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grrlscientist | April 19, 2010tags: education, public outreach, Ask A Biologist, www, announcement
Dave Hone emailed to ask me to announce to you that his popular educational website, Ask a Biologist, has finally found several sponsors and has been relaunched!
This site has been published continuously for 3 years and during that time, Dave's team of biologists have answered nearly 2500 questions and more importantly has served over 500,000 readers. But because this is done on a voluntary basis, Dave and his team have had trouble advertising and getting the site upgraded. Thanks to several grants, the new site is up and…
cwilcox | April 19, 2010This weekend, Barry, Brian, Aziem and I headed up the windward coast to go camping. We went online and got a permit for a site on Malaekahana State Recreation Area, a 37 acre gated park just north of La'ie. Camping is one of my favorite things that I rarely seem to find the time to do, and since Barry and I have our hearts set on hiking out to Kalalau Beach at some point, we figured we'd better try out the new small tent we bought and get some practice roughing it a little. More importantly, I figured I'd give my brand new Canon EOS Rebel T2i a spin.
Here are some shots from the trip:
Here…
gregladen | April 18, 2010Today is the fifteenth anniversary of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City by Timothy McVeigh with an assist from three others. That bombing was carried out in part as retaliation by McVeigh for a percieved slight at Ruby Ridge in 1992. That bombing is an example of the material outcome of hate speech of the kind we are seeing increasingly today by Republicans, Teabaggers and the like. One hundred and sixty eight people were killed by McVeigh and his right-wing conspirators, including 19 little children (there was a day care center at the facility…
gregladen | April 18, 2010Global People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth
Beginning Monday, April 19th, some 15,000 people from around the world along with representatives of 70 governments, mainly from Least Developed Countries, will meet in Cochabamba, Bolivia, for the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth. The conference will be an unprecedented event bringing countries affected by climate change together with experts and activists working to find solutions.
"The main point of the conference is to convince developed countries to make and meet…
grrlscientist | April 18, 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 TOMORROW 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?
Scientia Pro Publica is a traveling blog carnival that celebrates the best science, environment, nature and medical writing that has been published in the…
stoat | April 18, 2010
Climbing! Good grief, it was about time. So, dragged out by the irrepressible Howard, we left the house at the ungodly hour of 7:30 on a fine Sunday morning, picked up young Viv, and drove for 2:30 climate-destroying hours up to the Peaks. Where to? Stanage, youth, of course. Popular end, naturally. Persons of the party: Me, Miriam, Miranda (8), Vivien (9). Daniel (12) mostly climbed with Howard (antique) and Louise (lets not do any more shall we) and survived a fairly full-on day; also Carl and Marcus and a late arrival from Helen (not as-in-Viv). Howard happily had his magic bag of old…
grrlscientist | April 17, 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?
Scientia Pro Publica is a traveling blog carnival that celebrates the best science, environment, nature and medical writing that has been published in the…
illconsidered | April 17, 2010[UPDATE: readers should be aware of a correction on the source site. The best estimate of CO2 is in fact 150,000 tons per day, not 7400, with a possible maximum of 300,000 tons per day. So the graphic is much less compelling, but the story of Joe vs the Volcano is not affected.]
Even if I can't say it, the volcano Eyjafjallajokull is great to illustrate just how ludicrous the "Volcanoes emit more CO2" argument is. Courtesy of Information Is Beautiful, here is a very telling graphic.
Is there really a need to say more?
gregladen | April 16, 2010Obama pwns little what's his name for asking dumbest question evah.
Oliver North on How To Be a Good American (OMG!)
Djou: Playing Politics with Our Economic Recovery
And finally, .... A handful of political cartoons
gregladen | April 16, 2010It is not recommended that you trap and move squirrels. It may be illegal in your state, and since squirrels have teeth and may carry disease, it could be dangerous. But if you MUST trap a squirrel to move it, say, to a point a few blocks away, I suggest using a Havahart trap. Havahart traps can also be used to trap other animals such as mice, or larger critters, depending on the size of the trap.
The best way to trap a squirrel is to use the proper bait and a modicum of patience. Also, you must be diligent if you plan to trap the animal live. therefore, place the trap in an area where…
gregladen | April 16, 2010Which is true:
PZ Myers is a witless wanker who peddles pablum
or
"I shall be no friend to the appeasers" -pz myers
... kind of a false comparison. But the debate is real. This time it's
Massimo Pigliucci vs. PZ Myers
Two people that i like and admire fighting it out over an important issue. What could be more fun? The popcorn will be ready in a minute.
grrlscientist | April 16, 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?
Scientia Pro Publica is a traveling blog carnival that celebrates the best science, environment, nature and medical writing that has been published in the…
gregladen | April 16, 2010Bachmann's health care claims falter
Bachmann has said the new health care act will unleash a wave of new federal funding for abortion ... contrary to Bachmann's claims, the law doesn't fundamentally change federal policy on abortion ...a Bachmann spokesman has backed off her prediction...
Tea Party rally cost taxpayers nearly $14k
...Bachmann solidified her place in the national spotlight ... when she gathered thousands of Tea Party activists in front of the U.S. Capitol for a "House Call on Washington," to stop the Democrats' health care bill..... Months later, official expense reports…
gregladen | April 16, 2010What next, will we be seeing the CEO of Discovery Channel out harpooning whales?
The media conglomerate Discovery Communications used to be known for their earth-friendly offerings. But they've just paid millions to Sarah Palin to host a "nature" show, despite her decidedly anti-environmental stance: She vocally advocates for habitat-destroying oil drilling, she denies global warming is a human-caused threat, and she spearheaded a brutal wolf-slaughter program as governor of Alaska.
More details and a petition for you to sign.
gregladen | April 15, 2010 A federal judge in Wisconsin ruled the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional Thursday, saying the day amounts to a call for religious action.
U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb wrote that the government can no more enact laws supporting a day of prayer than it can encourage citizens to fast during Ramadan, attend a synagogue or practice magic.
"In fact, it is because the nature of prayer is so personal and can have such a powerful effect on a community that the government may not use its authority to try to influence an individual's decision whether and when to pray," Crabb wrote.
source
cortex | April 15, 2010I'm pretty fascinated by this chart from the McKinsey Quarterly, which is a great demonstration of the optimism bias. The chart captures the earnings estimates of equity analysts for S&P 500 companies. The downward slope of these yellow lines is what happens when our hopeful projections meet dismal reality:
Needless to say, these estimates come from highly paid professionals, with access to vast amounts of data. (They're also making projections about the relatively near future.) Unfortunately, all that data is no match for a deep-seated bias, which leads us to accentuate the positive…
gregladen | April 15, 2010On the board? Officer? Opinionated member?
If so I hope you will have a look at this:
Scholarly Societies: Why Bother?
and this:
The American Astronomical Society responds to "Scholarly Societies: Why Bother?"