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More links on dichloroacetate (DCA) and cancer for your edification

Although I've been blogging alot about dichloroacetate, the small molecule chemotherapeutic agent that has shown promise against a variety of cancers in preclinical animal tumor models, but I'm not the only one. Fellow ScienceBlogger Abel Pharmboy, whose knowledge of pharmacology surpasses my own, has also been on the case and has produced some articles worth checking out: The dichloroacetate (DCA) cancer kerfuffle Where to buy dichloroacetate... Local look at dichloroacetate (DCA) hysteria Edmonton pharmacist asked to stop selling dichloroacetate (DCA) Four days, four dichloroacetate (DCA)…

Potassium Chlorate (Explosive or harmless oxygen generator?)

Potassium chlorate, KClO3, is quite oxygen-dense and a potent oxidant. It is used in what we called "whippersnappers" and the suppliers called "Pop-Pops" as kids, along with silver fulminate. There is a singular irony in that the wimpiest firework, the one we could buy even in my solidly blue no-fireworks mommy state, contains two components of some dangerous explosives. But we're talking micro- to milligrams, so don't get any ideas. Oh, who am I kidding, you just want to see it destroy a gummi bear:

Reminder: NYC Reader Meet-Up (FREE BEER!)

Final details ahoy! Not only will this be a fun time hanging out with your favorite Internet friends you've never met, Seed will buy the first round of booze (or not-booze, if you're into that sort of thing in the middle of the afternoon). 2-4 pm, Saturday, August 9 Social 795 8th Ave (close to 49th St.) New York, NY 10019 ...and as far as I know, I will be the only one there to defend the beer-drinkin' honor of my chosen profession. Eep!

Free Windows Upgrade only $17.00!!!

Welcome to Bizzaro Land, computer users. Since June 26, retailers and computer manufacturers have urged shoppers to buy computers already on store shelves loaded with the much-maligned Windows Vista operating system because they would qualify for a free upgrade to Windows 7 when it was released in October. As it turns out, Mouse Print* has learned that some computer purchasers will be asked to pay shipping, handling and other junk fees that total between $11 and $17 to receive their "free" upgrade disks. The story is here.

The Atheist's Guide to Christmas

The Atheist's Guide to Christmas is now available! This is a British project, and if you buy the book the money they make goes to charity (UK HIV charity Terrence Higgins Trust). It is an anthology with writings by a wide range of authors, including Richard Dawkins, Derren Brown, Charlie Brooker, David Baddiel, Ben Goldacre, Josie Long, Richard Herring, Simon Singh, Brian Cox, Jenny Colgan, AC Grayling, Simon Le Bon, Claire Rayner, Robin Ince, Jon Holmes, Zoe Margolis, Phil Plait, Mitch Benn, Lucy Porter, and Adam Rutherford.

Why are women (slightly more) religious?

Are women more likely to be stupid/gullible? That seems to be the assumption that the ungenerous of us might make when considering the 7% gap between men and women when it comes to religious affiliation.... ... that was discussed recently in an ARIS poll. Earlier, I had pointed to Stephanie Zvan's comments on this, and now I see that Pandagon is all over it too. I just hope the ladies at Pandagon don't just buy the bill of goods or fall for the old snake oil routine or anything.

WTO to Investigate Internet Gambling Ban

At the request of Antigua, where many online gaming sites are located, the World Trade Organization has set up a committee to investigate our government's activities in regard to online gambling. Antigua and many other nations say that trying to shut down this trade that is perfectly legal almost everywhere but here is a restraint of trade that violates the WTO agreements. This could get interesting.

Back from the Conference

Well, I am back from the Science Blogging Conference, exhilarated and exhausted! After months of preparation, and last few days of frantic last-minute work, the Big Day has come and I could finally relax and enjoy myself. And enjoy it I did! I hope the others did as well. First order of duty: go say Hello and Thank You to Anton without whose ideas, persistence, hard work and organizational skills, there would have been no conference! From what we heard in person, everyone was excited about the meeting and voiced hope we will organize it again next year. To make your opinions heard, if…

All Rocks Go To Heaven

This is a strange "debate" between Our Lady of Martyrs Catholic Church, and Cumberland Presbyterian, created using an online church sign generator. The images show, from top to bottom, the responses and counter-responses over time. And the next morning, Our Lady of Martyrs Catholic Church responds; The following morning, Cumberland Presbyterian Church responds; And the Catholics reply to that; Of course, we all know that heaven isn't any more real than Harry Potter, but whatevs. These people clearly are entertained.

