Uncategorized
cmcclain | July 22, 2008Maria over at Green Gabbro feels that I have printed a false and malicious post for the purpose of defaming volcanoes. I cannot be held liable if the accusations are true. Maria thinks that printing a list of "all the good things volcanoes do" will be more than sufficient to make up for their previous indiscretions. But perhaps we need a bit of perspective on the role of volcanoes in the history of life.
According toWignall's excellent review in 2001 on why and how volcanoes are evil, 6 of the 15 major extinctions in the history of life coincide with major episodes of volcanicity. In the…
cortex | July 22, 2008I've got an article in the latest New Yorker (not online) on the neuroscience of insight. I begin the article with the harrowing story of Wag Dodge and the Mann Gulch fire, before describing the research of Mark Jung Beeman, John Kounios and Earl Miller:
There is something inherently mysterious about moments of insight. Wag Dodge, for instance, could never explain where his idea for the escape fire came from. ("It just seemed the logical thing to do" was all he could muster.) His improbable survival has become one of those legendary stories of insight, like Archimedes shouting "Eureka!" when…
petnoyer | July 22, 2008
The view from my desk in the kitchen is a sunny garden near the bay, but Tropical Storm Dolly is moving slowly west from 200 km off the coast here in the Gulf of Mexico. I am "in the Cone", but seem to be sidestepping the projected landfall as Dolly veers slightly southwest. The one question on my mind, though, is how and will this tropical storm intensify?
I know about Jack Diddly to tell you much about hurricanes, but my oceanography professors at HRI/TAMU-CC are seasoned professionals, so I can share a few things. Yes, that's "oceanographers" plural. Last year we had a reading class with…
kevin z | July 22, 2008From BBC News:
"A lobster that could be up to 100-years-old has been handed to the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth by a local fisherman.
The crew of the fishing boat named the lobster Mad Jack and discovered it weighed in at 12lb 9oz (5.7kg)."
His claw is as big as my freaking head! Read more at the link above, also contains a video story (still below).
neurotopia | July 21, 2008Normally I don't run for any sort of competitive purpose. Ok, so I've never run for any sort of competitive purpose. I took the opportunity this time, though, so that I'd have other runners to help me push my pace.
I'm pretty out of shape right now but I can still do a 7:30 minute mile pretty easily, on hills. When I was in good shape 2 years ago, I my best time on my toughest 1 mile run (which was all uphill for the last half mile, on 14th St heading south towards Walter Reed if anybody knows the area), I could do 6:40. Which makes me reasonably certain I could've broken 6:00 on a flat…
kevin z | July 21, 2008Squishables! (via Bora).
There is nothing more adorable than a girl and her snail.
Is that Oswald? Oh wait, its the Deep Sea News token cephalopod squishy! Hi There!
Peter is a little in touch with his sensitive side though. He might prefer some furry mammal like a whale or something dumb like that.
Even on land, whales are swimming in a sea of plastic...
petnoyer | July 21, 2008
The supermarket in Corpus Christi is jammed and classes are cancelled the day after tomorrow at Texas A&M Universe in anticipation of Hurricane Dolly's landfall sometime Wednesday. Thinking of making bumpers stickers. We're about 100 miles north of the projected landfall destination in Brownsville, TX.
Stay tuned as I put away the kiddie pool and take down the wind chimes in anticipation of this projected Category 1 or 2 hurricane. What should I do? Pack up the family and retreat to Austin? Or stay put, and ready the camera? I just dunno.
grrlscientist | July 21, 2008
A montage of the SciBlings who made it to Seed Media's ScienceBlogs writers' get-together in NYC in 2007 [larger view].
Even though I am camera-shy, I am in this montage, hiding behind the beer glass, which distorts my facial features beyond recognition.
As you might recall, August is when ScienceBloggers meet in NYC. At the urging of some of us (including me), Seed Media Group is planning to have an event where ScienceBloggers and their readers can meet. The tentative plan is to meet on Saturday, 9 August at 3pm. Since this is NYC where it is currently hotter'n hell and barf-inspiringly…
sb admin | July 21, 2008The American Geriatric Society has announced that falls are a leading cause of serious injury and death among the U.S. elderly. HealthDay News reports:
Each year, about one in three Americans aged 65 and older suffers a fall, and 30 percent of those falls cause injuries that require medical treatment. In 2005, almost 16,000 older adults in the United States died from falls, 1.8 million were treated in emergency departments, and 433,000 were hospitalized.
