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gregladen | November 27, 2012The phrase "Correlation does not imply causation" has developed in to a Falsehood, as I discuss here. This is in part because people often use the phrase to argue that a particular correlation has no meaning, which is a false argument. It is, of course, true that a correlation does not in and of itself prove a causal link between two things. And, as pointed out in a few places, but I'll refer you to this Mother Jones piece for background, the relationship between single mothers and homicide and other crime is ... well ... interesting.
The idea is to blame single mothers for crime. They,…
mspringer | November 26, 2012My post about seeing a laser from the moon mentioned the fact that the beam from a laser spreads as it propagates. We're used to seeing this from a flashlight - the beam from a flashlight across a room is much smaller than the beam from a flashlight across an open field. Lasers spread too, though not by as much. But spread they do, and over the quarter of a million miles to the moon, a laser will spread quite a bit. The spread of a laser (which is more accurately called its angular divergence) can be reduced though, which is useful if you want your beam diameter to be smaller at long…
carlyo | November 26, 2012We are seeking exhibitors for the 2014 Festival! Join us if you want to change lives! The exhibitors from the last Festival were amazing and we hope you come back again!
gregladen | November 26, 2012Alternate titles for this post:
"It turns out, it is a little like a priesthood."
"Join us. Join us. Join us. Braaainzzzzz"
"Imma gonna let you finish, but first I think you need to get your Wellies wet."
...
[Modified repost]
In a library, there is a spatial relationship between knowledge and books or journals, and there is a sense of completeness about it. I'm thinking in particular of the Tozzer library, one I spent a fair amount of time in. I would go to the basement of the library and the entire ancient world (this is an anthropology library) was arrayed in a set of shelves to the…
gregladen | November 25, 2012Here is the website, here is the Facebook page, and here is the writeup:
Feeder Sketch is an 8 week free one line casual course. You can come and go as you please. No requirements, and any level of participation is welcome (from just seeing what it is, to drawing 2 times a week for and hour).
Join us if you are just learning to draw or are an illustration superstar. A novice birder - or someone who can identify a bird by just a few little chirps. Everyone is welcome!
If you just want a weekly reminder about the group, you can hit maybe here, and stay updated.
Who are "we"?
We are staff and…
gregladen | November 25, 2012Many people assume human brains vary genetically and genetic variation maps to races. But the races are not real and genetic variation can't explain brain differences. Because, dear reader, brains don't work that way.
Let's look just at the brain part of this problem.
A Repost
There are between 50 and 100 billion neurons in the human brain, and every one is connected to a minimum of one other neuron to produce about 100 trillion connections. So when we are thinking about how the brain is wired up, we have to explain how so many connections can be specified to make the brain work.
There…
gregladen | November 25, 2012It is not possible for anyone to understand every policy-important aspect of scientific knowledge at the level of detail necessary to accept that knowledge as valid, or to defend it against the evil anti-science denialists. So what is a skeptic to do?
[a timely repost]
Real science happens at the very edge of knowledge. If you go do real science for a while ... a few weeks ... then go back to science geek land where you normally live (and I know you live there because you are reading this blog) and read about the same topic you were exploring in real science land, you will see two…
gregladen | November 24, 2012When my baby nurses from his mom, he can see her face and bond with her because he was designed to do so by god. Like how a banana is designed by god to fit comfortably in the hand for eating, or maybe just carrying around.
What am I talking about?
(A timely repost)
Imagine the following two alternative scenarios.
Alternative Universe One
The Scene: Visiting Nurses Inc. VNI contracts with health care providers to send trained visiting nurses around to check in on newly minted babies and their parents. This is standard procedure in many health care plans, and of course, VNI wants to…
gregladen | November 24, 2012Scientist could probably do a better job at understanding, and addressing, science denial. I know this is true. If I had a nickel for every time I've heard a scientist say something like "All you have to do is, bla bla bla" or "What I do is bla bla bla" in relation to science denialists, or addressing this issue in classrooms, etc. I'd have dozens of nickels. Yet the problem of science denialism continues. It is possible that we don't know what we are doing.
Joshua Rosenau knows something about science denialism, as a scientist, scienceblogs.com blogger, and staff member at the National…
gregladen | November 23, 2012Have you heard of the book "Once We All Had Gills: Growing Up Evolutionist in an Evolving World"?
Here's a summary:
In this book, Rudolf A. Raff reaches out to the scientifically queasy, using his life story and his growth as a scientist to illustrate why science matters, especially at a time when many Americans are both suspicious of science and hostile to scientific ways of thinking. Noting that science has too often been the object of controversy in school curriculums and debates on public policy issues ranging from energy and conservation to stem-cell research and climate change, Raff…
gregladen | November 23, 2012There is a petition making the rounds which is getting some real support, and that you should sign:
Enforce the tax code, and strip violating Religious institutions of their tax exempt 501(c) status.
Religious institutions across our great nation serve an important role in community building & out reach, helping the poor & disenfranchised, among many other noble actions.
Our forefathers had the foresight to see that for our nation to succeed, we would need to enforce an unparalleled freedom of religion. However, they also understood the imperative need for a legal separation between…
gregladen | November 23, 2012Dinosaur Toys?
Glendon Mellow was asking the other day where to get “realistic” or “scientifically accurate” dinosaurs for kids to play with. There are a LOT of “realistic” dinosaur sets out there, but they are for the most part realistic in that they really look like the imagined dinosaurs of the last century and a half, and not the reconstructed dinosaurs of present day paleontology. I’m not sure if you can even get those. The 12 piece Large Assorted Dinosaurs - Toys 5–7" Larger Size Dinosaur Figures exemplify the results of an Interent search for “realistic dinosaur.” Yes, they are…
gregladen | November 22, 2012After hundreds of studies, it has been difficult to link fish predation by cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) to the reduction of fishing quality in Minnesota lakes. It appears that game fish such as walleye and northern pike make up from less than 1% to nearly 3% of the bird's diet. They eat only small fish. Many of the fish they eat are perch, which prey on walleye, and it is even possible that by culling small walleye or northerns, they increase the growth rate for those fish in two way. One is by reducing competition between fish for food, and the other is by exerting selective pressure…
gregladen | November 22, 2012How will climate change affect the flavor of wine? Are warming oceans responsible for the recent global jellyfish outbreak? Do we know how a rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide will affect poison ivy, tobacco, or even sea anemones? NCSE climate change project director talks about what the research shows and future questions to be answered. Sponsored by the Bay Area Skeptics.
carlyo | November 21, 2012Abelardo Aguilar -- Filipino physician-scientist
Co-discoverer of Erythromycin (Ilosone®), an effective antibiotic against various respiratory tract and intestinal infections, and certain sexually-transmitted diseases
Fungi and soil bacteria are amazing ecosystems from which key medicinal products have been discovered. For example, the life-saving drug Erythromycin (Ilosone®) is a product of the fungus Streptomycesery threus, which was first found in soil samples collected in the Philippine Islands by Filipino physician-scientist Abelardo Aguilar in 1949. Abelardo, who was at the time a…
carlyo | November 21, 2012Exhibitor applications are now being accepted for the 3rd Festival!
We invite you to celebrate science at the 3rd USA Science &
Engineering Festival, the largest celebration of science and
engineering in the United States! The 3rd Science Festival will kick
off with nationwide school programs, contests and events year-round,
and culminate in a 2-day Grand Finale Expo on April 26-27, 2014 at the
Convention Center in Washington, D.C. Sneak Peek Friday will take
place on April 25.
Sign up to Exhibit by December 31st, 2012 to take advantage of all the
benefits of our new plans for the 3rd…
carlyo | November 20, 2012Rakesh Agrawal -- Chemical engineer
Developed effective process to cool natural gas to the point that it liquifies, thus helping the gas to be transported safely across long distances by ship, rail or other means. This has helped improve energy production and efficiency.
Born in India, Rakesh Agrawal studied extensively there, earning his Bachelor's of Science degree in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in 1975. He then came to the U.S. to pursue his post-graduate studies, and here he continued to cultivate a keen interest in energy production and ways to improve…
gregladen | November 20, 2012Nature, the journal, has come out in favor of the US congress acting on a Carbon Tax now.
As looming tax increases and budget cuts threaten to plunge the US economy back into recession, Congress should take a hard look at introducing a carbon tax as an important part of the solution.
This week, a reinvigorated Barack Obama returned to the White House knowing that he was poised on the edge of a fiscal cliff. Rather than relishing his victory last week, Obama must immediately set about crafting a compromise on deficit reduction with congressional leaders. The stakes could hardly be higher — for…
gregladen | November 20, 2012This is the time of year that we rightfully contemplate the noble Turkey. The very first thing we notice about this large member of the Galliformes is that there is a wild version and a domestic version, and although the two are rather different, they are both given the same species name, Meleagris gallopavo. This is not entirely unknown among domestic animals, but many domesticates have no living wild version. Thus, the cattle we raise for meat and dairy are sometimes called Bos taurus while the extinct wild form is always called Bos primigenius. The domestic cat has the uninspired name…