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International subway system throwdown

We all know some cities "feel" smaller than others. But this set of subway maps presented at the same scale makes the differences obvious. Just for fun, I made this image layering four of maps from major world cities in red, black, gold, and blue. Recognize the cities? Answer after the fold. . . Sizewise, the winner here is London, shown in red. New York, in black, is a close second. The much less complex gold-green pattern is Washington, DC - note that it only approaches the size of New York and London because of the long spindly commuter line reaching north into Maryland. And that dense…

Dumpster-diving for evidence against Big Food

An interesting perspective from today's WaPo: David Kessler, doctor, lawyer, and former FDA commissioner, argues that the food industry manipulates the neurological impacts of fats and sugars to program consumers to eat more than we need or want. "The food the industry is selling is much more powerful than we realized," he said. "I used to think I ate to feel full. Now I know, we have the science that shows, we're eating to stimulate ourselves. And so the question is what are we going to do about it?" Read more about Kessler's Dumpster-diving quest to prove his point here. Kessler's new book…

Photo Synthesis

If you enjoy bioephemera, you should take a moment to check out Scienceblogs' new blog, Photo Synthesis: While doing our usual browsing of the blogosphere, we've become aware of the vast number of excellent blogs featuring science imagery, from neural networks captured with a light microscope to images of supernovae billions of light-years away. To take advantage of this wealth of visual content, we've decided to host our favorites here on ScienceBlogs, with a rotating line-up of photobloggers we'll select monthly. This month, Alex Wild of myrmecos kicks things off with his insect…

Thou gleeking folly-fallen puttock of an iPhone app

The Shakespeare Insult meme takes a portable turn with the Shakespeare Insulter for iPhone. This app is supposedly "official" (who says?) but strangely, it features an American voice, which issues from the nutcracker-jawed head of the Bard like that of a self-important postmodernist literary scholar who is unaware of his tendency toward melodrama. "Thou" becomes an interminable "Th-owwwwwwwww", followed by any two random adjectives and noun. There's nothing innovative about it, no way to customize it, and apparently no way to speed the darn thing up. Two bitten thumbs down! Get this app to…

Now this is a creepy stereotype

"Little girl, would you like some candy?" Somebody didn't think things through when they decided that this was a good strategy for proselytizing. An Edmonton mother is outraged after members of a local church approached her daughter on a playground - offering a Bible verse, candy and a promise that if she memorized the passage they would give her more treats. Kathleen Crowe says her nine-year-old daughter Angeline was playing in MacEwan park last week when she was approached by a couple from the Victory Christian Center who gave her candy and a Bible verse. Angeline was also promised more…

The Periodic Table of Wine

Another clever use of the periodic table in design: Washington State's Wines of Substance, who won Seattle Magazine's "Coolest Wine Label" Award in 2008. According to Substance, "wine is as much an art as it is a science. What better way to express this basis than a Periodic Table of Wine with each varietal reflected as an element or substance?" Their interactive "periodic table" website is hardly scientific, but it does look pretty awesome: In addition to looking all sciencetastic, Substance sponsors selected nonprofits - in January, 25% of all purchases go to Helpline Women's Shelter.…

Occasion'd by the fall of an apple

The famous apple-tree story, from a manuscript by one of Newton's friends: "After dinner, the weather being warm, we went into the garden and drank tea, under the shade of some apple trees. [Newton] told me, he was just in the same situation, as when formerly, the notion of gravitation came into his mind. It was occasion'd by the fall of an apple, as he sat in contemplative mood.'Why should that apple always descend perpendicularly to the ground,' thought he to himself. 'Why should it not go sideways, or upwards? But constantly to the earth's centre? Assuredly, the reason is, that the earth…

It's okay, mom, the razor blade is squishy

Consumerist.com is concerned about these Singaporean Play-Doh ads: Ummm, well, hmmm. That's kind of creepy, isn't it? According to the Consumerist, These Play Doh ads from Singapore don't seem to be aimed at kids. Then again, the message "safe no matter what you make" seems to be aimed directly at parents of kids who play with Play Doh, which leads us back to our initial thought, which is wtf kind of kid requiring parental supervision is shaping eerily realistic looking bottles of pills and razor blades for fun? The Consumerist's source, UglyDoggy, has the other ads in the series -…

Basic Concepts Query

We've been chatting in the ScienceBlogs forum about doing some posts about basic concepts in science -- short articles for people who don't necessarily have lots of background but would like to get some. Anyway, Chad is inquiring from his readers what kind of posts they would like to see. Suggestions for him are ideas like energy and force. I think that idea is a good one, and I am happy to participate. So here's the question: If I were to post some basic concepts articles, what would you like to know about? If it were something related to neuroscience, that would probably be good. At…

A Y chromosome is worth the same as a Ph.D.

