Uncategorized
gregladen | April 8, 2009You may remember this earlier announcement. Here is the update on event, this time bilingually.
Premios Puño Arriba 2009
Anoche en el Teatro Rivera en la ciudad de La Habana se realizo la ceremonia de premiación Puños Arriba, producido localmente por el grupo Matraka. Contó con espectáculos de Anónimo Consejo, Silvito el Libre, Cuentas Claras, Raudel de Escuadrón Patriota, Soldier Squad, Maikel Xtremo, y muchos mas. Pero antes que pudieran entregar los últimos premios y las presentaciones de clausura se mando a parar el show. La única justificación ofrecida al publico del evento…
zooillogix | April 8, 2009Last fall many of you donated via Donor's Choose to one of three school science projects selected by Zooillogix for their direct impact of bringing creepy crawlies into the classroom. Today we have our first thank you from Ms. Daisy C's class in Brooklyn.
In this undated picture, kids in Ms. C's classroom are clearly doing something. The pictures are small and it kind of looks like your dollars bought them plates of dirt to eat, but I assure you that that is not the case. I think they are sifting around looking for grubs (not to eat). Also note the soft insect cage.
We purchased worms,…
sb admin | April 8, 2009It's National Public Health Week, and the American Public Health Association is encouraging people to recognize public health's contributions and get involved in advancing public health. This year's theme is "the healthiest nation in one generation" - in other words, the U.S. is currently far from being the healthiest nation, but we can turn that around in the space of a generation.
Since I'm already immersed in the field, I find it hard to judge how effective these efforts are at reaching people don't think much about public health. That seems to be the audience APHA is aiming for with its…
mspringer | April 8, 2009So not only did I miss the Saturday and Sunday posts, but also the Monday and Tuesday ones as well. Gah! It's honestly quite a bit more difficult to keep to the one-per-day regimen this semester than I though. Nonetheless I'll try to stick to that schedule to the greatest extent possible. KBO.
Today I'd like to talk about singing in the shower. You will notice, if you're brave enough to try it, that certain notes resonate with a particular volume. It's probably why so many people like to sing in the shower - it turns the most humble voice into booming thunder. Or at least an…
cortex | April 8, 2009For the most part, basic neuroscience research has had zero influence on public policy. Knowing about the dopamine reward pathway and the substrate of addiction hasn't changed the War on Drugs. (Although it certainly should. At the very least, we should decriminalize marijuana.) Knowing about memory reconsolidation and the inherent dishonesty of recollection hasn't changed the way police deal with eyewitnesses or the way juries consider testimony. (Although it certainly should.) Knowing about the neural effects of credit cards hasn't changed credit card regulations. And so on.
But there has…
gregladen | April 7, 2009From John Lynch Via Twitter:
PROVO, Utah -- Thousands of issues of the Daily Universe student newspaper at Brigham Young University were pulled from newsstands because a photo caption on the front page misidentified leaders of the Mormon church as apostates instead of apostles.
source
gregladen | April 7, 2009Although they are mostly good at basic arithmetic.
Scientists from the universities of Padova and Trento demonstrated chicks' ability to add and subtract objects as they were moved behind two screens.
Lucia Regolin, an author of the study said [they] "performed basic arithmetic" to work out which screen concealed the larger group of objects.
The findings are reported in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Details
gregladen | April 7, 2009Those people are steeped in bling. Check it out:
Fearing the appearance of their well appointed properties on the Web site would attract criminals scouting for burglary targets, villagers in Broughton, north of London, summoned the police after spotting the car.
The car being the Goolge Camera Car that puts the street level view on Google Maps.
"I was upstairs when I spotted the camera car driving down the lane," resident Paul Jacobs told The Times of London.
"The lane." That makes me laugh.
"My immediate reaction was anger: How dare anyone take a photograph of my home without my…
gregladen | April 7, 2009Perchlorate, a hazardous chemical in rocket fuel, has been found at potentially dangerous levels in powdered infant formula, according to a study (pdf) by a group of Centers for Disease Control scientists. The study, published last month by The Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, has intensified the years-long debate about whether or how the federal government should regulate perchlorate in the nation's drinking water.
Details here.
gregladen | April 7, 2009For the first time, MIT researchers have shown they can genetically engineer viruses to build both the positively and negatively charged ends of a lithium-ion battery.
