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Why male circumcision and female genital mutilation are not morally equivalent

NB: Believe it or not, I actually had to close comments, the first time I've ever had to do it. They had become so offensive without any useful content that it's no longer worthwhile to keep it going. Sorry. I have repeatedly vowed to stay away from this topic, but in defense of my colleague, I must speak out. Harriet Hall, from sciencebasedmedicine.com wrote a brief piece examining the medical literature regarding male circumcision. As part of the discussion, she mentioned having performed many of these procedures during an earlier part of her career. In response to her interesting…

There is no pro-science political party

With the news that in addition to John McCain both Clinton and Obama have now pandered to anti-vaccine denialism I think it's time to reiterate there isn't a political party in this country that has a truly sound grasp on sound science. And in this instance it is clear that both sides are more than happy to pander to the denialists. The fact is that there is no link between vaccines and autism. As time has gone on the denialists move the goalposts further and further back as the evidence for a link becomes increasingly unlikely. First it was thimerosal, and now 6 years after its removal…

Christian Apologists don't have enough faith

I don't normally blog on religion, but there has been an jump in foolish writing coming from the wacky end of the religious spectrum. On the top of the list are folks like Vox Day and Geisler and Turek (I Don't Have Enough FAITH to Be an ATHEIST). For some Christians, faith isn't enough, apparently---they want logic and science to be on their side. Apologists perform some crazy cognitive acrobatics to try to prove that their beliefs have some objective reality. (Huge hat tip to Deacon Duncan over at Evangelical Realism.) Apologists like to think that they are persecuted for their pursuit…

Louisiana is next

Fast political action is needed to stop another anti-science bill in Louisiana. Below is a message from Barbara Forrest, who says it all better than I can. Friends, fellow educators, and concerned citizens, First, please accept my thanks to those of you who helped in the effort to stop SB 561, especially those who went to the Capitol to testify. Second, action is needed IMMEDIATELY to ask members of the House Education Committee to kill HB 1168, which is the House twin of SB 561. As far as I know, no newspapers have carried the story of its being filed on Monday, April 21. The bill could be…

Sitemeter and Privacy

Dan Solove brings up some privacy issues with using sitemeter on blogs: But Site Meter also lists the IP address of each visitor, something that the public really doesn't need to see. An IP address is a unique numerical identifier that is assigned to every computer connected to the Web. It doesn't reveal your name, but it can be used to trace back to the specific computer you used or be linked to your account with an ISP. In other words, your IP address can be used to find out who you are. ... So all this made me realize that we do have some data about you and we need to construct a privacy…

Crank Science Alert

Box Turtle Bulletin has been tracking the latest ex-gay study that purports to show a 30-50% efficacy in making homosexuals into heterosexuals through the Exodus ex-gay ministry. Initial problems with the study which went to a Christian publisher rather than peer review - the authors Stanton L. Jones and Mark Yarhouse (of Regent University have an interesting history in this field: Jones and Yarhouse have collaborated at least three times before. They wrote "The Use, Misuse and Abuse of Science in the Ecclesiastical Homosexuality Debates," which appeared in the 2000 anthology Homosexuality…

RFID and cancer

Who needs privacy concerns if RFID causes cancer. The small implantable microchips that have generated concern from privacy experts and readers of revelations alike have now been associated with sarcoma formation in animals. A series of veterinary and toxicology studies, dating to the mid-1990s, stated that chip implants had "induced" malignant tumors in some lab mice and rats. "The transponders were the cause of the tumors," said Keith Johnson, a retired toxicologic pathologist, explaining in a phone interview the findings of a 1996 study he led at the Dow Chemical Co. in Midland, Mich.…

Senator Craig - I apologize in advance

Ok, I can't resist. What do people think of Larry Craig's arrest for ostensibly soliciting sex in a men's room? He's denying he did anything wrong. Tuesday, in his first public statement on the arrest, the Idaho Republican said he did nothing "inappropriate." "Let me be clear: I am not gay and never have been," said Craig, who has aligned himself with conservative groups who oppose gay rights. However, I don't think he has plausible deniability here. From the police account: A police officer who arrested him June 11 said Craig peered through a crack in a restroom stall door for two…