Pat Robertson's Business Failures

Radar Online has an interesting article on some of Pat Robertson's shady and mostly ill-advised business dealings. In the last few years, Robertson has embarked on a wide range of business ventures that have failed miserably, from his Kalo Vita "age-defying" shakes to diamond mines in Zaire to an oil refinery that was shut down because it polluted so badly. My favorite is Freedom Gold, a Robertson venture that put him in bed with the genocidal Charles Taylor in LIberia.

links for 2008-10-21

Physics - From atoms to molecules (and back) "Atoms colliding in a magnetic field can form weakly bound states called Feshbach molecules. These states have now been used in combination with advanced laser techniques to create tightly bound ground-state molecules close to quantum degeneracy." (tags: physics molecules atoms experiment science news low-temperature) The Cartoon Lounge: Online Only: The New Yorker Farley Katz (of the New Yorker) and Randall Munroe (of xkcd) in an old-fashioned cartoonist's duel. (tags: xkcd comics internet silly)

Tennessee (Texas like) = McCarthyistic Anti-Gay Book Banning

As many as 107 Tennessee public school districts could be illegally preventing students from accessing online information about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues, according to a letter to sent to school officials by the American Civil Liberties Union. The letter demands that Knox County Schools, Metro Nashville Public Schools, and the Tennessee Schools Cooperative unblock the Internet filtering category designated "LGBT" so that students can access political and educational information about LGBT issues on school computers. read about it here

YA nude photo in the lost camera law suit

From the bbc: A US couple is suing McDonald's for $3m (£2m) after nude photos of the woman, which were on her husband's mobile phone, ended up on the internet. Phillip Sherman says he accidentally left his phone, with the photos, at a McDonald's in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He says staff promised to secure the phone until he could retrieve it. The Shermans claim they had to move to a new home after the woman's name, address, and phone number appeared online along with the photos.

Audio of Discussion on Science, Religion, & Climate

Audio of yesterday's discussion at WAMU's Kojo Nnamdi Show on science, religion, and the climate debate is now available online. I wish we had more time to focus in depth on several of the themes raised in the program. In particular I think there is much more to explore relative to my concluding comments on how scientists and environmentalists need to find more communication partners on climate change, ranging from religious leaders and public health professionals to national security experts and business CEOs.

Picture of the Day, and a brief programming note.

This is largely a test post. I'm dragging myself kicking and screaming into the new era of online communications. If I've done things correctly, both my facebook account and twitter feed should provide some sort of announcement when new material posts to this blog. That doesn't mean that they will, of course, but they should. To keep this from being a totally wasted post, you'll find a picture below the fold. It's a recent experiment with an IR filter I picked up a while back.

Podcast on Cloud of Data

Paul Miller and I recorded a chat last week that's now online as a podcast from Cloud of Data. Paul is a smart guy and it was a fun interview. We first met when he was working with Talis, which is a very progressive company in the UK (they sponsored some of the development of the PDDL and currently host data in the public domain for free in the Talis Connected Commons) but he's now out freelancing. Check out the podcast and let me know your comments.

Tea Benefits

The health benefits of tea have been well documented. Tea has a protective effect against cardiovascular disease and contains antioxidants which carry a cancer-protective ability. A recent study in the January 9 online edition of the European Heart Journal explains that many people from tea-drinking countries enjoy a lower incidence of cardiac disease. There is one tea-drinking country, however, that does not reap the cardiovascular or antioxidant benefits of tea...Can you guess which country and why? Read here for more details.

