clock | March 16, 2007The fourth issue of Science In School online magazine is out. It is full of cool articles. Let me just point out a couple:
Eva Amsen wrote about Science Fairs.
There is a nice review of Kreitzman & Foster's book Rhythms of Life: The Biological Clocks That Control the Daily Lives of Every Living Thing.
Finally, how to use the movie 'Erin Brokovich' to teach about chemistry and environment.
clock | March 16, 2007Apparently, it is so.
Veljko Kadijevic, a former Yugoslav General who was indicted for War Crimes (mainly for the brutal destruction of the Croatian city of Vukovar early in the conflict) was never brought to justice (or even pursued by Croatia to be arrested - wonder why?) is apparently advising the US Department of Defense in Iraq.
As a West Point alumnus, Kadijevic had many connections with the US military throughout his career. But his poor military performance in the early nineties, if not his criminal status, should have been enough to keep him out of any kind of "advising" about…
clock | March 16, 2007Stealth Camouflage At Night:
Giant Australian cuttlefish employ night camouflage to adapt quickly to a variety of microhabitats on temperate rock reefs. New research sheds light on the animal's remarkable visual system and nighttime predator/prey interactions. Cuttlefish are well-known masters of disguise who use highly developed camouflage tactics to blend in almost instantaneously with their surroundings. These relatives of octopuses and squid are part of a class of animals called cephalopods and are found in marine habitats worldwide. Cephalopods use camouflage to change their appearance…
clock | March 16, 2007About a year ago, there was a great paper about polyphenism in moth caterpillars.
Now, in the new issue of Seed Magazine, PZ Myers uses that example to teach you all about it. Cool reading on one of my favourite topics (outside clocks, of course).
clock | March 16, 2007Belgrade blog, Neretva River and Japan Probe solved the mystery of a couple of pictures (and discovered many more from the same source) depicting Japanese people wearing Serbian and Croatian uniforms - images that greatly disturbed many Serbian and Croatian bloggers for whom the war is still fresh in memory. Read their excellent posts and comments.
Even more puzzling was the fact that the uniforms were from several different periods and wars. There were Serbian and Croatian uniforms from the most recent conflicts, but also WWII-era uniforms of partisans, Chetniks and Ustasha.
Apparently,…
clock | March 16, 2007
On this day in 1934 the US adopted the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp Act, commonly known as the Duck Stamp Act. Hunters are required to buy a stamp before bagging migratory birds like ducks and geese, with the proceeds earmarked for habitat preservation. The stamps themselves are so beautifully done that many non-hunters buy and display them as art. We won't be hunting them, but here are a few quotes on Birds.
I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a moment while I was hoeing in a village garden, and I felt that I was more distinguished by that circumstance than I…
clock | March 15, 2007I am always late for The Buzz. I just can't blog on command.
Jason, Jason again, Mike, Mark, PZ and their numerous commenters have chimed in on time.
But the "sprituality" buzz is long gone and I am only now getting to the topic. Ah, well.
Anyway, it's late at night so I will be short and only semi-serious....
When asked "What's your religion?" who answers with "I am spiritual"? Here is a Borges-like Chinese Classification:
A) People who really believe in ghosts, spirits, talking with the dead and Ouija boards.
B) People currently under the influence of LSD
C) People who get the strong…
clock | March 15, 2007Oekologie #3 is up on El Gentraso. There's everything there. Crime! Deceit! Pestilence! Goats!
clock | March 15, 2007I got my rejection letter from EurekAlert earlier today. Apparently, the wording of the letter is somewhat different from what Hsien Li got a few days back and she has now posted both versions for you to compare.
clock | March 15, 2007A brilliantly written Skeptics Circle #56 is up on Scientia Natura
The Carnival Of Education: Week 110 is up on Education Wonks.
clock | March 15, 2007Is it something about wholeness? Or milestones? But we certainly do like round numbers.
Of course, our numbers are social constructs. Our days and years are determined by the planet we are living on. Our number system is decimal presumably because we all start our early-years arithmetic by counting on our fingers - of which, on the last count, there are ten.
I remember back in middle school, I was actually quite good at math (my strength was in coming up with short, elegant solutions for geometry problems, but I also did well on logic, not so well on algebra), going to math competitions…
clock | March 14, 2007Father Time is not always a hard parent, and, though he tarries for none of his children, often lays his hand lightly upon those who have used him well; making them old men and women inexorably enough, but leaving their hearts and spirits young and in full vigour. With such people the grey head is but the impression of the old fellow's hand in giving them his blessing, and every wrinkle but a notch in the quiet calendar of a well-spent life.
- Quentin Crisp
clock | March 14, 2007Sandra has a post about an interesting case of a person who commited a crime (and was acquitted) while sleepwalking. The term "sleep disorder" was used as a defence.
But, is it a disorder at all? It naturally occurs in a proportion of human population. It is called a disorder because it does not happen to everyone and it can be dangerous for the sleepwalker or the people around him/her. Nobody is really trying to treat it, except for making sure that habitual sleepwalkers have a safe environment in which to walk at night (multiple complicated locks on the doors, etc).
Yes, you are…
clock | March 14, 2007Earlier today (or was it late last night?), I made separate posts about new work on aquatic microbial diversity, on the copyright issues when reporting on science on blogs and on general relationship between science publishers and blogs. Now, via Dileffante, I have learned about a combo of all those questions: when you are dealing with an enlightened organization, such as PLoS, magic can happen. Jonathan Eisen, author of one of the microbial genomics papers has, with no fear of copyright infringement, copied the entire paper on his blog. It is a first, isn't it?
clock | March 14, 2007If (like me) you have a special fondness for crayfish, then this post by Burning Silo is a Must Read of the day!
clock | March 14, 2007Pedro did some digging to figure out what are various journals' policies regarding use of images - figures from the papers - in blog posts. It is all very vague and most journals do not have anything specifically targeting online republication, but the Fair Use rules should apply.
I have often used images from papers in my posts, usually only one, sometimes two from a single paper, which should be OK under the Fair Use system. In some cases I used figures that are many decades old, reprinted in every book and textbook in the field, used in every chronobiology college course in the world,…