Science & Society
What would you say if an oil company said it wanted to invest in alternative energy research but the cost was too much so it needed public financing - but wanted no accountability or timeframes or an expectation of results?
You'd be skeptical of the papers they produce because they have every incentive to perpetuate the model and only produce positive results. Leaders in the scientific research have put scientists in that very position; more research needs to be taxpayer-funded, proponents claim, because the private sector won't do basic research, and in order to maintain that we…
Here's a brilliant username I wish I'd thought of: Anthropoteuthis. The Spanish marine biology student who deserves credit spells it Antropoteuthis, since the "th" phoneme is foreign to Spanish.
He recently posted some representaciones metafóricas del pseudónimo Antropoteuthis, including this delightful image:
If you read Spanish, or enjoy Google's Translate option, I'd recommend his blog. I've been enjoying his rather philosophical approach to the wonders of the ocean, like Apoteosis de Poseidón. And, of course, he particularly fancies cephalopods.
Thanks to Kris for the link!
vongehr |
Mark, a graduate student in bio-engineering with a history of depression, registers for a scientific conference on evolution, which attracts no suspicion at all; why should it. He takes potassium ferrocyanide, a yellow salt easily available in gardening supply stores, and boils it with automotive battery acid. Over a few weeks, Mark distills a few liters of highly toxic prussic acid, enough to kill thousands.
He fills the liquid into bottles wrapped in a non-flammable explosive powder he made from acetone in his dissertation supervisor’s lab, working the night shifts. Arrived at the…
Some cultural activists like Hollywood director Rob Reiner believe smoking is so influential it should be the target of modern-day McCarthyism and banned from films and television. What about sexualized lyrics in popular music? Do those have an impact on the sexual behavior and attitudes of adolescents?
Researchers Cougar Hall, Joshua H. West, and Shane Hill from Brigham Young University examined the trend of increasing use of sexually explicit lyrics in music - though if they think the trend is recent, they must be fairly young; music from the 1970s was stuffed with overt references…
Everyone agrees what the LHC needs is more art.
Okay, no one actually thinks that. What the LHC needs is to find a Higgs boson or a whole bunch of Europeans outside physics are going to be annoyed they spent $10 billion to find the "God particle" and will now be told 'we advanced science by not finding it'. Most people don't think in terms of negatives, they think in terms of positives, so in a bad economy the political questions will be 'why did we spend billions of Euros to confirm the non-existence of something a lot of physicists didn't think existed anyway?'
That's a future…
This is about a thousand kinds of awesome.It's a jazz tune called "Cephalopod" which includes these memorable lines:
Cephalopod.Would you like to study cephalopods?Teuthology is a branch of science split from malacology.Their lack of myelin makes their nerves grow big;Neurophysiologists will dance a jig.Fascinating fauna which taste good in stew.
Of course, I must point out pedantically that teuthology technically only refers to the study of squid, which is why the term cephalopodiatrist needed to be invented.
Still, I heart this song so much! Many thanks to my friend Alexei, who tossed it…
antunes |
In Physics Today's 'We love you, you're perfect, now edit', three editors give advice to potential science writers. Their advice includes the 3 holy rules:
1) know who you are writing for 2) meet your deadlines 3) be polite
... and expands on it a bit. Am I to steal another's writing instead? No, so go read the piece. That's what links are for.
Meanwhile, NPR argues that the photo of an author on the book jacket is essential in marketing the book. Attractive authors get more book reviews. So we'll add a fourth rule:
4) look good…
Hank |
Every ramp-up to every election since blogging has been in existence has seen the blogosphere explode with the usual 'Republicans are anti-science' hype while whitewashing Democrats who do the same thing.
This year is no different, though they feel legitimized because an anti-Republican pundit at the (shock) New York Times agrees - if Republican politicians are just as religious as Democrats (and they are) the Republicans must be irrational, so vote for higher taxes.
Well, I agree - not about taxes, about politicians being irrational. Scientists can change their minds but politicians…
The LA Times has a really wonderful story about a small island off the coast of South Korea and an old woman who makes her living there by selling dried squid.
I can't be sure what species of squid, but almost certainly an ommstrephid--the squid family that includes our friend the Humboldt squid. Probably Ommastrephes or Todarodes, based on geography.
According to the Times,
A generation ago, most of the island's 10,000 residents worked in the squid industry, either as sellers like Kim or as farmer-fishermen who toiled in the fields each winter and went to sea during summer. Ulleungdo…
The Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA) worked with Senator Michael Bennet's office in assembling a group of more than 35 bioscience industry CEOs from its membership last week to dialogue with the Senator and Margaret Hamburg, M.D., Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, Director, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, and Dr. Vicki Seyfert-Margolis, Senior Science Advisor to the FDA’s Chief Scientist, accompanied Commissioner Hamburg here.
The announcement is made by Holli Riebel (formerly Baumunk), CBSA President&CEO, who says "Senator…