Conspiracy

Three can keep a secret if two are dead. -Benjamin Franklin What are denialist conspiracy theories and why should people be instantly distrustful of them? And what do they have to do with denialism? Almost every denialist argument will eventually devolve into a conspiracy. This is because denialist theories that oppose well-established science eventually need to assert deception on the part of their opponents to explain things like why every reputable scientist, journal, and opponent seems to be able to operate from the same page. In the crank mind, it isn't because their opponents are…

Zika: what we're still missing

As you've probably seen, unless you've been living in a cave, Zika virus is the infectious disease topic du jour. From an obscure virus to the newest scare, interest in the virus has skyrocketed just in the past few weeks:   I have a few pieces already on Zika, so I won't repeat myself here. The first is an introductory primer to the virus, answering the basic questions--what is it, where did it come from, what are its symptoms, why is it concerning? The second focuses on Zika's potential risk to pregnant women, and what is currently being advised for them. I want to be clear, though--…

Using zombies to teach science

With my colleague Greg Tinkler, I spent an afternoon last week at a local public library talking to kids about zombies: The Zombie Apocalypse is coming. Will you be ready? University of Iowa epidemiologist Dr. Tara Smith will talk about how a zombie virus might spread and how you can prepare. Get a list of emergency supplies to go home and build your own zombie kit, just in case. Find out what to do when the zombies come from neuroscientist Dr. Greg Tinkler. As a last resort, if you can't beat them, join them. Disguise yourself as a zombie and chow down on brrraaaaiiins, then go home and…

Fire John Freshwater … for the right reason

There's an ugly case brewing in Ohio. A popular middle school science teacher has been ordered to remove his copy of the bible from his desk. On the face of it, I think letting a teacher have a bible on his desk or on his person should not be a problem — it's nothing but a personal tchotchke, and it's not worth fighting over. John Freshwater, though, has made it more than an expression of personal preference. He is proselytizing in the public school classroom. Freshwater is responsible for turning this into a church-state separation case; he's one of those particularly obnoxious Christians…

New Ebola subtype confirmed

Few things can take me out of blogging hibernation (especially when the next grant deadline is Monday...) However, one of those things that I'll carve out time to write about is an interesting, hot-off-the-presses Ebola paper, and especially one describing a new strain of the virus--and there just happens to be such a paper in the new edition of PLoS Pathogens. Details after the jump... Previously, 4 types of Ebola viruses had been identified. Ebola Zaire has typically been the worst as far as fatality rates (around 80-90%), with Ebola Sudan coming in close behind (roughly 50-70%). The…

Morgellon's disease: Is it "Madness" or "Malade"?

This is the fourth of 6 guest posts on infectious causes of chronic disease. By David Massaquoi Working in public health is an interesting and satisfying job. Adding infectious disease investigation to such task makes the job not only difficult but the challenges of encountering numerous disease conditions; including learning about the Morgellon's disease. In recent years, doctors have been faced with an unexplained skin disease condition, dubbed "Morgellons Disease". I will not go into details with all the debates on merits and demerits of this "New" or "Emerging"? condition. However, as…

Iowan has swine flu

When people think of Iowa, many of them think of our agriculture (for good reasons). Obviously, it's big business here. We ranked first in the nation in production of corn, soybeans, eggs, and pork in 2005. Indeed, population-wise, hogs here outnumber humans by more than 5 to 1. This is one reason research at our center focuses on zoonotic disease (diseases which can be transferred between animal species), and specifically, diseases of domesticated animals. A story in the news today shows one reason why we study what we do: Iowa State health officials say someone in eastern Iowa has…

Millennium goals need more Jesus

Last week I mentioned how poverty and poor health go hand-in-hand. The United Nations is well aware of this fact, and has a number of lofty goals they're encouraging countries all over the world to work toward: Goal 1. Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger Goal 2. Achieve Universal Primary Education Goal 3. Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women Goal 4. Reduce Child Mortality Goal 5. Improve Maternal Health Goal 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases Goal 7. Ensure Environmental Sustainability Goal 8. Develop a Global Partnership for Development I also wrote previously how many…

White House and Business Coalition Sing Familiar Refrain

By Liz Borkowski Yesterday, the White House and the OSHA Fairness Coalition (which includes members like the International Food Distributors Association, National Association of Manufacturers, and U.S. Chamber of Commerce) wrote to members of the House of Representatives to express their strong opposition to H.R. 2693, the Popcorn Workers Lung Disease Prevention Act. No one whoâs been following the Bush Administrationâs approach to regulation will be surprised to hear that the responses from the White House and business coalition are strikingly similar to one another, and to arguments used…

