life

tags: biodiversity, conservation, endangered species, Encyclopedia of Life, TEDTalks, E.O. Wilson, streaming video As E.O. Wilson accepts his 2007 TEDTalks Prize, he makes a plea on behalf of all creatures that we learn more about our biosphere -- and build a networked encyclopedia of all the world's knowledge about life [24:22] TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers are invited to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes.

The difference between objects and scenes... random thoughts [Of Two Minds]

I'm in the middle of my qualification exams and ran across this interesting paper: Liu, Z Kersten, D Knill, DC Dissociating stimulus information from internal representation--a case study in object recognition. Vision research. 1999; 39(3): 603-12. However, I'm very confused about them calling the figure on the left an object. This is a collection of objects in 3D space - making it a scene. I'm not sure that this nullifies their model - but this is not object recognition. People should really start using ideal observer analysis with scene perception...

Signage

You can tell a lot about people from signs. For instance, the atheists at the University of Alberta went to extra effort and expense to make a nice canvas banner that they could reuse at their events — so some helpful Christians decided to decorate it. They're going to have to make a new sign, but I think they should keep the old one, too, to remind everyone of the tolerance of the opposition. This sign says a great deal about the person who made it, don't you think?

Critical thinking? On the left? Keep it up!

The right wing media usually makes the most egregiously false claims about science, but I have to confess…on many science subjects, the lefty media is about as bad. I cringe when I see anything about the autism scares in print from either side, and Robert Kennedy Jr's credibility went poof for me when I saw him peddling absurd terror tactics about thimerosal. So I was pleasantly surprised at this article on Salon that pulls no punches. It slams David Kirby and Andrew Wakefield hard. It was pleasing to see, for a change.

Friday Fun: How to Operate the New Paper Book You Received for Christmas

A nice tutorial for all those Born Digital Natives out there who only know how to use the dagnabbit newfangled flibbergibbet iPadnicks and Kindlemawhoosits and Kobots. HOW TO OPERATE THE NEW PAPER BOOK YOU RECEIVED FOR CHRISTMAS: 1) Pick up book. Place in lap. 2) Open book. 3) Read the words. Voila! Just three easy steps for you to enjoy that brand new paper book you received from Santa. Put that in your manual typewriter and smoke it, you whippersnappers! And get off my lawn!

Yes, There Is Life Outside the U.S....

Non-U.S. Stochastic readers, we've heard you. You tried to answer the Seed survey, tried to fill in the questions about where you live, and all you got was a lousy selection of U.S. states to choose from. We're sorry. Seed knows (and loves) that we have readers all over the world, and we're working on a revised version of the survey with an expanded list of places that will, we sincerely hope, include the one you call home. Thanks so much for your responses.

Another minority persecuted by religion

The bigotry is going too far. Now the Diocese of Bath and Wells has banned garden gnomes from their cemeteries. What are we to do with the poor wee buggers, then? Let them rot in the streets? I do appreciate the excuse given, though. A spokesman for the Diocese of Bath and Wells said: "There is no such thing as a real gnome so why should we have such unnatural creatures in churchyards?" Indeed. And what of the unnatural creatures that stock the interior of the churches?

#ScifestBoo Halloween Contest

Show us how you celebrate Halloween using STEM! Carve science themed pumpkins, create gooey spooky experiments or dress up as your favorite Mad Scientist! Have fun with your STEMtastic creations! How do you enter? It's easy! From now until Halloween night, just post pictures of your activity or creation onTwitter, Instagram and/or on our Facebook wall and use #ScifestBoo!  (Be sure to tag us) Contest is open to groups and individuals (ages 5-18). Note: Parents and teachers can post on behalf of children.  

The Buzz: Queens Pwn in Chess

While attempts to explain the disproportionate number of women in math and science have resulted in the conclusion that women are innately inferior to men in these areas, the methodology has often—if not always—been flawed. By analyzing chess players to explain the lack of female grandmasters, one study found the lack is mostly attributable to nonparticipation, not skill. "Increase female representation in this game and you would probably see many more prodigies rising to the fore," wrote ScienceBlogger Ed Yong from Not Exactly Rocket Science.

The Buzz: Resurrecting the Woolly Mammoth

From the well-preserved remains of a woolly mammoth that was buried by Siberian winters about 18,545 years ago, scientists were able to extract viable DNA and sequence the majority of an extinct species' genome for the first time. The mammoth's genome is currently about 70 percent sequenced, and researchers estimate the size of the genome to be 40 percent larger than the human genome—approximately the same size as the modern day elephant, which scientists could theoretically use to birth a cloned anachronistic creature.

