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A small "Signal-to-Noise Ratio" means that there is not enough real information (signal) compared to the background noise to make a definitive statement about something. With a sufficiently high Signal-to-Noise Ratio, it is possible to make statistically valid statements about some measure or observation. This applies to a lot of day to day decisions you make in life.
Climate change denialists understand this principle and they use it to try to fool people into thinking that "the jury is still out" on Global Warming, or that scientists are making up their data, and so on. Here, I want to…
As you know, I've started a bit of blogging at The X Blog. Please check out my latest post ...
Evolution is real. Creationism is not. Why are emails from creationists often published in respectable newspapers? There is a reason, and I'll tell you what it is below. (Preview: It is your fault.)...
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Wouldn't it be great if everyone was as good at admitting their mistakes?
Abstract: Peer-reviewed journals are a pillar of modern science. Their aim is to achieve highest scientific standards by carrying out a rigorous peer review that is, as a minimum requirement, supposed to be able to identify fundamental methodological errors or false claims. Unfortunately, as many climate researchers and engaged observers of the climate change debate pointed out in various internet discussion fora, the paper by Spencer and Braswell [1] that was recently published in Remote Sensing is most likely…
This is an experiment. To reduce complexity in my own life and enhance the quality of communication between me and you, I'm going to try this "newsletter" thingie. It will probably be weekly, roughly timed for the middle of the week, and will include links to the blog posts I personally wish that you would not miss, information about other stuff happening on the blogosphere, a little section on activism to remind both you and me to do that, and a listing of ways in which you can reach out and touch me. Without actually, you now, touching me.
For now, I will probably cross-post this on my…
Is on line, but please be patient if there are technical problems. Lots of blogs are joining Freethoughtblogs.com this morning. I'll update you later on that interesting story.
Click here to visit the The X Blog. To which I am NOT moving. But rather, going.
I really am. When I was a kid, we had few books at home, and the library was two blocks away. Before kindergarten, so when I was less than five or six, I had worked out a route by which I would take my wagon to the library, crossing our urban streets away from the dangerous corners, to the library, pick up a pile of books and return the last pile. Then I would read them and bring them back.
After a summer of doing this they ran out of books in the children's section, which was not very large (this was the small branch library on Delaware by the Post Office, for those of you who know mid…
Sharing the results of a massive, worldwide study, geneticist Svante Pääbo shows the DNA proof that early humans mated with Neanderthals after we moved out of Africa. (Yes, many of us have Neanderthal DNA.) He also shows how a tiny bone from a baby finger was enough to identify a whole new humanoid species.
Humanoid? Whatever....
krandall |
By Dr. Rachel Mastrapa; Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, SETI Institute, and Gail Jacobs
Rachel Mastrapa studies the surface processes of icy Solar System bodies by interpreting their infrared spectra. The majority of her work involves performing the ground truth measurements in the laboratory including calculating the complex indices of refraction of single composition ice samples. These measurements are then used to construct model spectra to interpret the chemical composition of observed spectra. She also studies the subtle changes seen in ice mixtures that are not…
And I'm only half joking:
Three degrees warming doubles risk of civil war
Global patterns of civil conflict are directly associated with planetary-scale climate change. Specifically in tropical countries, the risk of civil war have just been shown to double in warmer El Niño years (to about 6% risk per country per year) compared to cooler El Niña years (when the risk is about 3%).
A Not so Splendid Table
I love NPR, though I'm not a regular Splendid Table listener. This morning's show featured a guest who claimed that all GMO's are bad with no potential benefit to feed the developing world…
No, no, not that kind of addition... What, are you crazy?
I'd like to announce a new page on Evolution ... not just a theory anymore blog. It is a "media page" which consists of podasts and stuff that I've done.
The page is in its infancy, and I've only got a few items listed so far. Soon it will include everything I can remember.
Please have a look!
Thanks to bradrundage for letting me use his baby.
I like the way the godfather smiles when they talk about git.
The Orgfather
(
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video_config: {width: 500, height: 350}
}
)
Hat tip: Got Emacs.
At present, Irene is a Category One hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph. In 24 hours from now, mid-afternoon on Sunday, Irene will be on or near the coast of New Jersey near Long Branch, and over the subsequent 12 hours she will be captured by mid latitude meteorological forces, converted to a tropical storm, and splayed across New York and New England. She's heading straight for Springfield Mass, then over Vermont and New Hampshire and into Maine and points beyond, but she will be big and wide and wet and windy, so a large area will be affected.
Are you in Irene's path? Have…
Congress is in charge of the federal budget. That is a constitutional reality. However, since members of Congress are elected and elections are, well, political, the federal budget is a political artifact. And this is often bad news for science.
It all started with William Proxmire. I still run into people now and then who extol Proxmire's virtues when it comes to making government more responsible, but they are not remembering correctly. What Proxmire did was this: His staff would comb through federally funded science project grants looking for names of projects that could be made to…
Hurricane Irene is probably at its strongest moment at this writing, as a Category Two hurricane, and will become weaker over time as she moves north. However, Irene is very large and will be moving very slowly. So, which is worse? Category Two hurricane winds passing quickly through an area or Tropical Storm force winds hanging around for a day? I suppose it depends of if you are a well built jetty or a fast food sign at a strip mall.
In 24 hours from now, by late afternoon on Saturday, Irene will be a Category One storm on the sitting on top of the Outer Banks of North Carolina.…
Links for you. Science:
Smart people accept evolution (I have a different take, in that 'smartness'--which to me is actually just educational attainment--mirrors political leanings and socioeconomic status, which themselves are correlated)
Evolution doesn't fit our generalities
NIH solicits opinions (from you) on biomedical workforce (more info here)
What is in a name? A case study of genomic epidemiology w/ Bacillus cereus and Bacillus anthracis
Other:
An Empty Regard (must-read)
Our Brave New Marketing World
Are we replacing robots with Chinese people?
My Conversation with Andrés Duany:…
Apparently there's been a ca 5.9 magnitude earthquake in northern Virginia about 30 miles east of Charlottesville. The earthquake was shallow so it's effects were felt widely. It is reported that buildings in NY City were evacuated, as well as the Pentagon. The USGS page is here.
sb admin |
I've opted to move this blog to my own domain at http://www.isisthescientist.com.
I look forward to seeing some of you there. My sincerest thanks and best wishes to ScienceBlogs. And now, onward...
I've opted to move this blog to my own domain at http://www.isisthescientist.com.
I look forward to seeing some of you there. My sincerest thanks and best wishes to ScienceBlogs. And now, onward...
A few of the recent pieces I've liked (or, in the case of the first item, found horribly disturbing but important):
Maryn McKenna at Superbug: Ringing the Warning Bell: Colistin-Resistant Klebsiella
J. Malcolm Garcia in Guernica: Smoke Screen ("In Afghanistan, the U.S. military disposes of garbage--computers, motorbikes, TVs, shoes, even human feces--in open burn pits. Are toxic clouds from these sites making everyone sick?" Bonus: Celeste is quoted in the article.)
The New York Times' Room for Debate: Could Farms Survive Without Illegal Labor?
Helen Branswell at the Pulitzer Center on Crisis…