Daily Archives: July 3, 2009
Life in Biosphere 2
Several years ago, I was at a going away party for Bruno. Bruno was a hard core scientist who was being brought into the Biosphere project down in Arizona to get it straightened out after a long period of bad press.
One of the folks at the party was an archaeology graduate student, Ben, who had a very dry sense of humor. As Ben was leaving that evening, he turned to Bruno to wish him well.
“Bruno, see you around! And good luck with the terrarium!”
….
Sorry, that’s my only Biosphere story. Here’s a Ted Talk on it:
Linux: Not for everyone.
Before they know how pronounce the thing the story is about:
After they know how pronounce the thing the story is about:
Morning Sickness is an Adaptation, not a … Sickness
The best of last June
There is new information from an older idea (from about 2000) by Paul Sherman and colleagues. The idea underlying this research is simple: Symptoms of illnesses may be adaptive. Indeed, this may be true to the extent that we should not call certain things illnesses. Like “morning sickness.”
Broadly speaking, there are two different kinds of reasons that a woman may experience nausea in association with pregnancy. 1) This pregnancy thing is a complicated mess with all kinds of hormonal (and other) things going on, so you puke; or 2) a woman who is pregnant feels nauseous for good evolutionary reasons.
Continue reading Morning Sickness is an Adaptation, not a … Sickness
Amnesty International Report Rejected …
Nigeria’s state oil company rejected criticism from a leading human rights group Wednesday, calling an Amnesty International report “inaccurate.”
“We have issues with the report,” said Levi Ajuonoma, a spokesman for Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
Amnesty said Tuesday that pollution and environmental impacts from the oil industry in the Niger Delta are creating a “human rights tragedy” in which local people suffer poor health and loss of livelihood.
Governments and oil companies are failing to be accountable for the problems, Amnesty said in its report, called “Petroleum, Pollution and Poverty in the Niger Delta.”
But the state oil company said it was local communities who cause much of the environmental damage by vandalizing pipelines for monetary gain.
Source: Shell Oil
Heard but not confirmed: Palin stepping down as Alaska gov?
There’s got to be a good explanation. Either way, somebody’s gonna loose themselves a trailer …
Silence is the Enemy is Seeking Volunteers
… to help with the twitter and facebook accounts and related issues. Please go here and read the details. Contact details are therein.
Sean Hannity, Michele Bachmann, Fear Mongering on Census
The BS continues.
I’m very tied up today with some political issues, practicing my Klingon, and a writing project.
But I still have time to briefly point out what is going on with Bachmann.
Continue reading Sean Hannity, Michele Bachmann, Fear Mongering on Census
Mail Order Russian Brides, Woovending, Shell Oil and Silence
As I noted several days ago, a temporary change in policy has brought ads for “Mail Order Russian Brides” as well as a number of other … interesting … products to the ad spaces on Scienceblogs.com. Since I pointed this out, other Scienceblog bloggers have apparently noticed it as well and complaints now abound among the bloggers and commenters. I had not personally noticed it, but apparently these new ads also include woovending. And of course, the site is still sponsored in part by Shell, which from a human rights perspective may be far more significant than Mail Order Russian Brides (but how does one compare, really).
Continue reading Mail Order Russian Brides, Woovending, Shell Oil and Silence