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gregladen | October 27, 2009It is a strange night. It is always strange when the water softener is recycling, because it makes all sorts of strange noises, and I usually don't hear them because I'm in bed sleeping.
The BBC is being strange. They have a story that actually says: "Black bears are often considered among the most dangerous animals in North America, depicted down the years as ferocious predators threatening to man. But, says one man, that perception could not be further from the truth. " No, sorry BBC. We who live among the bears don't think this. Moose are far more dangerous than black bears and we…
gregladen | October 27, 2009This is really funny. And sad. As usual for L.B.
hat tip: Digital Rabbit
tlambert | October 27, 2009I've noticed ads for Bidrivals appearing here. This is an auction site that is basically a Swoopo clone and seems to be just as efficient at separating bidders from their money. Read Jonah Lehrer if you haven't heard of Swoopo.
gregladen | October 27, 2009If you live in Michigan, read this:
The state has withheld its October payment from the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station and MSU Extension.
Armstrong, the dean of MSU's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, sees it as a sign that Gov. Jennifer Granholm might veto the programs' $64 million in funding altogether.
"We called (the state) to ask questions, and we're just not getting any clear answers," he said.
He has a word for what it would mean: "Devastation, devastation."
Then do this:
Contact your Michigan State Senator
Contact your Michigan House Rep
Do additional griping…
cortex | October 27, 2009Natalie Angiers profiles dopamine, which isn't just about rewards:
In the communal imagination, dopamine is about rewards, and feeling good, and wanting to feel good again, and if you don't watch out, you'll be hooked, a slave to the pleasure lines cruising through your brain. Hey, why do you think they call it dopamine?
Yet as new research on dopamine-deficient mice and other studies reveal, the image of dopamine as our little Bacchus in the brain is misleading, just as was the previous caricature of serotonin as a neural happy face.
In the emerging view, discussed in part at the Society for…
gregladen | October 27, 2009Evian fights back with a commercial that will make people forget about the Britta commercial. Which is probably a bunch of crap anyway (I mean, do you KNOW what is inside a bitta filter? Is it recyclable? Toxic? Must people die to make it like they do for your cell phone? Probably not. But to you KNOW?)
Hat Tip: Rebecca Immerfall
gregladen | October 27, 2009 The North End, Boston, Massachusetts Over the last three years, thirty nine drivers were cited by Dallas cops for not speaking English. There is apparently a $204 fine for not speaking English while driving in Dallas. Supposedly this stems form a Federal regulation that big rig truckers must be able to speak English. This regulation was over zealously interpreted and implemented in Dallas, and enforcement of this dumb-ass rule has actually been carried out. It is most astonishing to me that it took three years of Dallas cops handing out these citations for people to suddenly realize…
pronald | October 27, 2009A recent article in the New York Times indicates that the anti-vaccinators are taking advantage of the H1N1 epidemic to sow fear of vaccination in the population. With 292 deaths so far this year from the H1N1 virus (32% children) you would think parents would take no chances. In contrast consider the number of deaths deaths from the vaccine itself:0.
The risk of serious side effects from the vaccine is virtually non-existent, whereas it is certain that many people that are not vaccinated will die.
Why the protest then? Certainly there are many who simply do not have good information and…
gregladen | October 27, 2009It appears that the stae of Michigan is cutting it's extension service funding entirely. Apparently, it would then become the only state to not have an extension service.
Bug girl has the details here.
gregladen | October 26, 2009Have you heard that the world is now cooling instead of warming? You may have seen some news reports on the Internet or heard about it from a provocative new book.
Only one problem: It's not true, according to several independent statisticians who analyzed temperature data for The Associated Press.
Details here.
gregladen | October 26, 2009Months, it turns out.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
gregladen | October 26, 2009Remember Daniel Hauser, the child who was busy dying of cancer while his parents kept real doctors away and treated him with homeowooatherapy and stuff? The Hauser family would now like everyone to go away again.
Daniel's parents claim that hey are now following doctors' orders and making the best possible decisions, and his father says that Daniel is in remission.
"... there is no need to have the county continue to supervise our care and course of treatment for Danny's illness," Daniel's mother, Colleen Hauser, wrote ...
Doctors wanted Daniel to start radiation in the beginning of…
grrlscientist | October 26, 2009
Image: wemidji (Jacques Marcoux).
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power)
-- Sir Francis Bacon.
Would you like to share your excellent writing about science, nature or medicine with the world? Now you can! There is a blog carnival that celebrates the best writing in the blogosphere about these topics and we are seeking submissions from you, the reading and writing public that you think are suitable for this blog carnival.
Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People) was just published recently. This edition is entitled Scientia Pro Publica -- 14th edition…
gregladen | October 26, 2009Now, what you should probably appreciate is that bar bands in the suburbs are by and large cover bands. This band doesn't really have a repertoire of their own compositions, but they do classic rock, folk rock and alternative rock. Tom joined them for their version of "Margaritaville." Very good, but I don't think Tom plans to resign from the legislature to head to Hollywood for a record contract.....
Latest post on Quiche Moraine...
gregladen | October 26, 2009 Greg Pritchard - Britain's Got Talent - Show 5 - The most amazing videos are a click away
cortex | October 26, 2009In a recent NY Times Magazine, Mark Bittman (aka the Minimalist) waxes enthusiastic on the potential of online grocery shopping:
That's why, to focus on things that could happen in our lifetimes, we should take a look at improving online grocery shopping. The one time I tried shopping online I was sent a free watermelon -- how does that happen? -- but that didn't make up for the even-less-than-supermarket quality of the food. This is my fantasy about virtual grocery shopping: that you could ask and be told the provenance and ingredients of any product you look at in your Web browser. You…
mspringer | October 26, 2009There's a stereotype that it's declasse for us intellectual aesthetes to enjoy football, but I don't care. I enjoy it anyway. Whether you spent any time this weekend watching football or not, I'd like to pose a quick and (maybe!) easy vaguely football-related problem to exercise your brain to make up for all the boob tube time:
You're standing on the goal line of a standard football field and walk the 100 yards to the opposite goal line at a uniform speed of 2 miles per hour. Upon reaching the other side, you immediately turn around and jog back. How fast do you have to jog so that your…