Category: Links Dump

Swans on Tea » I’m Not Willing to Believe You “I’m perfectly willing to believe that the data one uses for one’s thesis is gathered in three months, and my experience is similar, but that’s not the whole story. A Ph.D. is not just the dissertation — you can’t just write off the experience leading… Continue reading Links for 2010-09-09

Ancient brew masters tapped antibiotic secrets ” A chemical analysis of the bones of ancient Nubians shows that they were regularly consuming tetracycline, most likely in their beer. The finding is the strongest evidence yet that the art of making antibiotics, which officially dates to the discovery of penicillin in 1928, was common practice nearly… Continue reading Links for 2010-09-08

The Daily What “I love xkcd wedding cakes / boom de yada boom de yada.” (tags: internet pictures xkcd comics food) The physics.org web awards | Latest Features | physics.org “The aim of physics.org has always been to help those interested in physics navigate this sea of information. Over the past few years we’ve gathered… Continue reading Links for 2010-09-07

Why do we get Labor Day off? – By Brendan I. Koerner – Slate Magazine “Though President Grover Cleveland declared Labor Day a national holiday in 1894, the occasion was first observed on Sept. 5, 1882, in New York City. A parade was organized by the city’s Central Labor Union, a branch of the Noble… Continue reading Links for 2010-09-06

The short answer Yglesias’s question is “Yes.” – Acephalous “[A]s it currently stands, the choice is between being a “serious” scholar who engages no one or an “unserious” scholar whose work is read by many but, because of that, counts for nothing. I’m obviously not endorsing this model, nor am I saying it’s the same… Continue reading Links for 2010-09-05

News: Searching for STEM Success – Inside Higher Ed “During the two-decade period from 1985-1986 to 2005-2006, rural community colleges increased the number of women and minority STEM graduates by more than 42 percent. By contrast, urban community colleges boosted these underrepresented groups by just under 24 percent and suburban community colleges by about 10… Continue reading Links for 2010-09-04

Tom Waits | Music | Gateways To Geekery | The A.V. Club “Waits, who made his proper recording debut with 1973’s Closing Time, inspires music writers’ wild, Charles Bukowski-fueled imaginings because his work has always been about the losers, the freaks, the slow 3 a.m. drunks who fumble change out of their pockets for the… Continue reading Links for 2010-09-03

BBC News – Would more holiday be good for America? “Whenever citing Americans’ acceptance of the longer hours they work or their lack of paid leave, the cliche is to say it goes back to the country’s Puritan heritage or the Protestant work ethic. I disagree. I think it comes from raw fear.” (tags: us… Continue reading Links for 2010-09-02

This is why I “support” majoritarian rule. – Acephalous “As a means of registering my discontent with conservative claims that the fact that 70 percent of Americans abhor the idea of the “Ground Zero Mosque” means it should be abandoned, I hereby present other things that 70 percent of “certain” Americans once hated.” (tags: politics… Continue reading Links for 2010-09-01

slacktivist: The Clod and the Pebble and the politics of resentment “What happened was that 78 poor children whose fathers are incarcerated received free back-to-school supplies provided by three area churches. Their dads were permitted to be on hand to help present these presents, getting a rare chance to spend a few hours with their… Continue reading Links for 2010-08-31