Science
catdynamics | August 7, 2006XKCD - comics
They're funny, they're science, and everyone is blogging them.
For a good reason. Pile in, and link.
pharyngula | August 7, 2006We seem to be talking about breasts a lot this week, don't we? Abel Pharmboy raises a provocative ethical question: is it crass or is it reasonable for breast cancer researchers to ask Hooters to promote breast cancer awareness? I'm of the opinion that we ought to get every penny we can from them, but stop short of giving any hint that we actually endorse their business…although I'd wonder if even asking them for their assistance is granting them respectability, or if acknowledging the assistance of Hooters would turn a serious event into a joke.
It's probably best to post your answers to…
pharyngula | August 7, 2006Our behind-the-scenes whip boss at Seed, Katherine Sharpe, mentioned this comic, and after I was done laughing, I had to post it.
It could be our new motto.
pharyngula | August 7, 2006Over at the Panda's Thumb, there is a sharp rebuttal of the creationists' complaint about junk DNA. Read it, it's useful. It leads to a bothersome and more general point, though.
Despite its connotations, the phrase “junk DNA” (originated by Susumu Ohno in 1972) does not intend to convey an absolute and irreversible lack of function. Indeed, as it is often noted, had that been the case “garbage DNA” would have been a better term. In fact, “junk” is what accumulates in people’s basements and attics, not immediately useful but not nasty or burdensome enough to be quickly discarded – indeed,…
pharyngula | August 7, 2006Collins has another published interview in Salon. It's sad, actually—in every new interview, he says pretty much the same thing, but he digs himself in a little deeper. I ordered his book the other day, and now I'm beginning to regret it; it's beginning to sound like trite Christian apologetics with no depth, no self-reflection, no insight…just compound anecdotes intended to rationalize a conclusion he has arrived at with no evidence. It's distressingly anti-scientific.
For instance, we get an expansion of his hiking anecdote:
You also write about a seminal experience you had a little later…
pharyngula | August 7, 2006Let's start the week with another open thread, and a few carnivals.
The Synapse 1(4)
Carnival of the Godless #46
pharyngula | August 4, 2006Lots of sources are telling me about Pat Robertson's sudden acceptance of the fact of global warming. I'm sorry, but it's no cause for rejoicing. He accepts it for the wrong reasons.
This week the heat index, the perceived temperature based on both air temperatures and humidity, reached 115 Fahrenheit in some regions of the U.S. East Coast. The 76-year-old Robertson told viewers that was "the most convincing evidence I've seen on global warming in a long time."
If there's one broad, overall message I wish everyone would get from this blog and from my teaching, it's that science isn't about…
drorzel | August 3, 2006Quantum Pontiff Dave Bacon preaches the Word:
One thing that bugs the heck out of me, is when I hear particle physicists talk about their field as if it is all of physics. I have a great love of particle physics, so I'm not dissing the field at all, nor arguing that it isn't more fundamental, but it rubs me the wrong way to disregard all of the rest of physics that is currently going on. This especially irritates me since it gives students the wrong impression that the only exciting physics is in particle physics.
Can I get an "Amen!"?
I sometimes wonder if people in other disciplines have…
pharyngula | August 3, 2006Often, as I've looked at my embryonic zebrafish, I've noticed their prominent median fins. You can see them in this image, although it really doesn't do them justice—they're thin, membranous folds that make the tail paddle-shaped.
These midline fins are everywhere in fish—lampreys have them, sharks have them, teleosts have them, and we've got traces of them in the fossil record. Midline fins are more common and more primitive, yet usually its the paired fins, the pelvic and pectoral fins, that get all the attention, because they are cousins to our paired limbs…and of course, we completely…
catdynamics | August 2, 2006What movie do you think does something admirable (though not necessarily accurate) regarding science? Bonus points for answering whether the chosen movie is any good generally....
Er, Bladerunner?
Forbidden Planet - if only for subversively introducing Shakespeare to teenage boys.
Deep Impact had its moments, more bad than good, but it came out so well in comparison with Armageddon...
