Posts

April 07, 2013

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It’s a dying holiday, I’m sorry to say — I completely forgot it last year. But I was reminded this year, so I’ll mention it again. I think the proper way to celebrate it is simply to laugh at a creationist today. The source of the holiday is a remarkable exhibition from Paul Nelson, who…

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2:49 AM | What is global temperature?

When I write here about climate change you can be sure one or more trolls will pop up and tell me about the snow in the UK. Or accuse scientists of relying on this year’s New Zealand drought in their … Continue reading →

April 06, 2013

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8:50 PM | International trade fractures along religious fault lines

International trade is made easier when nations share a common language. Geographical closeness, regional trade agreements, and common legal heritage also help trade along, and former colonies trade more with each other and with the ex-mother country. Chong Wha Lee, at Kongju National University in South Korea, wanted to know if a common religion could play a similar role in boosting trade. Although there's been a bit of research into this before, Lee was particularly interested to know if […]

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7:49 PM | Pseudomedicinas: algunas cuestiones

Me realizaron una pequeña entrevista sobre las pseudomedicinas (y otros temas) y luego de concluida me pareció interesante compartir con ustedes las partes más relevantes sobre el tema...

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5:02 PM | Syria’s Children – ‘Blood Like Water’

Closer Blog: A very disturbing but important report by filmmaker Marcel Mettelsiefen who has spent several weeks with children working(!) in Dar Al-Shifa city hospital in Aleppo. The film features children like Mohamed Asaf and Yussef Mohamed who treat Aleppo's war wounded.Read more: Syria’s Children – ‘Blood Like Water’

April 05, 2013

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4:10 PM | Het Racisme Drama – Racistische rituelen van het parlement

Closer Blog: Introductie: waanzin Gisteravond was misschien wel één van de meest beschamendste hoofdstukken uit de parlementaire geschiedenis. Op de agenda van de Tweede Kamer stond het ‘Marokkanendebat’. Men had het beter het racismedrama kunnen noemen. Een paar maanden terug kwam de Nederlandse samenleving weer tot ontploffing: jonge voetballers sloegen een grensrechter van de andere partij in [...]Read more: Het Racisme Drama – Racistische rituelen van het parlement

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3:08 PM | BMC Cancer, WDDTY and homeopathy: ‘new’ comment

It took (me) a month to get a comment posted on a paper on BMC Cancer’s site. My abbreviated version (which appeared five days after re-submitting it) has now sat there for three weeks alongside Kausik’s, both seemingly being roundly ignored. As is my query concerning the full text of my original blog post. What to do? Does it matter? Well, actually, as a QuackRag deems that the paper in question constitutes subject(ive) matter for (re-)citation, then yes, I think... Read more

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2:21 PM | Friday Cephalopod: Reach!

(via the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Hey, I just realized that it’s been about 25 years since I’ve been to Monterey Bay…I should go again.)

April 04, 2013

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2:09 AM | Dragones y elefantes: falsos problemas, falsas soluciones

Otro demérito de los falsos problemas es el de promover soluciones que son falsas también. A Plinio (Historia Natural, Libro octavo) no le basta observar que los dragones atacan en verano a los elefantes: aventura la hipótesis de que lo hacen para beberles toda la sangre que, como nadie ignora, es muy fría. -Jorge Luis Borges Dragones [...]

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12:54 AM | Definiciones curiosas #17

Definiciones curiosas Aquí algunas… Definiciones Curiosas Definición de Absurdo: Absurdo: Declaración de fe en manifiesta contradicción con nuestras opiniones. -Ambrose Bierce (Diccionario del Diablo) Definición de lengua: Lengua: órgano evolutivamente adaptado para encontrar pelos en la comida. -Lisandro Carnielli (aka DrGEN) Definición de ombligo: Ombligo : Especie de timbre que exhiben las [...]

April 03, 2013

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11:16 PM | El peligro de tener razón…

Donde no hay justicia es peligroso tener razón, ya que los imbéciles son mayoría. -Francisco de Quevedo Francisco de Quevedo

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10:30 PM | I was wrong about Lord Monckton

I must admit I was wrong about Lord Monckton. I thought his speaking tour of New Zealand, which started on April Fools day, would be a huge yawn. Local climate scientists have learned that debating the man may be a … Continue reading →

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6:14 PM | Anti-pseudoscience earphones!

Portal - Anti-Pseudoscience earphones Portal earphones* The only earphones that ensures pseudoscience and idle chatter get in the head by one ear and leave by the other. *If you cannot find these earphones you can replace them by reading science blogs and hearing podcast that teach critical thinking. There is a spanish version of this [...]

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6:02 PM | Nuevos auriculares anticharlatanes!

