Uncategorized
cortex | September 15, 2009Clearly, what the world needs is another blogger weighing in on the Kanye West/Taylor Swift controversy. But I have no interest in castigating Kanye - I don't pick my music based on the politesse of the artists. Instead, what struck me about this peculiar celebrity moment was the fact that I really enjoy both Kanye and Taylor and their immaculate pop confections. In the last few months, my brain has been infected by the melodic memes of "Fifteen" and "Heartless", "Tim McGraw" and "The Glory".
So far, so obvious - I enjoy (with a touch of snobbish guilt) Top 40 radio. But here's the…
gregladen | September 15, 2009The film is a powerful "docudrama" set in the year 2055, after global warming has done massive damage to humanity. Oscar-nominated actor Pete Postlethwaite stars as a historian who "looks back" on real footage from 2008 to try to answer the question, "why didn't we stop climate change while we had the chance?"
gregladen | September 15, 2009Culture Dish has been sterile for a while, but now it's back in the swing of things! Rebecca Skloot indicates that she'll be blogging the later phases of the publication of her book.
I can't wait to read this book. Years ago, I found out about Henrietta Lacks and I thought it was one of the most interesting science stories I'd ever heard. It was so interesting that I kept telling people about it, but the tale is so strange that few would believe me. So finally, I stopped telling people. Now, with The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks coming on line in a few months, this will all…
pharyngula | September 15, 2009For everyone who rightly complained about the porn ads on the Tibetan Sky Burial post, you can now watch birds devour a dead person via the magic of YouTube, free of distractions.
Again, somewhat grisly: don't watch this if you feel delicate about such matters as the fact that we are all made of meat.
gregladen | September 15, 2009Can we be done with questioning if there is racism, done with respecting the religion, done with worshiping the firearms, and can we start calling out the ignorance?
On 9.12.2009, we went to Washington DC to document the Tea Party protests against, well, a lot of things, including health insurance reform, the IRS, abortion, global warming, and our "socialist/communist/fascist/Nazi/Muslim " president, Barack Obama. Some of them called for a return to McCarthyism, while others called for Glenn Beck to run for office--indeed, it seemed the only thing that everyone agreed on was Fox News.
grrlscientist | September 15, 2009
Image: Bob O'Hara, I Can Has CheeseBurger.
.
I need your vote to win an essay contest to be the official blogger on a one month cruise in Antarctica. This cruise takes place in February 2010. To vote, you must register your email address on the site and you can only cast one vote per email address.The Antarctica official blogger contest ends at noon EDT on 30 September 2009.
grrlscientist | September 14, 2009
Image: Sneer Review.
The current Antarctic Trip Vote count is as follows; 6351 - 2390 - 1947 - 1915 - 1251 out of 603 candidates registered. With only 2 weeks remaining, things are heating up and voting is changing rapidly as previous voters reassign their votes and new voters cast theirs for the first time. [Yes, you can change who you voted for, even if you voted weeks or months ago! All you have to do is log in using the account you created to cast your original vote, a process that takes only seconds] Already, two of my fellow competitors are appealing to their supporters to change…
mspringer | September 14, 2009One of my fellow ScienceBloggers, ScienceWoman, has made a few waves by saying the following:
I am against accommodating our full-time worker, part-time graduate student students by moving a significant number of our classes to evening hours. There I said it. I don't want to make life easier for someone who is working very hard to get through her education while supporting herself in full-time employment.
She allows that this sounds harsh, but gives some good reasons for her opinion as a professor of -ology. (She doesn't say which science, but presumably we can eliminate the physical sciences…
grrlscientist | September 14, 2009
Image: Bob O'Hara, I Can Has CheeseBurger.
I need your vote to win an essay contest to be the official blogger on a one month cruise in Antarctica. This cruise takes place in February 2010. To vote, you must register your email address on the site and you can only cast one vote per email address.The Antarctica official blogger contest ends at noon EDT on 30 September 2009.
grrlscientist | September 13, 2009
Image: Sneer Review.
The current Antarctic Trip Vote count is as follows; 6174 - 2090 - 1928 - 1911 - 1246 out of 599 candidates registered. With only 2 weeks remaining, things are heating up and voting is changing rapidly as previous voters reassign their votes and new voters cast theirs for the first time. [Yes, you can change who you voted for, even if you voted weeks or months ago! All you have to do is log in using the account you created to cast your original vote, a process that takes only seconds] Already, two of my fellow competitors are appealing to their supporters to change…
gregladen | September 13, 2009No problem. They can be taken care of by animal loving atheists.
We are a group of dedicated animal lovers, and atheists. Each Eternal Earth-Bound Pet representative is a confirmed atheist, and as such will still be here on Earth after you've received your reward. Our network of animal activists are committed to step in when you step up to Jesus.
... Our representatives have been screened to ensure that they are atheists, animal lovers, are moral / ethical with no criminal background, have the ability and desire to rescue your pet and the means to retrieve them and ensure their care for…
gregladen | September 13, 2009Norman Borlaug, of the University of Minnesota, DuPont and the Rockefeller Foundation has died in Texas at the age of 95. You may well owe your life to Borlaug.
Prof Borlaug won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for agricultural innovation and the development of high-yield crops.
The Green Revolution helped world food production more than double between 1960 and 1990 with Asia, Africa and Latin America in particular benefiting.
The Nobel Institute said he had helped save hundreds of millions of lives.
Prof Borlaug died late on Saturday evening at his home in Dallas from complications with…
gregladen | September 13, 2009If you check my you-tube account and look at videos I've "liked" or "added" or whatever, ignore that. I've only ever added one (by Ana) and all the others are random click events.
If you ever want me to join a Facebook cause or group, send me an email asking me to do that. I routinely go through all the requests and click "no" or whatever really fast. Every now and then I realize I just clicked into oblivion something I might actually like to join or support but it is usually too late.
If you are not my facebook friend, then WTF????
I've been experimenting with Amazon Widgets here (in the…
cortex | September 13, 2009I've got a new essay on social networks and the research of Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler in the latest issue of Wired:
There's something strange about watching life unfold as a social network. It's easy to forget that every link is a human relationship and every circle a waistline. The messy melodrama of life--all the failed diets and fading friendships--becomes a sterile cartoon.
But that's exactly the point. All that drama obscures a profound truth about human society. By studying Framingham as an interconnected network rather than a mass of individuals, Christakis and Fowler made a…
gregladen | September 13, 2009Of Creation, starring Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connolly, Scott says:
I believe it to be a thoughtful, well-made film that will change many views of Darwin held by the public - for the good. The acting is strong, the visuals are wonderful, and it treats with loving care the Victorian details of the furnishings at Down house and other sites (such as Malvern), and the local church.
The movie takes place after Darwin has returned from the Beagle voyage, and has settled down with his wife, Emma. It concentrates on their relationship, on the growth of their family, and of course, on the…
grrlscientist | September 12, 2009
Image: Sneer Review.
The current Antarctic Trip Vote count is as follows; 6146 - 1909 - 1906 - 1875 - 1237 out of 596 candidates registered. I am in third place and sloooowly creeping up on second place. With only 2 weeks remaining, things are heating up and voting is changing rapidly as previous voters reassign their votes and new voters cast theirs for the first time. [Yes, you can change who you voted for, even if you voted weeks or months ago! All you have to do is log in using the account you created to cast your original vote, a process that takes only seconds] Many tens of thousands…