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gregladen | July 22, 2010...The park encompasses the giant caldera of a hotspot-fuelled 'supervolcano' that last exploded 630,000 years ago, and is famous as the place to see geysers, hot springs and other hydrothermal activity, all powered by that same hotspot. ...
An Epic Post, you must read.
gregladen | July 22, 2010In surveying the diversity of living organisms, the 20th century evolutionary theorist Theodosius Dobzhansky did not see "a formless mass of randomly combining genes and traits." Instead he perceived pockets of discontinuity organized around available ecological niches - clusters of occupied "adaptive peaks" separated by rifts and valleys representing vacant spots in the natural world. Big cats, for example, formed their own mountain chain distinct from the cluster of dog species, and dog species were likewise separated from bears. By looking at the ecological and evolutionary topography of…
gregladen | July 22, 2010The anti-Darwin industry among fundamentalist Christians has produced thousands of pages of misinformation in their attempt to tar and feather the theory of evolution. I have responded to many of these false claims previously. However, one assertion that is especially outlandish is that the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin was a devoted Darwinian who funded a program to create "ape-man Superwarriors" in his goal for world domination. As Creation Ministries, publisher of the Journal of Creation and advocate of a young Earth literal interpretation of the Bible, insisted in 2006...
Must read at…
gregladen | July 21, 2010Tomorrow we begin the obstetric countdown to goat birthing. This is only our second time 'round with this, and while I'm less nervous than last time (way more nervous than the actual goats, though), I'm still a little worried. Mostly about Selene, who after her bout with meningeal parasite last year has some residual weakness in her back legs. Although she gets along great, can still jump on the stanchion, etc... and is a fine milker, I'm worried she'll have trouble delivering.
Well, now I know where to get goats ...
gregladen | July 21, 2010As many of you know, I moved my blog Culture Dish yesterday from ScienceBlogs, where it's been the past few years. As Carl Zimmer pointed out in his post about PepsiGate and the many bloggers who relocated, moving a blog is no small undertaking. Fortunately, I have a rockstar web designer who created this blog here yesterday and transferred my old Culture Dish archives to this site. ...
Here
cortex | July 21, 2010NOTE: This blog has moved. The Frontal Cortex is now over here.
I've got some exciting news: Starting today, the Frontal Cortex will be moving over to the Wired website. Needless to say, the move comes with the usual mixture of emotions, as I've greatly enjoyed my four years as part of the Scienceblogs community. It's been an honor to share this space with such a fine collection of scientists and writers. I'm sad to be leaving. (I should note, by the way, that this move was planned long before Pepsi, etc.) However, I'm really thrilled to be joining the blog network of the publication that I…
gregladen | July 21, 2010I think the strike is still on. One of the problems we have around here is communication, and it is not just between management and bloggers. Nobody tells me anything. But another problem we have around here is patience. So I'll try to be patient.
In the meantime, I continue to blog at my old site, and here are a few recent non-trivial installments you may find interesting:
Can you train an adult brain? (An actual science post!)
Web Reactions to #SbSTRIKE (Humor, tragedy)
Learning the Bash Shell (A repost to keep you amused, if you are into this sort of thing)
pronald | July 20, 2010When PZ Myers goes on strike, Seed media listens.
PZ has posted a demand for some changes from the Seed management.
All are reasonable and helpful and will make ScienceBlogs a better place. It seems Seed management agrees and soon the changes will be implemented.
If you want a history of Science blogs and details on the dust-up, read Bora's fantastic post.
So dont give up bloggers who have remained- lets keep this place alive, make it better and hopefully some of our colleagues will return.
palmd | July 20, 2010You can follow me at the old-new location. Just follow this link. There I will keep you annoyed, entertained, and updated. You can also grab my new feed there.
cortex | July 20, 2010Over at Gizmodo, Joel Johnson makes a convincing argument for adding random strangers to your twitter feed:
I realized most of my Twitter friends are like me: white dorks. So I picked out my new friend and started to pay attention.