The perils of travel

I've made the journey to Seattle (actually, Auburn, where many of my family members live), and have discovered that access to the internet is spotty in the west coast suburbs — there are wireless servers everywhere, but at the same time, everyone has gotten savvy and protects them with a password. How cruel! Fortunately, I've talked one of my nephews into handing out their home network password to a known internet provocateur, so maybe I'll have some access this week. Alas, I'm too late to remind you of Atheists Talk radio — I'm sorry if you missed it, but really, it should be a habit by now…

Who's your doggie's daddy? Ancestry testing for dogs

Ancestry tests aren't just for humans anymore. We went to Petco this weekend to buy dog food and found brochures for doggy DNA testing. Now, those of you with dogs of uncertain parentage need puzzle no longer. According to Petco, their SNP test (what is a SNP?) can identify over 100 different breeds and they'll tell you which breeds are represented in your dog and whether your dog's breeding is mixed (or pure). The brochure from Petco also claims that knowing something about your puppy's parentage could be helpful in understanding their behavior and potential health risks. That's probably…

Trading Global Warming?

UBS to launch first Global Warming index says the FT (just next to an advert about high net worth individuals designed to annoy scientists...). Its not perfectly clear what its doing (I'm hoping James will investigate!). They say Retail and institutional investors will also be able to buy exposure to, or short sell, the index in much the same way they would with the FTSE or Dow Jones stock indices. If temperatures rise, so will the value of the index. Ilija Murisic, executive director of hybrid derivatives trading at UBS, said the impact of global warming had brought explosive growth in the…

My New Favorite Review of How to Teach [Quantum] Physics to Your Dog

My Google vanity search for my name and the book titles is really frustratingly spotty, often missing things in major news outlets that I later find by other means. For example, I didn't get a notification about this awesome review in the Guardian, from their children's book section: I am a ten year old who likes Physics. What is Physics, you might ask! Well, Physics is the science of pretty much everything around you. It asks big questions like where did we come from? How long ago was the Big Bang? Quantum Physics is the part of physics which talks about atomic and sub atomic particles,…

Cheney Continues to Lie

Not satisfied with having his spokesperson lie for him, Dick Cheney has decided to jump into the fray and lie on his own behalf: "I did not say if Kerry is elected, we will be hit by a terrorist attack," Cheney told the newspaper, according to a story prepared for Friday's editions. "Whoever is elected president has to anticipate more attacks. My point was the question before us is: Will we have the most effective policy in place to deal with that threat? George Bush will pursue a more effective policy than John Kerry." No, Dick, you're lying again. Let's replay your actual words: "It's…

It's good to be home, especially when welcomed by Natalie Angier

I'm home from our vacation, and our painfully tiring redeye flight from Seattle, and I get a treat right as I step through the door: a copy of Natalie Angier's The Canon(amzn/b&n/abe/pwll) arrived in the mail while I was away. What did I do? Right after we got all the luggage into the house, I flopped down on the bed with it and read it until the lack of sleep caught up with me — and it's good enough that I actually made it through the first two chapters before passing out. It's a passionate and enthusiastic survey of basic principles in science, and it's fun to read. Then I discovered…

Casual Fridays: The right mixture of nuts

Last weekend Nora and I went on a hike in the Smoky Mountains. Whenever we go hiking, we make trail mix -- usually just cashews and raisins. This time, however, we had some mixed nuts left over from a party so we decided to use those instead. But there's a problem with mixed nuts: invariably there are too many of the nuts you don't like, and not enough of the ones you do like. Since we had plenty of time to think as we hiked along, Nora and I wondered if it was even possible to create a mixture of nuts that would satisfy everyone. Do the nut manufacturers attempt to do this? Or do they just…

Friday Grey Matters: African Grey Death Metal "HATEBEAK"

Move over Judas Priest! Make way for HateBeak! HateBeak is a ParrotMetal band with, you guessed it!, a African Grey as the lead "vocalist." From HATEBEAK's site: Face-crushing guitars, head-pounding drums, bass so low you'll vacate your bowels, and vocals so scorching, so extreme they simply can't be human! They're not. This death metal outfit with a parrot for a singer trashes the pathetic birdfeeder you call the metal underground! That's correct, a parrot for a singer, savaging you with feathers of razored steel! This is not Jimmy Buffet's parrot - be warned! Try as one might, they will…

Entering the Home Stretch....