The President is not an Emperor: Don Kennedy on Science, Information, and Power

By David Michaels In the issue of Science Magazine on your virtual newsstand today, Don Kennedy has written a powerful editorial entitled âScience, Information, and Power.â (sub required) Dr. Kennedy observes that the confrontation between Congress and the White House over the production and control of science used in regulation is about an issue fundamental to both science and democracy â the presidentâs claims to exclusive power over knowledge. Drawing as examples the House Oversight Committeeâs hearings on politicization of federal science, along with the recent changes President Bush…

Data Dredging at VaxGen

By David Michaels It came as no surprise to some observers that VaxGen (a biotech company in Brisbane, California) failed to meet the specifications of its contract to provide the US government with 75 million doses of a new anthrax vaccine. VaxGen has been playing fast and loose for quite some time â most notably with a famous instance of data dredging in the analysis of the clinical trials for AIDSVAX, its failed AIDS vaccine. Iâll come back to that below. On Tuesday, the Department of Health and Human Services announced was ending its sole-supplier contract with VaxGen, which would have…

The world's scientists support evolution

This is big. The world's leading scientists yesterday urged schools to stop denying the facts of evolution amid controversy over the teaching of creationism. The national science academies of 67 countries - including the UK's Royal Society - issued a joint statement warning that scientific evidence about the origins of life was being "concealed, denied, or confused". It urged parents and teachers to provide children with the facts about the origins and evolution of life on Earth. This is a nice foil to a recent post on the Discovery Institute's "Evolution News and Views blog," noting that…

Islamic schools, Christian schools … same difference

I've been getting a lot of email about this putatively Islamic public school in Minnesota, Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy. It's a wretched situation — this is a school associated with the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, and clearly all the students and families involved are Muslims who want a little bit of cultural isolation, and I suspect there is a lot of religious indoctrination going on behind closed doors — and I think it's a bad thing that this school is receiving state tax dollars. I've been reluctant to jump on this story, though, for a couple of reasons. The main person fanning the…

Inaugural edition of Animalcules--the carnival of the wee beasties

Welcome to the introductory edition of Animalcules! Our first, and most pressing, issue is the name. As was pointed out in the comments here, there's already a monthly column in Microbe (formerly ASM News) called "Animalcules." But I still like the name, so I was thinking of incorporating something else with it. "Carnival of the Animalcules?" Eh, lots of those "carnival of"s out there. Try to be a bit more pretentious--"Festivus microbius" or something where it sounds like I almost know some Latin? Nah--too many people around these parts who actually *do* know Latin. So, after much…

Babirusas can get impaled by their own teeth: that most sought-after of objects does exist! (babirusas, part VIII)

Yeah, things are still tough here at Tet Zoo Towers, and the time needed for blog-writing has yet to materialise. But the end is in sight, and things will be back to normal within the next few weeks. I hope. If you've been reading the series of babirusa articles - and, hey, who hasn't? - you'll recall the mention of that most sought-after of objects: a male babirusa skull where one of the upper canines has pierced the frontal bone, and grown into the skull... perhaps with fatal consequences. Given the extraordinary form of the canines, it seems obvious and perhaps inevitable that at least…

She was a very strange woodpecker

Here's a sadly deceased female Great spotted woodpecker Picoides major I recently photographed in a private collection. She was a very unusual woodpecker. Any ideas why? The Great spotted woodpecker has an immense range, extending from western Europe (though Ireland lucks out) all the way to Japan and the Kamchatka Peninsula. It also occurs on the Canary Islands, in north-west Africa, in Turkey and the Causasus, and in eastern China down to Burma and north-east India (Winkler et al. 1995). Great spotted woodpeckers across this range vary in overall size, bill length and robustness, and in…

Ask an SBer: What makes a good science teacher?

