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gregladen | April 21, 2010 ... continued ...
So, it seems that Arlo Guthrie was hauling firewood or something with his tractor out on his place in western Mass, and he took the usual shortcut across the pond. The pond was too deep for the tractor to drive in unless, of course, it was frozen, as it always was in mid January. And, as Arlo drove his tractor across the pond, in mid January, the ice gave way bit by bit, in stages, and his tractor went in. Somewhat comically, or so he tells it.
Arlo blamed that event on anthropogenic global warming.
So, a couple of years after that happened, when I asked him to…
cortex | April 21, 2010Experience changes everything. That, at least, is the lesson of a new study of Navy SEALS led by scientists at UCSD. Their experiment was an investigation into the anatomy of emotional perception, or what happens inside the brain when we glimpse angry, fearful or happy faces.
The results were straightforward: Navy SEALS are exceptionally good at detecting angry faces. While the soldiers were slower than control subjects at processing happy or scared expressions, the elite troops excelled at seeing those feelings associated with threats and risk. Furthermore, they showed a slightly more…
gregladen | April 21, 2010NEW YORK (AP) - Computers in companies, hospitals and schools around the world got stuck repeatedly rebooting themselves Wednesday after an antivirus program identified a normal Windows file as a virus.
McAfee Inc. confirmed that a software update it posted at 9 a.m. Eastern time caused its antivirus program for corporate customers to misidentify a harmless file. It has posted a replacement update for download.
McAfee could not say how many computers were affected, but judging by online postings, the number was at least in the thousands and possibly in the hundreds of thousands.
Details are…
mspringer | April 21, 2010There's a really snazzy physics blog run out of Cornell called The Virtuosi. Sort of like this blog, they're big fans of looking at interesting scenarios through the equations of physics. Not long ago, they had an interesting post looking at whether or not laser guns would have recoil.
I'm not going to duplicate the steps of the problem here, as you should go read it on their excellent site. I'll just state the conclusions: if the laser pulse has energy roughly comparable to a bullet, the momentum imparted to the gun will be tiny - on the order of 10^6 times smaller than that even of the…
grrlscientist | April 21, 2010
Image: wemidji (Jacques Marcoux).
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power)
-- Sir Francis Bacon.
The next edition of Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People) will publish this Monday and as usual, it is seeking submissions and hosts! Can you help by sending URLs for your own or others' well-written science, medicine, and nature blog essays to me or by volunteering to host this carnival on your blog?
This week's edition of Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People); "Scientia Pro Publica 26" was published by Dan at his group blog, Genomics Law Report…
sastyk | April 21, 2010I bloody hate Earth Day. No offense to those of you who love it, and I know there are some awesome Earth Day programs out there, but by the time we get there, I'm spending my days hiding under the covers, because every freakin' time I open my email inbox a wave of the most nauseating spew of greenwashing comes flowing out.
Guess what? A major department store chain, nearly in bankruptcy, is now selling the eco-tote, made from organic sheepskin, embossed with "Think Global, Act Local" to show your care for the earth and indifference to grammar. And not to trouble me, but just so you know,…
gregladen | April 21, 2010Well, since he has that direct god connection and all, he must have...
The detention of an 83-year-old priest in Brazil for allegedly abusing boys as young as 12 has added to the scandals hitting the Roman Catholic Church in Latin America, even as Chile's bishops asked pardon Tuesday for past cases.
The allegations against Monsignor Luiz Marques Barbosa -- and two other Brazilian priests -- have made headlines throughout the world's most populous Catholic nation and come amid accusations of sexual abuse by priests around the world.
source
cwilcox | April 21, 2010When we think about the vast diversity of life in the ocean, we automatically picture pristine coral reefs teeming with life. This is especially true for rich, tropical locations like Hawaii. What we don't think of are the deep, dark depths of the canyons that lie just beyond the shallow paradises we know and love. Scientists have known for years that these deep water locations may contain a wide variety of species, but don't talk about them as much because no one had ever explored them to see what species lived there. Now, thanks to researchers from the University of Hawaii's School of Ocean…
gregladen | April 20, 2010Nearly Extinct Tree gets new lease, Elephants invade South America, Python on Wall Street.
There is a species of tree in New Zealand that has only one individual in the wild. They thought it was a female, but it turns out that there are individuals (among those cultivated by gardeners) that seem to have some kind of male parts anyway, and it is possible now to re-establish the species in the wild. Originally, the tree, Pennantia baylisiana, was nearly wiped out because of goats released into their previously goat-free habitat. Keep an eye on this story. Interesting things may develop.…
gregladen | April 20, 2010Dear Texas Board of Education,
I have substantial concerns that the social studies standards proposed by the Texas State Board of Education are not in the best interest of students and are not based on the recommendations of respected academics in the field.
These standards place our children in a predicament. The board should reassess whether these changes are in the best interest of our children.
Signed,
YOU ... click here..
...
gregladen | April 20, 2010GOP Leader Lies About Bank Reform Bill on CNN...
Party line vote does not equal partisan, if one party predetermines a nay vote on ever single freakin' bill. Moron. And so on. Anyway, enjoy the ranting.
gregladen | April 20, 2010Keith Elam (July 17, 1966 - April 19, 2010[1]), better known by his stage name Guru, was an American rapper and member of the hip-hop duo Gang Starr. Born in the Boston neighborhood of Roxbury,[2]. The name Guru is a backronym that stands for Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal and the less often used God is Universal; he is the Ruler Universal, which are both references to the teachings of the Nation of Gods and Earths.
source
grrlscientist | April 20, 2010
Image: wemidji (Jacques Marcoux).
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power)
-- Sir Francis Bacon.
This week's edition of Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People); "Scientia Pro Publica 26" was published by Dan at his group blog, Genomics Law Report, in anticipation of the observance of DNA Day on 23 April 2010.
Of course, this means that the Scientia email account has once more been emptied of submissions, so if we are to publish this blog carnival on a weekly basis this spring, we need to either find others or publish our own essays that are suitable…
jgoldman | April 19, 2010First, this dude is hilarious:
Then, get this, once the baby gets to be about, say, baby-sized, it has to come out. At this point, it's WAY bigger than the orifice that lets it out. It's as though someone built an airplane inside of a hangar, and then when they were done, looked around and noticed that there were no airplane-sized doors. Whoopsie! This, right here, is a great argument against Intelligent Design.
Also, this guy is hilarious too. I totally forgot about him. This video was going all around back when I was in college living in campus housing.
cortex | April 19, 2010The lure of instant gratification is hard to resist: when we want something, we want it right now. Of course, maturity and reality demand that we learn to wait, that we postpone our pleasures until tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. And so we stash money in our savings account, and forgo the SUV for the sake of climate change and don't eat the entire pint of ice cream. We resist the tug of immediate delight for the sake of even more delight in the future.
That, at least, is how we're supposed to behave. The problems arise with a mental process known as delay discounting, which refers to our…