A few years ago, the after-dinner speaker at the DAMOP conference banquet was Presidential Science Advisor John Marburger. As I wrote at the time, I think it’s safe to say that he didn’t make a positive impression on the audience. It also sparked a rather lively discussion afterwards, that some people speculated was the reason… Continue reading With Advisors Like These, Who Needs Policy?
Category: Life Science
Cheaper Than Graduate Students
Lots of people talk about “Science 2.0” and “crowdsourcing” and the like. EurekAlert provides a story about taking it to the next level: Nalini Nadkarni of Evergreen State College currently advises a team of researchers who sport shaved heads, tattooed biceps and prison-issued garb rather than the lab coats and khakis typically worn by researchers.… Continue reading Cheaper Than Graduate Students
We Have a Gene for That
Via Brian and John, John Cleese’s take on genetic determinism: All the best social commentary comes from comedians, these days.
Comparative Vertebrate Video
A colleague in Biology had his Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy class make videos explaining something they studied in class. He’s posted the results to YouTube and Facebook, so the students can see them, but thanks to the magic of the Internet, you, too, can learn about the bite force of bats from a college student in… Continue reading Comparative Vertebrate Video
Assume a Spherical FutureBaby…
Welcome to today’s exciting episode of “How Big a Dork Am I?” Today, we’ll be discussing the making of unnecessary models: In this graph, the blue points represent the average mass in grams of a fetus at a given week of gestation, while the red line is the mass predicted by a simple model treating… Continue reading Assume a Spherical FutureBaby…
What’s the Deal with Horses?
The sports talk shows today were all abuzz with chatter about the death of second-place finisher Eight Belles at the Kentucky Derby, with no end of hand-wringing and moralizing about the nature of horse racing. I have to admit, I find the whole thing a little puzzling. I’m not puzzled that people are upset– I… Continue reading What’s the Deal with Horses?
Framing Stem Cells
With the “Vox Day” business winding down (one way or another), it’s time to unwind with something less contentious and controversial: Framing! No– seriously. Most of the really loud opponents have publically washed their hands of the whole topic, so I expect this will be relatively non-controversial. What could possibly go wrong? Anyway, Janet is… Continue reading Framing Stem Cells
Art and Animals
Kate was attending a workshop run by the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG, a wonderful acronym) in Washington, DC this Wednesday and Thursday, and when she told me that, I said “Hey, I’m not teaching this term, why don’t I tag along?” So, we extended the trip a little bit, and made it a… Continue reading Art and Animals