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Steroids for the Brain? Nature Survey Finds Many Neuro-Pill-Popping Scientists

We've seen our brain on drugs. Here's the dope on brainy people on drugs. Survey results of 1400 scientists (or Nature readers, anyway) on use of neuroenhancers Figure from Nature, "Poll results: look who's doping" With baseball's steroid scandals seemingly behind us now -- or at least considered less newsworthy -- the press has recently turned some of its steroidal attention to neuroenhancement among major league academics. The journal Nature has taken the lead here, publishing a commentary in early March by two Cambridge University researchers who "reported," as a nicely turned New York…

I get mail

One sure way to get your Important Message to me is to use the good old US Mail (although my email is much snappier now, thanks to previous suggestions), and sometimes I do get the strangest stuff. This time, it was a formal looking letter from an organization called "Campaign for the Children." How can you possibly turn away a letter from someone who is for the children? You can't, of course. Then once I started reading … well, this doesn't seem to be a campaign for children after all. The letter opens by explaining that it was prompted by my comments on homosexuality and Albert Mohler, and…

Working towards the perfect pointless poll

This is how to design an online poll to stymie the Pharyngulistas: make sure it makes no sense and limits the options to only unpalatable choices. Go ahead and try and figure this one out…although it does say it is for creationists, and it is for Christians only. Why Creationist is your favorite? 15% (3)Kent Hovind 5% (1)Ken Ham 36% (7)Both 42% (8)Neither... someone else "Why creationist," indeed.

Darwin Online

Yup, I know, many of my sciblings have already posted about this, but curiously, I saw this first outside the Seed's blogging stable, on Majikthise, several hours before anyone here picked up on it. Yes, the entire works of Charles Darwin will be placed online for you to browse, search and read for free on this website. Not everything is up yet, but they are working on making it as complete as possible as soon as possible.

Crash this poll

You know how we all love to screw up online polls … here's another one. Scroll down to just below "What others are saying", on the left, where the poll question is: Do you think the theory of Intelligent Design should be taught in our education system? "Yes" is currently leading by about 3:1. If everyone goes over there and votes "no", it will raise Mark Mathis's blood pressure a few points. (via Skippy)

Surgery? Who would have thunk?

Providing Surgical Services Should Be Global Public Health Priority: When you think of public health efforts in developing countries, you probably think of childhood vaccinations, programs for clean water, malaria and TB eradication campaigns. Surgery is rarely considered as a tool for improving the health of the world's poorest people. Prompted by an article in their on-line journal suggesting that it should be, the editors of PLoS Medicine have added their voice to the discussion.

2008 EduBlog Awards winners have been announced

It is rare that I pick the winners in any contest, but this time I picked three! Congratulations to all the winners of the 2008 EduBlog Awards, but especially to my friend David Warlick who led the session on 'blogs in science education' at the last year's Science Blogging Conference, and to Miss Baker's students who will lead a ScienceOnline09 session on Science online - middle/high school perspective (or: 'how the Facebook generation does it'?).

Condolences, Lindsay

I find it very difficult to say something nice, deep, profound or meaningful at the time of sorrow. But I am deeply saddened by the news that Lindsay Beyerstein's father has died. Lindsay is a dear friend, a philosopher and a superb blogger (one of the rare bloggers who really became an online journalist in the best sense of the word), and her father, who I never had the fortune to meet, was an extraordinary man as well. So sorry!

The first SPARKY Awards

On the heels of David Warlick's session on using online tools in the science classroom and the student blogging panel comes the announcement that SPARC has declared the winners of the first SPARKY Awards for student-generated videos on the theme of openess of information. The winner is Habib Yazdi, a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with the video entitled "Share." The three winning videos are under the fold:

Registration is open for ConvergeSouth 2008

ConvergeSouth 2008 is ready to roll: The Web site is online and registration is open: http://2008.convergesouth.com/ We're calling for presentations - see the schedule and apply to present. There's a brand-new Video Walking Tour on Thursday, October 16, with Robert Scoble and Tom Lassiter leading two groups around Greensboro. Lots more new stuff is happening. Keep up with ConvergeSouth on the blog: http://2008.convergesouth.com/blog/ See you in October!

