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Groupon is too declasse! Get your ostrich sleeves here

One of my fave April Fools' spoofs this week: Groupöupon, the high-end version of Groupon for the aesthetically pompous: Make sure that your arms telegraph style and success with this indulgent line of Premium Sleeves designed by Fourth World, the designer brand renowned for combining the uncanny fashion sense of the first world's most impressive designers with the laser-like focus of third-world craftsmanship. Choose any of the extravagant materials from Fourth World's list, including ostrich neck, baleen, pressed toucan beak, snakeskin (heated), and mane. With each purchase, Fourth World…

Prepare to squee: baby 3D-printed strandbeests!

Thanks to Coilhouse, I just learned that artist Theo Jansen is producing 3D printed baby versions of his amazing strandbeests - wind-powered kinetic sculptures that "walk" on their own. If you don't remember Jansen, here he is with his eerie, lifelike beests, which he calls "new forms of life:" Of course you want one, right? Well, now you can get one! A small 3D printed version, at least, without all the wings and propellers. Here's a video of a little strandbeest running around on a string. Give it five seconds, and you won't believe this little guy isn't actually alive: Squee! (Yes, I'…

Gerald Ford: Some Thoughts

I have a confession to make.  I once voted for a Republican Presidential candidate.  That candidate was Gerald Ford.   Why?  Several reasons.  For one, it was my first time voting, so I was not very good at it yet.  Two, even though I was upset about the pardon of Nixon, and unimpressed by his handling of the economy, I thought he was sincere and honest.  Three, I thought he had been chosen deliberately to be a noncontroversial "placeholder" president; not someone who was interested in a power grab.   One of the areas where some liberals and some conservatives agree is this: concentration…

Help a charity, get a ScienceBlogs blogger to shave his head.

Over at Starts with a Bang, Ethan Siegel lays it on the line: I have a challenge for everyone who reads this. Donate at least ten dollars (or ten euros, or ten pounds, or whatever's the closest equivalent in your currency) or volunteer at least four hours at whatever charitable organization you choose. When you do it, leave a comment at the bottom of this post, telling us: what you donated/volunteered to do, what organization you donated to/volunteered for, and why you chose that organization. When I get 100 unique comments from people who have done this, I will shave my head. If you take…

Richard Lindzen claims global warming stopped in 1998

Richard Lindzen has jumped on Bob Carter's global warming stopped in 1998 bandwagon. Here's one slide from a presentation he gave at right-wing Swedish think tank. In the text he claims that that there has been almost no rise since 1986, but in his talk (at 38:00) he told the audience to ignore the red line (which shows the ten year mean) and pointed to the graph on the bottom right of just the last eight years. Presumably he meant to write that there had been no rise since 1998. I must give him points for brazenness by doing a blatant cherry pick right in front of his audience. They…

Everyone Loves a Shill!

Phenomenally late to the game, I've added a Donors Choose link to the blog. The idea here is that you pick a small microgrant to fund/help fund for a public K-12 classroom somewhere in the States. Requested funding ranges from hundreds to thousands of dollars. I love microfunding efforts like this, since many of them are in the low range, so you have a shot at contributing a significant chunk of something that will make a demonstrable difference in a classroom. I've set a (arbitrary, any spare change helps, etc.) goal of $10,000 (total, no one grant I have listed is nearly this much) for my "…

BPA update: Bisphenol A alternatives available now. Why not use them?

The evidence BPA (bisphenol A) is having toxic effects on humans is becoming more and more solid. Just recently a paper in JAMA found BPA may be associated heart disease and other probelms in humans. Other research has shown possible association with metabolic disorders (one thing I didn't note in the second post is that the two studies reinforce each other with the metabolic findings like diabetes). Furthermore, the FDA's own panel called FDA's okey-dokie/industry-studies-only assessment of BPA flawed and it was announced yesterday that the FDA has called a do-over. Therefore, it may…

Gear for the Scientific Activist

If you love science and don't know how to show it, there are a few sites out there that'll be more than willing to help you out. Here are a couple of examples: At Support Our Scientists, you can buy a magnetic ribbon to show your support wherever you drive. It looks a bit like one of those "Support Our Troops" magnetic ribbons, but it's a little more attractive--sporting the shape of a DNA double helix--and a lot less Orwellian. Hey, if I were back in car-happy America, I'd probably rock one of those. On the other hand, if you're looking for something to decorate yourself with, I Believe…

My Gene Profile: the lamest genetic testing scam on the internet?

