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razib | July 10, 2006 Helen of Troy by Bettany Hughes offers a panaromic romp across the the Eastern Mediterranean between the end of the Bronze Age and the cusp of the Age of Iron. Hughes, a historian by training, inserts her own insights as to what it must have been to be a woman of the Achaeans within the framework of archaeological consensus. I say archaeological rather than historical because Hughes' canvas offers few written clues as to its mental and emotional texture, the Bronze Age Greeks used literacy only as a tool of accounting, not of storytelling. This is the greatest weakness, and strength, of…
razib | July 10, 2006This is a shout out to regular readers, I'm asking a survey in this entry to get a general feel for who is reading this weblog since I'm 6 monthis into this, so please click below the fold if you are interested in fessing up
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revere | July 8, 2006The world's pre-eminent scientific journal, Nature, has once again taken notice of blogs. I say "once again" because Nature has consistently been out in front in recognizing that blogging has come to science, not just science to blogging. Senior correspondent Declan Butler has his own blog and was the first science journalist in a high profile journal to call attention to blogging, which he did in dramatic fashion by penning a faux blog set in the near future describing an avian influenza pandemic.
Declan has now produced a list of the top five science blogs and a supplemental list of…
razib | July 7, 2006Check out Darwin Catholic, a traditionalist Roman Catholic who comments on the intersection between his faith and evolutionary biology (and other things).
razib | July 5, 2006Jake at Pure Pedantry has been on a blog tear posting some seriously funny shit. But this post on Linsday Hohan makes me wonder what the real identity of the guy who blogs at The Superficial is.
A real smokin' readhead below the fold....
razib | July 5, 2006If you are reading this at paternityzone.com, you should know
1) This content was generated here, under the aegis of Science Blogs.
2) I am not a "contributor" to paternityzone.com.
3) Taking an RSS feed and making it look like regular content without attribution isn't cool.
4) You should ask before you take.
5) We don't need to talk about this if appropriate measures are taken, you know what I mean?
razib | July 4, 2006Is it just me, or is Miss Albania trying to do an Angelina Jolie? Picture below the fold....
razib | July 1, 2006Paul comments on blogging, politics and science in response to my interview at Genetics & Health. Some of what Paul says mirrors Chris of Mixing Memory's sentiments in relation to reaching out and engaging in dialogue with those who differ from you.
There is a big topic, and I'm not going to weigh in deeply at this point, but, I will say that there is a balance between accepting differences and dismissing the absurd. Where people draw the line differs. Myself, Creationism is absurd. So is someone who questions the selectionist narrative of adult lactase persistence. There are…
razib | June 30, 2006Janet has the details, but we're winding down. Three things:
1) Thanks to everyone who gave, I didn't raise much myself, but something is way better than nothing and good is accomplished in small steps
2) Mad props to "DS" (you know who you are), as you donated twice, and at least once substantially
3) I'd really like to get some last minute pledges and make it to around $500
But thanks again to everyone who participated! Hopefully I'll be doing things like this in the future.
razib | June 29, 2006It is well known that academics tend to be on the political Left. Some people are angry about this, but I don't particularly care. Members of Opus Dei tend to be on the Right, does that surprise? Nevertheless, I am curious about differences with disciplines in academia. So I found this study which classified political orientation by discipline. Excel below the fold....
(Larger image)
Notice a trend? Check the Ns in the original study, the fact that only 32 Nursing academics returned the survey means I trust that number less, but the overall trend is clear. I have read high IQ…
razib | June 29, 2006Closeup 1 has revamped their website and is ramping up for their 2006 edition, though for a poetically inclined folk this introduction does translate somewhat manically into English:
Dreams & Talents
Confidence & Aspiration
Voice & The Microphone
A Nation & Its Youth
You, us and the youth of
Bangladesh - together we
created history with
Close Up 1 in 2005.
Of course, just like the first season of Survivor, the first season of Closeup 1 is special. The initial participants will go down in history....
razib | June 27, 2006The paper that was supposed to be out nearly a week ago is finally on the PNAS site. This isn't the first time this has cropped up. Additionally, I can't believe that someone is writing all the press releases which give early dates for release on the website, rather, I'm assuming that the IT guys at PNAS are lazy. Anyway, I don't want to be a bitch, but this is a pattern so I figure I should note it publically (hey, when you waste 15-20 minutes combing the website for a paper multiple times, resentment builds up).
razib | June 26, 2006OK, people, check out the leader board. I suck, but that's cool, we've raised thousands & thousands of dollars. But, I would like to stand a little taller and say that I did my part, so lift me up on your shoulders!
razib | June 25, 2006I might not believe in God, but I believe in Satan. Below the fold is a picture where you can make your own judgement (those who remember the Omen movies know what I'm talking about)....
razib | June 25, 2006Chris has an excellent post up about the "why" and "what" in regards to science blogs. I have already sketched out why I blog in the generalities, it is really a function of my egoism. The one thing I would add, or elaborate, in regards to Chris' post is that I do think science blogs play a very important role in adding a layer of intellectual granularity to the understanding of educated and science savvy folk of specific fields. If you encounter science purely through popularizations, no matter how well written they are you might get a distorted sense. As an illustration, as Chris has…
razib | June 22, 2006I swung by the public library today to pay a $1.25 fine. Offhand I asked the librarian what the biggest fine she'd ever encountered was, and she leaned forward and whispered, "$1,000." What she told me was that someone simply came in and paid $1,000 rather than returning their checked out books. I suppose some people have never heard of used book stores! But, the librarian continued that enormous fines were not that out of the ordinary, and that one collection agency specializes in library accounts. Finally, she explained one point of interest to me: a disproportionate of the very high…