Social Sciences
jrosenhouse | February 5, 2007Theologian Alister McGrath offers these thoughts about Richard Dawkins. Let's have a look.
Actually, the fun begins with essay's headline: “Do Stop Behaving as if You Are God, Professor Dawkins.” McGrath is about to devote roughly a thousand words to explaining all the ways in which Dawkins has been behaving badly. If Dawkins' behavior is nonetheless reminiscent of God, then God is hardly someone to be admired.
We pick up the action in the fifth paragraph. McGrath writes:
Of course, back in the Sixties, everyone who mattered was telling us that religion was dead. I was an atheist then…
sarahdasher | February 3, 2007The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a sea-faring radical environmental group known for using guerilla tactics to disable Japanese whaling vessels in Antarctica, has once again had its registration revoked. Their craft, a 180-foot steel-hulled enforecement ship christened the Farley Mowat, is now officially a pirate vessel:
As Farley Mowat Captain Paul Watson told indymedia.org, "I am proud to add my name to the long list of honourable and noble pirates like Sir Francis Drake, John Paul Jones and Jean LaFitte. To that end we have our own version of the Pretty Red or Joli Rouge and it is…
tfk | February 2, 2007
Key findings:
The understanding of anthropogenic warming and cooling influences on climate has improved since the Third Assessment Report (TAR), leading to very high confidence that the globally averaged net effect of human activities since 1750 has been one of warming, with radiative forcing of +1.6 [+0.6 to +2.4] W m-2
In addition:
Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global mean sea level.
As predicted, human actions have "more likely than…
clock | February 2, 2007Continuing with the last week's topic (originally posted on March 11, 2005 - click on the spider-clock icon to see the comments, including by Mark O'Connell - who I subsequently met and blogged about, on the original post)
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Last night I listened to NPR's "On Point" about adolescent sex (http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2005/03/20050310_a_main.asp). As you may have guessed, I am interested in this topic as it can reveal something about the current fixated-on-sex femiphobic culture, as well as evolution of the institution of marriage (http://…
retrospectacle | February 1, 2007Last night I became embroiled in an interesting discussion: is the survival of a species (or, insert word here) inherently valuable, in and of itself? Does the fact that it currently exists *right now* somehow entitle it to preservation, or at least restraint when it comes to its demise?
The context I was thinking of was in regards to conservation. We've all heard the startling statistic that dozens of species go extinct every year, however this is mostly insects, plants, etc. These events do not make the news, or even cause a blip in the radar of conservation groups like the WWF, PETA,…
pharyngula | February 1, 2007I've received a few interesting links on the state of religion in America, so I'll just dump a brief hodge-podge below the fold. The quick summary: one clueless twit, one poll, and one philosopher weigh in.
Let's get the ugliness over, first. Andrew Sullivan is still an obnoxious fool. He gets some letters from atheists, and quotes a few: I thought this one was nice.
I, personally, as an atheist, find meaning in my own possibility and will to act in this world. I have the opportunity to interact with others and to create things. I have the chance to leave this world a bit better than when I…
evolvingthoughts | January 31, 2007
I didn't know my dad all that well. He died when I was 11, after a long illness that saw him in hospital for nearly 5 years, and he didn't show much evidence that he liked me much. All we ever shared was a love of science fiction.
I'm a father myself, of two wonderful kids, but I feel deeply the lack of a relationship, as a kid or as an adult, with my father. I have tried to be to my kids the father I wanted, and in so doing, made many mistakes. The lack of role models, of experience of father-ness, left me trying to work it out for myself.
The other night, I saw a documentary on…
clock | January 31, 2007
If you really read this blog "for the articles", especially the chronobiology articles, you are aware that the light-dark cycle is the most powerful environmental cue entraining circadian clocks. But it is not the only one. Clocks can also be entrained by a host of other ("non-photic") cues, e.g., scheduled meals, scheduled exercise, daily dose of melatonin, etc.
Clocks in heterothermic ("cold-blooded") animals can also entrain to temperature cycles. Lizards can entrain to temperature cycles (pdf) in which the difference between nightime low and daytime high temperatures is as small as…
revere | January 30, 2007Many Americans were outraged when they learned the fur collar on their new made-in-China coat was really cat fur or dog fur. I guess the outrage at the sacrifice of what we know as a companion animal (aka pet) for clothing is understandable. If we kept mink or fox as pets it might elicit the same reaction. The fact that birds are common household pets in other parts of the world but not in North America or Europe seems to make it all right to cull them by the millions in a bird flu outbreak, but I've carried on about this sensitivity/insensitivity issue before and how it depends on whose pet…
revere | January 29, 2007Having taken on the American Chemical Society the other day, why stop there. Let's talk about the American Chemistry Council, the ACC (neé the Manufacturing Chemists' Association, then the Chemical Manufacturers Association and now ACC). And bird flu. Yes, bird flu. The ACC is a trade association of the largest chemical companies and has a division called the Chlorine Chemistry Division which has just launched a website "dedicated to educating the public on flu prevention and recovery." If you believe that I've got a 1995 Volvo with low mileage (for a Volvo) just for you. Only driven at the…
sciencetolife | January 28, 2007 HPV (Human Papillomavirus) is widely known as the virus that causes cervical cancer in women.