Pharyngula, via a reader, points me to the most aggressively bad attempt at a genetic testing product I have ever encountered, coupled with a truly horrific attitude to parenting. The tag line alone is hilariously inept: "Our Technology Spawned from Human Genome Project led by US Scientists. The Industry is Featured by CNN, CBS News" The idea that is being spruiked here is that genetic testing can help you determine your child's "inborn talents", which you can then use to ruthlessly jam them into whatever career the test results suggest. The presenter notes that he "wasted a lot of time…

Meanwhile, back in Lawrence

Break from heat not expected soon: Lawrence’s high temperature reached 100 degrees Thursday for the second day in a row, and triple digits are expected to stick around. Wednesday’s rainfall accumulation, .77 of an inch, wasn’t enough to ward off a heat advisory that is in effect in Douglas County until 7 tonight. It is currently 65º and sunny in Oakland, and they expect a high around 78º. That is slightly warm for the area; the average temperature for early August is 73º. I'm wearing long pants, and no one seems to have air conditioning in their homes. Yesterday was about the same, and as I…

The Kibble Bubble

A Colbert Report re-run about the financial crisis has just ended, so I turn the tv off, grab my jacket and the leash, and head out for a walk with the dog. She's oddly pensive as we head up the street. After a little while, she stops and asks, "What was that all about?" "All what?" "All that 'crisis' and 'bailout' stuff. It sounds scary." "Well, a bunch of banks made a bunch of really bad loans, and people have lost a lot of money." "I got that," she says. "I may be a dog, but I'm not stupid. I'm asking how they lost a lot of money." "Well, it's complicated, but I'll try to explain. Let's…

Science and the Importance of Cheese

tags: I'm a Scientist, Get me out of Here!, internet chatrooms, online program, technology, public outreach, scientists, employment, what do scientists do?, Science and the Importance of Cheese, streaming video This video is a trailer for a movie proposal by protein crystallographer, Stephen Curry. If he is lucky, he will continue on to the June 2010 rounds of the online program, "I'm a scientist, get me out of here!" targeted at teens. He proposes to make this film if he is voted to win the â¤500 award. "I'm a Scientist, Get me out of Here!" is a new online program targeted to UK…

I'm more potent than I thought

Wow. I was in Lewiston, Maine, just a few weeks ago, and look what kind of effect my brief visit had: several of the Catholic churches in the area have simply expired. I was there, then this happened, therefore I must have caused it. Anyone want to buy me a plane ticket to Vatican City?

If you happen to be falling from the sky into the water right now this brain is for you

yes you. Or perhaps you've fallen off of your midlife crisis testosterone penis boat? This here inflatable brain could save your life. Order only if you are experiencing an actual emergency drowning situation. Alternatively you could buy this for me for XMas... if only you knew where to send it.

It's Piñatas all the way down

Remember, the piñata is only deployed when Blair produces another nugget of stupid after being beaten with a clue stick. So let's look at the nuggets we got from Blair this time: Chinatown seems not to have been burned down recently. racists generally comment behind people's backs Lambert is citing an American conservative who's never been to Sydney -- and who can't spell a simple three-letter surname. Meanwhile, the Sydney Morning Herald printed five letters from Sydneysiders who found Ker's story credible. I agree with them -- Sydney is a tolerant place, but that doesn't mean…

In Boston. Are you?

I'll be in Boston in about 10 days from now. On March 8th, I'll go to the Science Cafe - the website is not updated yet so I don't know what the topic is yet, but it's going to be fun for sure: science+pizza+beer, who can ask for more? So, if you come to that, try to spot me in the crowd and say Hello. The next day, on Monday, March 9, 2009 at 6:00pm, we'll meet at Casablanca Restaurant which is at 40 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA. If you are a scientist, blogger, reader, come and let's eat and drink together. If you are on Facebook, I have made an Event page so you can get all the…

An encyclopedia of life?

I wish I could be more enthusiastic about the Encyclopedia of Life project. It's to be an online encyclopedia with a substantive page dedicated each species on the planet, and it's endorsed by E.O. Wilson, with sponsorship from some of the most prestigious museums around. It's a fantastic idea that would be incredibly useful. But then … The demonstration pages are beautiful, maybe too beautiful. There's the promise of a colossal amount of information in each one, although at this point all they've got are very pretty but nonfunctional images of what the page will look like — but you can see…

The Minnesota Science Standards are due for review

This is the time — you can give feedback on the Minnesota science standards, and you can also apply to be on the standards writing committee. Here's where you have a chance to make a difference. The Minnesota Department of Education is now soliciting feedback from the public on the current Science Standards via an online survey. The survey will be open until February 21, 2008. First, review the current Science Standards on the Science Standards Web page. Then take the Science Standards online survey. Applications are also being accepted for individuals interested in serving on the Science…

