clock | October 19, 2006The Master explains just how deeply flawed the Santorum quip was:
But Aragorn didn't start the war!
Nothing in Middle-earth happens by accident
clock | October 19, 2006Yup, I know, many of my sciblings have already posted about this, but curiously, I saw this first outside the Seed's blogging stable, on Majikthise, several hours before anyone here picked up on it.
Yes, the entire works of Charles Darwin will be placed online for you to browse, search and read for free on this website. Not everything is up yet, but they are working on making it as complete as possible as soon as possible.
clock | October 19, 2006The Synapse #9 - the special Society for Neuroscience Edition is up on Pure Pedantry
clock | October 19, 2006'Ecstasy' Linked To Survival Of Key Movement-related Cells In Brain:
New research from the University of Cincinnati suggests that the widely abused club drug "ecstasy," or MDMA, can increase the survival of dopamine cells in the brain during fetal development. Because these cells are critical in the regulation of voluntary movement, the findings, the researchers say, may lead to better therapies for neurological diseases like Parkinson's.
Latest Buzz: Marijuana May Slow Progression Of Alzheimer's Disease:
New evidence in rats suggests that marijuana may contain compounds that slow the memory…
clock | October 19, 2006
Burt Humburg is coming to the 2007 North Carolina Science Blogging Conference. Are you?
Technorati Tag: sciencebloggingconference
clock | October 18, 2006Change of Shift #9 is up on Emergiblog.
Carnival of Homeschooling 42: The Answer to Everything is up on HomeschoolHacks
Archy needs submissions for the Carnival of Bad History.
Daniel Collins needs submissions for Panta Rei - the carnival of Heat and Flow.
clock | October 18, 2006This week's Ask a ScienceBlogger question is:
A reader asks: Is severely regulating your diet for a month each year, as Muslims do during Ramadan, good for you?
There is no way I can get out of this one! As far as I know, I am the only one here who actually did research on fasting! Mind you, it's been about 5 years since I last delved deep into the literature on the effects of fasting and feeding on various body functions, mainly body temperature and circadian rhythms, but I can try to pull something out of my heels now.
I'll try to somehow systematize this, by breaking the problem down…
clock | October 18, 2006Since this is another one of the recurring themes on my blog, I decided to republish all of my old posts on the topic together under the fold. Since my move here to the new blog, I have continued to write about this, e.g., in the following posts:
Preserving species diversity - long-term thinking
Hot boiled wine in the middle of the winter is tasty....
Global Warming disrupts the timing of flowers and pollinators
Global Warming Remodelling Ecosystems in Alaska
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Clocks, Migration and the Effects of Global Warming (December 23, 2005)
Circadian…
clock | October 18, 2006The latest issue (Fall 2006) of the Social Research Journal has as its theme "Politics & Science: How their Interplay results in public policy", based on a recent conference. The table of contents looks very promising. Unfortunately, none of the articles are online (yet?), so I cannot comment on any one of them. The upcoming Winter issue also looks promising - the topic is "Politics and Science: An Historical View".
I hope all the articles come online soon (with permalinks so we can link to them) so we can all read them and dissect them on our blogs.
clock | October 18, 2006I tend to rant about sleep in adolescents for various reasons, but other people focus on other age groups. Infants are one such group, interesting because it takes a while for their circadian rhythms to consolidate resulting in "sleeping through the night".
For years, the only serious book on the topic was Ferber, much maligned for its advice to "let them cry it out", though the rest of the book is correct and informative. Apparently, there is a good new book on the topic - The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night (as well as The No-Cry Sleep…
clock | October 18, 2006Mark Pruett wrote something I heartily agree with:
Raise children with a wild streak:
A new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics stresses the importance of childhood playtime. It reinforces my own belief that many young adults have been cheated by years of excessive schoolwork and teamwork, too many extracurricular activities, and a straitjacketed "just say no to anything risky" upbringing. I am convinced that modern childhood generally does not build enough independence and thirst for knowledge.
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Is this someone that I'd be excited to have in my…
clock | October 18, 2006Have Traits, Will Travel: Some Butterflies Travel Farther, Reproduce Faster:
Researchers have uncovered physiological differences among female Glanville fritillary butterflies that allows some to move away from their birth place and establish new colonies. These venturesome butterflies are stronger fliers and reproduce more quickly compared to their less mobile female relatives. The study, to be presented at Comparative Physiology 2006, is a window to how genetic differences influence behavior and how the environment influences genetic change.
Organic Farming Has Little, If Any, Effect On…
clock | October 18, 2006
Jason Smith is coming to the 2007 North Carolina Science Blogging Conference. Are you?
Technorati Tag: sciencebloggingconference
clock | October 17, 2006Razib and commenters are commenting on this article which appears to be 19th century SF-fantasy repackaged as "serious science" about the future evolution of the human species. Actually, the article is so silly, Razib does not even want to waste time on it and points out only one of the obvious fallacies of the argument, the one about skin color. On the other hand, Lindsay does a thorough and delightful fisking that you may enjoy!
I don't even know in which 'channel' to put this post. I guess it is "biology" but only nominally... as we do not have a "nonsense and having fun with it"…
clock | October 17, 2006Echidne and Amanda found a couple of incredibly stupid wingnut articles attacking Halloween and showing these guys have no idea what feminism is. Lance adds the dimension of fear to this discussion, and Publius moves the fear factor to other areas of life.
clock | October 17, 2006Kim of Emergiblog has assembled a wonderfully caffeinated edition of Grand Rounds. Hurry over before she falls asleep after her night shift! And she follows with some good advice on hosting a carnival.
clock | October 17, 2006Elizabeth Edwards will be reading from and signing her book in Pittsboro on Thursday at:
McIntyre's Fine Books & Bookends
2000 Fearrington Village Center
Pittsboro, North Carolina
919-542-2121
Thursday, October 19th at 7:00 p.m.
They'll have a digital camera set up if you'd like to have a picture taken with Elizabeth. Later, you can download your picture at www.myphotowithelizabeth.com.
clock | October 17, 2006A very old post (from September 04, 2004), but you may like it anyway.
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The other day, we were discussing birth order on JREG (http://www.jregrassroots.org/), and this is what I wrote about me and my brother:
My older brother and I are quite similar, actually. We were always the best friends, shared everything and agreed on almost everything. He was always a big teacher and role model for me. Any differences?
My brother had an easier time dealing with our parents through adolescence than I did. Fortunately, when I was of that age, he took me…