When reading the Voyage, it is impossible to miss the observation that much of the time Darwin was engaged in adolescent boy behavior: Pulling the heads off insects, noting how long they would wiggle after cut in half, closely examining the ooze and guts, occupied much of his time. Obviously, careful observation and a strong stomach were not all that was required to think up Natural Selection and his other theories, or the Origin of Species would have been written dozens of times by dozens of grown up kids.
Continue reading Bugs (Darwin)
Monthly Archives: February 2009
Fact vs. Theory
Genie Scott’s new edition of Evolution vs. Creationism
Cool.
Open Access Under Threat
The publishing industry is dangerous. Why? Because it is big and rich, but it is also in danger. The publishing industry, like the music industry, and like the commercial proprietary software industry, faces structural reorganization of the markets served and uncertainty in the flow of cash into coffers. So we should not be surprised when we see the industry buying off members of congress to get legislation passed that protects the industry from change that is coming. Change the industry does not want to see.
The most recent event is the reintroduction of a bill in congress that will abrogate the current NIH public access policy. This has been tried before and it is being tried again. From Michael Eisen’s blog:
John Conyers (D-MI) has reintroduced his publisher-backed “Fair Copyright Act” which would effectively end the NIH Public Access Policy by eliminating the government’s right to impose conditions on grants that would give the government the right to distribute works arising from federally funded research.
As many have pointed out, the whole premise of the bill is absurd. Publishers are arguing that the NIH has taken their copyright. But, of course, if that were true, they would already have protection under federal copyright law, and they would be suing the government. Instead, they are pushing legislation that would actually remove the governments right to distribute work it funds, thereby clearly demonstrating that they believe the government’s action is perfectly legal under copyright law.
Please go to Michael’s blog and read the entire entry. Also, the Open Access News Blog has a summary of press and bloggers reactions to this bill. Here.
Turtles in the Ancient Arctic
Turtles Island-Hopped Their Way Across a Warm Arctic
Sometime about 90 million years ago, Asian turtles hit the road for North America. Although researchers thought that these reptiles had crawled around the globe via Russia and Alaska, new findings suggest that they may have taken a shortcut–over a series of islands now submerged under the Arctic Sea.
The conclusions are based on an unusual turtle fossil…
How to build Stonehenge
First I thought: “… noooo..” Then, I thought: “hmmmmmm.”
I can see Lake Superior from my Porch!
We Minnesotans are so funny.
Hat Tip Colin.
Peter Ward: Earth’s mass extinctions
African ‘Pgymy’ Shared Stature Allele
This is an oversimplification, but it is exactly what the archaeology and physical anthropology had previously told us. Except the physy and archy data give us more detail. But, important and interesting nonetheless:
Short people known as pygmies are scattered across equatorial Africa, where they speak various languages, inhabit different types of forests, and hunt and gather food in diverse ways. Despite their cultural variety, a new study shows that the pygmies of Western Central Africa descended from an ancestral population that survived intact until 2800 years ago when farmers invaded the pygmies’ territory and split them apart….
Microsoft = Evil
From slashdot:
“Microsoft is advertising for a new director of open source strategy, but this one has a specific purpose: fight the Linux desktop. ‘The Windows Competitive Strategy team is looking for a strong team member to lead Microsoft’s global desktop competitive strategy as it relates to open source competitors.’ For a variety of reasons, this move is almost certainly targeted at Ubuntu Linux’s desktop success. With the Mac, not Linux, apparently eating into Microsoft’s Windows market share, what is it about desktop Linux, and specifically Ubuntu, that has Microsoft spooked?”
figures. details and links here.
Juan Williams, WTF?
Hat Tip: Hello Negro. Read HN’s commentary on this, here.
For the love of ancient chocolate
A fresh look at ornate 1000-year-old vases from New Mexico’s canyons has unearthed a surprise: They were used as mugs to drink chocolate. The findings are the first record of the food in North America, long before its introduction in colonial times. They also reveal that chocolate was an expensive delicacy enjoyed by few during elaborate rituals.
Yet Another Research Project on Color and Human Brains
I heard these folks talking on the radio. It is all very interesting. Here’s a piece in Science by Greg Miller:
If you’re thinking of hiring a tax accountant, you might want to note the color of his office. According to a new study, the color red can improve performance on detail-oriented tasks–a desirable thing if your goal is an accurate return. However, if you’re hoping to pare down your tax bill with any possible deductions, no matter how far-fetched, you might look for an accountant with a blue office–that color boosts creativity, the researchers report.
Previous research on how color affects cognition has yielded inconsistent findings, says Rui (Juliet) Zhu, a consumer psychologist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Some studies find that red enhances cognition, for example, while other studies suggest the opposite. Zhu suspected this might be because the work didn’t pay enough attention to which types of cognition were being affected. Red might enhance performance on some tasks, she reasoned, while impairing performance on others. …
Borrowed Gene Blackens Wolves
North American gray wolves that crisscross the frozen tundra after migrating caribou tend to be light colored, blending in with snow and ice. But dark wolves are common in forests, possibly because there they can slink through the woods unnoticed. Geneticists have pinpointed the gene variant that imparts this black fur and determined that it comes from domestic dogs that interbred with their wily cousins thousands of years ago.
cool. more here.
Important Information on the MMR Vaccine-Autism Link
An investigation by the Sunday Times (UK) indicates that the doctor who reported information suggesting a link between MMR vaccine and autism may have “misreproted results in his research.” The investigation purpots to show that …
…Andrew Wakefield manipulated patients’ data, which triggered fears that the MMR triple vaccine to protect against measles, mumps and rubella was linked to the condition.
The research [originally] claimed that the families of eight out of 12 children attending a routine clinic at the hospital had blamed MMR for their autism, and said that problems came on within days of the [vaccinatoi]. The team also claimed to have discovered a new inflammatory bowel disease underlying the children’s conditions.
However, our investigation, confirmed by evidence presented to the General Medical Council (GMC), reveals that: In most of the 12 cases, the children’s ailments as described in The Lancet were different from their hospital and GP records. Although the research paper claimed that problems came on within days of the jab, in only one case did medical records suggest this was true, and in many of the cases medical concerns had been raised before the children were vaccinated. Hospital pathologists, looking for inflammatory bowel disease, reported in the majority of cases that the gut was normal. This was then reviewed and the Lancet paper showed them as abnormal.
(Emphasis added)
The story is here.
See also:
A Quick Note to Huffington Post
Did the founder of the antivax movement fake autism-vaccine link?
Anti-vax study a case of scientific fraud?
The anti-vaccination movement—rotten to the core
Maddow on the Stimulus Bill
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