What we're talking about 
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Published in 2012
While going back through blog archives and reviewing incoming links, I stumbled on this post from about a year ago from Zen Faulkes at Neuro Dojo: There are many reasons to argue for open access of scientific research. But this is not the best one: It’s your taxes that fund the research, you should have…
The Bottleneck Years by H.E. Taylor Chapter 0 Edie, May 11, 2055 I hate it when I find myself doing something and I don’t know why. Somehow that seems to happen a lot around my brother, Matt. This time he wanted me to accompany him on a visit to his fiancee, Adelle. I didn’t know…
Publishing with Apple’s iBook Author
Greg Laden's Blog August 7, 2012
I am making a couple of iBooks. I’ve already produced three of them, but you can’t see them because they were experimental and they have been mercifully deleted. I found three or four problems (mainly with my own design and understanding) that I’ll tell you a little about below. There are things to consider when…
Channel Surfing
Life Science
Well this is a new one: This will sound radical to most of you, but the latest information available to us now could improve your health, should you decide to take this seriously. Have you ever considered why Muslims and Jews are forbidden from eating pork? Both religions consider it unclean. Dr. Jeff McCombs, author…
(via Ivar Husa)
Physical Science
“New Particle Physics at the LHC and Its Connection to Dark Matter” is the name of the current workshop at the Aspen Center for Physics running through Sep 9th. I’m hanging out for the first few days and the first presentation is on “what has the LHC Higgs done to supersymmetry”? So, basic point is…
During my time in New York, I had lunch with some friends from England. We were discussing evolution and creationism, and religious fundamentalism more generally. Somewhere along the line I mentioned that creationists routinely use mathematical arguments in their writing, and one of my friends replied that he had heard that some fundamentalists even have…
We recently witnessed the disagreement over the official memorial for the 11 Israeli athletes killed at the Munich Olympics 40 years ago. Fewer remember the terrorist attack in the Lod airport a few months earlier – in May – in which 24 people lost their lives. One of those was the head of the Weizmann…
Environment
It is hard to believe that summer is coming so rapidly to a close, and that the opportunity to put up for winter will pass so fast. So if you’d like help and guidance in doing so, I’ll be running my food storage and preservation class starting Thursday, August and running for six weeks into…
On my lap, I’ve got a set of school books that date from the 1850s to the 1890s. They belonged to various of my father’s family – my great-uncle, George Hume, who died long before I was born and studied Eaton’s Common School Arithmetic in Amesbury, MA in the late 19th century, 20 miles from…
President Obama offered high praise to his regulatory czar on the day Mr. Cass Sunstein announced his resignation. It’s disappointing neither are bold enough to address the grave limits of cost-benefit analysis.
Humanities
Atheist Voices of Minnesota: an Anthology of Personal Stories will be officially released on August 28th, though you can of course get it now if you click on this secret link (or this secret link for the Kindle edition). I just received a press release for the book, and thought I’d pass it on to…
I just wanted to remind you to check The X Blog. Being Sunday, there are Sunday Funnies. Also, a post-Mr. Paul Aints commentary is HERE.
In late November, 1899, a British military unit which included an embedded reporter was ambushed by an Afrikaner unit in what is now Natal Province, South Africa. This was during the Anglo-Boer war, which was to be the largest military adventure to date in the history of the United Kingdom. The British had been traveling…
Education
On my lap, I’ve got a set of school books that date from the 1850s to the 1890s. They belonged to various of my father’s family – my great-uncle, George Hume, who died long before I was born and studied Eaton’s Common School Arithmetic in Amesbury, MA in the late 19th century, 20 miles from…
We recently witnessed the disagreement over the official memorial for the 11 Israeli athletes killed at the Munich Olympics 40 years ago. Fewer remember the terrorist attack in the Lod airport a few months earlier – in May – in which 24 people lost their lives. One of those was the head of the Weizmann…
Politics
Unlike Mitt Romney, who has often declined to provide specifics about policies he’d pursue as president, Paul Ryan has been very clear about what he thinks the government should do.