Get Sorted!

tags: sorting quiz, online quiz Just in time for a new term at school; it's time to get sorted into your house! The Sorting Quiz Your Result: Ravenclaw   You are smart, intelligent, and perceptive. You love information and flourish in facts. Though some Ravenclaws (like Luna) have an open mind, you might not have such an open mind, you might need proof for everything. But this isn't always a bad thing! Gryffindor   Hufflepuff   Slytherin   The Sorting Quiz

How Observant Are You?

Your Observation Skills Get An A- Hardly anything gets by you... You have a great memory and eagle eyes How Observant Are You? This quiz is kinda fun .. what was your score? Which questions did you miss? I missed one question; How many channels on a VHF TV dial? Since I have never owned a TV, it was easy to miss this question. I was most surprised that I knew the answer to the paper clip question. tags: online quiz

ScienceOnline2010 iPhone app

Yes, we have it. You can check out the app in iTunes here. Features include a schedule quick-reference, information about the conference as a whole, and a brief nod to the participating sponsors. The app is named 'SciOnline10' due to the (visible) naming restrictions on the device. Searching for Science, Online, or ScienceOnline2010 (or the app name, SciOnline10) will find it on the App Store if the link doesn't work for you.

Sigur Rós

New Sigur Rós album coming out, they they do a free concert with Björk in Reykjaví at the end of June. In the meantime video and free download of Gobbledigook - first song on the album - here - signin required. Album pre-order also available online. They seem to be on form. Astonishing video - good cinematography. Not for the prudish though. It amuses me endlessly how many people listen without understanding the lyrics... Remind me of my youth.

Nature GeoScience Available for FREE!

tags: Nature GeoScience, online access The newest addition to the growing plethora of Nature journals, Nature GeoScience, is now available for free, although how long this will last is anyone's guess. I suspect that, like any good crack dealer, the Nature people will charge you a lot of money to access this journal's content after you're hooked. That said, the cover image for the first issue is really really nice, don't you think?

Anthro Blog Carnival

The eighty-eighth Four Stone Hearth blog carnival is on-line at Ad hominin. Catch the best recent blogging on archaeology and anthropology! Submissions for the next carnival will be sent to Greg Laden. All bloggers with an interest in the subject are welcome to volunteer to me for hosting. The next vacant hosting slot is on 12 May. It's a good way to gain readers. No need to be an anthro pro.

Anthro Blog Carnival

The seventy-eighth Four Stone Hearth blog carnival is on-line at Paddy K's Swedish Extravaganza. Catch the best recent blogging on archaeology and anthropology! Submissions for the next carnival will be sent to me. All bloggers with an interest in the subject are welcome to volunteer to me for hosting. The next vacant hosting slot is in two weeks, on 4 November. It's a good way to gain readers. No need to be an anthro pro.

Twilight of Post-Modernism

Swedish social sciences zine Axess just published a thematic issue about the twilight of post-modernism and the lingering pockets of anything-goes relativism that it's leaving behind. Essays by Johan Lundberg, Ophelia Benson & Jeremy Stangroom, Richard Wolin and Christofer Edling. Currently only in Swedish, but English translations will be on-line shortly. On the Swedish scale, Axess is a moderate conservative mag. On the US scale, it's somewhere just left of Bill Clinton.

Tangled Bank #81

The very freshest, sweetest, neatest Tangled Bank is now online. It's got links! To science! P.S. A few people are worried that the Panda's Thumb seems to be down right now. They're having some server problems, it's nothing to be too concerned about (it is not an external attack), and they're in the midst of migrating to a new server anyway, so all should be well again soon without too much fuss.

PLoS ONE Journal Club

PLoS ONE, the Open Access science journal, has finally published something with an archaeological bent: a fine genetics paper about the original peopling of the Americas. As part of their effort to stimulate scientific conversation about the journal's papers, they've put a "Journal Club" on-line where discussion can take place. Myself and Greg Laden offered initial remarks on the paper, and now the mike is free for anyone who wishes to contribute.

Anthro Blog Carnival

The seventy-third Four Stone Hearth blog carnival is on-line at Greg Laden's blog. Catch the best recent blogging on archaeology and anthropology! Submissions for the next carnival will be sent to me. All bloggers with an interest in the subject are welcome to volunteer to me for hosting. The next vacant hosting slot is on 23 September. No need to be an anthro pro. And check out the new Skeptics' Circle!