However, researchers have found links between HPV infection and the development of certain head and neck cancers.
I wasn't aware of the connection between HPV and head and neck cancer until a co-worker, who had just attended the 2007 multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium in California, informed me of it.
Head and neck cancers are the 6th most common type of cancer in the world, caused mostly by smoking. But researchers are finding that infection with a type called HPV-16 is also…
petnoyer | January 25, 2007Tomorrow (Jan 26) will see the public release of Charting the Course for Ocean Science in the United States for the Next Decade: An Ocean Research Priorities Plan and Implementation Strategy which outlines the national ocean research priorities for the United States for the next ten years. The public event will be held at 1pm at the National Academy of Sciences building in Washington, DC.
From the press release:
This document takes a fresh approach in considering the ocean as a dynamic system rather than attempting to identify research needs based on historical academic disciplines or…
grrlscientist | January 24, 2007tags: Y chromosome, genetics, Britain, African
A study of the human Y chromosome found that seven men with a rare Yorkshire surname carry a rare genetic signature found only in people of African origin. Researchers Turi King and Mark Jobling from Leicester University found that the men appear to have shared a common ancestor in the 18th Century, but the African DNA lineage they carry could have reached Britain centuries earlier.
This discovery was the result of genetic research that analyzed the relationship between the Y chromosome and surnames. The Y chromosome is normally found only in…
dmunger | January 24, 2007Many many studies have repeatedly shown the dangers of driving while using a cell phone. Yesterday, while discussing a new law in Britain imposing heavy penalties not only for driving using a handheld phone, but also while using phones with hands-free kits, commenter Jan claimed that talking to a passenger was less dangerous than talking on a phone. I replied that I hadn't seen a study demonstrating that talking with passengers was any different from talking on a phone, and Jan provided a link to one such study.
Greta and I have both read over the study, and while we can't say from these…
jstemwedel | January 22, 2007In a post about curricular issues in genetics and biochemistry courses, Larry Moran raises some good questions:
It's almost a requirement these days that introductory genetics courses include a section on genetically modified crops. This invariably leads to tutorials, or labs, or essays, about whether GM-foods are a good thing or not. These discussions are usually lots of fun and the students enjoy this part of the course. Professors are convinced they are teaching ethics and that it's a good thing to show students that ethics is an important part of science.
In introductory biochemistry…
cmcclain | January 22, 2007Since this won a Fuzzy Yeti Crab (The Fuzzy) for 2006, I thought a repost was in order.
There is a great article at the San Francisco Chronicle on cosmeuceuticals and the extent people are distributing snake oil including this beauty...
At the highest end of the skin-care spectrum, Saks Fifth Avenue on Union Square sells Estee Lauder's Re-Creation daytime and nighttime cream set (a store exclusive), which contains "deep sea water" for minerals and sells for $900.
So what are the purported effects of deep-sea water? I collected some claims from around the internet which range from plain…
mixingmemory | January 22, 2007If you're a New Scientist reader, you may have come across this article titled "Beauty is in the eye of your friends." The brief article (which I found via 3 Quarks Daily) describes research purporting to show that whether (heterosexual) women find a man attractive depends, in part, on whether other women find him attractive, a phenomenon called mate choice copying.
In some animal species (guppies, quail, etc.), females sometimes pick mates based in part on the choices of other females, especially more experienced ones. If an experienced female guppy likes a male, then he's probably worth…
sporte | January 19, 2007The American Society for Human Genetics is sponsoring the second annual DNA Day Essay contest. If you are a high school teacher here's your chance to combine an interesting assignment along with a contest.
This year's essay questions are:
If you could be a human genetics researcher, what would you study
and why?
In what ways will knowledge of genetics and genomics make changes
to health and health care in the US possible?
The rules are here at GenEdNet.org
I also have an animated tutorial at Geospiza Education that might be of some help. The tutorial is titled Allelic Variants of…
clock | January 19, 2007Bats In Flight Reveal Unexpected Aerodynamics:
The maneuverability of a bat in flight makes even Harry Potter's quidditch performance look downright clumsy. While many people may be content to simply watch these aerial acrobats in wonder, Kenneth Breuer and Sharon Swartz are determined to understand the detailed aerodynamics of bat flight - and ultimately the evolutionary path that created it.
...more under the fold:
First Case Of Insect Transmission Of Chagas Parasite In Louisiana:
Loyola biology professor Patricia Dorn, Ph.D., in collaboration with Dawn Wesson, Ph.D., of Tulane University…
purepedantry | January 19, 2007The Eli Lilly leaked documents story has exploded.
Just to recap, on Dec. 17th last year the NYTimes reported on documents leaked from Eli Lilly that show that the company tried to play down the side effects of Zyprexa, a popular schizophrenia drug. The documents were released by the company to a lawyer suing them on behalf of plaintiffs who got diabetes and other problems while on the drug. These documents were under a court ordered seal.
Then an unrelated lawyer from an unrelated plaintiff case subpoenaed those documents, and he released them to the NYTimes and others. The documents…