President Obama's State of the Union Speech Unlike Any Other

Tonight, President Obama will give his State of the Union address at 9 pm with a new twist: using the latest online technologies, including streaming visual aids, with charts and statistics relevant to his comments. What a wonderful way to engage and educate the public! See you online. From Senior Advisor to the President David Plouffe: Good morning, Tonight at 9 p.m. EST, President Obama will deliver the State of the Union Address and outline his vision for putting aside the politics that divide us and moving forward to create jobs, up our game to out-compete in the global economy, and…

Science Online 2010: Scientists and librarians

I had the following exchange several times during the opening day of Science Online 2010: Interlocutor: "So what do you do?" Me: "I'm a librarian." Interlocutor: *lengthy pause* So… what are you doing here exactly? Er, what? A conference about science communication? How on earth can that not be imagined to intrigue a librarian? This, ladies and gentlemen. THIS. Right here. This disconnect is the number-one threat to science librarianship today—perhaps to all academic librarianship. How can science libraries persist when scientists haven't the least notion that libraries or librarians are…

Tuscan Photographs

I've put some pix from my recent trip to Tuscany in Italy on-line. In other news, my wife has suggested a brilliant and radical re-interpretation of the Swedish 70s dansband pop hit "Margareta", by Sten & Stanley. Comprehensible only to speakers of Scandy, I'm afraid.

Over My Dead Body

$4375.00The Cadaver Calculator - Find out how much your body is worth. From Mingle2 - Free Online Dating Mingle2 - Dating Site Maybe I should have done comparisons of before and after this weekend, and seen how my body depreciated in value. :) I tag Kevin, Steve, Karmen, and RPM.

More Wiki Woes

Felon Became COO of Wikipedia Foundation from PhysOrg.com (AP) -- The foundation that runs and accepts donations for - the online encyclopedia Wikipedia neglected to do a basic background check before hiring a chief operating officer who had been convicted of theft, drunken driving and fleeing a car accident. [...]

The Anyway Project: Down to Brass Tacks

First of all, in response to reader suggestion, I've changed the names of the categories. People rightly felt "domestic economy" and "household economy" were too confusing, and reader Apple Jack Creek suggested we change "domestic economy" to "domestic infrastructure." Claire also suggested that "Farm and Subsistence" was too specific to my case, and that we should just go to "Subsistence" there. I don't think I quite agree, although I am taking the word "farm" out since not everyone has one, and replacing it with "cottage industry." Not everyone will have a cottage economy emerge from…

Facts in Context

It's been an exciting week for me. On Monday I successfully defended my thesis! Now that I have established my scientific credibility to you all, here is a picture of me at my defense party wearing my "Trust me I'm a Dr" Dr. Pepper t-shirt and hitting my SpongeBob SquarePants piñata. And on Tuesday I went to two really interesting events/talks/discussions about science and scientists. First up was Debbie Chachra's awesome seminar "Unpacking Gender: Men and Women in Science, Technology, and More," sponsored by the Harvard Graduate Women in Science and Engineering. She described her seminar…

Current/Future State of Higher Education: Week 2 reading list!

I'm at the Access Conference in Montreal this week starting today, so I'm a bit behind on the readings for the Current/Future State of Higher Education MOOC I'm participating in. I'm hoping a nice long relaxing train ride will give me the opportunity to catch up. Anyways, Week 1 was a great introduction to the issues facing higher ed and here in Week 2 Week 2: Net Pedagogies: New models for teaching and learning Readings and Resources Blended Learning Models The Blended Learning Toolkit: Improving Student Performance and Retention, Educause Quarterly, Volume 34, Number 4, December 15, 2011.…

ScienceOnline2010 - interview with Sonia Stephens

Continuing with the tradition from last two years, I will occasionally post interviews with some of the participants of the ScienceOnline2010 conference that was held in the Research Triangle Park, NC back in January. See all the interviews in this series here. You can check out previous years' interviews as well: 2008 and 2009. Today, I asked Sonia Stephens to answer a few questions: Welcome to A Blog Around The Clock. Would you, please, tell my readers a little bit more about yourself? Where are you coming from (both geographically and philosophically)? Sure. I'm originally from Minnesota…

Can women generate oocytes late into life?

