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pharyngula | February 12, 2009I'm giving a talk on "Darwin and Design" at a banquet in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday. It will be fun, and it better be, because you know what I'm giving up? Valentine's Day with the Trophy Wife! I may have to take her out to a movie or something on Friday.
There's something else I'll have to miss, again: the Creation Science Fair in Minneapolis will be taking place this weekend. I've seen enough photos to know that it's a rather sad event, though — poor kids misled into doing weak science backed up by silly bible verses. I do get back reasonably early on Sunday, but the first thing I have to…
drorzel | February 12, 2009...Abraham Lincoln.
Yeah, most of ScienceBlogs is celebrating Darwin's birthday, but I don't have anything interesting to say about that. Actually, I don't have anything all that interesting to say about Lincoln, either, but given that he's unquestionably one of the two greatest Presidents (neck and neck with Washington, both ahead of FDR), I wouldn't want his birthday to pass without comment.
So take a moment from the celebratory contemplation of finches and tortoises, and give a thought to one of the most important figures of American history. Without Lincoln, the world we live in would be…
gregladen | February 12, 2009There are a few items related to Darwin's Birthday on QM. Please have a look here, where you will find links.
mspringer | February 12, 2009In full early-90s nostalgia mode, you skate down the street in your roller blades. Your thrill at the excitement of the open road distracts you, and one foot goes off the pavement into the soggy soil beside the road. That foot immediately slows down due to the drag and as a result of the difference in speed between the foot on the road and the foot on the dirt steers you right off the road where I hope you don't hurt yourself.
Refraction is the same thing, but with light.
Pass from one medium to another in which light travels at a different speed, and the light will bend. Students grumble…
sciencepunk | February 12, 2009
Yesterday the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) announced that after a careful review of the scientific evidence, ecstasy should be downgraded from Class A to Class B. The UK Government were quick to react by sticking their fingers in their ears and going 'LA LA LA'.
In a letter to the ACMD, Home Office Minister Alan Campbell said: "Ecstasy can and does kill unpredictably. The Government has a duty to protect the public and firmly believes that ecstasy should remain a Class A drug."
Sadly, this is the kind of reaction we have come to expect from the government when it comes to…
gregladen | February 11, 2009Star Trek, the old Twilight Zone, and more. Here.
The technology is not perfect. But it will evolve.
cortex | February 11, 2009One of the perverse pleasures of spending too much time in airports is getting to people watch. I put on my "anthropologist from Mars" glasses and pass the time by staring at strangers, watching what they eat, read and how they struggle to nap in uncomfortable positions. This morning, while waiting on a very delayed plane in the Portland airport, I watched a woman perform yoga by the gate.
But if I really were an anthropologist from Mars I'd be most puzzled by something else that people in airports do: drink lots of diet soda. I write this in the San Francisco airport, where I'm sitting on a…
gregladen | February 11, 2009
CALL TO ACTION: Ask your Representative to oppose the H.R. 801 - The Fair Copyright in Research Works Act
(from the Alliance for Taxpayer Access)
February 11, 2009
Last week, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee (Rep. John Conyers, D-MI) re-introduced a bill that would reverse the NIH Public Access Policy and make it impossible for other federal agencies to put similar policies into place. The legislation is H.R. 801: the "Fair Copyright in Research Works Act" (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.801:).
Please contact your Representative no later than February 28, 2009…
sb admin | February 11, 2009Iâve written before about this project; now, we're very close to finishing data collection and are looking for a few more government scientists to interview.
At the Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy at George Washington University School of Public Health, weâve launched a multi-part study to understand the current policies surrounding scientistsâ work at government agencies and to create recommendations for policies that support strong science and the appropriate role of scientists and researchers within our health and environment agencies.