It's that time of the week again, and a new "Ask an SBer" question is out. The question is: "What makes a good science teacher?" As usual, since I'm the only math blogger around here, I'm going to shift the subject of the question a bit, to "What makes a good math teacher?". The answer is similar, but not quite the same. In my experience, what makes for a good math teacher is a few things: The ability to teach. This should go without saying, but alas, it doesn't. There are an appalling number of folks out there who are brilliant mathematicians and genuinely nice people who have all of the…

Alternative Axioms: NBG Set Theory

So far, we've been talking mainly about the ZFC axiomatization of set theory, but in fact, when I've talked about classes, I've really been talking about the von Newmann-Bernays-Gödel definition of classes. (For example, the proof I showed the other day that the ordinals are a proper class is an NBG proof.) NBG is an alternate formulation of set theory which has the same proof power as ZFC, but does it with a finite set of axioms. (If you recall, several of the axioms of ZFC are actually axiom *schemas*, which need to be distinctly instantiated for all possible predicates.) NBG uses one axiom…

Doctor Who Chatter

Like my friend and blogfather [Orac][orac], I'm a huge fan of Doctor Who, and I've been greatly enjoying its renewed life in the new series on BBC. In fact, the current Doctor, played by David Tennant, has become my favorite of all of the Doctors - better than the usual fan favorite of Tom Baker, better than my own former favorite, Jon Pertwee. The reason why I'm such a fan of Tennant is that his Doctor combines many of the personality traits of the past Doctors, while giving it his own unique spin. Tennant's Doctor has the hands-on activity of Jon Pertwee, the exuberance of Peter Davison,…

Stepping Back a Moment

The topology posts have been extremely abstract lately, and from some of the questions I've received, I think it's a good idea to take a moment and step back, to recall just what we're talking about. In particular, I keep saying "a topological space is just a set with some structure" in one form or another, but I don't think I've adequately maintained the *intuition* of what that means. The goal of today's post is to try to bring back at least some of the intuition. So let's recall just what a topological space is. Our definition from the [very beginning of the topology series was:][top-…

It would appear that my other new book is out: Dorling Kindersley's Prehistoric

Regular readers will know that my new book, The Great Dinosaur Discoveries (A & C Black in UK; UCP in US), was released over the last few weeks. By all accounts, it's currently selling well and the reviews that have appeared so far have all been outstandingly positive [example]. Things are looking good. But I work hard, and over the last couple of weeks I've received the news that a second book I completed at about the same time is also now out. Today I received my copy, so can at last talk about it. Titled Prehistoric here in the UK (and Prehistoric Life in North America), the book is…

Animal deathmatch: rhino vs croc, hippo vs shark.... leopard vs small passerine??

Back in April 2008 (my god - where does the time go?) I wrote a brief article about the Animal Life and The Private Lives of Animals books, published by Casa Editrice AMZ. These first came out during the late 1960s and were written in Italian; they were then translated into English during the 70s. As I said last year, the art in these books is generally pretty fantastic and a joy to look it. However, the artists were, evidently, sometimes asked to paint things that they'd never seen (example: the sexual dimorphism present in Sable antelopes Hippotragus niger). What also makes the books…

'Revising' the Siberian tiger

Dave Hone - who's had more than his fair share of mentions here at Tet Zoo over the past several days - accompanied me on a visit to Marwell Zoo yesterday. We had a great time, but unfortunately got all too little paper-writing done :) (after all, this is what scientists normally do when they meet up). There's always something new to see, or experience, at the zoo. The Frill-necked lizards Chlamydosaurus kingii were brand-new, for example: it was in fact only their second day on exhibit. And I've never heard a Snow leopard Panthera uncia roar before. It didn't sound like any other big cat…

Birdbooker Report 116

tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, animal books, natural history books, ecology books Books to the ceiling, Books to the sky, My pile of books is a mile high. How I love them! How I need them! I'll have a long beard by the time I read them. ~ Arnold Lobel [1933-1987] author of many popular children's books. 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…

Clock Tutorial #12: Constructing the Phase Response Curve

The fourth post in the series on entrainment, originally written on April 10, 2005, explains the step-by-step method of constructing a PRC. After months of applying light pulses to your animals you are ready to analyze and plot your data. You will print out the actographs (see how in the post "On Methodology" in the "Clock Tutorials" category) and you will see many instances of phase-shifts, somewhat like the very last figure in this post. For each light pulse you applied to each animal, you measure the direction of the phase-shift (i.e., if it was a delay or an advance) and the size of the…

My picks from ScienceDaily

Groups Share Information In Workplace, But Not The 'Right' Information: From the operating room to the executive board room, the benefits of working in teams have long been touted. But a new analysis of 22 years of applied psychological research shows that teams tend to discuss information they already know and that "talkier" teams are less effective. Racial Biases Fade Away Toward Members Of Your Own Group: White people don't show hints of unconscious bias against blacks who belong to the same group as them, a new study suggests. But this lack of bias only applied to black people in their…