I realize that blogging has been pretty slow here lately. But, I have good reasons, I promise! I spent most of the month of May back in the US for my girlfriend's graduation and then for a cross-country move/Great American Road Trip. Meredith graduated from Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences on the 14th. Then, after the ensuing festivities, we packed up her truck and headed west to LA, where she's going to be working for the next year as a veterinary intern. Now that I'm back in Oxford, though, I'm basically in 100% thesis completion mode. The…

All Creatures Great and Smart (World Science Festival)

Yesterday afternoon, I watched the livestream of the "All Creatures Great and Smart" session of the World Science Festival in New York City. The session was absolutely fantastic, and featured Brian Hare, Vanessa Woods, Jeremy Niven, Patrick Hof and Klaus Zuberbühler. The conversation challenged long-held assumptions about the differences between "animal" and "human", and included fascinating discussion about pin-sized brains that can count, categorize, and hold a grudge against those who've tried to swat them. Does your dog really think and feel like a human? Do our closest primate…

An online summit of quackery

There's a disturbance in the Force. Well, in the Dark Side of the Force, as in the Quack Side of Medicine. Basically, there's a rumble in the quackosphere that reached me through three different quack mailing lists that I'm on for the purpose of gathering material for blogging, including--you guessed it--the mailing list of that One Crank To Rule Them All, Mike Adams. This disturbance? The Healing Cancer World Summit. The promise? In this unique program you'll discover... The therapies these doctors and experts are using that they say can prevent and even treat cancers naturally. The cancer…

Scientists, engineers, experts - your Government needs you!

If you attended ScienceOnline2010, either physically or virtually, you know that Anil Dash was there, leading a session called Government 2.0. Anil Dash is a pioneer blogger (and of course twitterer) and the very first employee of Six Apart, the company that built blogging platforms including MoveableType (which is used by Scienceblogs.com) and Typepad. Just before ScienceOnline2010, Anil made an official announcement that he will be leading Expert Labs (also on Twitter) which is a new project funded by AAAS to facilitate feedback by the experts (including scientists, of course) to the Obama…

Free on-line course on “decent work in global supply chains” offered by the Global Labour University

A free, two-month course on global supply chains is being offered on-line by the Global Labour University starting on January 12, 2017.  The course is being taught in English by Penn State University Professor Mark Anner, one the leading labor-oriented researchers on the global economy. There's a video trailer for the course and enrollment for the course is now open. The course brochure has the following description of the course: “Global Supply Chains, controlled by transnational corporations, determine the ‘rules of the game’ in today’s global economy. Decent Work gaps are widespread in…

Beyond the Weiner Twitter 'Prank': Privacy? What Privacy?

Source. The recent news media storm about Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) and the "Twitter prank" highlights the importance of internet safety and security. It is not surprising that someone could hack into a public official's Twitter account and post an embarrassing picture. But online social networks are only part of the story, and ad blockers may be your best ally. A study recently presented at the Web 2.0 Security and Privacy conference in Oakland, California is, well, terrifying. Consider this, from the AT&T Labs and Worcester Polytechnic Institute researchers' abstract, testing more…

The testimony in Texas

As you'll recall, I spoke toward the end of the public testimony at the Texas science standards supplements, so I departed from my prepared text a bit. Not, perhaps, my finest performance ever, due to the ad libbing. A bunch of other video is online from the hearings, including this stunning video of Vera Preston-Jaeger, who told the board "I am able to be here today because I am in a drug research study in Austin and I got the medicine rather than the placebo. When I was first diagnosed, I was told that I would go blind and die within four years, and I'm still here and I'm very glad to be…

Fornvännen’s Winter Issue On-Line

Dress pin heads from Viidumäe on Saaremaa. Fornvännen 2015:4 is now on-line on Open Access. Therese Ekholm compares radiocarbon dates on bone versus charcoal from ostensibly closed contexts on Stone Age sites in northern Sweden. Tony Björk & Ylva Wickberg on continued investigations of the Degeberga linear monument in Scania. Indrek Jets & Marika Mägi on a Viking Period sacrificial site at Viidumäe on Saaremaa that's been robbed by nighthawk detectorists. Pål Ulseth et al. on technical waste from the Medieval mint in Trondheim. Tom H. Borse Haraldsen challenges Arne Espelund's…

Last SITN lecture: Tonight!