You remember what you learned in biology right -- or maybe health. A woman is born with all the eggs she will ever have. Well some researchers in Australia are disputing that point. By doing stereology on mice aged 1 to 200 days they claim to show that the overall number of eggs does not decline. Stereology is the science of accurately counting cells in a tissue. The trouble is that I don't buy it. Here is the abstract (the article requires a subscription): Proliferation and partial meiotic maturation of germ cells in fetal ovaries is believed to establish a finite, non-renewable pool…

I support blasphemy

A columnist in the Cincinnati Post, Kevin Eigelbach, has a few words for Answers in Genesis. He got a letter from them asking for money to protect the Bible from the wicked secularists who want people to think critically about its contents. Ham fears that one day we'll find stickers inside our Bibles that tell us the Bible is fictional. A friend of his found one in a Gideon Bible in Salt Lake City. The sticker says the Bible contains religious stories regarding the origin of living things. They are theories, not facts, it says. "This material should be approached with an open mind, and a…

Plan B Prevents Abortion!

First, go to Well-timed Period and Pharyngula to get all the neccessary information about Plan B, what it is, what it isn't, and how it works. Then go to Bitch PhD and buy a T-shirt (for which you need to know what you are talking about because you WILL be asked).

Darwin Quotes

Doing what little one can to increase the general stock of knowledge is as respectable an object of life, as one can in any likelihood pursue. - Charles R. Darwin Support The Beagle Project Read the Beagle Project Blog Buy the Beagle Project swag Prepare ahead for the Darwin Bicentennial Read Darwin for yourself.

Darwin Quotes

...doing what little one can to increase the general stock of knowledge is as respectable an object of life, as one can in any likelihood pursue. - Charles R. Darwin Support The Beagle Project Read the Beagle Project Blog Buy the Beagle Project swag Prepare ahead for the Darwin Bicentennial Read Darwin for yourself.

Godless advertising

Hello, Seattle! Look what just went up on Denny, near the Stewart Street intersection: Everyone might want to donate to this cause, too: a group is trying to buy ad space on London buses, saying "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and get on with your life." Whew. We're getting uppity.

Where There's Liquid Water...

Enceladus, a tiny moon of Saturn, suddenly gets interesting. It may be spewing liquid water. And since the only life we know of needs liquid water--and since Enceladus may now be the second place we know of in the solar system with liquid water--I want to buy a ticket there. Details and pictures here.

Is USDA serious? Inspecting a chicken in 1/3 of a second?

[Update below, 9/26/2012] When Secretary of Agricultural Tom Vilsack announced in January the USDA's proposal to modernize the poultry slaughter inspection system, he promised several things.  He said the new system would save taxpayers and poultry producers money while improving food safety.   (In "The Age of Greed," law professor Rena Steinzor explains on whose backs those savings are borne.)  Secretary Vilsack also insisted that USDA inspectors "will continue to conduct on-line carcass-by-carcass inspection as mandated by law."  That requirement is a long-standing provision of the Poultry…

ScienceOnline2010 - a brief introduction and history

Almost four years ago, after attending several technology and blogging conferences, I thought it would be interesting to have a conference for science bloggers to get together. Other science bloggers showed interest, but I wasn't sure it would be possible to actually organize one. Then, Anton Zuiker took me aside at one of the local blogger meetups and suggested that it was possible and we should do it ourselves, right here in the Triangle. Anton Zuiker is a veteran blogger (see how many years back you can go in his archives!) particularly interested in medical blogging, foodblogging and…

Undercover Brother and Sister: The Right Online Edition

You might have heard that last weekend, Netroots Nation, a progressive organization, had its annual convention. Oddly, Right Online, a conservative organization, also its annual meeting--in the same hotel. So two Netroots Nation attendees decided to go undercover. Needless to say, comedy ensues. Here's a taste: I give Elon a once over. He could not be dressed more inappropriately for a giant Republican-o-rama. I think some sort of effort was made with a buttoned up black cardigan over a clean white t-shirt but still, having done some reconnaissance work walking around the public areas of…

The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) will present some simple and fun DNA-related activities at the Expo

Extract DNA from a strawberry? Make a DNA bracelet? Check out the National Human Genome Research Institute booth and what they have happening at the Expo! Find more info here. The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) will present some simple and fun DNA-related activities at the inaugural USA Science & Engineering Festival in Washington, D.C. on Sat., Oct. 23 and Sun., Oct. 24. Instructions and resources related to these activities will be highlighted here on Sat., Oct. 23 for those who can't come to the Festival in Washington, D.C.. All of these activities can be done at…

ScienceOnline2010 - introducing the participants: travelers from afar

Today I'll mention a few of the people who are traveling from afar. Fabiana Kubke is a professor of anatomy at University of Auckland (yes, birds brains! I hope we find some time to talk shop while she is here). Yes, that is Aucklans in New Zealand! Dr.Kubke blogs on Building Blogs of Science which is also cross-posted on her SciBlogs blog. At the conference, Fabiana will do a demo of The Science Media Centre and the SciBlogs - the first science blogging network in New Zealand (if I understand correctly, they even call each other SciBlings!). You can also follow her on Twitter Jelka…