I'm glad I've got one, and I'm so proud that my worth is enhanced by my testicles, as this report from Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce shows. The findings are stark: Women earn less at all degree levels, even when they work as much as men. On average, women who work full-time, full-year earn 25 percent less than men, even at similar education levels. At all levels of educational attainment, African Americans and Latinos earn less than Whites. I have to thank Carl Zimmer for bringing that to my attention — when he isn't writing about parasites and viruses, he…

For people who hate talking anatomy while eating. . .

. . . let the table settings do the talking (and the grossing out) for you! These Consumption Dinnerware plates by Leah Piepgras "are a map of the digestive tract, from mouth to anus:" I'm trying to decide if these plates have a future as a diet aid.* Visualizing the eventual chyme-ish fate of a bolus of taco salad might just induce me to eat less. . . on the other hand, the dreamy blue watercolor palette makes me think of snowflakes, not chyme and gall. And I think I've done too many dissections for a medical illustration to have much of an effect. Via the design blog CollabCubed. *you…

Worlds Collide in Atlanta: SFN Saturday Night Debauchery

Saturday night here in Atlanta, worlds collided. Jake of Pure Pedantry, Evil Monkey of Neurotopia, Nick of the Neurocontrarian, a high school friend from South Carolina, and six of my fellow UM Neurokids all went out for tapas at Fuego (excellent mojitos!) and then danced the night away at Sutra next door. We shut the club down at 3am and then went back to our condo to drink a couple more hours. For the sake of retaining the last shred of dignity of all parties involved, I'll leave the details fuzzy (although I got free Hennessey, Nick got to first, and Evil Monkey was molested). But I will…

TGIF: Deep-sea exploration's new flagship

All good things must come to and end, so they may have a new beginning. So begins the next chapter in the history of deep ocean exploration... The NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer was commissioned this week in Seattle, WA. The vessel will be equipped with two deep-sea ROVs capable of broadcasting high-definition video from the deep-sea in real-time using Dr. Robert Ballard's "telepresence" technology. Word on the street is the Chief Scientist's quarters come equipped with an inflatable hot tub, sushi bar, and wine rack Dr. Ballard keeps in a briefcase chained to his wrist at all times. ;) NOAA's…

Turn it Up (O, Child)

Jonathan Rowe, over at Positive Liberty, posted a link to Ophelia from The Last Waltz. Because I've been a fan of The Band since I was a little kid, I'm upping the ante, with "Carivan" with Van, the Man, who just tosses the mic and walks off stage at the end: and "Mannish Boy," with you know who and Paul Butterfield (and by the way, I'm pretty sure 5 minutes ain't a man): and "Evangeline," with Emmylou Harris: All this justified as me telling you a bit about myself, but really they're here so I can find them later. Just be glad I didn't give you "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" and "…

Obama & McCain in Nature

Umm ... Seriously, the latest issue of Nature has a special section on the US presidential election, including another Q&A with the candidates: Barack Obama accepted Nature's invitation to answer 18 science-related questions in writing; John McCain's campaign declined. Obama's answers to many of the questions are printed here; answers to additional questions (on topics including biosecurity, the nuclear weapons laboratories and US participation in international projects) can be found at www.nature.com/uselection. Wherever possible, Nature has noted what McCain has said at other times on…

3D animation of brain tumour growth

This email from the owner of the website explains: Gliocast is a set of software tools for visualizing fiber tracts. The emphasis is on the 3D display technologies. Gliocast includes a rudimentary model for tumor growth, but more physically realistic models can be substituted for it. Fiber tract imagery provided by the Banks Laboratory at the University of Tennessee. Brain dataset courtesy of Gordon Kindlmann at the Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute, University of Utah, and Andrew Alexander, W. M. Keck Laboratory for Functional Brain Imaging and Behavior, University of…

Now on C-SPAN3 - Hearings on the NIH Fiscal Year 2008

Click here to watch now. It's over. To read Elias Zerhouni's statement click here. A pretty good presentation. Zerhouni was joined by some department heads (including our own, Joan Brugge). Some highlights: -The approval rate of first time RO1s by first time investigators is down from 15% in the mid 90s to 5%. -Students are not entering science as they see a lack of opportunity. -Investigators are spending more and more time writing grants and less time performing research and mentoring. -High risk, high impact science is suffering the most. When budgets get tight, risky projects don't make…

