thusspakezuska | September 6, 2007Diane Rhoten writes in this week's Chronicle of Higher Education about the concept of networked science. The Manhattan Project, she says, brought us the era of Big Science: ambitious projects, organized in a "top-down, hierarchical, vertical" manner, requiring lots of cash, fancy equipment, dedicated facilities, and a long-term outlook.
Next we got Team Science, fueled mostly by the life sciences. Big Science was shaped by instrumentation - what kind we do with this nifty supercollider? - while Team Science is "tailored to the parameters of the specific investigation" - hey, let's…
thusspakezuska | September 6, 2007It's almost September 17th, and you know what that means - Constitution Day! Do you have your festivities all planned out yet? No? Don't you remember there's a federal law mandating that all schools which receive federal funds have got to put on a program about the constitution for their students on September 17 every year? And federal employees in the executive branch have to receive some training on the constitution on Constitution Day? I suppose Dick Cheney would naturally be exempt, not being part of the executive branch of government and all.
Which brings me to this handy article…
thusspakezuska | September 3, 2007Here's the problem:
I've got migraines. So I take topamax. Topamax helps decrease the occurrence of daily headache and decrease the frequency of migraine. But topamax has side effects. A really bad one is cognitive confusion. This manifests itself in several ways. One is during speaking - I'll be just on the verge of pronouncing a noun and will suddenly feel as if I've been choked - the word is gone. This is not your usual "oh, I can't think of the word I want". The word is there, it's about to be pronounced, and I have the mental sensation of having it ripped out of my brain. It…
thusspakezuska | September 2, 2007It's late summer, and the harvest is bountiful, and so with the contributions to Scientiae. Thanks to all of you who submitted such fabulous posts. Some of you even wrote two posts! It must be that back-to-school enthusiasm.
As you know, this month's theme for Scientiae is "Unleashed", chosen by moi. I wrote about furious women the other day, which will tell you a little about where "unleashed" came from (and just how long it's been fermenting in my brain). But I have to give a hat tip to Karmen at Chaotic Utopia for inspiring me to make it the theme of the carnival, in the course of…
thusspakezuska | August 31, 2007Just a very short post to tell you all that I've had migraine all day, and am still headachy. Which means no Friday Bookshelf today (maybe tomorrow) and quite possible a delay in Scientiae. I doubt I will get it posted tomorrow though I will try. Hey, I guess that gives you a narrow window of opportunity for a really last minute submission if you turn it in by tomorrow morning!
thusspakezuska | August 30, 2007Alert reader Linda Carpenter has given me a heads-up about a forthcoming book that is a "take down of ev-psych style cave-masculinity". Ooh, that sounds tasty! The book is The Caveman Mystique: Pop-Darwinism and the Debates Over Sex, Violence, and Science by Martha McCaughey. Here's the book description:
Has evolution made men promiscuous skirt chasers? Pop-Darwinian claims about men's irrepressible heterosexuality have become increasingly common, and increasingly common excuses for men's sexual aggression. The Caveman Mystique traces such claims about the hairier sex through…
thusspakezuska | August 30, 2007Perusing Google Reader tonight, and here are some items of note:
Absinthe seems to be in a bad way, at least as regards blogging and the blogosphere. Doesn't seem to be much we can do to cheer her or change her mind, as she promises to delete all comments from her blog post. It's a shame to see her dismantling so much of her blog.
There's an interesting post at Fairer Science on Five Myths about Girls and Science, with a link to a story on the NSF website. Check it out.
Female Science Professor's life never ceases to amaze. Read the tale of her second encounter with the moron who…
thusspakezuska | August 30, 2007As a graduate student at MIT, my daily commute took me past a construction site bordered by the sort of concrete dividers you see along highways. It was a pretty long stretch of concrete dividers, and on it someone had energetically spray-painted the following in large, excited letters:
UNLEASH THE FURY OF WOMEN AS A MIGHTY FORCE FOR REVOLUTION!
This caused me much disquiet every time I passed by. Would people think I was one of those furious women? Who were those furious women and what were they furious about? What in hell would happen if their fury was unleashed? It did not bear…
thusspakezuska | August 29, 2007By way of the Chronicle news blog:
The National Institutes of Health has released new guidance about its policies on diversity and on child care.
One set of guidelines, or "frequently asked questions," released Friday, concerns the NIH's efforts to expand the pool of candidates eligible for its training grants that were historically reserved for minority students...Another set of "frequently asked questions" describes the circumstances under which universities may use the agency's grants to finance child care and parental leave for scientists who receive NIH grants.
