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Hey look at that! I'm on YouTube (and I'm not doing a silly dance!)

In this video, I'm actually speaking (as oppose to dancing silly), since it looks like TEDx has released the mini talks we gave on our experiences hosting a TEDx conference. Anyway, it only confirms my theory that most people on TV have huge heads (this is data gathered from interacting with the odd TV host in my time). My head is somewhat normal sized, but doesn't it look kind of small in the video? But I digress, really the point of this video is to check out the actual talks that were given at the TEDxTerrytalks. You can check them out here (they really did deliver). And the orchestra of…

Making the perfect music mix: Song #5 has personal significance

Sorry this has been a bit delayed (for those following anyway). Song 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 1. Waterfall - James 2. Wake Up - Arcade Fire 3. Never Had Nobody Like You - M Ward 4. No one is to blame - Emile Millar 5. Tournament of Hearts - The Weakerthans O.K. this song by the Weakerthans is personal because I happened to have used it for my annual family video. Plus, it rocks! Anyway, I make this family video every year which is essentially pieced together from short home movie clips, but it's cool now, because we actually have about 8 of them or so in total, which when strung together make a…

Landscape and Modernity: Fencelines

In my line of work, fenceline discussions are more often about pollution from chemical manufacturers that border residential communities -- "fenceline communities" like those all up and down Cancer Alley in Louisiana. But the fenceline images below are in keeping with the set of landscape photographs I referred to in a post last week. And rather than the western scenery captured by Jesse Chehak in those images, the ones below (taken by my wife) are of a regular old central Virginia farm site. They put the human contrivance of fencing, bordering, containing, demarcating , etc., in contrast…

Whoa - the word "genome" crops up in the new(ish) Beck B-Side "Bonfire Blondes"

I tell you - first we have a great video from Beck on sustainability, and now he goes and uses the word genome in a new B-side. The word genome - a rare word, indeed, when you look on the song lyric sites. Anyway, since the song is new, you can't really find a YouTube video or free streaming version of it yet. But here's a sample, and below are the words (as far as I can make them) with the genome bit included. I'm so weary of taking up space Sending junk mail to whole human race Sold my genome to the salt of the Earth Made my brain full to see what it's worth Lights out. They're…

Alphametics: What they are and how you get them

Alphametics, viseopoetics, I don't even know if I'm typing this right. Do you know what these are? I don't entirely understand them, but I know someone who does. But what's the gist? Oh right, alphmetics. These are word games. And math. Or math. Kind of. But not Sudoku. Where do you find them? Katelyn Sack runs a Friday contest over at her wonderfully rich site. Go there. Solve them. Feel free to leave me the answers as well. Here's one from a few weeks ago. VIOLENCE + SILENCE -------- PEACE "Assume base 10. Go figure." Go here for another one. And/or here. Incidentally: Katelyn is…

The Apartment of the Future

When I saw the title to Mike the Mad Biologist's post recently -- The Apartment Building of the Future? -- I thought he'd taken an image from one of my class lectures on the history of the future. Alas, not. So here is a competing Apartment of the Future, circa 1884. It too has greenery throughout, a park, in fact, right there on the side. It is also equipped with passive heating and cooling (of a sort). And it combines the best cultural features all-in-one. A college, a theater, a church, etc. Not only that, but note the novel technological features of an elevator (again, of a sort) and…

Quote of the Day

Daniel Drezner in reference to the altered US position towards Iran: Tomorrow in Bizarro world politics -- Dick Cheney buys Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a flower. UPDATE: Quote of the Day, Part 2 from Christopher Preble at Cato@Liberty Were that question to be posed to George Bush, that most incurious of modern presidents, it appears we already know the answer, at least based on the President's public remarks. As the Post reported, "Bush defended his approach [toward Iran] during a televised session in the White House briefing room, saying 'our policy remains the same' regardless of the new…

Kurt Vonnegut RIP

Kurt Vonnegut died this morning in Manhattan. He was 84. To hear him read an excerpt of his most famous work, Slaughterhouse Five, go to this interview at Salon. It's my favorite part. From Slaughterhouse Five: Billy licked his lips, thought a while, inquired at last: "Why me?" "That is a very Earthling thing to ask, Mr. Pilgrim. Why you? Why us for that matter? Why anything? Because this moment simply is. Have you ever seen bugs trapped in amber?" "Yes." Billy, in fact, had a paperweight in his office which was a blob of polished amber with three lady-bugs embedded in it. "Well, here we…

Nervous about Expelled?