Anthro Blog Carnival

The seventy-second Four Stone Hearth blog carnival is on-line at A Hot Cup of Joe. Catch the best recent blogging on archaeology and anthropology! Submissions for the next carnival will be sent to me. All bloggers with an interest in the subject are welcome to volunteer to me for hosting. The next vacant hosting slot is on 9 23 September. No need to be an anthro pro. And check out the new Skeptics' Circle!

Anthro Blog Carnival

The sixty-eighth Four Stone Hearth blog carnival is on-line at Remote Central. Catch the best recent blogging on archaeology and anthropology! Submissions for the next carnival will be sent to me. The next open hosting slot is on 29 July. All bloggers with an interest in the subject are welcome to volunteer to me for hosting. No need to be an anthro pro. And check out the latest Skeptics' Circle!

Anthro Blog Carnival

The sixty-seventh Four Stone Hearth blog carnival is on-line at Sorting Out Science. Catch the best recent blogging on archaeology and anthropology! Submissions for the next carnival will be sent to me. The next open hosting slot is on 15 July. All bloggers with an interest in the subject are welcome to volunteer to me for hosting. No need to be an anthro pro. And check out the latest Skeptics' Circle!

Anthro Blog Carnival

The sixty-fifth Four Stone Hearth blog carnival is on-line at A Primate of Modern Aspect. Catch the best recent blogging on archaeology and anthropology! Submissions for the next carnival will be sent to me. The next open hosting slot is already on 6 May. All bloggers with an interest in the subject are welcome to volunteer to me for hosting. No need to be an anthro pro. But you must be a babe. Like me.

Anthro Blog Carnival

The sixty-third Four Stone Hearth blog carnival is on-line at Millard Fillmore's Bathtub. Catch the best recent blogging on archaeology and anthropology! Submissions for the next carnival will be sent to me. The next open hosting slot is on 6 May. All bloggers with an interest in the subject are welcome to volunteer to me for hosting. No need to be an anthro pro. And check out the latest Skeptics' Circle!

A Blog for Everything

Via a comment at Cocktail Party Physics, I have become aware of the existence of the "Physics Chicks" LiveJournal community. It's probably safe to assume that the Female Science Professor isn't wild about the name. It's billed as "An online community for crazy and cool women in physics," or at least those crazy and cool women in physics with LiveJournal accounts. So, you know, there you go. Something for everyone out there on the Internets.

Crazy Baby Breeder Lady's Mother Speaks Out

The mother of the woman who used a fertility doctor to give birth to octuplets, despite already having six young children, called her daughter's actions "unconscionable" in an interview posted online Sunday. details I'm not sure my hypothesis of a race effect has been fully falsified, but the alternative hypotheses of edginess due to the economy and people thinking she is a nut bag are starting to feel stronger and have not yet been falsified.

Another meaningless on-line poll

Glenn Reynolds approvingly links to another poll that he claims provides More evidence that the British public is taking a tougher line on crime than the British government. Of course, Reynolds yet again fails to take notice of the fact that it is yet another meaningless on-line poll which tells nothing useful about what the British public thinks. Also, Michael Peckham has some more comments on the infamous BBC phone-in poll.

Let Her Eat The Oppressor's Cake

Normally I think one should be a bit gentle with the young un's, as they are still not fully formed and their thinking has not developed much complexity. They haven't had a lot of experience; you have to give them time to grow into understanding. But if they will go about writing screeds for rightwing publications, all bets are off. Over at the Cornell American Online, Rachel Brenc, a first-year student in engineering - oops, I mean, freshman - has written a little piece that ought to be titled Why There's Nothing Wrong With White Male Domination Of Every Institution In Our Society As…

I know you can't get enough Chris Mooney

We did an impromptu Point of Inquiry podcast this afternoon, which could appear at any time now. It's a little odd, because Jennifer Hecht was drafted to moderate, but she forgot her role, I think, and it turned into a 2-on-1 argument. I was the 1, I'm afraid. I'm going to go listen to Sam Harris for a few hours, so I probably will be busy when it goes online. I wouldn't listen to it, anyway! The podcast is now available.

