Culture
sheril | March 18, 2009A couple weeks back, I composed a post entitled 'Science Reveals How To Lose Weight And Keep It Off'. The results weren't surprising... research out of Harvard found that calories are the most significant part of the equation. However, what really resonated with a number of readers turned out to be a different topic related to this point:
Weightwise, my take is that we humans have an interesting habit of coming in all shapes and sizes and the most beautiful tend not to fit a particular mold. That said, being healthy--inside and out--is everything.
I received several emails in agreement, and…
sheril | March 18, 2009Last week we told you about the NYAS Two Cultures Conference coming up on May 9, 2009 in celebration of the 50 year anniversary of C.P. Snow's famous Rede lecture. Politicians, academics, writers, and the media will converge to discuss
science and society--including keynote addresses by E.O. Wilson, John
Porter, and Dean Kamen.
Today we're pleased to announce that the website for the event featuring the full schedule is now available here. Tickets are going fast so we encourage readers to take a look at the agenda and register soon. We hope to see you there!
razib | March 17, 2009A lot has happened since the mention of the AIG bonuses yesterday on this weblog. The media is overflowing with stories on it, and people are frothing with rage from high to low. In the age when many people are becoming aware of the power of "animal spirits" and the economic irrationality which emerges from psychology, it seems like we've swung to the other extreme from exuberance. In fact, swung might indicate a smooth continuity which just doesn't reflect reality, rather, the mental state of the populace has snapped. I was IMing with a friend who has been abroad for the past 3 months, and…
razib | March 17, 2009Readers were right. I posted about the idea of shaming the AIG execs, but events move faster than thoughts:
A tidal wave of public outrage over bonus payments swamped American International Group yesterday. Hired guards stood watch outside the suburban Connecticut offices of AIG Financial Products, the division whose exotic derivatives brought the insurance giant to the brink of collapse last year. Inside, death threats and angry letters flooded e-mail inboxes. Irate callers lit up the phone lines. Senior managers submitted their resignations. Some employees didn't show up at all.
I wonder if…
sheril | March 17, 2009
Here she is...
You've read about the controversy and now it's time to weigh in. According to Reuters, Dora will continue solving mysteries related to the environment, wildlife, and school while maintaining her sense of adventure.
As I wrote last week, I hope the middle school aged explorer remains curious, clever, self confident, and kind. And if she chooses to do so while wearing cute shoes, she's entitled. Isis and I agree that brains and social consciousness are not defined by appearances.
So folks, what do you think?
sheril | March 17, 2009
Yesterday, we considered the meaning of scientific literacy in America... or lack thereof. So let's take this discussion one step further as it's a particularly interesting topic. According to the National Academies:
Scientific literacy is the knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and processes required for personal decision making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic productivity. It also includes specific types of abilities. In the National Science Education Standards, the content standards define scientific literacy.
Scientific literacy means that a…
razib | March 16, 2009Was this Britain's first black queen?, in The Guardian:
Among those who attended Aptekar's focus groups is congressman Mel Watt, one of very few African-Americans in the House of Representatives and who represents the 12th district of North Carolina which includes Charlotte. "In private conversations, African-Americans have always acknowledged and found a sense of pride in this 'secret'," says Watt. "It's great that this discussion can now come out of the closet into the public places of Charlotte, so we all can acknowledge and celebrate it."
I suppose this isn't a gross example of ignorance…
razib | March 16, 2009I've kind of been thinking this already: Provoking the AIG Walk of Shame:
What would happen if those names were made public? The populist rage that's bubbling in this country is not something to be toyed with. The very prospect of having their names publicized should be enough to scare the pants off these people.
The only way to break these employment contracts is for the recipients to agree to it, and if fear is what it takes to make that happen, then so be it. If we can shame bank CEOs into taking $1 salaries and forgoing bonuses, surely we can get these yahoos at AIG to do the country a…
sheril | March 16, 2009Curiously Laura Ingraham is supposed to be someone who 'stands up for conservative women'. Yet when Meghan McCain criticized Ann Coulter, the best Ingraham could do was to make fun of the 24-year-old's body, joking that she didn't get a 'role in the Real World' because 'they don't like plus-sized models.'
Memo to Ingraham: This kind of neanderthal behavior is not all that becoming of a 'positive role model'. The message we should be all sending to women everywhere--right, left, and across the spectrum--is the truth: Our worth is defined not by how we look, but who we are.
