Uncategorized
pharyngula | April 9, 2007My uncle Ed, my fun uncle who took a long, long time to grow up, had two favorite comics on the funny pages: The Wizard of Id and B.C. I liked them, too, and we followed them regularly. Of course, that was in the 1960s and early 70s, and I'm afraid they were afflicted with that syndrome common to long running strips: fading relevancy, recycled humor, the growing impression that the caroonist was phoning it in and didn't really care anymore, as long as he got his syndication check. Johnny Hart, the creator of those strips, was a particularly sad case, because compounding the problem of…
cmcclain | April 8, 2007
Hope over at Benefits of Seawater suggests my original debunking of Original Quinton Marine Plasma was not "logical". First, who is 'Hope'? She is a freelance writer who is paid by Quinton to generate an internet buzz.
Just started up two blogs for a new client on the benefits of seawater. They're meant to promote the client's product by spreading internet awareness as it were. If you want to check up on the blogs and see how they are doing. You can visit the Benefits of Seawater and All About Seawater Therapy. If this works out it will also be a regular gig, Yay!, which can…
grrlscientist | April 8, 2007A reader sent a link to a movie that she wanted me to see -- she said it made her think of my blog and all she has learned as a result of reading it. When I watched the film, I was surprised because I had no idea that writing a blog made a difference for anyone, except for me. Because I do love writing and I do love an audience for my writing.
Thanks, Diane.
drorzel | April 8, 2007For those few readers who are really fascinated by the workings of SF fandom, Kevin Standlee has posted a map of the Worldcon membership by country, and by state for the US and prefecture for Japan.
It's interesting not just for the distribution of the actual members, but for the gaps. Africa appears only in a couple of small insets, thanks to a few members in Nigeria, South Africa, and Israel, while only a tiny slice of Aouth America is shown, thanks to a handful of members in Chile. There are no members from anywhere in the former Soviet Union.
I don't know that you can read any Deep…
petnoyer | April 8, 2007The ongoing story of our letter to the Pope made ink Friday at the Daytona Beach News Journal. This was my first Op-Ed letter. It was pretty easy to do through email. Try it sometime when you have a message for the masses.
Unfortunately, the key link to contact the Vatican at ProPeninsula is broken at the bottom of the editorial. To send your letter to the Pope go here: http://www.propeninsula.org/advocacy/1/5.html
The playbook and the assist for the Op-Ed goes to, J. Nichols at the Ocean Conservancy. He's been working as a scientist and advocate on the issue of sea turtle consumption for…
grrlscientist | April 6, 2007
Rock Dove, Columba livia.
Image source.
Anyone who knows anything about birds will tell you that St. Paul is hatching a stupid idea for dealing with its pigeon overpopulation problem. According to the Associated Press, the "smelly mess is gaining urgency" -- so much so that the city is planning to steal pigeon eggs to avoid an ugly display at the Republican National Convention next year.
"Sticky foam, hawk balloons and nets haven't gotten rid of the birds," wrote AP, "so officials have a new plan: stealing pigeon eggs."
What's wrong with this picture? If the city officials are serious…
grrlscientist | April 6, 2007The 237th edition of the Carnival of the Vanities has been published. This blog carnival focuses on the best blog writing for the past week for any topic, so you should find plenty high-quality writing there for your enjoyment.
.
tags: blog carnival, carnival of the vanities, writing
cortex | April 6, 2007Matsuzaka looked impressive in his MLB debut. He had 10 strikeouts in 7 innings and only threw 108 pitches. I'm still not convinced he's worth $103.1 million, but the weak Kansas City lineup looked pretty dazed and confused.
Matsuzaka's genius, I think, is to create as much batter uncertainty as possible. He's one of the few pitchers who really uses psychology to his benefit. Take, for example, the much hyped gyroball. Such a pitch probably doesn't even exist. But that doesn't even matter: as long as batters think it might exist, they have to think about it, and batters don't have time to…
ably | April 6, 2007What ideas, themes, questions emerged from our April 4 salon on visualization? Here are some of our observations:
i) As technology affords scientists greater amounts of data (genetics, cosmology, etc.), visualization and design have become increasingly important as a tool for understanding and for communicating within the initial discipline, between disciplines (as science become more and more cross-disciplinary) and to the general public.
ii) Because successful synthesis and visualization is in many cases about what's not seen (what we intentionally omit in the pursuit of simplicity and…
ably | April 6, 2007The aim of this blog is to foster an ongoing conversation among the participants of the MoMA/Seed Salon. We'll update the blog regularly with new images, links, and thoughts that we hope will spark discussion. If you have any suggestions, please let us know!
cmcclain | April 6, 2007Sue Falconberg over at the American Chronicle lambastes scientists in her writeup Anderson Cooper.
