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illconsidered | May 23, 2010Still back at Keith Kloor's place, Judith Curry seems determined to dig in to her position that governments and the IPCC and consensus minded science bloggers need to take the climate skeptics more seriously. Personally I think she completely misses the boat, because most of these folks have in fact been soundly debunked, or at the very least thouroughly addressed in purely scientific manners. We are talking about Climate Audit and Watts Up With That, these are her candidates. As well as having had their more serious contentions seriously looked at, these sites bury any potentially…
pharyngula | May 23, 2010The author of that phenomenally influential Mathematical Games column in Scientific American (if you are of a certain age you will remember it well), Martin Gardner, has died at the age of 95.
95 is a very interesting number, but then one of the things we learned from Gardner is that they all are.
gregladen | May 22, 2010 ... (and one other guy). And Gardner died on Saturday.
He was born in October 1914. So that made him ...
Do the math.
Here is a sampling of his works. He published dozens of books, IIRC, so this is a very loose sample.
Martin Gardner's Mathematical Games
When You Were a Tadpole and I Was a Fish: And Other Speculations About This and That
Sphere Packing, Lewis Carroll, and Reversi: Martin Gardner's New Mathematical Diversions (The New Martin Gardner Mathematical Library)
Entertaining Science Experiments with Everyday Objects
Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science (Popular Science)…
gregladen | May 22, 2010
The mother (on the right) was raised in captivity, released, got pregnant, and is now raising her daughter on the Waterberg, South Africa.
mspringer | May 22, 2010I can't let this week go by without mentioning that it is - officially - the 50th birthday of the invention of the laser.
Officially, anyway. On the 16th of May 1960, Theodore H. Maiman produced the first working optical laser. There was actually recently a huge slap-fight in the letters to the editor of Physics Today over the priority of his work compared to the work of some guys at Bell Labs. Still, it seems like Maiman was the first to actually have a working optical laser in his lab.
I say optical because at microwave wavelengths the maser had been previously invented in the mid-50s by…
gregladen | May 21, 2010
Probably a member of Euphorbia milii, aka, "Crown of Thorns" or "Christ Plant."
gregladen | May 21, 2010OK, before you answer, I'm going to tell you what I think. No. But that is not what is going on here (my snarky title is designed to get the attention of the usual suspects who will decry what is going on at Sandwalk Blog as repression). What is going on is a community of science-oriented people asking the Royal Ontario Museum to be more responsible and thoughtful in their programming.
We at the Committee for the Advancement of Scientific Skepticism (CASS) at the Centre for Inquiry (Canada) and its supporters were dismayed to learn that the Royal Ontario Museum will be sponsoring a talk…
cwilcox | May 21, 2010For those of you who don't know, today is Endangered Species Day. Started in the US Senate, Endangered species day is observed every year on the third Friday in May. The point is to call attention to all the animals that are at risk of disappearing forever. The fact of the matter is, we're losing species at an unprecedented rate. Of the 47,978 species that have been described by the IUCN, 17,315 of those are endangered, and for most of the planet's species, there simply isn't enough data to tell.
For my part, I'm making a commitment. I have about five years at least to spend on these Hawaiian…
gregladen | May 20, 2010Philosophy professor and author Dr. Massimo Pigliucci joins us to discuss his new book "Nonsense On Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk." We'll discuss why people embrace pseudoscientific beliefs, and how it affects our culture.
Details
(Reminds me of this: Massimo Pigliucci: "Politics, Philosophy and Atheism." Atheists Talk #0074, Sunday June 14, 2009 )
gregladen | May 20, 2010buk buk buk
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
illconsidered | May 20, 2010Love the title of that post! Keith Kloor tries to defend journalism's role in fiascos like "Swifthack" (aka Climategate) and climate science in general but really ends up simply providing a perfect example of the problem.
I urge any and all to read the comment thread, it is an excellent and fascinating one, though I am only about a third of the way through. Great contributions from Things Break and Michael Tobis, appearnces by Andrew Revkin and Judith Curry.
It is still going on though I would wager it's utility has diminished to near zero (I could be wrong).
I would like very much to…
gregladen | May 20, 2010One of the fascinating side stories in Dragnet is the quirky relationship between Bill Gannon and Joe Friday, and in particular, Bill's reporting of his occasional schemes and Joe's incredulous reaction to them. ...
Read on (qm)
gregladen | May 20, 2010A timely repost:
It's out! Evolution vs. Creationism: An Introduction Second Edition is now available on line and in bookstores (or at least it is being shipped out as we speak).
This is the newly revamped edition of Genie Scott's essential reference supporting the Evolutionist Perspective in the so called "debate" over creationism vs. evolution. The original version of this book was excellent, but this updated version is essential. There is quite a bit of new information in this volume reflecting the fact that quite a few things have happened since the publication of the prior edition…
gregladen | May 19, 2010I don't believe this is real. Do you? Have you seen one of these things?
Hat tip: Joe.
jchosy | May 19, 2010Since we last checked in, all 5 of our caterpillars made their transformation to chrysalis! Unfortunately, one of the Georges settled in too close to the side of the container. As he began to pupate, the forming chrysalis touched the plastic side, which must have been enough to cause a small tear in its surface. A few drops of liquid ran down the side, and the little guy stopped pupating. As I have come to find out, the caterpillar actually liquefies as it pupates. From this caterpillar soup, a butterfly will develop over 7 to 10 days. Except in George's case. RIP, George.
Here are a…