My picks from ScienceDaily

Unusual Ultrasonic Vocalization Patterns In Mice May Be Useful For Modeling Autism: Scientists have found novel patterns of ultrasonic vocalizations in a genetic mouse model of autism, adding a unique element to the available mouse behaviors that capture components of the human disease, and representing a new step towards identifying causes and better treatments. New Concepts In Contraception: Latest research into dual-purpose contraceptives and non-hormonal contraception will be presented August 27 at a major scientific conference in Melbourne. Heart Attack Prevention: Potential New Use For…

My picks from ScienceDaily

Exploring The Function Of Sleep: Is sleep essential? Ask that question to a sleep-deprived new parent or a student who has just pulled an "all-nighter," and the answer will be a grouchy, "Of course!" But to a sleep scientist, the question of what constitutes sleep is so complex that scientists are still trying to define the essential function of something we do every night. A study published this week in PLoS Biology by Chiara Cirelli and Giulio Tononi addresses this pressing question. 'Perfect Pitch' In Humans Far More Prevalent Than Expected: Researchers at the University of Rochester's…

Good evolution talks at Appalachian State University

In Boone, NC: Michael Ruse will present "Darwin at Two Hundred Years Old: Does He Still Speak to Us?" Monday, Feb. 2, 2009, at 8 p.m. in Farthing Auditorium. Ruse is the Lucyle T. Werkmeister Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at Florida State University and the foremost philosophical scholar on the relationship between evolution and science. He is the author of "Can a Darwinian Be a Christian?" On Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009, Jim Costa, director of the Highlands Biological Station at Western Carolina University, will discuss "Charles Darwin and the Origin of the Origin." The talk is…

Bloggers vs. Journalists morphs into Twitterers vs. Journalists

Journalists are fantastically capable of forgetting the he-said-she-said False Equivalence mode of dishonesty if they are themselves one of the sides. In that case, they quote only the "skeptics" side, not the side that may have actually something intelligent to say about the matter. Watch this incredible video clip. It shows a horse dealer, a horse trainer, a farrier and a saddle-maker sitting around the table, with serious faces, discussing this new invention - the car! It is just a fad. Those engineers know nothing about transportation. This will remain just a toy for the idle and the…

How long does it take to synthetize a molecule of leucine anyway?

A dozen or so years ago, I drove my Biochemistry prof to tears with questions - she had 200 people in front of her and she tried hard to make Biochem interesting enough not to get us all bored to tears, and she was pretty good at that, as much as it is possible not to make people bored to tears with Biochem. But my questions exasperated her mainly because she could not answer them, because, as I learned later, the field of biochemistry was not able to answer those questions yet at the time: questions about dynamics - how fast is a reaction, how long it takes for a pathway to go from…

My Picks From ScienceDaily

'Mitochondrial Eve' Research: Humanity Was Genetically Divided For 100,000 Years: The human race was divided into two separate groups within Africa for as much as half of its existence, says a Tel Aviv University mathematician. Climate change, reduction in populations and harsh conditions may have caused and maintained the separation. Simple Artificial Cell Created From Scratch To Study Cell Complexity: A team of Penn State researchers has developed a simple artificial cell with which to investigate the organization and function of two of the most basic cell components: the cell membrane and…

Clock Tutorial #12: Constructing the Phase Response Curve

The fourth post in the series on entrainment, originally written on April 10, 2005, explains the step-by-step method of constructing a PRC. After months of applying light pulses to your animals you are ready to analyze and plot your data. You will print out the actographs (see how in the post "On Methodology" in the "Clock Tutorials" category) and you will see many instances of phase-shifts, somewhat like the very last figure in this post. For each light pulse you applied to each animal, you measure the direction of the phase-shift (i.e., if it was a delay or an advance) and the size of the…

Clock Tutorial #12: Constructing the Phase Response Curve

The fourth post in the series on entrainment, originally written on April 10, 2005, explains the step-by-step method of constructing a PRC. After months of applying light pulses to your animals you are ready to analyze and plot your data. You will print out the actographs (see how in the post "On Methodology" in the "Clock Tutorials" category) and you will see many instances of phase-shifts, somewhat like the very last figure in this post. For each light pulse you applied to each animal, you measure the direction of the phase-shift (i.e., if it was a delay or an advance) and the size of the…