I’ve been quiet the past few days, primarily because I’m all nervous about the upcoming launch of Expelled - I’ve realized it’s going to be the Waterloo that Dembski predicted eight years ago. Hah! Not really. The simplistic history in the movie (ignoring all other factors including Christianity in "explaining" the rise of Nazi eugenics), the "framing" and lies of the producers & promoters, and the plagiarism from, not one, but two sources will spell doom for this dreck, at least within the mainstream. Real reason for the silence is that grading has started again and we’re into the last…

Six Nations rugby begins

The Six Nations Championship began today, with Ireland trying to recover from a disappointing World Cup showing last year. A 16-11 defeat of Italy is a win, but not a very convincing one. On the other hand, Wales defeating England 26-19 at Twickenham is always good news. Remaining fixtures for the Irish are: France (2/7) at Stade de France Scotland (2/23) at Croke Park Wales (3/8) at Croke Park England (3/15) at Twickenham Any readers in Europe manage to see the game (or for that matter the Welsh victory)? Any comments? I resisted making comments about rugby being infinitely better than…

You don't need to know the health risks of global warning, apparently.

According the Associated Press, the White House severely edited congressional testimony given Tuesday by the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the impact of climate change on health. The testimony was cut from 14 pages to four, though some of the redacted material appears to have come up in questions. The deletions directed by the White House included details on how many people might be adversely affected because of increased warming and the scientific basis for some of the CDC’s analysis on what kinds of diseases might be spread in a warmer climate and rising sea…

Episode CCX: Rested and recovered!

I've heard the "waily waily o waily" cries from the mob after the Endless Thread took a brief vacation. Well, too bad, TET had a wonderful time napping on the barren coral sands of Pukasavilivili, but now it's back and is slogging in to work. Don't listen carefully to the lyrics, or you may learn that TET has not completely shed its cynicism. It would need to spend much more time in the islands to do that, and would also need to meet a lovely Polynesian girl and find redemption for humanity in love and kindness and hope. But no, you had to drag it back. (Current totals: 12,473 entries with…

Bloggers blog, Readers donate, Kids benefit.

Regular readers will remember that last year we here at Scienceblogs undertook a bloggers challenge for DonorsChoose.org, an organization that helps K-12 teachers. In two weeks we raised over $34,000 for deserving teachers and their students. This blog alone raised $1,000. This year, we’re aiming to be bigger and better, and given the extra time (and my increased readership), I’m setting our goal at $4000. So, go here and donate. Choose a project if you want, or just donate to the general fund ... it’s all good. Oh, and keep the email that you will receive from DonorsChoose - there will…

More on the ASU Cancer Research Institute

In a follow up to this story, Virgil Renzulli (VP of Public Affairs here at ASU) has this to say: At ASU, as at most American research universities, positions funded by external grants are completely dependent on that funding. Robert Pettit, former director of the university’s Cancer Research Institute (CRI), attempted to secure funding to continue his research, submitting proposals to both the National Cancer Institute and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, but these were not selected by those agencies from among the many competing proposals. That is the sole reason why 22…

Today in Science

Events 1178 - Five Canterbury monks see what was possibly the Giordano Bruno crater being formed. 1858 - Charles Darwin receives from Alfred Russel Wallace a paper that included nearly identical conclusions about evolution as Darwin’s own. This prompts Darwin to publish his theory. 1983 - STS-7, Sally Ride (above) becomes the first American woman in space. Births 1845 - Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran, French physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1886 - Alexander Wetmore, American ornithologist 1918 - Jerome Karle, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate 1928 -…

Fox meets Bird

A newborn South African bat eared fox learns to stalk and hunt birds at the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park. Born in late April this youngster and his four siblings, not pictured, have just recently emerged from their birthing den and are now learning how to explore and hunt.(Ken Bohn/Zoological Society of San Diego/Associated Press) Learning to "stalk and hunt birds," eh? Good luck with that. Otocyon megalotis is unique among the fox-like canids in being highly insectivorous, specializing in eating dung beetles and harvester termites, the latter making up nearly 70% of their diet. They do…

A return (of sorts)

You’ll probably have noticed that I have returned from Boston and the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole (above, looking across Eel Pond on the day before it started raining … a lot) where I was for a break with friends and a workshop for the past eleven days or so. Fun was had and perhaps I’ll post on the workshop (theme: “What is the Value of History of Science for Science?”) later. I will say that I met a Nobel Prize winner, ate great seafood, drank great beer, and talked history and philosophy of science with good friends into the wee hours. Blogging will be sporadic for a week…