Good Ol' Dlamming is Back

And wouldn't you know it, he's making ignorant statements again. I know you're as surprised by that as I am. Finally, I noticed Ed Brayton is back complaining about anti-gambling laws again. Now he's up in arms about the arrest of a Carruthers (there's an English name), a UK citizen who runs a vast online-gambling empire... the gentleman in question was arrested while switching flights at a US airport. To quote Ed, "they're already engaging in vast overreach by arresting foreign citizens for doing something perfectly legal in their countries." Now, there may be perfect valid reasons to allow…

Women in IT Survey

From the WEPAN listserv: What influenced you to pursue a career in information technology? What could we learn from you and other women working in IT that will increase the number of girls and women who are interested in the field? The K-12 Informal Education Hub of the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT), led by the Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA), is conducting a three-phase study to determine what experiences or factors influence females to pursue work in information technology (IT). Study results will help guide efforts to increase the number of women entering…

This is a Scam

I know you know this, but does everybody? It is a new approach to getting your banking details. Please pass it around. Would you like to work online from Home/Temporarily and get paid weekly?We are glad to offer you for a job position at our company. We need someone to work for the company as a Representative/Book keeper in your country. This is in view of our not having an office presently in your country. My name is Kachy Williams working as a Sales Consultant Manager for a fabric company in United Kingdom called Dhillon Fabrics. I found this medium an opportunity to contact you and…

Two Great Boston Public Library Exhibits

(from here) The Honoré Daumier exhibit is at the Central Library and is phenomenal. The BPL also has a great online exhibit of old travel posters (the amount of stuff the BPL has is incredible--if only there were more funding to exhibit it all...). Check them both out.

Stockholm County in the Bronze Age, New Anthology

Half a year ago I gave a talk about sacrificial sites to a Bronze Age seminar at the Stockholm County Museum. Now the contributions have appeared in a fine little volume in Swedish that can be read on-line for free or mail-ordered from the museum. Thanks, editors, for swift and accurate work!

The memory molecule

My first contribution to the Scientific American Mind Matters website is now online. The article, called "The Power of the Memory Molecule", is about the recent study which showed that memories can be selectively erased from the brains of mice by altering levels of the enzyme αCaMKII.

Programming note.

I'll be offline until Sunday evening (California time). This means comments you submit between now in then will dangle in the aether until I'm back online, but please don't let that put you off from commenting if you have something to say. Hope your weekend is a good one!

Online chemistry resources from the Journal of Chemical Education.

Another dispatch from the BCCE: The Journal of Chemical Education (or J Chem Ed, as we call it in the biz), is, in fact, targeted to an audience of chemical educators. Its website has the online version of the journal, plus some resources for teachers of chemistry at the ChemEd Resource Shelf. If the full array is too overwhelming, you can check out Hal's Picks monthly recommendations for what to read. You may be surprised at how many of the picks are not officially chemistry (or even science) books, but each of them has some interesting, useful, or funny connection to matters scientific.…

Neuron publishes online readers' comments

The editors of the journal Neuron are now publishing readers' comments on the journal's website. Comments can be made online for any paper published in the journal, including all of those in the online back archive. Neuron is owned by Elsevier, and the decision to publish online readers' comments is an interesting one. This is because although Elsevier is one of several publishing giants who have been vehemently opposed to the open access movement, it is now following in the footsteps of the open access Public Library of Science journals, which began publishing readers' comments earlier this…

Harry Potter and the Labrador Retriever Problem

The BBC has done a poll about unread books, and found some results that at first might appear surprising: Some 35% of those who bought or borrowed Vernon God Little, DBC Pierre's story of a US high school massacre, admitted not finishing it. The figure was 32% for the fourth instalment in the Harry Potter series, while 28% said the same for James Joyce's Ulysses, third on the list. In reality, though, I think this isn't terribly surprising, because it's a variant of what I think of as the Labrador Retriever Problem. It's got that name because when I went to buy homeowner's insurance before…

Hiatus

This evening was the convocation for our honors students and featured the largest graduating class ever from our College. Tomorrow I prepare to head off to Woods Hole for the MBL-ASU History of Biology Seminar. While I will have access to the Intertubes while there, I'm going to probably take a break from blogging, recharge, and figure out what I want to do over the summer break. In short, I'll be back online after the 20th.