What Is This World Coming To?

In general, the Corpus Callosum celebrates the entrepreneurial spirit.  This may be the best example of Yankee ingenuity I've ever seen. This being a family-oriented site, it would be too risqué for me to show the photo uncropped.  Plus, my mother reads this sometimes. So the full monty is below the fold... The href="http://markmaynard.com/index.php/2007/07/29/24_hour_panty_people#comments">Artist's post is here; the newspaper article href="http://www.mlive.com/annarbor/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1185692833237380.xml&coll=2">here; the online Ypsipanty store is here…

Overwhelmed at ScienceOnline 2009

OMG I am at ScienceOnline! In (also cold) RTP! And I've now met ScienceWoman! And let me say she is as lovely in person as she is online. And I've met a whole bunch of other folks, but am still trying to sort out the politics of pseudonymity. Hopefully I'll get to post some official blogger photos later. But in the meantime, both SW's and my sessions are this morning. Wish us luck! :-)

Second Annual Online Philosophy Conference

The second Online Philosophy Conference has begun, and the first week's presentations are up. If you didn't participate in last year's OPC, here's how it works: a presentation and one or two responses are posted for you to read, and comments are open to everyone for discussion. This year, they've also included two keynote addresses, one for each week. This week's keynote address is by Ernest Sosa. Stop by and check it all out.

PBS is Getting Web Friendly

Finally. NPR has been providing almost all their content online for quite a while. First you can watch Charlie Rose ... for free! (It use to cost 1$ a show, now you can watch the last week no charge.) Now NOVA has some videos. Great! Then if you want more see John Hogan (The End of Science) and science writer George Johnson talk about the Greene/Krauss debate on string theory they are on Bloggingheads.tv.

Dissing BP, a Bora Interview, and a Blog Carnival Request

Jennifer L. Jacquet has been investigating the results of unfettered "drill baby drill" environmentalism, and in the process came across this impressive collection of tee-shirts that say something about the BP oil spill. For the most part, they are not pro BP. Bora of A Blog Around the Clock interviews Anne Frances Johnson, in his continuing series of Science Online 2010 interviews. And finally, science bloggers take note: Scientia Pro Publica Needs Your Writing!

Johns Hopkins Magazine article on Lancet studies

Dale Keiger's article on the Lancet studies is now online: Newspapers the world over put the number in their headlines. Reporters tried to explain it, often bungling the job. To dismiss the research, critics seized on its implausibility, in the process frequently distorting its meaning. Political leaders dodged its implications by brushing it aside as the meaningless product of a discredited methodology. In a leading scientific journal, other scientists challenged how the study had been done.

Please vote for Peter Sinclair and Climate Denial Crocks

Peter Sinclair is locked in a close struggle in online voting for a $5000 grant that he can use to improve the quality of his Climate Denial Crock videos. If you've watched any of his videos here, please vote for him. You have to register, but it only takes a few seconds. Saturday, May 15 is the last day to vote. Here's one of his videos that I haven't featured before, on global warming on Mars:

Check Me Out on Live TV This Friday

For those of my readers in the UK (or anywhere else where you have access to Sky News), I'll be appearing live on Sky News at about 10:30 11:30 BST this Friday to talk about Barack Obama's visit to the UK and his support among Americans living abroad. I'm not sure if the video will be posted online afterward, but if it is, I'll post a link to it here.

A Perspective on Critical Thinking

The process of using critical thinking involves several steps. These steps work formally in experimental design and analysis, studying and mastering new concepts as we learn and in making decisions that people need to make in the various aspects of our lives. They also work informally and people process these steps often when we are not aware of them, nor even that we are following them. Mike Haubrich on Critical Thinking, a propos Science Online 10

ScienceOnline2010 iPhone app

Yes, we have it. You can check out the app in iTunes here. Features include a schedule quick-reference, information about the conference as a whole, and a brief nod to the participating sponsors. The app is named 'SciOnline10' due to the (visible) naming restrictions on the device. Searching for Science, Online, or ScienceOnline2010 (or the app name, SciOnline10) will find it on the App Store if the link doesn't work for you.