...the reporters back home showed footage, at the tail end of the night, of a giant squid recently yanked out of its home and killed for 'scientific reasons' and then the reporters joked about it being 'calamari,' etc. This squid had a life that was taken from it by the arrogance and stupidity and cruelty of these sadists we call 'scientists.' To 'study' it. They killed it to study it. Not much animal sensitivity and awareness there. Or in the show's coverage of this incident, as if the life of…
cmcclain | April 5, 2007
Scanning electron microscope image (x 25000) of the coccosphere (Acanthoica acanthifera) collected in the North Atlantic. From the British Natural History Museum
tqa | April 5, 2007
The latest issue of the journal Science includes a policy forum piece written by Sciencebloggers Chris Mooney (The Intersection) and Matt Nisbet (Framing Science). In the article, they argue that scientists do not, for the most part, use effective communications strategies when trying to defend science. Both Chris and Matt anticipate that this view is likely to be somewhat controversial, and that it is likely to spark a vigorous debate. I think that they are probably right about this, and not just because their article includes at least one paragraph that is likely to set PZ off faster than…
cmcclain | April 5, 2007 Cortunix tagged me with a meme. To digress I am not a fan of the word meme or blog. Both make me sound like an internet geek which I am but don't want to necessarily convey to others. Why do I blog?
Communication is essential to science. Most scientists interpret this as communication with other scientists, thus meetings, workshops, and the currency of science...publications. I interpret this to mean, and on equal footing with the later, communication of science to the public. As each day advances, the deep sea becomes less remote. Our knowledge moves ahead so quickly and I think its…
cmcclain | April 4, 2007
Kevin's wonderful post on the Giant Isopod inspired me to post on a topic I have long pondered. Frequent readers of DSN know that I am fond of Sylvia Earle and the topic of body size. Honestly, it is not just body size is all matter of size related issues. A roadside trip can be quickly diverted by the world's largest ball of yarn or North America's largest biscuit. Mmm...biscuits, but I digress. What I want to discuss, and I use this word specifically as after 10 years contemplation I seem no closer to an answer, is why the Giant Isopod is, well, giant?
Mosely noted in 1880…
tqa | April 4, 2007
President Bush today continued his efforts to extort money from Congress by holding the American Military hostage. In a speech made to soldiers at Fort Irwin, California, Bush stayed on his basic message: give me the money with no strings attached or the troops are going to get hurt:
Just as the strategy is starting to make inroads, a narrow majority in the Congress passed legislation they knew all along I would not accept. Their bills impose an artificial deadline for withdrawal from Iraq. Their bills substitute the judgment of Washington politicians for the judgment of our military…
zooillogix | April 4, 2007Apparently after a long night of drinking, Egyptian fruit bats wake up craving particular types of sugar. In a recent study, Francisco Sanchez from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Israel) showed that the bats prefer foods high in the sugar molecule, fructose, after eating slightly fermented figs and dates. Fructose is known to reduce the toxicity of ethanol. After eating the alcoholic fruit, the bats even show visible signs of inebriation, such as bumping into objects and having a higher susceptibility to predators. As of yet, Sanchez has not witnessed a group of bats singing "Tiny…
tqa | April 4, 2007
Creationist brain surgeon Michael Egnor has been busy over the last couple of days, posting first a "response" to Orac's challenge then a "response" to Mark ChuCarroll's repeated attempts to explain the concept of tautology to him. There have been several responses to these two posts over at various of the Scienceblogs already - PZ, Orac, Mark, and Kevin have all addressed one or both of Egnor's latest claims, and all of their responses are worth reading. I'm actually feeling a little left out right now - after all, Egnor still hasn't deigned to address the two specific examples I presented…