Many talented government scientists…
sb admin | February 11, 2009The nonprofit group OMB Watch is a terrific resource for learning about and monitoring the inner workings of the government. Their mission is âto increase government transparency and accountability; to ensure sound, equitable regulatory and budgetary processes and policies; and to protect and promote active citizen participation in our democracy.â Over the years, Iâve had many occasions to appreciate how they track and explain the easy-to-overlook steps in the regulatory process that profoundly affect public health.
OMB Watch has just launched a new website, and Iâm particularly excited to…
gregladen | February 11, 2009I am the least musical person I've ever met who is still alive. Of course, most nonmusical people don't go around talking about it, so I probably actually know more tone deaf, talentless people than that. It is strange, though. I should be musical. My mother sang semiprofessionally, doing radio in the pre-WWII days before they had things on tape (commercials and stuff). My oldest sister is known as Lightning Fingers Liz, owing to her prowess with the mandolin. My brother had a rock band from something like 1968 through 1990-something and is quite talented with the lead guitar. My other…
cwilcox | February 11, 2009Hey there! Like the nice, shiny new logo?
You can blame Irradiatus at Biochemical Soul for that. Clearly my attempts were far less elegant, so he bailed me out. He's a professional*!
Anyhow, just wanted to thank him publicly. He's awesome.
*maybe not a professional graphics artist, but a professional something. And a damn good graphics artist, anyhow :)
cwilcox | February 10, 2009With Darwin Day right around the corner, it seems most science blogs have forgotten the other, insignificant holiday on the horizon - yes, I mean Valentine's Day. So, since my post for Darwin Day will go up tomorrow anyhow, I thought I'd give at least a little attention to the big V as well.
Here's a fun set of links:
See which male or female scientist would be a good date for you.
If you're a nice guy who always finishes last, maybe this year you should try to be a bit badder. Even female chimps like bad boys, so being a bit riskier might serve you well.
Single and stuck choosing between…
gregladen | February 10, 2009As I grow older and experience more and more of life, I increasingly think that this is a lesson individuals either get early or simply never get at all.
It All Comes Back To You - Watch more amazing videos here
gregladen | February 10, 2009... Ah, actually, it was a subway sandwich. The details are not important.
But then my cell phone rang. The caller ID showed that it was my daughter's cell phone.
That was weird, because the cell phone's been missing for weeks!!!!!
"Ah, hello?"
"Hi. I found this cell phone."
"I know, that's amazing, where are you, who are you?"
I was talking too fast. I think I may have frightened the poor man.
"Ah, you're listed as 'Dad' ... so I figured I'd call you.."
And so on and so forth. The cell phone turned up in a melting snow bank in a place that makes sense as to why it might be there. My…
mspringer | February 10, 2009A little off the beaten path today, I'd like to present two poems by two physicists who were both on my Ten Greatest list. They're very different, one contemplative and loose in form, the other playful but more rigorous. It's an interesting comparison.
Untitled
Richard Feynman
There are the rushing waves...
mountains of molecules,
each stupidly minding its own business...
trillions apart
...yet forming white surf in unison.
Ages on ages...
before any eyes could see...
year after year...
thunderously pounding the shore as now.
For whom, for what?
...on a dead planet
with no life to entertain…
gregladen | February 10, 2009... are not confined to any one area of interest. Check out this post on How Not to Manage Your Image at Almost Diamonds. It is all about this picture:
Well, it's not really all about that picture, but that picture might be what draws the corporate lawyers to my site to force me to take it down. But I'm not going to mention the name Arcade of the Nickle Divided by Five or the name Country of Mom and Apple Pie How To Say Hello other than cryptically. Like I just did. And I've changed the name of the file this photograph exists as to be difficult to trace. The only way Big Brother can…
sciencepunk | February 10, 2009Currently doing the rounds on aggregator sites is this wonderful and bizarre marketing document supposedly produced by the Arnell Group during their recent redesign of the Pepsi brand. Check out the SCIENCE that's gone into this process:
Personally, I think it's probably a cheeky hoax at Pepsi's expense, but the best satire often becomes indistinguishable from the real thing.