Seeking the Sacred Raven

tags: birds, book review, conservation, Hawai'i Conservation is all about saving endangered species, right? Well, not always. In this book, Seeking the Sacred Raven: Politics and Extinction on a Hawai'ian Island by Mark Jerome Walters (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2006), the author tells the heartbreaking story of how people who were fighting to save the endangered `alalâ, the Hawai'ian raven, Corvus hawaiiensis, actually hastened the bird's extinction in the wild. The `alalâ is the Hawai'ian name for a sacred bird; a indigenous raven that is honored by Hawai'ians as a guardian spirit that…

Silent Heroes Revealed

I do want to say something important to all of you as well, amigos bonitos. I am overwhelmed by what so many people are doing to help me. I truly thought I was friendless and alone in this mess, but you all have demonstrated otherwise and have done so in such a beautiful way -- and there are so many of you who cared, too. The nurses often commented that I received more mail from you than everyone else on the entire unit combined. Yet I thought I didn't make a difference at all, but all of you have shown otherwise. I am going to just make a list here of some of the things that you all have…

New and Exciting in PLoS this week

Thursday - four out of seven PLoS journals publish new articles and I make my own picks. As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. You can now also easily place articles on various social services (CiteULike, Mendeley, Connotea, Stumbleupon, Facebook and Digg) with just one click. Here are my own picks for the week - you go and look for your own favourites: Influence of Climate Warming on Arctic Mammals? New Insights from Ancient DNA Studies of the Collared Lemming Dicrostonyx torquatus: Global temperature increased…

An Inconvenient Truth

Last night, instead of writing some blog entries for you to read today, I went to the movies and saw An Inconvenient Truth. An Inconvenient Truth is the companion film to the book with the same name by former-Vice President Al Gore. This film chronicles Gore's life as he discusses some of the science that substantiates one of the most important issues facing this, and future, generations, global warming. In the film, Gore also tells the story of his growing personal concerns with this phenomenon, beginning shortly after he first entered politics up through his loss of the White House after…

Christine Ferber, Art, Obsession

Rod Dreher has an interesting post (building on a NYTimes article) about the glories of the art of confiture and why the obsessive creation of food-as-art is worth doing: When I went to Paris a year ago with my niece Hannah, I brought back some confiture by Christine Ferber. She makes some of the most prized jellies and jams in all of France. They’re expensive; those little jars you see above, which I brought back from that trip, cost about $9 or $10 each at the exchange rate back then. But oh, so very worth it. It’s hard to describe the intensity of Ferber’s confitures, which are difficult…

Science Appropriations

House subcommittee on Science etc has reported out and full committee is scheduled to vote on the 13th. JWST cut is formally in as are various other interesting snippets. The subcommittee report (pdf large) - ie the appropriations by agency recommended to the full committee Summary Table (pdf) - handy dandy difference between 2012 actual appropriations vs 2011 actual and 2012 requested, respectively. Remember: this is the subcommittee recommendation to the committee, that gets voted on, then sent to House, then Senate does its thing, then it goes to conference to reconcile. Change can…

bombs over Kansas

So the USAF took half-dozen nukes on an inadvertent roadtrip across the US heartland careless that, but shit happens no harm, no foul, as they say The interesting question is why the 5th Bomb wing is shipping Air Launched Cruise Missiles to the 2nd Bomb wing? The missiles are being decommissioned, notes the WaPo article, but that is subtly misleading. The bulk of the ALCM inventory is armed with nukes, but the use of ALCMs in the last decade has been standoff conventional precision bombing by launch from B-52Hs, after the ALCM-B is converted to an ALCM-C - "C" for "Conventional". There are,…

KITP: grb II

yesterday I missed the post-Newtonian discussion, which is a bummer, but I was busy explaining to a hoard of pre-Ks why Mars looked green... so now we go back to blowing things up yes, it turns out that not all whites are the same, and trying to project onto that shade of white which has just a tint of blue in it, is not the same as your eggwhite screen, when using an RGB projector. I should have riffed on Kim Stanley Robinson, I guess, but I didn't. Look! Hubble Space Telescope! Astronauts! Rockets! Aliens! Today, we return to massive binaries and long GRBs in particular, which lets me…