I’m kind of shocked. Well, whatever.Some moron just blew 70 bucks, or whatever it takes to register a domain name, to anonymously post photographs of most of the scienceblogs.com bloggers (without linkbacks, and therefore in violation of Blogging Ethics and possibly copyright laws), dividing the bloggers into “Aryan” and some other category. I don’t think I want to know what Mr. Moron would call this other category.
Continue reading Turns out I’m a white guy
Daily Archives: March 5, 2008
Nature News
Climate Warming Could Lead to Tundra Fires; Preserving the Hemlock; Kangaroo Cull Continue reading Nature News
Brokered Conventions
Brokered Conventions do not happen too often these days. This is partly because everyone remembers 1968 as a nightmare. But we also have to remember 1968 as a key moment in a kind of revolution that happened.A very large number of voters today do not necessarily know what this is about. I’ve pulled together a selection of old videos (from YouTube, of course) that show some of the key events and give a feel for the day, mainly related to that fateful year and some of its consequences. These are not flashy or slick and for the young modern mind this will take some work to watch and relate to. This is not MTV. This is not Obama Girl. A lot of Americans lived through this. Except, of course, the ones that did not live.Sorry if this is a little painful. But that is sort of the point. Continue reading Brokered Conventions
Clinton-Obama has a ring to it
At least, according to Clinton:
Asked on CBS’s “The Early Show” whether she and Obama should be on the same ticket, Clinton said:”That may be where this is headed, but of course we have to decide who is on the top of ticket. I think the people of Ohio very clearly said that it should be me.”
McCain is Bad
McCain is Bad
Hip Hop For Obama
Nicholson on Clinton
Are you involved in Mountaintop Removal Mining?
This, obviously, is the removal of an entire mountain to get at the coal, to ship to a power plant near you so that you can get electrictiy. There is a movement to reduce the amount of mountaintop removal mining, and you can get the details here at Bootstrap Analysis.You will also find a number of links to other discussions on the topic, as well as a handy widget to help you decide just how badly you should feel about this.I was a little surprised to find out how much coal from Virginia powered us here in Minnesota. I see the coal trains coming down from Canada in large numbers, so I had figured we were using close to 100% Canadian coal. Silly me.Anyway, go check it out.
Wolves Among Us
Several years ago, I had a conversation with a friend who at that time, like me, spent a lot of time in the Adirondacks in Update New York. This was in the 1970s. He had spent a week or so on cross country skis on the north slope (facing Canada) the previous winter. On his second or third day into the mountains, he picked up the trail of a large canid. He followed the trail for three days, and during that time the track of this dog-like animal did not veer even slightly. The animal was simply walking south. It did not veer back and forth, sniffing and peeing on things, inspecting and poking around. The tracks were not that of a coyote … far too big.One cannot be absolutely certain without seeing the animal, but this had all the signs of being a wolf. Continue reading Wolves Among Us
Hot German Science
Our colleagues over at scienceblogs.com of Germany have a new cool video. My German is rusty but let me try to translate:If you mix warm and cold (liquid or gas) you get a temperature that is in between. But what if the “warm” is burning thermite (at thousands of degrees C) and the cold is liquid N, at hundreds of degrees below zero?What happens is that the temperature difference is just too high so that one can not be sure what to expect. And then my translation kind of trails off, but if you look at the video, I think what happens is that the liquid nitrogen is transferred into an alternative dimension or possibly a different universe.I might have that wrong, but it is a cool video. Here.
Microsoft Softening Up India
Microsoft is encouraging its business partners to promote its Office Open XML specification (OOXML) to the Indian Bureau of Standards (BIS) and Ministry of IT. This move has incensed supporters of the rival OpenDocument Format (ODF) who fear that the “soft” Indian state may not be able to stand up to Microsoft pressure tactics.Open Source Initiative (OSI) board member Raj Mathur claims to have a copy of the Microsoft letter to NGOs. “Microsoft has ‘persuaded’ several non-profit organizations,” Mathur writes, “to bombard the Indian IT Secretary and the Additional Director General of the Bureau of Indian Standards with letters supporting its OOXML proposal.”Mathur describes the letters as “form letters” due to their template-like nature. “As per our discussion,” the letter says, “please find attached the draft letters — please cut/edit/ delete and change it any which way you find useful. Also attached is the list of NGOs who have sent the letters. And attached is also a document that details wht [sic] this debate is all about. Look forward to hear from you in this regard. In case you decide to send the letters, can you please send me a scan of the singed [sic] letters that you send out. Thanks this will help me track the process.”
Are you a locavore?
I only heard this term recently, as one of my students is beginning a research project on the topic. The idea, of course, is that the more food you eat from local sources, the better your impact, or lack there of, on the environment. (Well, I had heard of this concept before, but not that particular term.)
“Buying local is like a hippie movement of 2008, but is it really a good use of a college graduate’s time,” asked food science professor Joe Regenstein. Indeed, is it not “indulgent and hedonistic?” He had just heard Cornell nutrition expert Jennifer Wilkins analyze claims made by “locavores” in a panel discussion on supporting local food producers Feb. 28 in Emerson Hall.
Costly Placebo Works Better Than Cheap One
Given two pills, one that costs ten cents and the other that cost $2.50, with both being simple sugar pills with no possible medical benefit, the more expensive pill works better to ameliorate certain conditions. I’m sure that the pharmaceutical companies will like this! Continue reading Costly Placebo Works Better Than Cheap One
Can kids be scared off drugs?
In 1986, 22-year-old Boston Celtics forward Len Bias died of a cocaine overdose. This week, DrugMonkey argued that Bias’ death–as opposed to educational programs like DARE–was the major reason why self-reported rates of cocaine use by 20-year-olds dropped from 20% in the mid-1980s to 7% in the early 1990s.
Maybe I should have stuck with Clinton
The Obama Surge may still be real, but it has hit the hard rocky shore of the Clinton Campaign in Ohio and Texas. Or has it. I heard an alternative theory explaining the patterning of the election last night that I think is pretty interesting. Continue reading Maybe I should have stuck with Clinton