Celebrate One Million Comments!

As you've undoubtedly noticed by now, we've reached more than 1,000,000 comments on our network! W00t! To celebrate, from September 14-29, our bloggers are setting up parties all over the U.S. and abroad. Click on the map below to see if there's a party near you. Below the fold is the complete list of where the parties are happening, arranged by date. Check back often for links to party photos and film footage! (**Last update: 10/20**) Tuesday, September 16: Join Abbie Smith in Oklahoma City, OK. (See Abbie's photos!) Wednesday, September 17: Tim Lambert and Dan MacArthur in Sydney,…

The Trojanator

Troy Hurtubise--the inventor who achieved minor fame, and personal bankruptcy, as a result of his bear-protection suit--is at it again. This time, however, he is doing it for the soldiers. Pictured here is his newest invention, The Trojan, which draws design inspiration from Star Wars, RoboCop, Batman and video games and is reputedly the "first ballistic, full exoskeleton body suit of armour." When asked why he embarked on this design project, Hurtubise replied, "I'm doing it for the boys." Source. Hat-tip, Jake.

Future Engineers: Are You Ready for the Challenge?

Engineering really matters. Did you know that all the major challenges facing the U.S. and the rest of the world - from medicine and homeland security to energy, food and water supply and communications - cannot be solved without engineering? In this revealing video clip, hear what Dr. Chuck Vest, president of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and former president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has to say about what it will take for America to train enough engineers to meet the challenges of tomorrow.

Presenting the First USA Science & Engineering Festival Wordle

Answering: Who is Your Favorite Scientist or Engineer of All Time? A Wordle created from participants answers to "Who is your favorite scientist or engineer of all time? We asked for your input on our woordle a little while back and here is the result. Here is the wonderfully imaginative Wordle image created by our participant responses. Make sure to look out for our next Wordle question in a future blog post. To find our more about Wordles and to create your own word clouds, go to www.wordle.net

Day 2 of Online Voting for Spirit of Innovation Awards is upon us!

Day two for voting for the spirit of innovation awards is upon us. Check out www.conradawards.org for more information on all of the teams, their products, and to submit your vote! Here are a few videos of teams up for the Spirit of Innovation award. Check out what Greem MAST from Milken Community High School in L.A is doing! And Check out Team Delicious who will take you on a date with Cynthia, a Space Matter bar, their nutrition bar, in their final commercial video.

Let's not play this game

Christianist thugs stole the atheist sign from the Washington state capitol building. It's revealing of their mindset — that it's OK to censor anything that disagrees with their petty beliefs. However, I'm getting a few emails that hint that maybe this means it's now time for open season on nativity scenes. Emphatically NO. Right now we claim the moral high ground here, and we need to maintain it. Put that baby Jesus down right now, guy. Defend their right to display their beliefs and demand equal time for ours!

A pet project in pandemic planning

&In Europe and North America pets -- what veterinarians call companion animals -- are usually dogs or cats. In other countries (e.g., Korea) dogs are raised for food like livestock. Birds are a sort of cross over creature. Birds as companions are fairly common in Europe and America but they are most often exotic. But even people who raise birds for food frequently develop an attachment to them, and having a chicken or turkey as a pet is far from rare. But chickens get bird flu. It turns out that and dogs can also become infected, although at the moment they are not known to be…

SENATOR Al Franken!

This is the day the Canvassing Board will announce their decision in the Minnesota senate race, and since he is ahead by 225 votes, that means Al Franken will be declared the victor. Expect 5-alarm histrionics from the right wing, howls of outrage on talk radio, and the wing nut blogs to go ballistic. Also expect the Coleman campaign to charge the state supreme court and demand to be handed the office. It will be very entertaining. The freakout is only warming up.

NASA: Senior Review 2016

Yay, NASA Senior Review is out: SeniorReviewReport_2016 tl;dr - everyone is above average, they're good enough and we like you. Mission ranks bad news: per AAAC meeting earlier, there is not enough $ to actually pay for all these lovely toys, so something will have to give, somewhere. Someone at a high enough pay grade to take the blame will decide whether to cut from the bottom or give everybody a haircut. Early tealeaf readings are haircuts all around. Official NASA site for Senior Review + Response