Giant Mechanical Spider "La Machine" Torments Liverpool

Built by the French performing arts group "La Machine" for Liverpool's European Capital of Culture program a few weeks back, the giant arachnid reaches 15 meters tall and weighs 37 tons. Built from both steel and wood, it utlizes a hydraulic system to move all spider-like and is operated by 12 people all sitting atop or strapped below the cephalothorax. If even one of those 12 drivers so much as yawns, the giant metal spider will grab the nearest human victim with its powerful jaws and suck out all of their internal juices. We're trying to track down schematics so you can build your own at…

A question for those of you who talk to kids.

Although this question is somewhat connected to issues from the previous post, it's a question I've been meaning to put out there for some time: What do you find most challenging or scary about talking about science with kids? They can be your kids, but they don't have to be. They can be kids with whom you interact in your professional life or in your personal life. In your answer, you can specify particular areas of science that present the biggest challenge or the most anxiety for you. And, if you talk to kids but you don't ever seem to talk science with kids, why do you think that is?…

An odd (but pleasant) milestone.

Today is our last day of classes before final exams, and it's looking like this semester is notably different from the nine semesters that came before it: As well as I can ascertain, none of my students have committed plagiarism in any of their assignments for me! Yes, that should be the normal state of affairs, but we are painfully aware of the gap between "is" and "ought", are we not? Some semesters, I've had to deal with multiple plagiarists. This term, no cheating-related paperwork for me. Thank you, students, for restoring some of my faith in humanity. Be sure to eat healthy food, get…

Clues for those who have misplaced their calendars.

Suddenly your inbox is overflowing with messages from people you've never met expressing their intense interest in your subject. And, driving across town in the morning takes twice as long as it did just a month ago. And, your laptop takes a tumble and breaks a hinge. Plus, the photocopier at work seems to be involved in a work action (but, curiously, can't be bothered to make a placard to announce its grievances). And, the combination-locked computer-enabled classroom is suddenly without its all-important doorstop (which lets students get into the classroom), so you're reduced to cramming…

Random YouTubery video-tainment.

It's been a long day, between teaching and attending to committee work, giving a colloquium talk, dealing with an emergency drill, and coming home to make a later-than-planned dinner for the kids (since my better half had to help a sprog with an arithmetic emergency during the anticipated dinner hour). Tomorrow is a day off from school ... but for the sprogs, too, and me with piles of papers that must be graded and returned by Thursday. What I need right now is to see Stephen Colbert dance: The Colbert Report Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c National Treasure Pt. 1 www.colbertnation.com…

Cultural Learnings of Borat for Make Benefit Glorious City of Morris

We have a splendid double feature weekend of liberal extremism here at the Morris Theater: Borat and Happy Feet. This is going to be one of those events where I'll see all these people I know from the university lining up for the show, and the only community people will be the fervent DFL contingent…oh, and swarms of kids for the early penguin cartoon, whose parents don't realize it's going to brainwash them into being tap-dancing gay godless communists. (Yes, I know, everyone has already seen these movies ages ago, but this is Morris. At least I'll get to see it in a real old-fashioned art-…

Good Night Irene

At present, Irene is a Category One hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph. In 24 hours from now, mid-afternoon on Sunday, Irene will be on or near the coast of New Jersey near Long Branch, and over the subsequent 12 hours she will be captured by mid latitude meteorological forces, converted to a tropical storm, and splayed across New York and New England. She's heading straight for Springfield Mass, then over Vermont and New Hampshire and into Maine and points beyond, but she will be big and wide and wet and windy, so a large area will be affected. Are you in Irene's path? Have…

Bug Girl and Greg Laden Speak Skeptically with Desiree Schell

From ants to aphids, mosquitoes to mantises, entomology blogger Bug Girl has covered all kinds of things that creep, crawl and fly. This week, she joins us to talk about her favorite bugs, and why she finds them all so fascinating. And anthropologist and blogger Greg Laden joins us to discuss the cultural taboos surrounding eating insects. Go have a listen! __________ Please visit the other posts in this series: No Place to Sit Down The reason the Efe won't normally kill an insect ... "We Live In Little Houses Made of Beans" "Excuse me, there's some food in my bugs!" Bug Girl and Greg Laden…