She's a Christian, but isn't afraid of sex. She seems to have some problems trusting men, but she's not afraid of them, either. She's very proud of her fiscal responsibility. She looks lovely in her faux modeling shots, although I am surprised how much her style aligns with what I consider mall fashion when she's a grown woman in her twenties. Her home is Detroit…
tqa | July 20, 2010UPDATE: I have a new blog home!
The Questionable Authority can now be found at Scientopia.
When Pepsigate first erupted, I was extremely unhappy both with that situation and with how Seed had been treating its bloggers. I did not join the large (and still growing) group of departing ScienceBloggers at that time. I've invested a great deal of time and effort here, and felt that - despite the credibility that we all lost as a result of Seed's amazingly idiotic decision to sell Pepsi a blog - there was still a lot of potential for ScienceBlogs to be a force for positive change.
You might…
gregladen | July 20, 2010
... or something. I'll be here, on strike.
There appears to be a bit of a work action on Scienceblogs.com, and it appears that I'm going along with it. I'm doing this to make one point, and only one point.
Before I make that point I want to make a few other comments.
1) Although I agree with many of the complaints of many of my colleagues regarding the Scienceblogs administrative responsiveness, especially when it comes to technical issues, I appear to be happier than the average Sbling in that I don't seem to be foaming at the mouth. I'm just ... interested in seeing things work better…
pharyngula | July 20, 2010If you're going to Dragon*Con this year, you might want to look into this other event: a Star Party at the Emory University observatory. You'll get to hang out with cool people and learn stuff about the sky, and proceeds will also benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
grrlscientist | July 20, 2010
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power)
-- Sir Francis Bacon.
The most recent edition of Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People) -- "Scientia Pro Publica 35" -- was just published at the buttcrack of dawn today by John at Kind of Curious.
To share yours, or others', writing, either use this automated submission form or use the cute little widget on the right (be aware that widget doesn't upload when the mother site is nonfunctional, and ALWAYS check your email/spam filter for your submission receipt to be sure it was sent properly). Alternatively,…
cwilcox | July 19, 2010So, you may have heard this rumor that I, on occasion, do things other than blog, tweet, or facebook. It may seem shocking, but I do have a day job (if you can call it that - a graduate student's job never seems to be restricted by sunlight).
For the past couple weeks, I've been getting my butt kicked into super shape by an intense 2-week scientific diver certification course, which covers from open water to master scuba diver at warp speed. It was intense, physically exhausting, and mentally draining. But it was well worth it, because now, I can do something even more intense, physically…
gregladen | July 19, 2010In those days, one of the hardest things to come by was a good pair of boots. Boots were carefully and painstakingly hand made of relatively rare materials. They were meant to last for years, re-soled now and then, re-heeled a bit more often. I myself barely remember, as a child, bringing the family shoes to the cobbler for new heels, or perhaps bringing them back home, acting as a tiny courier and not having to bring any money for the work being done since it was put on an account. But back in those days ... long before my time or even my father's time ... boots were even more rare and a…
dblum | July 19, 2010 She clasps the crag with crooked hands
Close to the sun in lonely lands
Writing is in someways a lonely land, or lonely may not be the precise word I'm looking for. There's a kind of necessary solitude, the need for a clear space. At my home office, this usually means me telling the kids, "Go yell at each other somewhere else so that I can think."
You take your quiet places where you find them. I'm currently in my hotel room in Amman, Jordan, where its just me, the laptop, and some really good coffee. But it's really an internal quiet some times. I write in noisy bars too…
gregladen | July 19, 2010Knowing the Problem of Induction
Through these experiences, I found out how religious people "know" what they know. There could be no doubt, because the words came directly to me while I was experiencing the ecstasy. There was no induction needed, because through those experiences I had the Truth.
On the Utility of Dicks
This is not about what you think it is.
Adventures Among Ants
Well, OK, not so much read, but listen to!
Rage rising...rising...rising...
At some point, there will be a loud noise, a sudden lurch (Bora's departure may even be it), and everyone will abruptly turn and run…