The last lecture of the Science in the News Fall lecture series is tonight at 7pm in the Armenise amphitheater. Star Power: New Ways to Harvest Energy From Our Sun I heard great reviews from people who were at the practice talk, so if you're in the Boston area and interested in alternative energy, come on by. If you're not in the area, don't fret, we'll be posting them online (eventually) too. Check out the lecture on the Light Amplified by Stimulated Emission of Radiation from week two: 2010 Fall Lecture 5.1 - The Laser Turns 50 from Science in the News on Vimeo. Part 2: Using Lasers to…

It's hard to quit blogging for good....

Those of you who were around the Progressive Blogosphere a couple of years back probably remember Mick Arran and his Omnium blog (or his other blogs). Due to financial difficulties, Mick had to shut down all his blogging and online activities about a year ago. Fortunately, his life took a turn for the better and now Mick is back online, with his brand new blog Witness For The Prosecusion. Go say 'Welcome Back'.

What Movie is Your Christmas Most Like?

tags: movies, online quiz I think this is a low point in my online quiz taking because I disagree with this prognosis. How about you -- do you agree or disagree with your own results? Your Christmas is Most Like: How the Grinch Stole Christmas You can't really get into the Christmas spirit... But it usually gets to you by the end of the holiday. What Movie Is Your Christmas Most Like?

What Will Be In Your Christmas Stocking?

tags: christmas stocking, online quiz Here is an amusing online quiz for you to play with -- I don't know about you, but I sure hope that my stocking is filled with the goodies that the quiz predicted for me! You Christmas Stocking Will Be Filled with Money You've either been really really good this year... Or Santa is trying to pay you off! What Will Be In Your Christmas Stocking?

I have a feeling I'm going to regret this...

Remember how I sang that awesome evolution rewrite of that song for open mic night at Science Online 2011? No? Oh, I see. You weren't at Science Online 2011. Or, worse, you were, but you missed my stellar performance. No worries - I've been strong-armed into turning it into a recording. Without further ado... **UPDATE** Like it so much? Ok, fine. Go download it and add it to your iPod.

Antarctica: Others Think I'd do a Helluva Job, Too

Video created by The Sneer Review. Since I have recently developed quite a history of visiting cold and snowy places, often during the winter (remember Morris, Minnesota in January? Or how about Helsinki, Finland in November, then again in February?), I wish to preserve that tradition. I am competing for the opportunity to go to Antarctica in February 2010 -- a dream adventure that I've always wanted to pursue (and almost did pursue when I was an undergraduate researching Fin Whales and Crabeater Seals at the University of Washington). To enter, all candidates must publish a picture of…

ScienceOnline'09 - Saturday 3:15pm - Blog carnivals

The very first blog carnival was conceived right here, in Chapel Hill, some four-five years ago or so. Since then, the idea took off and there are now thousands of blog carnivals, some generalist, some regional, but most are topical with topics ranging from food to sports to politics. But, probably due to the funny name, new bloggers and observers are often baffled at the concept. I thought it would be a good idea to have a session that explains the concept of the carnival, specifically how the carnivals related to science, nature and medicine are somewhat different from other kinds of…

ScienceOnline2010 - Program highlights 3

Continuing with the introductions to the sessions on the Program, here is what will happen on Saturday, January 16th at 11:30am - 12:35pm: A. Legal Aspects of publishing, sharing and blogging science - Victoria Stodden Description: Not giving legal advice, but discussion of CC-licences, copyright, Fair Use, libel laws, etc. Discuss here. B. Shakespeare wasn't a semantic web guy - Jonathan Rees Description: That which we call a rose, by any other name, wouldn't be identified by a computer as a rose. This talk will go through the Shared Name initiative which promotes community-wide use of…

Out, pesky engram!

Over at Neurotopia, Scicurious has been doing some terrific writing about depression.  Mental illness is a topic I've written about many times, so I was inspired to look into the vault and see what kind of goodies I had back there.  Well, since I truly loathe people who dole out dangerous medical lies, I figured it was time to dust off this little bit on Scientology and mental illness, rework them a bit, and share them with you again.  The problem Depression, in the medical sense, is not a mood...it is a severe disorder originating in the brain, and affecting the entire body. Major…

Those inconsistent Turks

First they ban Richard Dawkins' website, then they buy out the entire print run of the Turkish translation of The Ancestor's Tale in a day. Clearly, we need to start making smuggling runs, bringing in copies of The God Delusion and printed pages of the daily commentary on richarddawkins.net, so we can make a fabulous profit. There's a certain romance to the idea of being a grim, scruffy smuggler, braving the rugged Aegean coast in daring midnight runs to bring atheist literature to underground freethinker salons of swarthy, hard-bitten raki-guzzling Turks.

Seed's Daily Zeitgeist: 10/12/2006

Living a Second Life A psychiatry professor teaches his students about schizophrenia by making them live through hallucinations in a virtual world. Freaky. (via 3QD) Einstein's High School Diploma Yes, but how were his extracurriculars? (via boing boing) Open Letter to Scientific Equipment Manufacturers Listen to the man! Make Your Very Own Virgin Mary, Tentacle, Parrot Toast! If people buy enough of these, we are going to have to pull a serious True West on their behinds. Selfish Scientists Won't Share Findings Meanies. Got something for Seed's Daily Zeitgeist? Email the Zeitgeister.

DarkSyde Interviews Olduvai George

My old pal DarkSyde has published an interview at Unscrewing the Inscrutable with Carl Buell, better known as Olduvai George. Buell, as I mentioned last week, is a brilliant illustrator who has done the illustrations for numerous books on science and evolution. Most notably, he did all the illustrations for Carl Zimmer's wonderful book At The Water's Edge (if you haven't read this book, go buy it. Now.). It's an interesting interview that touches on the subject of how a conscientious artist goes about turning a fossil into a picture of the animal as it might have looked while alive.

Schelling: Wall Street Journal op-ed page, 2/23/06

I don't have access to the WSJ, but via mt on sci.env I find a suggestion that they may have seen the light on Global Warming: "I find the case for prospective greenhouse warmingto be almost beyond doubt. ... "In the two major unspecialized scientific journals, Science and Nature, one has to go back about a decade or two to find serious doubts about the basic science, Rarely is there such scientific consensus as there is on whether the greenhouse effect is real..." "I'd buy insurance. I'd do it prudently and without great alarm. Yet!"

Automotive Question

You can't buy a car these days without a rear window defroster-- the little built-in electric heaters that melt ice and frost off the rear window. You push a button on the dashboard, and the ice just melts away, no scraping required. Why is it, then, that to clear the windshield, you have to rely on a combination of warm air blowing on the inside of the glass, and scraping crap off the outside? Why don't they build little electric heaters into the windshield, which would make life much easier for those of us in cold areas?

Does being right matter?

Okay, so this clip is a bit long (~10 minutes) and it is mostly Fox Noise, but it is really fascinating to watch this one guy, Peter Schiff, being dead on in his economic predictions and advice over and over and over again, and even more interesting to watch the the boobleheads laugh at him and wisely wag their fingers. They even talk about what a bargain buy and how solid Meryl Lynch is, about one year ago! But like New Orleans and Katrina, "no one" saw this mess coming....

Rand Paul's poop is more important than any mere woman

I'm stunned. People actually elected this lunatic, Rand Paul? So, somehow, Rand Paul, who is 100% anti-abortion, deeply resents the fact that the government wants to enforce energy efficiency and insist that we should conserve resources, because it infringes on his right to buy old hot wasteful light bulbs and toilets that use lots of water when they flush. Priorities! If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office. (via Jezebel)

Requesting thoughts on the Macbook Pro

So I’m contemplating getting a Macbook Pro and thus leaving my current main machine (an XP laptop which I have been very happy with, by the way). I’m specifically looking at the 17 inch model, particularly because of the eight hour battery life. Any readers out there have any experience with the new Macbooks? Pros? Cons?  Do you really get 8 hrs with WiFi enabled? I’m assuming I’m going to have to buy iWork, but is there any other software (for pay or free) that you would recommend? Any comments will be gratefully received!