NASA Sets Launch Coverage Events for Mission to Jupiter

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA's Juno spacecraft is set to launch toward Jupiter aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on Aug. 5. The launch window extends from 11:34 a.m. to 12:33 p.m. EDT (8:34 to 9:33 a.m. PDT), and the launch period extends through Aug. 26. The spacecraft is expected to arrive at Jupiter in 2016, on a mission to investigate the gas giant's origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere. Juno's color camera will provide close-up images of Jupiter, including the first detailed views of the planets' poles. NASA will host a prelaunch news conference in the News…

Lew Binford is Dead

Archaeologist Lew Binford has died at the age of 79 at his home in Kirksville, Mo. He died of a a heart attack. I knew Lew a little, having spent some time with him while I was in graduate school, and having met him at the occassional conference (he was famous for NOT going to conferences very often by the time the 1980s rolled around). Lew was a dick, a very smart guy, and probably had as much influence on archaeology as any other individual. Those who have taken classes from me know that I've got a few stories to tell about him. But not now. RIP Lew Binford. May your bones be dug up…

Where's your nearest Cafe Scientifique?

Via Jim Lippard, here's a nice, positive article on the Cafe Scientifique movement, which tries to make science informal and accessible to anyone. We're doing it again tomorrow, in which I get to be the presenter and talk about "Why all the fuss about evolution?" I hope I don't turn anyone off with my atheist schtick, in which I clean, fillet, fricassee, and eat a baby on stage.* *Well, actually, looking at my talk, I don't seem to actually mention atheism anywhere. I suspect that when the audience notices my horns and tail, though, they might ask about it—so I'll come prepared for the Q…

Bush on health care

If you want to know how clueless our current President is about healthcare and the uninsured, just check out this quote from a speech he gave recently: The immediate goal is to make sure there are more people on private insurance plans. I mean, people have access to health care in America. After all, you just go to an emergency room. Isn't that one of the biggest problems with health care in our nation? Patients without health insurance flood the emergency rooms, which by law have to treat them regardless of ability to pay, leading to higher costs all around for unreimbursed care, for…

Well, well, well, what have we here about the Avandia study?

I've been meaning to go through the recent meta-analysis of Avandia published by the New England Journal of Medicine that purported to show major increase in the risk for cardiac events (myocardial infarctions and cardiac death) in patients who use Avandia, but somehow never got around to it. I'm not sure I need to now, given how, via Kevin, MD, I've found this rant byThe Angry Pharmacist, who has looked over the meta-analysis and found that there is considerably less there than meets the eye and that the value of the study is considerably different than what has been reported in the press.…

Pogonophilia or pogonophobia?

Baby-faced Burt Humburg passed along the word-of-the-day to me: pogonotrophy (po-guh-NAW-truh-fee) noun The growing of a beard. [From Greek pogon (beard) + -trophy (nourishment, growth).] Pogonology is the study of beards and pogonotomy is a fancy word for shaving. Now this sounds like news for Man Beard Blog (who will no doubt be pleased with the Greek etymology), but what is this? Have I got some reputation for facial hirsuteness (a word that is etymologically related to "horror")? Is it a hint that I need to shave, errm, I mean pogonotomize myself? More likely, it's acute envy. Besides, I…

Tropical Storm Colin

Colin will almost certainly not become a strong hurricane or reach landfall as a hurricane, so we should be looking out for Danielle the next name in the sequence. According to NOAA, Colin will continue to strength and follow a WNW path until curving north. It will maintain tropical storm status or possibly (ca 25% chance) reach low level hurricane strength at most between 1.4 and 4 days from now and stay that way for a few more days without strengthening. After that, the models diverge so a lot of different things could happen, but most likely dissipation. (Keep in mind, of course, that…

A Celebration of Darwin's Legacy Across Academic Disciplines

The Hofstra University Library, Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the Hofstra Cultural Center present a conference: Darwin's Reach examines the impact of Darwin and Darwinian evolution on science and society in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Robert Darwin and the sesquicentennial of the publication of Darwin's On the Origin of Species (1859). The central theme of this academic conference is an exploration of how Darwin's ideas have revolutionized our understanding of both the living world and human nature. Papers exploring diverse topics on…