Today in Science

Events 1956 - Videotape is first demonstrated at the NARTB (now NAB) convention 1958 - The Soviet satellite Sputnik 2 falls from orbit after a mission duration of 162 days. 1970 - One of Apollo 13's oxygen tanks explodes, causing a cancelled moon mission. 1981 - The first operational space shuttle, Columbia, lands at Edwards Air Force Base after its first test flight. 2003 - Human Genome Project successfully completed with 99% of the human genome sequenced to 99.99% accuracy. Births 1629 - Christiaan Huygens, Dutch mathematician 1927 - Alan MacDiarmid, New Zealand chemist, Nobel laureate…

Mooney sighting

Just got back from a pleasant evening spent with my fellow SciBling Chris Mooney. Chris gave a great talk here in Tempe which not only gave the gist of his book, The Republican War on Science, but also detailed positive ways in which things can be changed. Needless to say, scientists bear some of the load in changing things. Following the talk, I got to meet some of my readers (and also readers of Chris' blog) and to hang with Chris and some of his family for a few hours. Pictured above are I, Chris and his (somewhat evil looking but good guy) uncle Tom Cole at a local hostelry after a beer…

Calling Creighton: 400,000 yr old DNA Found in Bear Tooth

So, according to this CNN story, some European scientists found 400,000 year old DNA in a bear tooth which was found in a cave in Northern Spain. Apparantly, is not too uncommon to be able to extract DNA from fossils, but older than 100,000 years hasn't yet been done, until now. He said the find "pushed back the frontier" concerning the age of DNA that scientists could work with. "It means that it will be possible to subject a large number of extinct animals to DNA analysis," he said. And then sequence it and clone us some prehistoric bears riiiiight??? Perhaps we could have Ancient Bear Vs…

Evidence that the Stimulus Package is Working

At least someone is benefiting from the economic stimulus package: An unforeseen and surprising beneficiary of the Economic Stimulus Plan, a plan that George Bush contends will "boost our economy and encourage job creation," has surfaced this week. An independent market-research firm, AIMRCo (Adult Internet Market Research Company), has discovered that many websites focused on adult or erotic material have experienced an upswing in sales in the recent weeks since checks have appeared in millions of Americans' mailboxes across the country. So I guess all porn-mongers should be Keynesians.…

Rudolph the Electric Christmas Eel

Using aluminum panels as electrodes, Japanese inventor Kazuhiko Minawa has powered a mall Christmas tree with an electric eel. Minawa told Reuters Televesion that "If we could gather all electric eels from all around the world, we would be able to light up an unimaginably giant Christmas tree." Hmmmm.... let's not do that. The tree has proven to be quite the Christmas attraction. Eel is particularly popular during the summer, because it's rich in vitamins, which the Japanese believe they lose through sweating in the summer heat. "I would love to have an eel like this at home. This is very…

Bahamanian Swimming Pigs

Big Major Cay, an island in the Exuma Chain of the Bahamas is home to some very determined pigs. There are various theories about the origins of these once domestic pigs, but whether abandoned there by a farmer or dumped overboard during a storm, there they remain, alone in piggy paradise. The pigs claim to fame stems from their enthusiasm for handouts. While they prefer humans to disembark and feed them on the beach, the impatient pigs will trudge into the water and swim out to your vessel if you wait a few minutes. They are a big hit with tourists and children. There are also rumors that…

Environmental Scientists Swarm Capitol Hill

In reaction to policymaking that they believe ignores or distorts scientific expertise, scientists more and more are assuming direct advocacy roles. The latest sign from today's Washington Post: Two dozen scientists swarmed over Capitol Hill this week mad as vespinae ( hornets) at what they say is Bush administration meddling in environmental science. Organized by the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Endangered Species Coalition, the rumpled researchers won time in the offices of more than 20 lawmakers. They are protesting what Francesca Grifo, director of the Scientific Integrity…

At the LA Times, the Power of Documentary Film

On Sunday, the LA Times ran two major feature articles on the emerging influence and power of documentary film. One article contrasted the works of Michael Moore and Ken Burns. The other feature explores the meaning of objectivity across the many emerging documentary genres. For anyone who has seen the Speaking Science 2.0 talk, you know that I emphasize in the conclusions the emerging importance of film as a public engagement tool. It's currently an active part of my research program, and expect a lot more to come on the topic here at Framing Science. For the time being, check out the…

