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pronald | October 26, 2009An update from Karl Haro von Mogel:
"A little more than an hour after PZ's post, GM Watch in the UK has wildly claimed that the 'biotech industry' is fixing the contest!"
"The level of conspiracy theorizing reaches astronomical proportions at a moment's notice. Please keep voting, so they won't have the chance to use such falsehoods to attack us."
FYI: Biofortified is a completely independent venture started by two graduate students. It is independently run on a volunteer basis, and is not supported by any funding from any companies.
I work at a non-profit institution and the only thing I…
gregladen | October 25, 2009Heather Rosa:
Five days a week I'm a news junkie. On weekends I take a complete break. Come Monday morning, I'm again ready for the news, catching up on whatever happened over the weekend. The first thing that slapped me in the face Monday morning, even before the every-five-minute repeat of the weather, was this story: a local woman had died after traveling to Arizona to participate in somebody's idea of a sweat lodge ceremony. After keeling over from excessive heat (possibly literally biting the dust), she was taken to a hospital and later died. Authorities stated homicide charges were…
gregladen | October 25, 2009... well, that would sure make things a lot easier...
Sean Hannity's ... feigns dismay at the idea that Christians don't have any signs up in the NYC Subway system.
I am trying to imagine the outrage, because it isn't happening. There are pro-Christian signs all over the NYC subway system. It shouldn't take too much to ask one of his underlings about this kind of thing before he makes this kind of statement. But, this is another example of how he likes to fan the flames of a nearly non-existent "culture war" being waged by what his cohort Bill ORLY refers to as the "Secular Progressives."…
gregladen | October 25, 2009World Science Festival 2009: Bobby McFerrin Demonstrates the Power of the Pentatonic Scale from World Science Festival on Vimeo.
grrlscientist | October 25, 2009
Image: wemidji (Jacques Marcoux).
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power)
-- Sir Francis Bacon.
When you go hiking or sailing or stargazing, why not consider writing about your experience of nature and sharing it with the world? Or maybe you are watching an ant's nest in the crack of a sidewalk, walking down the beach, flipping rocks to see what's underneath, or sitting in your kitchen, watching birds eating seeds at your birdfeeders? Your experiences could be interesting to others if these activities provide you with questions that you decide to investigate…
grrlscientist | October 25, 2009tags: religion, flowchart, humor, funny, diagram
Flowcharts are a great way to make sense out of confusing scenarios, and there's no scenario that's more confusing than trying to figure out what religion you should follow. This helpful flowchart was created to guide you through this complex process:
Can you all spot the error in this diagram?
[Some perspective: If every one of you wonderful people who has been flooding in to my blog these past 18 hours had donated ONLY ONE DOLLAR EACH to my DonorsChoose "Challenge" classrooms, they would have $40,000+ to spend on teaching materials to help…
gregladen | October 24, 2009A number of items for you to read, starting with this at Effect Measure, a take down of a recent Atlantic anti-vax article: Journalists sink in The Atlantic article on vaccines
Excellent news for OpenSource: White House uses Open Source technology for its web site.
I've been waiting for them to figure out how to do this: Lasers used to write false memories onto the fruit fly brain
Everything can be explained by ERVs, at ERV: Some new virology: XMRV and chronic fatigue syndrome and prostate cancer: *blink*
Finally, it's safe to go back into the email box.... Nigerian Spammers Canned
gregladen | October 24, 2009H1N1 Vaccination Hysteria Part 1: Is the Swine Flu Vaccine Safe?
and
H1N1 Vaccination Hysteria Part 2: Should I get the shot?
At Urban Science Adventures.
gregladen | October 24, 2009This is hilarious. A slightly different experience than mine.
hat tip Rob
gregladen | October 24, 2009Chicago Coalition of Reason Erects Offensive Billboard!!!11!!
99 Stunning Photographs
Earth and Jupiter in the Same Photograph!!!
Ubuntu SE Edition (SE = Satanic Edition)
gregladen | October 24, 2009Among a certain class of people, the term "Rumsfeldian" is used to describe a style of leadership that prizes bureaucratic turf-protecting, dissent-quashing through barely concealed intimidation, an inflated sense of self-importance, and the inability to incorporate possible long-term consequences into the decision making process. This class consists primarily of policy wonks, especially the left-leaning ones I interact with daily at the Humphrey Institute, and we are referring to former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. There is, however, another context where you will hear "…
gregladen | October 24, 2009President Barack Obama signed an order last night declaring that the swine flu is a national emergency. This allows the implementation of emergency plans. So, what is an emergency plan?
For one thing, it is now possible to skip over parts of the federal regulatory process that slow things down. This may help in increasing the rate of production and delivery of vaccine or anti-virals. Also, hospitals and health departments have emergency plans that would now be implemented as needed.
A PDF version of the presidential proclamation is here. The text of the proclamation is here:
Office of…
edyong | October 24, 2009What would an extreme close-up of your sandwich filling look like? What about your hair? The cluster of dust in the corner of your living room? The grain of pollen stuck to your coat? Scientists, of course, have ways of finding out, using electron microscopes to look at the tiniest of objects in glorious detail.
Now you can do the same for free. A company called ASPEX, who bill themselves as "a leading producer of benchtop SEM (scanning electron microscopes", is offering readers a chance to send in a sample of anything and see what it looks like in extreme close-up.
To take them up on the…
gregladen | October 24, 2009What will they say? How will Isis maintain her anonymity on a thing where you display your head??? Will PalMD be so gaga in the presence of the Goddess that he babbles inarticulately?
If these questions interest you, just watch:
Very nice discussion.
grrlscientist | October 24, 2009
Image: wemidji (Jacques Marcoux).
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power)
-- Sir Francis Bacon.
Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People) was just published recently. This edition is entitled Scientia Pro Publica -- 14th edition. The author of Genetic Interference is speaking (right now!) at the American Society of Human Genetics Annual Meeting and is planning to "live blog" that conference as well, despite the fact it's in Hawai'i, so be sure to poke around on his blog to find those essays.
Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People) is a…
pronald | October 24, 2009"We will restore science to its rightful place". Oh what sweet words. Has Obama lived up to his vows? A recent story suggests that a change of administration at the White House does not necessarily mean that the best science will be of high priority when informing the public.
Karl Haro von Mogel recently posted that a USDA Report by Cyndi Barmore, The Unexplored Potential of Organic-Biotech Production, has been pulled from the USDA website after complaints from the organic industry.
An excerpt from the report: "The divide between organics and biotechnology is an artificial construction…