Bits and Pieces
jlynch | November 13, 2007They "get drunk all the time. It is becoming really dangerous. We need to stop making alcohol available to them."
They, in this case, are not worthless socialites and Hollywood starlets, but elephants in northeastern India, and the speaker is none other than Paris Hilton, who went on to comment that "It is just so sad."
That sound you just heard? My irony meter exploding.
In any case, between the rampaging monkeys and the elephants, India sounds like a madhouse!
Update: Apparently not.
jlynch | November 11, 2007An "old-fashioned point of view" from Wayne Johns of Texas:
Whatever happened to little girls playing with dolls and dreaming of becoming wives and mothers? Whatever happened to young men looking for a good Christian wife and finding a young woman still clinging to her doll? Me, old fashioned? I guess. Me, a male chauvinist pig? To answer that I would have to say, "Oink, oink, oink."
Zuska's going to have a field day!
jlynch | November 9, 2007The ScienceBlogs DonorsChoose Challenge ended a few days back while I was in DC. Eighteen readers of this blog raised $1,970.29, a sum which completely funded seven projects and will impact nearly three hundred needy students. Overall, we here at ScienceBlogs raised over $70,000.
My sincere thanks to everyone who donated.
jlynch | November 5, 2007Back from the History of Science Society meeting in DC (well, Crystal City, Virginia actually). Session went well and it was good to catch up with old friends, though watching ASU lose to Oregon wasn't pleasant. Next few days will be busy catching up, but I'll get posting soon (I hope).
jlynch | October 12, 2007Scibling Shelly is in the running for a $10,000 scholarship. Since she’s a grad student this is a big deal. So, go vote for her. I did.
jlynch | October 11, 2007What would you do if the Earth was to be destroyed in one hour by a meteorite? Apparently 54% of Britons would spend the time with (or on the phone to) loved ones, 13% would grab a glass of champagne, 9% would have sex, and 3% would pray. Two percent would start looting (why?).
Assuming I was around those I care about, I’d have a good IPA or two, put some Mozart on and, sitting in a lawn chair, watch the big old rock hit the planet. Why not?
What would you do?
jlynch | October 1, 2007One day in and we’re already at 4% of our target. Given that we’ve thirty days to hit it, this is clearly a good start. Many, many thanks to our donors so far. But let’s not rest on our laurels, m’kay?
I get between 600 and 1000 individuals visiting a day, so if everyone gave a $5 we’d be set. And a donation of $1 a week (i.e. $52) would certainly be a great donation.
Some of my Sciblings are offering enticements to readers to donate. Would I stoop so low? Do I even have anything to entice you, gentle reader, with?
Link to the challenge.
jlynch | October 1, 2007Regular readers will remember that last year we here at Scienceblogs undertook a bloggers challenge for DonorsChoose.org, an organization that helps K-12 teachers. In two weeks we raised over $34,000 for deserving teachers and their students. This blog alone raised $1,000. This year, we’re aiming to be bigger and better, and given the extra time (and my increased readership), I’m setting our goal at $4000.
So, go here and donate. Choose a project if you want, or just donate to the general fund ... it’s all good.
Oh, and keep the email that you will receive from DonorsChoose - there will…
jlynch | September 26, 2007In the past, he asked "Is our children learning?" Yesterday, when commenting on No Child Left Behind he said "As yesterday’s positive report card shows, childrens do learn when standards are high and results are measured" (source). No comment is necessary.
jlynch | September 26, 2007Births
1877- Ugo Cerletti, Italian neurologist
1887 - Sir Barnes Neville Wallis, British scientist, engineer and inventor
Deaths
1802 - Jurij Vega, Slovenian mathematician and physicist
1877 - Hermann Grassmann, German mathematician and physicist
1951 - Hans Cloos, German geologist
1976 - Lavoslav RužiÄka, Croatian chemist and Nobel Prize laureate
jlynch | September 25, 2007Births
1644 - Ole Rømer, Danish astronomer
1773 - Agostino Bassi, Italian entomologist
1798 - Jean-Baptiste Ãlie de Beaumont, French geologist
1839 - Karl Alfred von Zittel, German palaeontologist
1866 - Thomas Hunt Morgan, American geneticist and Nobel Prize laureate
Deaths
1986 - Nikolay Nikolayevich Semyonov, Russian chemist and Nobel Prize laureate
jlynch | September 24, 2007September 24th is also the anniversary of the birth (in 1724) of Arthur Guinness, the real patron saint of Ireland. In 1759 he opened the St James’s Gate brewery in Dublin and by 1778 he was brewing the elixir than bears his name. In his honor, I give you "The Workman’s Friend" by Flann O’Brien:
When things go wrong and will not come right,Though you do the best you can,When life looks black as the hour of night -A pint of plain is your only man.
When money’s tight and hard to getAnd your horse has also ran,When all you have is a heap of debt -A pint of plain is your only man.
When…
jlynch | September 23, 2007
Maybe our own little Aussie snowflake needs to change his image to this cantankerous little antipodean? Details here.
jlynch | September 14, 2007Ah, Friday. Supposedly the day I can devote to doing some research, but instead I’m attempting to distil six hours of lectures on Darwin’s life into one easy to digest three hour bolus. In short, I’m going to be busy for a while.
Around the ScienceBlogs, I will note that Mark, PZ and John Wilkins offer some musings on reforming the Office of Technology Assessment. Tim mentions that a new survey puts the death toll in Iraq at over one million. Chad weighs in on the "scandal" regarding the NE Patriots, while Ed comments on a more substantive scandal at UC-Irvine’s law school.
jlynch | September 5, 2007I will, with sadness, note that the tenor Luciano Pavarotti has died of pancreatic cancer. He was 71 and probably the greatest tenor of his generation (source)
This is timeless ...
jlynch | September 3, 2007Apologies to a number of people who had comments held up in moderation in this thread. I've only just returned from three days in San Diego and was not in a position to keep an eye on the comments.
jlynch | August 26, 2007
The winged statue of victory [Nike] stands in front of smoke from fires in the village of ancient Olympia near the birthplace of the Olympic Games, in southwestern Greece.
Source: Petros Giannakouris/Associated Press
jlynch | August 25, 2007This made my head hurt. The following question was asked of Miss Teen South Carolina at the recent Miss Teen USA pageant. The answer (below the fold) is mind-blowingly incomprehensible and serves as a testament either to the problems with our public education system or the vapidity of pageant contestants (or more likely, both).
Question: Recent polls have shown a fifth of Americans can’t locate the United States on a world map. Why do you think is?
Answer: I personally believe the U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, uh, some...people out there in our nation don’t have maps, and, uh…