SLIGHT MAJORITY OF PUBLIC DISAPPROVES OF BUSH STEM CELL VETO: 58% Disapproval Parallels Level of Support for ESC Research In Independent Polls; Reaction to Veto in 2006 Contrasts with Majority Support for 2001 Bush Compromise Announcement

Gallup has released poll findings indicating that 58% of the public disagrees with the Bush veto decision. This finding is not surprising, since it closely parallels the level of public support measured in independent polls for ESC research using left over embryos. It is interesting to compare these findings from 2006 to the public reaction to Bush's 2001 compromise announcement. As I summarize in this article, the surveys taken in the days and weeks after Bush's August 9, 2001 speech were fairly consistent in showing between 50% and 60% public approval. This level of support remained…

Kinkiness, Thy Name Is Duck

When you find yourself, as I did a few days ago, spending a morning watching the absurdly long phalluses of ducks being coaxed from their nether regions, you can find yourself wondering how your life ended up this way. Fortunately, there is a higher goal to such weirdness. The phalluses of ducks are just the tip of an evolutionary iceberg. The female ducks have their own kinkiness, too. It's all part of a fierce avian battle of the sexes. For the latest, see my article in tomorrow's New York Times. The paper on which it is based appears in the open-access journal PLOS One. Update 5/1, 11…

Question of the Week

The mothership asks If you could shake the public and make them understand one scientific idea, what would it be? I answer ... "There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved" (Charles Darwin, 1859) A simple testable idea, but a powerful one, and one that can fruitfully both explain and predict phenomena. Irrespective of…

FRT - Back from Maine Edition

I'm back from Maine after having a wonderful trip to Colby College. It was cold (but I got used to it) and the people were very friendly, so thanks to one and all. Normal blogging will resume once I get caught up, but for the moment, here's a belated random ten: Hold On / Lou Reed / New York World / New Order / Retro, CD4 (Live) O Children / Nick Cave / The Lyre Of Orpheus Barstool Blues / Neil Young / Year of the Horse Dumb / Nirvana / Unplugged Take Me to the River / Talking Heads / Popular Favorites Please Mr. Please / Scud Mountain Boys / Pine Box God Help Me / The Jesus & Mary…

'Ware the Minneapolis police, fellow weirdos

The Minneapolis police are getting a little too serious—they've started arresting zombies (those are some really good mugshots.) I think the fact that there was a zombie dance party at the mall might have tipped them off that there isn't a real threat here. The reason they were arrested is ridiculous. Harteau also said police were on high alert because they'd gotten a bulletin about men who wear clown makeup while attacking and robbing people in other states. What's the matter with law enforcement nowadays? They can't even tell clowns from zombies. Here's a hint: ≠ What are they going to…

South Dakota re-enters the 21st Century: "No" to Abortion Ban

Looks like the infamous abortion ban in South Dakota ain't gonna fly with the state's residents. Opponents of South Dakota's abortion ban are maintaining their lead over those who favor the law. With 194 of 818 precincts reporting results, 60 percent of voters cast "no" votes, according to results from the Secretary of State's Office. The ban - which outlaws all abortions except those performed to save the life of a pregnant woman - is a direct challenge to the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide. Welcome back to the reality-based community, SD, and here's to…

Did Orlando gun training reduce rapes?

Which does not explain why there was no change in the suburbs, where there was just as much publicity. Frank Crary said: Presumably, the publicity was about women in Orlando carrying guns, not women in the suburbs of Orlando carrying them. It seems likely that a significant number of women from the suburbs took the gun training program. I don't see why the publicity would not have mentioned this. Furthermore, the publicity is supposed to have worked by reminding criminals of their chances of getting shot. Should we assume that a rapist will not be able to make the connection that if he…

UFO Maps

I'm surprised that I haven't come across this before: a Google-maps rendering of UFO sightings in the US, dynamically updated as-it-happens. Preliminary perusal seems to indicate that UFOs tend to stay away from the landlocked mountains, preferring to pop by the Pacific Northwest, the California coastline, and, in droves, the East Coast and the area immediately around the Great Lakes. For those of us who "believe" that even a fraction of these sightings may be the real deal, this map is an interesting asset and may tell us some valuable things about our visitors; for those of us who don't,…

