humor
j7uy5 | December 21, 2006This was one of those snap quizzes, where you read an article, answer a
couple questions, and get 0.25 CME credits. It had to do with
biomarkers for cardiac risk. After plowing through a ton of
obscure information about CRP, urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio, and
things like that, I get to the test questions:
A
65-year-old man with a history of diabetes, hypertension, and
dyslipidemia presents with chest pain. He is a nonsmoker. Which of the
following is not a contributing risk factor for the
development of cardiovascular disease in this patient? (
class="cmetag">Required for…
pharyngula | December 21, 2006…despite being an imaginary monologue. Read how Richard Dawkins would explain Santa Claus to the Fair Hills kindergarten class.
grrlscientist | December 21, 2006This streaming video shows a gift idea for those of you who are madly searching for that perfect gift for a loved one ...
pharyngula | December 21, 2006He died for your sins so you can get presents.
He is Jesus the Christ, he's got a list and he's checking it twice.
clock | December 20, 2006I did not have time to go through all the posts on all of today's carnivals, but Larry Moran discovered a real gem on today's Carnival of Education. Check the comments as well. Then come up with your own system.
j7uy5 | December 20, 2006PZ's post on Crichton reminded me to point this out. For
those of you who don't know, Michael Crichton got kind of nasty, paying
back a critic by making up a character in a book. The made-up
character had just enough similarity to let us know who he was getting
back at. Details are
href="http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2006/12/bad_writers_shouldnt_piss_off.php">here.
His reputation is taking a big hit because of it.
There is more detail
href="http://markmaynard.com/index.php/2006/12/14/crichton_has_an_o_j_like_moment_but_with">here.
For those of you who don't already know…
evolvingthoughts | December 19, 2006Once, in a previous incarnation (where I was not so furry, fat and albinoish), I ruled a graphics department. We had the IT staff try to convince us to go Windows about every six months instead of Mac, for about 18 years...
Hence this:
pharyngula | December 19, 2006Phil has conceded, and I've received official verification that Pharyngula is indeed the winner of the Best Science Blog award.
I have no illusions, though: this really isn't a recognition that I have the best science blog, it's evidence that I can put together a really good PR campaign that will turn out the vote for a meaningless weblog award. Yay! If you want a hint on how to get people riled up, though, one good way is the Pro Wrestling method: turn it into a grudge match, with lots of bellowing and thrown chairs. Phil Plait collaborated on this contrived conflict to turn out the…
omnibrain | December 18, 2006Something from the vaults:
Well...here it is: Dogs are not psychic. Ohh well I kinda thought they had a chance. Here's the originial report (scanned pdf) from the Army, it's pretty interesting actually. And here's a summary from the webpage:
In the early 1950s, Dr. Joseph Banks Rhine, based at Duke University, was the foremost researcher in the field of parapsychology, or, using the term he coined: "extrasensory perception." The Army hired Rhine and his Parapsychology Laboratory to research the possibility of using dogs and other animals to…
pharyngula | December 18, 2006Gosh, but it looks exciting.
(It really did arrive in my mailbox … inside the pages of Mad magazine.)
omnibrain | December 18, 2006We had a debate on my old blog as to what is causing this... what do you think?
grrlscientist | December 18, 2006Speaking of legal mood-altering drug use, here's a new drug for you to use.
To view this ad, please click here.
.
tags: demoglad, streaming video, politics, humor, satire
omnibrain | December 18, 2006
In no particular order...
1) Being a south paw promotes survival from attacks (well at least in crabs). It seems that
The left-handed advantage is realized when snails interact with predators of opposite handedness. Some predatory crabs are "righties" -- and have a specialized tooth on their right claw that acts like a can opener to crack and peel the snail shells. "The 'sinistral advantage,' or advantage to being left-handed, is that it would be like using a can opener backwards for the crab to crack and peel the snail shell,"
Does something like this apply to humans? We're still…
oracknows | December 17, 2006First, check out The Daily Show's take on the Holocaust denial conference, with goodies like Revision Quest and Just Say No. It's the show that characterizes the "question" being discussed at the conference as: Was the entire Holocaust an elaborate episode of Punk'd? Best line: David Duke, he's like the Flock of Seagulls of hate. Or maybe the one about the neo-Nazis who are publishing a book about the Holocaust entitled If We Did It...
But, believe it or not, I've found a take on the Holocaust denial convention, parts of which may be even funnier than The Daily Show, and it comes from a…
omnibrain | December 16, 2006Another classic...
So I was watching Mythbusters the other night and they were testing a number of "mind contol" devices - they used EEG, etc. They even decided that a couple methods were "plausible."
I decided what I could find out there on the internet...
The first place I looked was EBay - they really do sell everything (I once almost got an antique proctologists uhh.."probe" - it was going to be a gift .. i promise), but anyway - this picture popped up. Only $799.99!
Control people's minds with this amazingly simple technology. The Mind Control Machine converts your voice into something…
evolvingthoughts | December 16, 2006at the front, there'd be this suspiciously familiar primate...
My son reckons that a photo of me wouldn't look all that different. My son is about to lose some teeth, I reckon.
omnibrain | December 16, 2006
A number of people have noticed that after getting transplants their personality changes - and not only that- their personality changes to reflect the donors personality.
...though she was born and raised in Tucson, she never liked Mexican food. She craved Italian and was a pasta junkie. But three years ago, all that changed for Jaime Sherman, 28, when she underwent a heart transplant at University Medical Center, after battling a heart defect since birth. "Now I love football, baseball, basketball. You name it, I follow it," said Sherman, a psychology student at Arizona State University. "…
grrlscientist | December 15, 2006
Not exactly a nature image,
but someone out there (you know who you are)
is trying to cause me to laugh,
a rare feat in today's world.
Yes, you succeeded.
Orphaned image. Please contact me for proper credit and linkage.
mikethemadbiologist | December 15, 2006But you know you want to read it anyway. From Iraqslogger:
A driver is stuck in a traffic jam on the highway. Suddenly a man knocks on his window. The driver rolls down his window and asks, "What's going on?"
"Terrorists down the road have kidnapped George W. Bush and Dick Cheney," the man says, "They're asking $100 million ransom. Otherwise they're going to douse them with gasoline and set them on fire. We're going from car to car taking up a collection."
The driver asks, "How much is everyone giving on average?"
The man responds: "Most people are giving about a gallon."