Seems these guidelines…
thusspakezuska | August 28, 2007Maybe by now you've noticed the new box at the top of the comments, just below every post, asking you to enter the ScienceBlogs 500,000th comment contest. You have to submit your email address with your comment to be entered. Or sign up for the Sb weekly recap. Well, just click on comment below to get all the info, rules, etc. First prize rocks.
thusspakezuska | August 25, 2007I'm supposed to be enjoying the music at the Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival this afternoon. But it's a hundred and ten, hundred and ten in the shade. And I don't know if I can even drag my ass out there for the Seldom Scene at 3:00 p.m. Mr. Zuska is, of course, sweating it out and recording all the acts. There is no dedication like the dedication of a taper, especially not when he has new Neumann SKM 184's (pictures coming later).
Me, I'm happy here in the Ragged Edge Coffee House. And I thank them for the wifi. But time is running out on the meter, and I'm almost out of change...damn…
thusspakezuska | August 24, 2007There was no Friday Bookshelf last week because I was in NYC having a good time, I mean discussing science and such with the Scibling crew. This week I am in Gettysburg for the Bluegrass Festival, so no Bookshelf again. Should be back to the regular schedule next week.
thusspakezuska | August 24, 2007Thanks to the Chronicle for pointing me to Beloit College's annual Mind-Set List, which reminds us just how out of touch we old fogies are with this year's crop of first-year students. As the Chronicle notes:
The Mind-Set List draws much of its inspiration from the blank stares of students too young to understand popular references from an older generation, said Ron Nief, the college's public-affairs director, who co-writes the annual list with Thomas E. McBride, a professor of English. Many students associate "Here's Johnny" with "that guy breaking into the bathroom" in The Shining, Mr.…
thusspakezuska | August 22, 2007So, Happy Blogiversary to me! One year ago today I officially started blogging here at Science Blogs. Here's my incredibly dull first entry. Although I did use the word "penis" in it.
By the way, this is also my 300th post on Science Blogs, though I have no idea how many posts I made on the old site at Radio Userland.
Yay for me! Now I'm off to Gettysburg for the Bluegrass Festival - again.
thusspakezuska | August 22, 2007Since I don't work I have a lot of time in the morning to listen to talk radio. One of my favorite shows is Radio Times With Marty Moss-Coane. Marty, you rock, girl! She can wrangle arguing guests or a too-chatty caller like nobody's business.
Today's show was all about the Michael Vick dog-fighting scandal. In the second hour she had historian Edmund Russell on the show to talk about the history of dog-fighting, and a sad tale it was. At one point he spoke about having encountered a man somewhere in the south who was involved in the related "sport" of cock-fighting; he asked him if he…
thusspakezuska | August 22, 2007Perhaps you don't remember an entry I wrote about a year ago titled Pink Is For Boys, Blue Is For Girls. I linked to a Fairer Science post that was debunking a Times Online editorial suggesting girls had a biologically determined preference for "pink fluff". Fairer Science quoted a June 1918 edition of Ladies Home Journal thus:
There has been a great diversity of opinion on the subject, but the generally accepted rule is pink for the boy and blue for the girl. The reason is that pink being a more decided and stronger color is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate…
thusspakezuska | August 22, 2007The end of the month is creeping up on you, faster than you think. So doggone it, get your post for the Sept. 1 Scientiae carnival written and submitted! Or at least start thinking about procrastinating writing it. Remember the topic is UNLEASH; more elaboration on that here. Instructions on submitting here.
Now, after you write your most excellent post, and sit there gazing in pride at what you have accomplished, you'll want to submit the product of your intellect for consideration for inclusion in Open Lab 2007. Don't be modest. You know you write well. And you know the world needs…
thusspakezuska | August 20, 2007Sooooo beautiful. You must read what Pat has to say about APS's CSWP compiling a list of female-friendly physics departments. And follow the links therein. Here's how my various alma maters responded to this survey question: Please describe why someone applying to graduate school who is interested in a female-friendly department should choose your department.
Duke University
The physics department at Duke University has quite a few females. Interaction among the women of this department is encouraged by having lunch together a few times a year among and other social events. I am told by…
thusspakezuska | August 20, 2007Here's a charming quote from a recent LA Times piece on neuroscience:
...Lynch said: "Several years ago, I sent a student out and said, 'Your job is to find out what the boys know about assembly.' That's what grad students are for. They're the cannon fodder of science. You throw them at problems that have no chance of being solved..."
The cannon fodder of science. If I were a graduate student, I would so not go to work in Moron Gary Lynch's lab. Especially if I were a female graduate student. I mean, really - "the boys"? Sexism and infantilizing your rivals all in one handy phrase.
I…
thusspakezuska | August 20, 2007You know, bad karaoke can happen to good Sciblings.
But however distressing some people might find the proceedings, other people will always blend tastefully with the surroundings.
Kevin and Karmen just sat back and took it all in.
As Chris Rowan has reported, Janet is indeed the most clinical of juke box operators. Though she says she just wanted to make sure we were getting our money's worth.
That's what she said when she brought that tray of 5 for $10 shots to the table, too.