neurotopia | July 15, 2006The first half of this year was the hottest on record in the US.
Temperatures for January through June were 3.4 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th-century average.
Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri experienced record warmth for the period, while no state experienced cooler-than-average temperatures, reported scientists from NOAA's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.
Scientists have previously said that 2005 was the warmest year on record for the entire globe.
Wish I had something insightful to add.
neurotopia | July 15, 2006Kent, the gift that keeps on giving. Man, is anybody affiliated with Hovind NOT a crook?
neurotopia | July 15, 2006One of my readers (kewl, I have readers!) informed me that Kent Hovind's lawyer might also be in a bit of legal trouble. It seems that Glen Stoll of Washington state is in a pickle as well. Stoll is Hovind's lawyer, and has ownership of the embroiled Dinosaur Adventure Land House of Lies creationist theme park ever since a property dispute involving a lack of building permits.
It looks like this guy is a total scam artist. Emphasis mine.
The court found that Stoll, who falsely claimed to be a lawyer, and his businesses sell a fraudulent "corporation sole" and "ministerial trust" scheme,…
neurotopia | July 14, 2006Last weekend there was an article in the Wichita Eagle on the situation with the Kansas BoE. Since creationists can't get their tripe published in real science journals, but instead have to rely on popularity contests elections in order to pass their shit off as reality to our kids, I thought I'd dig up one of my old posts.
Here's the a grand example of why science is not determined by consensus.
If you live in Kansas, The TruthTM which your children are taught in school is decided based upon the ideology of the current Board of Elections. This coming year, for example, Intelligent Design…
neurotopia | July 14, 2006Jackass creationist, theme-park owner and professional lunatic Kent Hovind was arrested on 58 federal charges.
Hovind, a.k.a. Dr. Dino, is best known for claiming to have obtained a level of education that puts him on par with professional scientists. He is also no stranger to the inside of a courtroom:
In April, Circuit Judge Michael Allen ordered the buildings at Dinosaur Adventure Land closed because Hovind failed to obtain a building permit during the 2002 construction. The outdoor theme park was allowed to stay open.
That's right, our good Christian friend apparently doesn't care about…
neurotopia | July 12, 2006Make sure you get your submissions in for the July 16th edition of Pediatric Grand Rounds.
neurotopia | July 12, 2006We seem to have a plethora of posts pertaining to Pure Pedantry's penchant for peroratory punditry. I found a recent press release that I fear will only encourage him.
Using magnetoenephalography, this group tracked how the brains of newborns, 6 month olds, and one year olds work when speaking. They specifically looked at cross-talk between Broca's Area, which is responsible for comprehending speech, areas responsible for audition in general, and other areas responsible for generating it.
The babies were exposed to three kinds of sounds through earphones -- pure tones that do not resemble…
neurotopia | July 12, 2006Over at Aetiology, Tara is confused. She somehow thinks that Focus on the Family is actually anti-life.
She says:
Indeed. I'd love to see them mount a campaign against a foundation that fights horribly painful guinea worm infections, AIDS in monogamous, married relationships; and funds scientific breakthroughs for a number of underfunded illnesses. Go ahead and show us again, FoF and ALL, just how "pro-life" you really are.
I'm sorry to say that Tara just doesn't get it. The answer to the conundrum is glaringly obvious. FoF and other assorted "values" groups are most definitely pro-life…
neurotopia | July 12, 2006I'm reproducing this short essay that was posted on DailyKos today. It originated here.