The new virus-produced batteries have the same energy capacity and power performance as state-of-the-art rechargeable batteries being considered to power plug-in hybrid cars, and they could also be used to power a range of personal electronic devices, said Angela Belcher, the MIT materials scientist who led the research team.
The press release is here.
grrlscientist | April 7, 2009Here's the latest carnivalia for you to read and enjoy;
Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People), inaugural issue. This is THE science blog writing carnival that celebrates the best science, nature and medical writing in the blogosphere.
Circus of the Spineless, 37th edition. This newly revived blog carnival focuses on invertebrates, as its name suggests. This issue is particularly fun, with a nice mix of science, photoessays, video and images.
Review Bloggers, 38th edition. This is a collection of reviews about all sorts of things, from books to baby toys.
Carnival of Homeschooling,…
jwilbanks | April 7, 2009After Science Commons hit the reddit heights earlier this year, I started talking to Alexis Ohanion about how we could start to work together. We are still scheming. But in the interim, he's launched a cool and inventive way to raise a little cash for Science Commons.
In the goal of creating the ultimate meme-launching organism, the folks at breadpig (including a great quote by CC alum Tim Hwang) have announced ROFLDNA - based the DNA of internet celebrities as varied as MC Frontalot and my own personal favorite, the Tron Guy. Their DNA has been combined and turned into a Mini DNA portrait by…
pharyngula | April 7, 2009Gene Roddenberry has often pissed me off. He didn't invent the stereotype, but he certainly crystallized it in popular culture with his Star Trek character, Mr Spock. What is the end result of intelligence and education? Why, an emotionless robot who assesses impossible probabilities instantaneously in his head and denies love and friendship. It's a caricature I run into all the time — I've lost count of the number of emails I've received informing me that True Scientists™ do not get angry about anything, and therefore everything I say is invalid. It's annoying, but mainly what it tells me is…
nisbetmc | April 7, 2009
Obama Girl, the viral video vixen, is creating buzz again, this time as part of a coordinated public engagement campaign on energy and climate change. Check out the rap video above and then go over to The Energy Collective where Mark Gunther has the details and an audio interview with the campaign's creators at Smart Power.
gregladen | April 7, 2009Some of the symptoms of the autistic condition Asperger Syndrome, such as a need for routine and resistance to change, could be linked to levels of the stress hormone cortisol, suggests new research led by the universities of Bristol and Bath.
Normally, people have a surge of this hormone shortly after waking, with levels gradually decreasing throughout the day. It is thought this surge makes the brain alert, preparing the body for the day and helping the person to be aware of changes happening around them.
However, a study by Dr David Jessop from the University of Bristol and Drs Mark…
gregladen | April 7, 2009He wore sex appeal like good cologne, just enough to be a constant undercurrent without knocking anyone over at ten paces..... he stood out against the backdrop of her sleek modern office of steel, leather and glass like a bonfire in a snowdrift.
... No, just fiction. Good fiction by Stephanie Zvan. Check it out.
cortex | April 7, 2009There's a charming article by Hannah Seligson over at The Daily Beast on the "science" of when to get married. (I've put scare quotes around "science" only because it's not a science at all.) On the one hand, it's rather obvious that making romantic decisions isn't exactly a rational process. Charles Darwin, for instance, made up a spreadsheet of reasons why he should and shouldn't marry Emma Wedgewood.
In the "Marry" column, Darwin entered: "Home and someone to take care of house--Charms of music and female chit-chat. These things good for one's health. Forced to visit and receive relations…
sb admin | April 7, 2009by Alison Bass (cross-posted)
Martin Keller is finally stepping down as the long time chief of psychiatry at Brown University. Brown University officials made the announcement in a Dear Colleagues letter dated today from Edward J. Wing, Brown's new Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences.
While Brown officials insist that the decision to step down was Keller's, my understanding from several sources is that the university has been under pressure to take action ever since Side Effects was published last June and Sen. Charles Grassley began investigating Keller's undisclosed conflicts of…
sciencepunk | April 7, 2009
The Associated Press reports that lawyers working on a multi-billion dollar lawsuit against Pfizer are close to reaching a settlement.
Nigerian authorities allege that Pfizer conducted deadly drug experiments in Nigeria's northern Kano state during devastating meningitis outbreak. They claim that the pharmaceutical giant used children there for an unlicensed trial of what it hoped would be a new "blockbuster" drug - a broad spectrum antibiotic that could be taken in tablet form. Pfizer disagrees, insisting that it acted with approval from the Nigerian government and with the consent of…