Flock of Dodos

I'm sorry to have missed this film at the Tribeca Festival, but hopefully it'll be in theaters soon: If a Harvard-trained evolutionary biologist makes a film about creationism's cousin, intelligent design, and calls it "Flock of Dodos," you know who he's talking about, right? Maybe not. The biologist, Randy Olson, accepts that there is no credible scientific challenge to the theory of evolution as an explanation for the diversity and complexity of life on earth. He agrees that intelligent design's embrace of a supernatural "agent" puts it outside the realm of science. But when he watches the advocates of...

Another reason to keep the Hubble

The eggheads are learning things from the Hubble Telescope. But even if they weren't, it serves an even greater purpose: you and me are seeing our universe. Nothing compares to the majesty and just plain coolness of seeing a comet breaking up. The closest this comet will come to us is 7.3 million miles away. But the Hubble puts it on our desktop with video like this....

My math teacher said I'd need this stuff

The day has finally come when math works for us: A mathematician has explained how to stabilise a wobbly table without needing to jam a beer coaster under one of the legs. Australian researcher Dr Burkhard Polster, of Monash University in Melbourne, and his international colleagues have calculated that turning a rectangular table around on most surfaces will cure the wobble. The table will not necessarily be horizontal, which means your beer may still slide off, but it will not wobble....

Religion bad for society, says study

Maybe religion's moral foundation isn't so solid... RELIGIOUS belief can cause damage to a society, contributing towards high murder rates, abortion, sexual promiscuity and suicide, according to research published today. According to the study, belief in and worship of God are not only unnecessary for a healthy society but may actually contribute to social problems. While we're questioning religion's effect, it might be a good opportunity to see how the Bible Belt fares against us godless heathens in the North and West. Here's a completely partisan site that uses statistics that show maps of crimes rates, education, etc....

What is Intelligent Design (Junk Science Redux)

The latest issue of the New Yorker features a remarkably clear dissection of evolution's (and science's) greatest foe of the moment: Intelligent Design. The movement’s main positive claim is that there are things in the world, most notably life, that cannot be accounted for by known natural causes and show features that, in any other context, we would attribute to intelligence. Living organisms are too complex to be explained by any natural—or, more precisely, by any mindless—process. Instead, the design inherent in organisms can be accounted for only by invoking a designer, and one who is very, very smart. ......

Proper Vikings

A Viking burial ground, which has held bodies undisturbed for 1,000 years with all the trappings of the Sagas including swords, jewellery and firemaking materials, has been uncovered in Cumbria, after a chance find by a metal detector. The site - thought to contain the first formal burial of bodies discovered in England - is believed to date from the 10th century, when the Vikings had been Christianised, but were evidently still hedging their bets....

So That's Why the Voices Came Back

I knew I shouldn't have stopped smoking.......

Hawking Flip-Flops on Black Hole Question

"I've been thinking about this problem for the last 30 years, and I think now I have the answer to it. A black hole only appears to form but later opens up and releases information about what fell inside. So we can be sure of the past and predict the future."...

Health Care in the U.S. vs. Canada, Round Million

Since I work in the health care industry, sometimes I come across really great health care articles (that, incidentally, may be interesting only to me). This morning I found this 2000 (but very good) discussion about health care between Adam Gopnick and Malcolm Gladwell in the Washington Monthly. It does a great job of breaking down some of the main differences in mindset about health care among different countries, especially the U.S., Canada, and France (and yes, Adam, we are aware that you lived in France... like R. Crumb! and Woody Allen! And Johnny Depp...)...

It's molting, MOLTING!!

Sadly, the swarms of pests I'll see here in NYC are limited to rats, roaches, and Hilton sisters. But for the lucky folks out there who actually have backyards and walk on grass each day, you're in for a treat. The cicadas have arrived! I haven't heard tales of biblical swarms yet, but slowly the little critters are emerging. There's a pretty cool time-lapse video of a cicada molting here....

Creative Taxidermy

People always object to boxing as a barbaric sport that insults human decency. But would those same people object if squirrels were outfitted with gloves and went 12 rounds? I think not. Pictured at left are real animals in a real boxing match. Of course, these animals have been dead for over a century and have been posed by 19th century taxidermist Edward Hart (b. 1847 - d.1928). It's just one of the many wondrous discoveries over at A Case of Curiosities. (via brokentype)...

Grandpa is Forever

Screw that ashes on a booze cruise stuff. The proper way to remember a loved one who's passed on must be the LifeGem. A LifeGem is a certified, high quality diamond created from the carbon of your loved one as a memorial to their unique and wonderful life. The LifeGem provides a way to embrace your loved one's memory day by day. The LifeGem is the most unique and timeless memorial available for creating a testimony to their unique life. We hope and believe that your LifeGem memorial will offer comfort and support when and where you need it, and...

Stone Aged Brains

Would you notice a gorilla playing basketball, or a woman with an umbrella crossing the court as players swarmed around her? Egghead psych professors found out. Working with Christopher Chabris at Harvard University, Simons came up with another demonstration that has now become a classic, based on a videotape of a handful of people playing basketball. They played the tape to subjects and asked them to count the passes made by one of the teams. Around half failed to spot a woman dressed in a gorilla suit who walked slowly across the scene for nine seconds, even though this hairy...

"By the power of Greyskull..."

150 Things Not to Do When Defending Your Thesis. (Congrats, Tobs! Wearing shorts with a daisy behind your ear should top the list)...

The Neuroscience of Memory

The Guardian Online has a great article today using Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind as a jumping-off point for looking at both historical and current science of memory. Some recent studies have disputed the long-held assumption that memories can be "fixed" biochemically. Four years ago, Karim Nader and his colleagues in New York showed that if an animal was taught a particular task, and then days later was reminded of it by being put in the same context, the memory became labile once more - that means it could be disrupted by protein synthesis inhibitors. It was as if...

Regeneration

Morphogenesis. What's it mean to me? In ten years, it might mean the ability to gnaw off my own arm and watch it grow back. There's nothing like fresh arm. (via Chica)...