Published on Wednesday, April 3, 2002 by Common Dreams
What the American Flag Stands For
by Charlotte Aldebron
The American flag stands for the fact that cloth can be very important. It is against the law to let the flag touch the ground or to leave the flag flying when the weather is bad. The flag has to be treated with respect. You can tell just how important this cloth is because when you compare it to people, it gets much better treatment. Nobody cares if a homeless person touches the ground. A…
neurotopia | July 10, 2006I know Tara is going to kick me for this post, because as one of the resident D.I.N.K.s here at ScienceBlogs my parenting advice doesn't extend into the realm of "ethical" so much as "practical". Specifically, I've advised her on numerous occasions to just give the toddlers a "pharmacological sleep aid" of sorts. Ok, ok, so my suggested "sleep aid" usually takes the form of whiskey or Nyquil, but I'm not adverse to Benadryl either. After all, diphenhydramine is actually recommended by pediatricians to help kids sleep. Surely it is just as efficacious as my other suggestions, if a little…
neurotopia | July 10, 2006Don't forget to check out The Synapse, a neuroscience blog carnival. The latest edition is up!
neurotopia | July 9, 2006Italy takes France 5-3 in a shootout. Consider it revenge for the 1998 semifinals. Now I'm gonna get DRUNK!!!!!
Les Bleus, you did play an excellent game. I appreciate how you inspired your nation to come together in a time of racial turmoil.
neurotopia | July 9, 2006Red card for headbutting another player. Good job, dipshit. Your last chance at winning a Cup and now you're down a man with 10 minutes left. Now I almost hope it goes to a shootout.
neurotopia | July 9, 2006Now I'm nervous. The closer we get to a shootout, the more Italy has to be concerned. I don't think they have the shooters that France does, even with having an edge in their goalie Buffon.
Although they did substitute in Del Piero, so their chances of winning in OT have increased. Shit....
neurotopia | July 9, 2006Italy comes back to tie with a LEGITIMATE header off a Pirlo corner. After the shitty French dive (I'm sorry but there was minimal contact there) leading to a penalty shot, the ref seems to have laid off a bit and is letting the game unfold naturally.
This game is getting interesting.
neurotopia | July 9, 2006The World Cup final has begun!!!! And not surprisingly, we have a penalty kick due to a FRENCH DIVE. Zidane's shot.... good.
Yet another game lost to shitty refs.
neurotopia | July 8, 2006A highly conserved set of genes known as the sirtuin family are known to be activated by caloric restriction (CR) and extend the lifespan of a number of species. CR may also reduce the risk of Alzheimer's Disease, and can prevent the formation of amyloid plaques in transgenic mouse models of AD. The question, then, is whether sirtuin gene activation is a mechanism through which CR can prevent AD pathology, and what genes/compounds are involved in this particular biochemical cascade. Since I'm writing this post, you can probably guess that I've found an article that addresses this very…
neurotopia | July 7, 2006I got tired of spending 30 seconds crawling around under the table to unplug the printer cable from my home computer every time I want to print something off my laptop. Logically, the solution is to spend an hour setting up a secure home network so that I can sit on my ass, ten feet away, and print without getting up.
Except that I still have to get up and turn on the desktop so that I can access the printer from my laptop. Pathetic.
neurotopia | July 7, 2006While you might think that this week's SchadenFriday goes out to Ken Lay, you would be wrong. Dead wrong, in fact. (Ooooh, bad pun....)
I can't take pleasure in knowing that Lay's death brought suffering to his family. In fact, being truly malicious, I'm saddened by the loss. I would prefer that he live out his rightfully earned punishment for ruining his employees' lives!
No, this week's SchadenFriday goes out to Joe Lieberman, for being such a catty little bitch at last night's debate and . Apparently Joe is of the mind that he shouldn't have to bother with a primary challenger. Poor…
neurotopia | July 7, 2006This is one of those "what the hell am I doing here" weeks where my job seems to be both 1) fully self-aware and 2) malevolent. I swear, it's coming after me with the all the intensity of a starving, rabid boar in a field of truffles.
First kick, to the knee-- the last paper from my disseration was turned down. I sort of expected this. The impact factor for the journal is only about 3.5, but it is THE niche publication for hard-core neuroanatomical studies. While the paper was all negative data, even negative data is important. Accordingly my experiments were very thorough and the…