Contact had some redeeming features. So did 2001 Space Odyssey (and not just the soundtrack, overrated!)
The Day the Earth Stood Still? Fat Man and Little Boy?
I've heard good things about Gattaca. The first…
catdynamics | August 2, 2006Somewhere out there, in some splendid ivory tower, a Professor of Theoretical Law is working on a new Grand Theory of the Unified Executive, which he hopes will overturn the increasingly obsolete Standard Model of three independent sources of Law, Justice and Executive Power (who ordered those anyway?).
This will simplify Law and Order tremendously, and make actual enacting and implementation of law much simpler, showing finally the underlying Unity of All Law.
To be this man is what all pre-law and law students aspire to. It is the career track that essentially all law schools aim their…
catdynamics | August 2, 2006Tangled Bank #59 is up at Science and Reason
Charles also proposes a Unilateral Declaration of Independence - that physical science blogs have their own blog carnival. Tangled Bank is heavy on bio, it is true.
The two could of course co-exist peacefully, but only if the new carnival comes up with a genuinely snazzy name. Also since there's more of them, I'd vote for a monthly phys sci blog carnival, rather than biweekly.
pharyngula | August 2, 2006Phil Plait is trying hard to depress us with the most horrific youtube video ever. Watch it and realize that the universe does not love us, we are incredibly fragile, and there are cosmic forces out there that with a little bad luck, could turn us into cinders in an instant.
Hmmm, I guess I can be depressing, too.
pharyngula | August 2, 2006If you're at work, I hope you have headphones; if you don't, check in once you get home. Here are a couple of audio recordings of good science.
John Rennie speaks out on stem cells on an Australian program, the Science Show.
I reviewed her new book a while ago, and now you can hear Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard lecture on basic developmental biology. She has a very nice light German accent that makes it especially pleasant to listen to, I think.
pharyngula | August 1, 2006One entry in the carnival roundup for today:
Bio :: Blogs #2
Otherwise, I'm running about in Minneapolis, paying another visit to the airport and going to a meeting at UMTC, so talk among yourselves. I'll be back later.
drorzel | August 1, 2006There have been a number of responses to my Science Is Hard post over the last several days, and I've been trying to come up with something to say about them. This is the second of two posts responding to comments by some of my fellow ScienceBloggers.
Turning to Steinn's first post on the subject, I actually hadn't intended to link the "Science Is Hard" post to the "Why They're Leaving" post. Those two subjects just happened to catch my eye on the same day. Their juxtaposition was not meant to imply that students leave science because science is hard-- in fact, the particular difficulties I…
catdynamics | August 1, 2006 So, I sorta dropped my beloved 12" a few weeks ago, and ignoring the cosmetic dents, a couple of the interfaces are not quite their helpful normal selves, and I infer imminent SuperDrive failure. Plus there's the ominous light rattle sound...
So... the MacBookPro: worth getting Real Soon Now, or should I wait as long as I can until they expand the range and increase options?
While I'm at it: any thoughts on the new Mac desktops? Is it worth scrounging and hoarding old G5s for posterity, or go with the flow? Or go back to linuxboxes?
drorzel | August 1, 2006There have been a number of responses to my Science Is Hard post over the last several days, and I've been trying to come up with something to say about them. In particular, Steinn points out that science is easier than digging ditches, while in comments, "revere" of Effect Measure says that science is tedious, just like digging ditches. Well, OK, that's flippant-- what he really said was:
The dirty secret we don't teach our students is that most real research is tedious, time consuming and routine, just like any other kind of work. Whether you think it's hard or the ride of a lifetime is…
pharyngula | August 1, 2006You may recall that Martin Brazeau was going to spend July doing fieldwork—well, he's back, and is going to be telling us about his exciting month in a Canadian cow pasture, if ever you wanted to hear a first-hand account of paleontological research.
pharyngula | July 31, 2006The carnivals du jour:
Circus of the Spineless XI
Encephalon #3
Again, this is also an open thread. I got a comment on the last one that more open threads are needed. Is that true? I don't need to go to Atrios-level open-threadery, of course, but if you'd like these a little more often, let me know.