Orangutans Are Amazing

This is a photograph of a male orangutan attempting to spear a fish. It is believed that this male has seen fish spearing by local fish spearing men. This is on Kaja Island, in Borneo. Quite a few of the apes in this area are "rehabilitated" having been earlier rescued from human possession. It is often among these rehabilitated apes that we see remarkable behavior of this kind. This method never worked out for this guy, but reports are that he later figured out how to use spearing to poach fish already caught on lines. This photo is actually published in the book Thinkers of the…

Ooops ... gun goes off on commercial plane

An investigation is underway into how a gun carried by a US Airways pilot was discharged during a flight. No-one was hurt when the gun went off as the plane was preparing to land at Charlotte, North Carolina, on Saturday. A hole in a cockpit wall apparently caused by the shot is visible in photos obtained by AP news agency. Under a programme implemented after the 9/11 attacks, US airline pilots are allowed to carry guns on domestic flights following a training course. ... The gun discharged just before noon on Saturday aboard Flight 1536 from Denver to Charlotte, as the Airbus A319 plane was…

Facts never get in the way of a good myth

I used to live in Utah, I've read parts of the Book of Mormon, and I've always been baffled about how such a cockamamie story that is contradicted by all of the evidence could possibly be so popular. Facts don't matter to a religion, of course, and the LDS Church has its own answer: it's a conspiracy by scientists to attack their True Version of History. Officially, the Mormon Church says that nothing in the Mormon scriptures is incompatible with DNA evidence, and that the genetic studies are being twisted to attack the church. Uh, I think that whole business of Native Americans being…

Serious Matter of Home Schooling

OMG! A three-judge panel from the 2nd District Court of Appeals made it illegal on February 28 for any parent to home school their child, unless they have a teaching or tutor credential. Upon hearing the ruling, school districts officials began demanding that police take immediate action. So yesterday, throughout the state, judges secretly began swearing out and signing arrest warrants for any parent who was suspected of home-schooling their children without a teaching credential. Setting up a special task force virtually overnight, SWAT teams and truant officers armed with arrest warrants…

Schools should put faith in science

Scott Rowed published an Op Ed piece in the Calgary Herald last October that has just come to my attention. It is about evolution in schools in Canada, and provides an interesting perspective. Should we reward them with taxpayers' money to pass on these wonderful insights to the next generation? Should our future leaders learn to smother their critical thinking and make decisions based on faith rather than evidence and reason? From Canada, we don't have to look too far south to see how tragic these faith-based decisions can be. Read the whole thing here. Scott has another Op Ed piece…

"Every Sperm is Sacred" is Sexist

... And Mike Huckabee is not standing for it... Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee has endorsed an amendment to Colorado's constitution declaring that a fertilized egg is a person. "This proposed constitutional amendment will define a person as a human being from the moment life begins at conception," Huckabee said in a statement backing the Colorado Human Life Amendment. "With this amendment, Colorado has an opportunity to send a clear message that every human life has value. This is not good enough, because it does not cover unfertilized eggs. Menstruaters are Murderers! This…

The Face Book Thing

Well, the Face Book Thing seems to be going fairly well. Scienceblogs.com fanclub now has hundreds of members. My own site has a paltry ten or so, but growing. I hope soon to have eleven. I've been going through the Scienceblogs.com fan club list and begging folks from my old home town (Albany, NY), or who are in Minnesota to be my friends. So far most of them are ditching me. I can see that the life of a stalker would be a depressing one. Anyway, I think something will happen soon. We'll be notified by the organizers and I'll pass the information on. I think we are all supposed to…

Be careful who you bury...

As Raleane (Rae) Kupferschmidt lay motionless in her hospital bed, family and friends said their final goodbyes and the funeral home was called. But just as the grieving began in her Lake Elmo home, Kupferschmidt woke up from her coma. "There's no medical explanation for what happened to my mother,'' said Kupferschmidt's daughter, Lisa Sturm, who is a surgical technician at Regions Hospital. "It's a miracle." I'm sure Mrs Kupferschmidt's daughter is totally correct. She has ruled out any naturalistic, medical explanation based on her years of experience in related research fields and…

Men Rendered Obsolete

Men are largely useless, and worse, detrimental to normal operation of a society. But they have been retained because they were the only known source of sperm. Not any more. British scientists are ready to turn female bone marrow into sperm, cutting men out of the process of creating life. The breakthrough paves the way for lesbian couples to have children that are biologically their own. Gay men could follow suit by using the technique to make eggs from male bone marrow. Researchers at Newcastle upon Tyne University say their technique will help lead to new treatments for infertility. But…

Kim Tinkham has passed away: Another victim of a quack?