For Love and Comets

So you think the scientific world is one of cold, hard, facts and impassive objectivity, incapable of bringing tenderness and twee sentimentalism forth into the world? You think that NASA, that behemoth of a governmental organization, spends all its time censoring evolutionary scientists and fucking up stuff on the Hubble telescope? Well, you're right, for the most part! Right now, however, you are wrong, because NASA has just extracted from the comet particle-embedded aerogel collected by Stardust spacecraft A HEART-SHAPED COMET GEM. The particle is made up of the silicate mineral…

Why I'd like to have a clam at my next party

Have you had a chance to see this video from Discovery News showing the flashy 'disco clam'? A graduate student at UC Berkeley, Lindsey Dougherty, unraveled the mystery of this party-like effect. The clams actually have tiny silica spheres (340 nanometers in diameter) on the inside of their lips that reflect light whereas the outside of their lips is devoid of nanospheres. This is a rather unique method to put on a flashy show in the ocean as other creatures of the deep use bioluminescence whereas these clams just unfurl their lips to reflect the ambient light in the ocean around two times…

Cats beware...

Image from: bluecrossanimalhospital.ca The FDA has issued a warning that Easter lilies are toxic to cats. According to veterinarian Dr. Melanie McLean at the US Food and Drug Administration ingestion of even a small portion of the leaves, pollen or flowers of the plant are very poisonous to cats. Initial complications include vomiting but then may lead to kidney failure and death if not treated. If you think your cat may have ingested a lily, then seek immediate medical attention for your pet. Tiger, Asiatic, Day and Japanese Show lilies are also highly toxic to cats. Dog owners take…

Using howls to identify individual wolves

    Image of Canis lupus by Gary Kramer, from US Fish & Wildlife Service. Researchers have designed a computer program that can identify an individual wolf in the wild analyzing the frequency and amplitude of their howls. They were able to accurately identify an individual Eastern grey wolf (Canis lupus lycaon) with 97% accuracy using the program. This program is expected to be highly useful to wolf biologists and conservationists. This program would certainly make camping more entertaining as well. Source: Root-Gutteridge H, Bencsik M, Chebli M, Gentle LK, Terrell-Nield C, Bourit A,…

What do flies, fish, mice and worms have to do with biomedical science?

  Image of common model organisms from European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). A recent article posted in the BBC News provided a good explanation of why scientists commonly study these organisms as models for human diseases and conditions. Model organisms are chosen because their physiology is similar to other animals, including humans, in addition to other reasons: Visit the BBC News to see why researchers most often use flies, fish, mice and worms to understand the mechanisms of disease and health. Did you know that ~70% of the genes in a fruit fly are homologous to human genes…

The American Physiological Society...125 years later

In honor of the 125th anniversary of The American Physiological Society, a history of its founding was just published in Advances in Physiology Education. It reads like a Who's Who list of some of the most important contributors to our understanding of modern physiology. Where would physiology research be in this country without this important society and the hard work of its founding fathers? Founders of The American Physiological Society from Ryan, 2013 To read more about these pioneering men, and the history of physiology in the US, click here. Source: Ryan KL. APS at 125: a look back…

I'm a librarian dammit

My primary professional society, SLA, has been going through this big "align in 2009" business. They've decided we need a new name because CEOs of corporations don't understand what librarians do. So here it is: Association for Strategic Knowledge Professionalswhich will go by ASKpro rrrrright. So now people know exactly what we do. Oh I am *so* tired of people thinking that renaming their position or the place in which they work will make people love them. We are the most pathetic crowd. Some of the comments from my colleagues on listservs, friendfeed, and on twitter are hilarious. I pointed…

Bhopal

Suketu Mehta writes of greed and irresponsibility over Bhopal. : Union Carbide and Dow were allowed to get away with it because of the international legal structures that protect multinationals from liability. Union Carbide sold its Indian subsidiary and pulled out of India. Warren Anderson, the Union Carbide chief executive at the time of the gas leak, lives in luxurious exile in the Hamptons, even though there's an international arrest warrant out for him for culpable homicide. The Indian government has yet to pursue an extradition request. Imagine if an Indian chief executive had jumped…

Sartre on Writing

Many young people today do not concern themselves with style and think that what one says should be said simply and that is all. For me, style--which does not exclude simplicity, quite the opposite--is above all a way of saying three or four things in one. There is the simple sentence, with its immediate meaning, and then at the same time, below this immediate meaning, other meanings are organized. If one is not capable of giving language this plurality of meaning, then it is not worth the trouble to write. From an interview that was given when he was seventy and had lost his vision to the…

