promote scientific literacy

some of you may already know about the Save OurSelves LiveEarth concert series this summer, “the concerts for a climate in crisis”. Ever wonder who in their right mind would do the concert in Antarctica? Turns out it’ll be the scientists themselves. us science folks are pretty versatile it turns out. Gore has personally recruited the local little band named Nunatak.

and now you know…the rest of the story.

now has a digital only subscription option (from newsstand.com). my home is cluttered with stacks of old issues that I never had time to read, and i couldn’t justify resubscribing at their increased rates. so this makes me pretty happy.

Photons have mass? I didn’t even know they were Catholic.

I saw this in Marcus Chown’s book.

This should include awareness of Advanced geometry of Islamic art

It is not what the man of science believes that distinguishes him but how and why he believes it. His beliefs are tentative, not dogmatic; they are based upon evidence, not on authority or intuition. Bertrand Russell

The same applies to women of science I imagine:)

In the UK it could be that Melvyn Bragg is seen as someone to take the mickey out of (I’m thinking Spitting Image), but for In Our Time I think it should be hats off to Melvyn Bragg.

Just look at the science topics they have covered, each show being a discussion of the idea involved with experts in the field.

I’m fascinated by the fact that we live in a time when so many people are doing fantastic work, and thinking in areas which it’s not remotely possible for me to keep up with and these people are prepared to talk about it. They’re prepared to come on In Our Time and other programmes on Radio 4 and try and talk to the rest of us.

more proof that wild animals are not pets: Exotic pets pose health risks.
just ask Paris:

^{Another newly discovered threat involves a current rage among exotic pet owners: a small carnivorous mammal with sharp teeth called a kinkajou. The nocturnal, tree-dwelling animals originally from Central and South America’s rain forests have a dangerous bite — as Paris Hilton recently learned. The actress used to carry her pet kinkajou named “Baby Luv” on her shoulder as she partied. This summer, Hilton landed in an emergency room when Baby Luv bit her on the arm. The concern about a bite is real. In 2005, a kinkajou bit a zookeeper in England on the wrist. The keeper’s hand became infected, and she almost lost her fingers, said Dr. Paul Lawson, a University of Oklahoma microbiologist who first identified a new bacterium specific to kinkajous. The first antibiotics doctors prescribed didn’t work, so a combination of several was used to stop the aggressive infection.}

in a catholic high school, i took an advanced biology class and had to write an essay in response to this question: Does punctuated equilibrium exist? Yes or No and explain your answer. i wrote a brilliant essay defending the idea of punctuated equilibrium, only to have it returned to me with a failing grade and one sentence written in red: punctuated equilibrium is impossible.

and thus began my determined and defiant career in biology, and my equally determined and defiant dissection of religion.

thank God for that priest.

this sounds promising. gotta wonder how stable the system would be over the long term though.

Pumping carbon dioxide through hot rocks could simultaneously generate power and mop up the greenhouse gases produced by fossil fuel power stations, according to a new study.

source

since evolution seems to be all the rage these days.

from an article in the latest issue of Discover, called DNA is not Destiny:

^{“Gene as fate” has become conventional wisdom. Through the study of epigenetics, that notion at last may be proved outdated. Suddenly, for better or worse, we appear to have a measure of control over our genetic legacy. [...] Until recently, the pattern of an individual’s epigenome was thought to be firmly established during early fetal development. Although that is still seen as a critical period, scientists have lately discovered that the epigenome can change in response to the environment throughout an individual’s lifetime.}

The even greater surprise is the recent discovery that epigenetic signals from the environment can be passed on from one generation to the next, sometimes for several generations, without changing a single gene sequence. It’s well established, of course, that environmental effects like radiation, which alter the genetic sequences in a sex cell’s DNA, can leave a mark on subsequent generations. Likewise, it’s known that the environment in a mother’s womb can alter the development of a fetus. What’s eye-opening is a growing body of evidence suggesting that the epigenetic changes wrought by one’s diet, behavior, or surroundings can work their way into the germ line and echo far into the future. Put simply, and as bizarre as it may sound, what you eat or smoke today could affect the health and behavior of your great-grandchildren.