So if that's…
razib | March 16, 2009Model Minority? No, Thanks!:
In reality, Indian Americans, much like other immigrants, have diverse experiences and backgrounds. Indian Americans are doctors, engineers and lawyers, as well as small business owners, domestic workers, taxi drivers and convenience store employees. Community members hold a range of immigration statuses and include naturalized citizens and H-1B visaholders, guestworkers and students, undocumented workers and green card holders. Some have access to higher education while others struggle to learn English in a new country. As with all communities, Indian Americans…
sheril | March 16, 2009
In our forthcoming book, Unscientific America, Chris and I mention those national surveys where regularly, a large percentage of U.S. citizens fail to correctly answer basic science questions that they supposedly learned in school.
Last Friday, the latest results were released from the most recent quiz by the California Academy of Sciences and Harris Interactive. (See how you do answering test questions here).
From Science Daily:
Despite its importance to economic growth, environmental protection, and global health and energy issues, scientific literacy is currently low among American…
razib | March 15, 2009Dumb article, Nobody's Model Minority, in response to Jason Richwine's Indian Americans: The New Model Minority (H/T Steve), makes a pretty obvious error:
He presses on anyway, attributing Indian Americans' overall "success" in the U.S. to three factors: culture, education (that is, an "obsessive emphasis on academic achievement") and most significantly, IQ. This success is defined by the number of Indian Americans with college degrees (69 percent), their median head of household annual salary ($83,000), and their representation in high-paying fields like medicine and information technology.…
edyong | March 14, 2009
Have you ever looked at a piano keyboard and wondered why the notes of an octave were divided up into seven white keys and five black ones? After all, the sounds that lie between one C and another form a continuous range of frequencies. And yet, throughout history and across different cultures, we have consistently divided them into these set of twelve semi-tones.
Now, Deborah Ross and colleagues from DukeUniversity have found the answer. These musical intervals actually reflect the sounds of our own speech, and are hidden in the vowels we use. Musical scales just sound right because they…
razib | March 13, 2009The Audacious Epigone looks closely at the opinions regarding the banning of unpopular speech which I posted on earlier. I limited the sample to whites, because after all, who cares what coloreds think? No seriously, I was trying to get population substructure out of the way (this is why Barack Hussein Obama won the most religious in the South, and the least religious outside of the South). In any case, it seems that whites are the most robust supporters of free speech. If you think about it closely this makes sense, as speech and power are intimately connected, and whites have a long…
amillikan | March 13, 2009
Yesterday, Seed Media Group was proud to launch a new and improved SEEDMAGAZINE.COM. The site is loaded with rich content, advanced navigational tools and display features where design and functionality are flawlessly combined to guide you through all the glorious science you could want.
From the editors of SEEDMAGAZINE.COM:
Science is changing our world. It is behind the transformations--social, economic, artistic, intellectual, and political--that are defining the 21st century. Through this lens, and with the newest tools of media and journalism, we aim to tell the fundamental story of our…
cmooney | March 13, 2009There were some great comments on our last post announcing the "Two Cultures" 50 year anniversary conference at the New York Academy of Sciences. I wanted to build on that discussion, but haven't gotten around to it until now.
So let's address some of the more noteworthy points; meanwhile, I also suggest that anyone interested should get a copy of Snow's amazing little 1959 lecture. This is the edition that I own, and I highly recommend it.
Why is C.P. Snow's "Two Cultures" argument so influential and cited? Ironically, it has in part to do with the conflict that resulted after F.R. Leavis…
sheril | March 13, 2009Last year we participated in Earth Hour, an international movement demonstrating that millions of people around the world are ready to do something about climate change. Join us again on Saturday March 28, 2009 at 8:30PM (your local time):
This year, Earth Hour has been transformed into the world's first global election, between Earth and global warming.
For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote - Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global…
razib | March 12, 2009Joshua Zelinsky says regarding political moderates:
This is interesting. The stereotype is if anything the exact opposite about political moderates. The stereotype is that they are the smart people who can see the shades of gray and who aren't subject to things like belief overkill. This seems to show that if anything the opposite is the case.
A few thoughts:
1) People tend to hang around with people just like them. Joshua seems like a smart person, so I wouldn't be surprised if everyone he knew well was rather smart. Perhaps within the smart set this is exactly why someone is moderate.
2) I…
sheril | March 12, 2009Every now and then The Intersection likes to pay tribute to the family that has been kicking it in Springfield for the last 20 years. Today we present Evolution... Simpsons style: