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grrlscientist | November 11, 2008Here's the most recent carnivalia for you to enjoy;
All Things Eco blog carnival, number 24. Okay, I admit it, there is one story there that has particularly piqued my interest based on its title alone; "Dumpster Diving for Charity."
Festival of Frugality, Veteran's Day Edition. This is all about frugal living -- something that the current economic situation demands from all of us. And no, by frugality, I do not mean reducing the number of pedicures you get from once per week to once every two weeks.
Review Bloggers carnival, 30th edition. This is a collection of reviews of just about…
cortex | November 11, 2008Think, for a moment, about one of your cherished childhood memories, one of those sepia-tinged recollections that you've repeated countless times. I've got some bad news: big chunks of that memory are almost certainly not true. According to scientists, the brain is a consummate liar, a bullshit artist of the first order. To remember is to fabricate.
Why is memory so inherently dishonest? To make a long story short, it's now pretty clear that the act of remembering a memory changes the structure of the memory itself. (This is known as memory reconsolidation; Freud called it Nachtraglichkeit,…
mspringer | November 11, 2008Let's say you have a table. This table is better than your average table. It's perfectly level, absolutely flat to within the thickness of an atom over its entire surface. In fact, this table isn't even made of atoms. You called up Plato and ordered the platonic ideal of a flat table.
Now you set this table down in your dining room and have Plato's deliverymen install the table so that it's perfectly flat with respect to the earth's surface. Then you take a ping-pong ball and set it down toward the edge of the table. What happens?
It doesn't stay still. It will roll to the center of…
gregladen | November 10, 2008So, you've heard that the Obama Transition Team is an A in GLBTA. Good. Now, for some other mostly positive news:
3rd Episcopal diocese splits from church over gays
A third theologically conservative diocese has broken away from the liberal Episcopal Church in a long-running dispute over the Bible, gay relationships and other issues.
The Diocese of Quincy, Ill., took the vote at its annual meeting that ends Saturday.
Two other dioceses - San Joaquin, based in Fresno, Calif., and Pittsburgh - have already split off. Next weekend, the Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, will vote whether to follow…
pharyngula | November 10, 2008Don't do this. Don't steal crackers.
During mass at around 9 AM, Ricci accepted a wafer on the Communion line, but "walked away without taking the communion into his mouth." After refusing a priest's requests to "accept" the wafer,
If he'd just stopped there, all would be well, but then he did this:
Ricci "turned to the priest and grabbed a handful of the wafers from the plate and attempted to leave" St. Martin de Porres Church, according to the report.
Sorry, but that is unacceptable. Blasphemy is something you can feel free to do on your own, but not when you're disrupting other people'…
cortex | November 10, 2008Thoreau would have liked this study: interacting with nature (at least when compared to a hectic urban landscape) dramatically improves improve cognitive function. In particular, being in natural settings restores our ability to exercise directed attention and working memory, which are crucial mental talents. The basic idea is that nature, unlike a city, is filled with inherently interesting stimuli (like a sunset, or an unusual bird) that trigger our involuntary attention, but in a modest fashion. Because you can't help but stop and notice the reddish orange twilight sky - paying attention…
mspringer | November 10, 2008There's been an article in the Guardian that's been circulating around various science blogs recently. There's a proposal to make what small autonomous nuclear reactors, install them underground, and let them power local areas.
Nuclear power plants smaller than a garden shed and able to power 20,000 homes will be on sale within five years, say scientists at Los Alamos, the US government laboratory which developed the first atomic bomb.
The miniature reactors will be factory-sealed, contain no weapons-grade material, have no moving parts and will be nearly impossible to steal because they…
drorzel | November 9, 2008
Warnock's Dilemma - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"[T]he problem of interpreting a lack of response to a posting on a mailing list, Usenet newsgroup, or Web forum. It occurs because a lack of response does not necessarily imply that no one is interested in the topic, and could have any one of several different implications, some of which are contradictory. Commonly used in the context of trying to determine why a post has not been replied to, or to refer to a post that has not been replied to."
(tags: internet computing culture language)
Please Pardon the Interruption While We Sell Out…
grrlscientist | November 9, 2008Just in time for Sunday, the day where people who should be resting up for a week of kissing their boss's ass, they instead are indulging their overactive fantasy lives by worshiping Lord Voldemort The Authority god, we have the Carnival of the Godless, issue 104 -- now re-named as the Carnival of the Chimbley, issue number one.
Ah, and here's another blog carnival, one that I'd forgotten I'd ever contributed to is the Molecular and Cell Biology Carnival, issue 4. This blog carnival focuses on what molecular and cell biology can reveal to us.
The fourth edition of the Book Review carnival,…
gregladen | November 9, 2008Quick, turn on your radio!!! Sorry, I forgot to post a notice for this....but PZ's got it here. Atheists in the military is this week's topic.
Also, do you like Laelaps? The science blog? Wit Brian? Of course you do! Well, Brian is nominated for a scholarship that YOU GET TO HELP HIM WITH!!!
Here is the argument and instructions, which are VERY VERY SIMPLE, to help Brian:
Vote for Brian
gregladen | November 8, 2008
The Carnival of the Recipes is HERE
Boneyard XXV is now up a The Great Dinosaur Mysery and the Big Lie, and it's a good one! CLICK HERE NOW
Four Stone Hearth: Late Night Election Night Edition is at Archaeoporn
Linnaeus' Legacy is at Life Photo Meme.
gregladen | November 8, 2008Julia's school play. The selection criteria for these photos is that they are kinda in focus.
The play was ... ah ... something written by the parents. About fairies and community building. It was OK.
gregladen | November 8, 2008It has been known for a long time, but people don't change their beliefs easily. You stretch AFTER you exercise the muscle, not before. Stretching before can lead to injury and also weakens the muscles you are about to use (temporarily). Stretch after the exercise to reduce the pain (the good pain) or possible spasms or cramps that may catch up to you later.
Before exercising warm up. Quick waling, running, that sort of thing. Don't stretch.
I know that you either already knew this or you simply don't believe me. I can't help you if you fall into the latter category. But you can always…
grrlscientist | November 8, 2008Even though I mostly eat food provided by the local food bank and food pantry, I actually purchase food for my parrots (alas, food banks/pantries don't provide pet foods). So I went shopping today at my local 99 cent store (which should be renamed the local $2.50 store) looking for frozen fruits and vegetables for my birds but instead, found a real treat for me: canned Jack Mackerel and canned Sardines, and frozen Alaskan Pollock fillets and frozen Tilapia fillets. Being a seafood lover who has not had the pleasure of eating seafood in a long, long, long time, I couldn't resist the promise of…
gregladen | November 8, 2008
The Saturday, November 1, 2008 edition of the Carnival of Evolution, a.k.a. The Carnival of Evolution #5, is now up at The Other 95%
The Carnival of the Liberals: Election Special! is HERE at the Lay Scientist. I shall note as well that the next edition of teh COL is here, on this blog (this one, the one you are looking at now). Submit your stuff here please. If that form does not work for you, just email me.
Friday Ark #216 is HERE at The Modulator
99th Skeptic's Circle is in the Ferret's Cage. Don't get bit.
Brain Blogging, Forty-First Edition is HERE at Brain Blogger