This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week’s Global Warming news roundup skip to bottom Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years August 12, 2012 Chuckles, Rio+20, COP18+, 2 Degrees, Elgin, BEST, Truthiness Bottom Line, Pricing Nature, Thermodynamics, Cook Fukushima Note, Fukushima News,…
We recently witnessed the disagreement over the official memorial for the 11 Israeli athletes killed at the Munich Olympics 40 years ago. Fewer remember the terrorist attack in the Lod airport a few months earlier – in May – in which 24 people lost their lives. One of those was the head of the Weizmann…
Medicine
Well, I’m back. It’s always a bit weird to try to get back into the swing of things after even just a week off and even when during that week I didn’t actually stop blogging but merely slowed down a lot and succeeded (mostly) in restricting what little blogging I did to brief posts. (Yes,…
A new study finds that in states that pay lower Medicaid fees, fewer physicians are accepting new Medicaid patients.
I must admit, I’ve been enjoying my vacation thus far and have hardly paid attention to the blog, other than a couple of quick posts. For me, this is quite amazing. Still, every so often there pops up a story that I can’t resist commenting on, particularly given that I’m just sitting around watching the…
Brain & Behavior
Researchers Sanchez et al. from the Gladstone Institute, University of California San Franciso and Washington University School of Medicine discovered that an FDA-approved anti-convulsant medication used to treat epilepsy (levetiracetam) can also reverse memory loss in addition to reducing other Alzheimer’s related symptoms in a mouse model of the disease. Alzheimer’s is currently the most common form of…
Researchers have discovered six people living in remote areas of Peru (Truenococha and Santa Marta) with natural antibodies against rabies despite never having received a vaccination for this deadly virus. They hypothesize that vampire bats actually transmitted small doses of the virus to people over time creating the natural antibodies. All six individuals reported having been exposed to the…
I am skeptical. Which is perfect because The Disappearing Spoon byKean and The Violinist’s Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code author Sam Kean will be the guest on the next Skeptically Speaking. Details of that show, which will be recorded live before an Internet Audience…
Technology
I am now using an iMac for a lot more than I ever used a Mac of any kind before, and in so doing I’m discovering some interesting software. I will therefore be telling you about it, because it is much more interesting than telling you about what I had for lunch or dinner. (Having…
I am making a couple of iBooks. I’ve already produced three of them, but you can’t see them because they were experimental and they have been mercifully deleted. I found three or four problems (mainly with my own design and understanding) that I’ll tell you a little about below. There are things to consider when…
The Curiosity rover / Mars Science Laboratory has landed safely on Mars and is returning data! So now we have two rovers on Mars again, Opportunity and a new one of unprecendented size and instrument sophistication. Curiosity has a laser gun that allows it to measure emission spectra at a distance, an instrument that allows…
Information Science
G is for Galaxy: An Out of This World Alphabet (Alphabet Books) is one of a series of kid’s alphabet books with an interesting twist. The pages have the usual big letter, a picture of something that starts with that letter, and a short sentence or two referring to that word. But on the same…
Confessions of a Science Librarian
Around the Web: The Naked and the TED, The end of the Twilight of Doom and more
The Naked and the TED The TED Takedown Everyone’s Talking About Jonah Lehrer, TED, and the narrative dark arts The New Republic gets Download-The-Universe-ish! I Point To TED Talks and I Point to Kim Kardashian. That Is All. The Trouble with TED The End of the Twilight of Doom What’s right and what’s wrong about…
Confessions of a Science Librarian
Friday Fun: Mars Rover Should Not Get So Much Attention, Say Higgs Boson Scientists
You all knew I was going to find something on the lighter side of all the Mars Rover/Higgs Boson hype and glory, didn’t you? But I guess you didn’t think I would be able to find one that combined both of them! w00t! Mars Rover Should Not Get So Much Attention, Say Higgs-Boson Scientists GENEVA…
Jobs
In the fall of 2011, a new Texas statute took effect against employers who engage in wage theft, putting in place real consequences for employers found guilty of stealing wages from workers. It was a big step forward in a state where wage theft has become as common as cowboy boots and pick-up trucks. It was especially good news for workers in El Paso, where wage theft has become so rampant that workers rights advocates have dubbed it an “epidemic.”
The Pump Handle
Houston, we have a workers’ rights problem: Profile of a worker justice center in Texas’ biggest city
Last month, more than 70 ironworkers walked off an ExxonMobil construction site near Houston, Texas. The workers, known as rodbusters in the industry, weren’t members of a union or backed by powerful organizers; they decided amongst themselves to unite in protest of unsafe working conditions in a state that has the highest construction worker fatality rate in the country.
Come work instead of me! Below is a posting for a 3-year contractually limited appointment in my unit. I’m chair of the search committee, so feel free to ask away with any questions about the position. I’ll answer them to the best of my ability given the limitations of being on the committee. As it…