Happy 10th Birthday, NASA Earth Observatory

Mt. Pinatubo, Philippines taken by STS-050 in July 1992. Image courtesy of the NASA Earth Observatory Few websites offer so many unique views of active volcanism than the NASA Earth Observatory. That is why I'd like to wish the EO a happy 10th birthday. The website first came online April 29, 1999. Keep up the good work and here's to more stunning volcano images (like the one above of Mt. Pinatubo) to come!

Back from Montreal

I'll try to post a synopsis of the Islam and Evolution Symposium I participated in at McGill one of these days, but until then you can get a taste of it by viewing the presentations online. Especially interesting for those of you obsessed with all things Josh, my presentation. In short, a great time was had by all, with lots of great conversations in the sessions, and among the participants over the several days of the conference.

Medicaid, disability, and penury

I've been writing a lot about the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, mainly from the perspective of Medicaid as a route to health insurance for low-income US residents. As a recent Wonkblog post from University of Chicago professor Harold Pollack reminded me, though, Medicaid is also an essential source of care for people who require long-term care -- or, in Medicaid language "long-term services and support (LTSS)" -- due to disabling conditions. When a person needs daily assistance with routine tasks, the costs can quickly eat up a family's income and savings, so Medicaid is a…

How Did You Get My Facebook?

Facebook watchers are reporting that the service is about to launch a new feature for merchants that will allow merchants to target ads to users based upon users' email and phone numbers. That's a little confusing. Let me explain with a hypo-- As I understand it, it might work like this: ABC Corp. has an extensive database of consumer email addresses, but is concerned that no one is reading the company's spam. So ABC uploads its consumer email database to Facebook, which identifies Facebook members who are customers of ABC. ABC Corp can then send its marketing through Facebook so that it…

Can't we do something with this White House petition thing?

For a long time I ignored the White House petitions, mostly, because their sign in system was messing with me and I spend very little time on web sites that mess with me. But they seem to have fixed that problem and now I can actually read what is going on there and participate in the process. Or not. So, here's some ideas. First, I wonder if we should all sign the petitions for various states to secede from the Union, but only for states we don't live it. That would be funny. Like this one: ALLOW ALASKA TO SECEDE FROM A DYSFUNCTIONAL UNION. As an American Veteran on behalf of the U.S.…

Are Books and Kindles Correlated?

I'm trying not to obsessively check and re-check the Dog Physics Sales Rank Tracker, with limited success. One thing that jumped out at me from the recent data, though, is the big gap between the book and Kindle rankings over the weekend. The book sales rank dropped (indicating increased sales, probably a result of the podcast interview), while the Kindle rank went up dramatically. This suggests that people who listen to that particular podcast are less likely to buy new books on the Kindle than new books on paper. This got me wondering, though, whether this was an anomaly, or a general truth…

Radio Simulation

Thinking a little more about the soundtrack post from a couple of weeks ago, I was struck by the fact that I don't seem to have the same strong associations with more recent songs that I do with some older stuff. It's not that I'm buying less music, I don't think, but rather that iTunes and the lack of good radio has changed the way I listen to music. In particular, I miss good radio, and I wonder if it would be possible to get iTunes to simulate the sort of thing I'm after (explained below the fold). In my opinion, a really good radio station playlist breaks down sort of like this: 50%…

Brandon Sanderson, Elantris [Library of Babel]

When Brandon Sanderson's debut novel, Elantris first appeared on store shelves, I was tempted to buy it. It had a lot of things going for it: good review quotes, a striking cover, an interesting description, and it's published by Tor, who are usually pretty reliable. I couldn't quite figure out, though, whether it was the first book in a series or not, and I'd really rather not commit to another long fantasy series if it can be avoided. The paperback edition helpfully addresses this in the back cover copy: "Elantris delightfully proves that a great complete fantasy story can still be told in…

Creation Museum Attendance Decreasing

I spent the last weekend in scenic Parsippany, NJ, participating in the annual chess extravaganza known as the U. S. Amateur Team East. As big a chess fan as I am, I am mostly retired from tournament play. It's too hard and stressful! For the first time in a long while, however, I managed to make some decent moves, so you can be sure that you will hear all about it shortly! Alas, since I am digging out from all the work that didn't get done while I was away, that might have to wait for the weekend. In the meantime, you can take some comfort from this article, that appeared recently in…