Improving nighttime lighting, reducing clutter, and wearing non-slip footwear can reduce risks in the home, which is where most falls take…
grrlscientist | July 21, 2008Here are a few blog carnivals that you should check out;
The 91st issue of The Skeptics Circle blog carnival, which deals with people's nonsense and those of us who write about it.
All Things Eco blog carnival, issue number nine. This blog carnival focuses on green living and learning how to fight global warming.
Total Mind and Body Fitness blog carnival, issue number 59. This blog carnival focuses on learning how to increase your mental and physical fitness so you can live a more rewarding life.
stoat | July 21, 2008...we'll be watching you. Bluetooth, that is. At least according to the rather over-hyped Bluetooth is watching: secret study gives Bath a flavour of Big Brother. I don't have a lot of sympathy. If you go around shouting out "Hello my name is Eric Fertang" then you shouldn't complain if people listen.
Top quote: "This is yet another example of moronic use of privacy concerns," said Simon Davies, director of Privacy International, an independent campaigning group defending personal privacy (err, well no, not quite: he actually said "technology" not "privacy concerns", but I know what he meant…
bleimanb | July 21, 2008What is the Ghost Slug?
by the Museum of Wales
"Unlike most slugs, the Ghost Slug is carnivorous, killing earthworms at night with powerful, blade-like teeth, sucking them in like spaghetti. It is also unusual in having no eyes (it is probably blind) and is almost completely white. It spends most of its time underground, squeezing its flexible body into cracks or tunnels to get at earthworms, which it detects by smell or taste."
Yup, you read that last part right. After the story of the slug infestation wreaking havoc on the UK's gardens this year, things are getting worse for the Brits.…
cortex | July 21, 2008David Carr, a media columnist for the New York Times, was addicted to crack for several years in the late 1980's. In the Times Magazine (and in his new book) he tells the story of his own investigation into his junkie years, as he tries to understand how he let a chemical nearly ruin his life. It's a harrowing tale of addiction and love, but a major subplot is the inherent fraudulence of memory:
When memory is called to answer, it often answers back with deception. How is it that almost every warm bar stool contains a hero, a star of his own epic, who is the sum of his amazing stories?
If I…
kevin z | July 21, 2008The Blue Economy points to a supplement in The Guardian about "Cities at Sea". They depict the Lilypad cities in addition to homes that rise and fall with river flood levels in the Netherlands (see story in der Spiegel). One other project, meant for the open ocean, is the Freedom Ship.
Originally designed as a floating city capable of housing up to 60,000 residents, it ran into financial trouble in 2002. 3,000 people had signed up to live aboard in what was advertised to be a
"luxurious "endless retirement cruise", free of taxes and government pressures". But the idea has been reborn as an…
gregladen | July 20, 2008... On this day in 1969, two aliens from a nearby planet landed on The Moon, while a third alien circled the planetoid.
An..
.... astronaut stepped onto the Moon's surface, in the Sea of Tranquility, at 0256 GMT, nearly 20 minutes after first opening the hatch on the Eagle landing craft.
...
As he put his left foot down first Armstrong declared: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
cmcclain | July 20, 2008
During the Cretaceous our mammalian relatives were small and puny. They wandered around and tried not to become a warm snack for the reptiles that ruled the day. Insects began to diversify to eventually become the diverse group we now know and occasionally dip into chocolate. In the seas, rays, sharks, and all the bony fishes began to dominate and replace the way cooler cephalopods. Large marine reptiles still roamed the seas as opposed to just a lake in Scotland. The continents were still relatively close but rock n' roll, drugs, and women were soon to split them. The Atlantic was a…
gregladen | July 20, 2008Carnival of Cinema: Episode 83 - The Man with the Golden Blog is HERE at Good News Film Reviews.
The Carnival of the Godless #96 is HERE at Sean the Blogonaut.
Carnival of the Liberals LXIX is HERE at Stump Lane,
Practice, Practice, Practice at the The First Ever Music Education Blog Carnival.
Medicine 2.0 Carnival: Summertime Edition at ScienceRoll, HERE..
All Things Eco Volume Eight at Focus Organic Dot Com -> click here.
Vegetarian Blog Carnival # 18 is HERE at Go Eggless.
The home of Working at Home Blog Carnival-Ninety-fourth Edition is HERE.
Just Write Blog Carnival July 18,…
kevin z | July 19, 2008This ship is EVERYONE's ship. Make it a reality!
Find out more at The Beagle Project, follow their blog, buy the shirt and donate a couple bucks!
pharyngula | July 19, 2008The History Channel program, EVOLVE: Eyes that I mentioned before but then disappeared has reappeared — it was delayed, but is now scheduled for broadcast on 29 July.