39 Steps to a good story

From an old bookmark. Still fresh. Some of my picks: 6) Long plot explanations aren't going to get it. Like, when something neat (horrible?) happened to one of the characters a real long time ago, and you really really want to tell us about it, you know? Don't. 12) We can't care about sand mutants; if you do, or think you do, kill yourself. 21) If you write a sentence that isn't poignant, touching, funny, intriguing, inviting, etc., take it out before you finish the work. Don't just leave it there. Don't let anyone see it. 23) Also: Obscurity is not subtlety; intentional obscurity is…

Once upon a time in a queue

The latest essay is out at TheScian.com. As I've done for the past few essays, this too has been subjected to yours truly's vocal excess. Thanks to Sunil for reading a very early draft and saving me from some glaring mistakes. Our queue was frozen in time. We seemed to have entered an amnesiac queue that had forgotten its frail human constituents who needed to pee regularly. Cold was diffusing rapidly through my skull suffocating the brain. Ramya needed to revive her brain too; she had been rapturously staring at a road marking for the past five minutes. We were letting entropy win. We were…

Miss Atomic Bomb likes snowflakes

I have the pleasure of judging some of the entries to the Research Blogging Awards this year. I can't tell you who the winners will be, because I don't know. But for the fun of it, I'm going to throw a few bits and pieces of some of the entries here. I will say this: The science blogosphere is even richer than I thought. I'm delighted with the variety and surprise I'm finding out here. via missatomicbomb.blogspot.com It snowed today, interspersed with a beautiful, pale bone sunlight. Sometimes it was gravitous, sticky flakes, as on my walk home tonight. The wind swirled and the cold, wet…

Dipstick: religious brains, more school, more meds, states rights, and dancing with the unwilling. Plus Ardi, free

Notables from the last 24: Over at Gene Expression, Razib casts a skeptical eye on a study of the neuroanatomical variability of religiosity. The brain areas identified in this and the parallel fMRI studies are not unique to processing religion [the study states], but play major roles in social cognition. This implies that religious beliefs and behavior emerged not as sui generis evolutionary adaptations, but as an extension (some would say "by product") of social cognition and behavior. May be something to that, Razib says â but it would be nice "get in on the game of normal human…

It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's a...Car!

OK, so there's nothing really 'biological' about this story... but DUDE - I want one. After years of waiting, we may just get the first flying car released in 2009 by Terrafigia, Inc. The Transition is really a plane that you can use on the road, not a 'flying car'. Gregory Mone from Pop Sci even got to sit in the barely-under $200K vehicle, which he describes as "a single-engine, rear-propeller airplane that just happens to be street-legal." As if the fact that it can fly isn't cool enough, it also runs on premium gasoline - no jet fuel required. Can we say the awesomest conspicuous…

Are you a Hypochondriac? Here's a book for you!

From the official website: Hypochondriacs have long had to satisfy their needs for self-diagnosis with medical reference materials written for the masses, but this revolutionary book is dedicated entirely to the hypochondriac's unique perspective on health. The world's worst maladies, conveniently organized by symptom (real or imagined), will ignite even the mildest hypochondriac's fantasy life. We're all going to die of something--why not choose an ailment that's rare and hard to pronounce? Features: * Profiles of over 300 deadly diseases * Organized by symptom for ease of self-…

'Political Brain' Author Responds

David Amodio responds to The Neurocritic's post about his hot study on [American] political thinking, Neurocognitive correlates of liberalism and conservatism, published in Nature Neuroscience. While criticism in the blogosphere was mostly based on newspaper reporting (and a Slate article), The Neurocritic examined merits of the study itself. Amodio says, Though I've generally not worried about the "lay" coverage (how can you argue science with pundits?), it might be worthwhile to respond to a blog that is read by neuroscientists (including myself from time to time). Check it out if you're…

Two New(ish) (to me) Blogs (sometimes) about Neuroscience

I just added two new blogs to the blogroll (which I hate doing for some reason). The first is Ginny's who is a staffer here at ScienceBlogs and is a freelance science writer. Her blog is named Sequitur. You can also find links to all her science writing on the sidebar. What's that blog name about Ginny? The second blog I discovered when Kate left some good comments on some of my posts :) The Anterior Commissure "was started as a new year's resolution with the intention of developing a better understanding of the field of science in a more global context. It has become a horrible…