It's been pointed out to me that it was announced three hours ago on the Caring for Kim Facebook page that Kim Tinkham has passed away. A woman named Dana Ponder announced: Kim just passed. I was there by her side and it was peaceful. Thank you for all the kind words. I tried to read all the post to her, hoping she heard them all. She was (is) so loved. From all indications I've been able to find, Kim died of what was almost certainly metastatic breast cancer. And so a quack claims another victim. And so Oprah Winfrey contributed. And so a family mourns the loss of a mother, a spouse, a…

More burning stupid from Bill O'Reilly on evolution and the "God of the Gaps"

I may have been a bit hard on Richard Dawkins lately, but, if he believed in saints, Dawkins would deserve sainthood for keeping his cool in the face of so much concentrated idiocy coming from Bill O'Reilly: A couple of lovely O'Reilly quotes: "I'm throwing in with Jesus because you guys can't tell us how it all got here?" "When you guys figure it out, then come back to me." Then, of course, O'Reilly couldn't resist pulling out the "fascism" gambit. Geez, I don't think I could have restrained myself as well as Richard Dawkins did with Bill O'Reilly. In the face of such blustery nonsense,…

Submit now! Or the orbs will get you!

With the invasion of the orbs discussed earlier today, it's become apparent to me that now, more than ever, a healthy dose of skepticism and critical thinking is imperative. Fortunately, the Skeptics' Circle is fast approaching and due to land on Thursday, February 28 at the Conspiracy Factory. So, if you're a skeptical blogger who wants to strut his or her stuff, now's the time to submit your best stuff from the last couple of weeks to Factician. Edition-specific instructions, deadline, and contact information are here. General guidelines for submitting and the schedule of future Skeptics'…

Your Friday Dose of Woo: Happy Holidays!

Orac's circuits have yet to recover from the assault on his logic circuits caused by the über-woo of a couple of weeks ago, coupled with the even more powerful woo two weeks before that. Consequently, in order to marshal additional time scour the Internet for only the finest woo to be featured in 2008, he has decided that Your Friday Dose of Woo will take a brief but well-earned holiday hiatus. Fear now, however! There will, however, be at least one, if not two, other posts today, and YFDoW will return in 2008, bigger and badder than ever. In the meantime, now that Christmas has passed,…

Churchill or Hitler?

You can probably manage to tell a Picasso from a Monet. But can you do the same for Churchill and Hitler? Inquiring minds want to know. The website's Swiss, and it's written in German, but you should be able to figure it out. Just click on one of the four painting to get started and indicate Churchill or Hitler for each one. If your answer is correct, it will say either "Das war richtig," "Richtig," or "Genau." If your answer is wrong, it will say either "Nein" (even I could figure that one out), "Das war falsch," or simply "Falsch." At the end, you'll get a score. I managed to get 8 out of…

Carnivalia, and an open thread

Skeptics' Circle #46 I and the Bird #35 Carnival of the Liberals #24 Friday Ark #110 By the way, the mysterious disappearance of this week's Tangled Bank host is still unexplained, but Thoughts from Kansas has stepped forward to fill in the gap (thanks to you others who volunteered, too—I went through the list in the order the offers were received, and Josh was first). Give him a little time, he's doing this on very short notice, and I'll put up an announcement whenever it's done. I have forwarded to him all the submissions that were sent via me or host@tangledbank.net, but if you…

Rabett runs right over Essex and McKitrick

Eli Rabett dissects Essex and McKitrick's incompetence with averages: Unfortunately, either Essex or McKitrick or both do not understand zero and negative numbers. You know where my money is. Read his post to see why. Mind you, Steve McIntyre isn't convinced that there is anything wrong with their argument because "Chris Essex is an accomplished thermodynamicist" and my impression was that your counter-argument was mostly just belligerence. While it's possible that they made a mistake. I very much doubt whether Essex made a trivial mistake and your argument seemed to be assuming that it was…

Lott on the hockey stick

Under the title "Academics drag feet on giving out data" Lott quotes extensively from an article about the hockey stick by Steve Milloy. One part Lott doesn't quote is this: Well, a scientist's refusal to provide colleagues with his data and methodology is suspicious. Now, Milloy is being deceitful by implying that Mann, Bradley and Hughes hadn't published their data and methodology when they had already done so, but it is true that refusing to provide data and methodology is suspicious. As done by, to pick a name at random, John Lott. I guess that if Mann had claimed to have lost the data…