Ante la invasión de charlatanes varios a la que nos vemos sometidos ultimamente (léase Dr. Mühlberger, et al), y en un esfuerzo de producción sin precedentes, DrGEN se enorgullece (?) de traerles los primeros auriculares anticharlatanes del mundo!

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4:14 PM | Cuando los microbios se organizan

Por Martín Bonfil Olivera Dirección General de Divulgación de la Ciencia, UNAM Publicado en Milenio Diario, 3 de abril de 2013 Biofilme dental (placa), vista con microscopio electrónico de barrido (colores falsos) La cooperación es un comportamiento que puede ayudar a la supervivencia y bienestar de los individuos en una población. Por ejemplo, ahora que a los capitalinos nos cortaron el agua durante varios días (santos), un comportamiento cooperativo, como reducir el […]

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4:00 AM | Report Mainz – Unterfinanzierte Rechtsmedizin – Warum Gewaltopfer nicht zu ihrem Recht kommen

Ich hatte kürzlich erst wieder einmal auf die Misere der Rechtsmedizin hingewiesen. Gestern zog nun das Das Erste nach und brachte in der Sendung “Report Mainz” einen Beitrag zum Thema: die Konsequenzen der unterfinanzierten und in Deutschland mit ihren Leistungen bei weitem nicht flächendeckend verfügbaren Rechtsmedizin treffen zum Beispiel die Opfer von Gewaltdelikten, von denen…

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3:42 AM | New “Hockey Stick” but same tired old denial

Ian Wishart is on his climate change conspiracy high horse again (see New global warming scandal hits climate science). His fevered imagination has managed to produce a “scandal” out of the publication of a scientific paper. Of course the scandal … Continue reading →

April 02, 2013

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6:33 AM | Makamba’s: Dank voor de slavernij

Closer Blog: De neger komt wel uit het oerwoud maar het oerwoud komt nooit uit de neger of 'Jullie (de mensen van Curaçao) zouden ons (de blanke Nederlanders) dankbaar moeten zijn dat we in de 17e eeuw slaven hebben gebracht. Jullie hebben nu een beter leven'. Zomaar twee uitspraken waar tegenwoordig niemand wakker van ligt.Read more: Makamba’s: Dank voor de slavernij

April 01, 2013

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9:34 PM | Mary’s Monday Metazoan: Denizens of the icy deeps

You know those deep icy fields of methane hydrates Japan wants to tap for natural gas? (One of the worst ideas ever, by the way.) They’re inhabited, by polychaetes like Hesiocaeca methanicola. (via NatGeo, which is a bit too uncritical of the idea for my taste.)

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12:54 AM | March ’13 – NZ blogs sitemeter ranking

There are now over 280 blogs on the list, although I am weeding out those which are no longer active or have removed public access to sitemeters. (Let me know if I weed out yours by mistake, or get your … Continue reading →

March 31, 2013

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6:37 PM | Tentempié sobre el TEDxRosario 2012

Mientras seguimos esperando que se publiquen los videos de las charlas TEDxRosario 2012, les dejo este pequeño video resumen de los preparativos previos y postales de lo que pasó en el TEDxRosario 2012

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5:35 PM | How I spent the last few days

I am sad to say I missed the American Atheists 2013 National Convention — it sounds like it was a blast, but I was booked up with a series of talks out in lovely warm sunny Seattle. Here’s what I’ve been up to. On Wednesday, I talked to Seattle Atheists on “Moving Atheism Beyond Science”.…

March 30, 2013

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10:34 PM | April Fools and Agenda 21

A few readers may already be aware that April Fool’s Day marks the launch of Christopher Monckton‘s speaking tour of New Zealand. It’s not arousing much interest in the media – probably because his declared attention is to propagate his … Continue reading →

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3:05 PM | The last intelligent creationist

Earlier today, Maggie Koerth-Baker posted this tweet: I dig this graph, but I think it misses an outreach opportunity by ascribing common misconceptions to creationists only bouncingdodecahedrons.tumblr.com/post/17808416988 It links to a diagram showing evolution as a linear path rather than a branching tree, and it got me thinking about terribly popular misconceptions about evolution that…

March 29, 2013

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2:53 PM | What I taught today: O Cruel Taskmaster!

My students are also blogging here: My undergrad encounters Developmental Biology Miles’ Devo Blog Tavis Grorud’s Blog for Developmental Biology Thang’s Blog Heidi’s blog for Developmental Biology Chelsae blog Stacy’s Strange World of Developmental Biology Thoughts of Developmental Biology Biology~ I’m out of town! Class is canceled today! But still, my cold grip extends across…

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12:40 PM | Stateless Rohingya – Running on empty

Closer Blog: “Stateless Rohingya…Running on Empty,” is a photo series by award-winning Thai photographer Suthep Kritsanavarinthe and depicts the plight of the Rohingya, an ethnic and Muslim religious minority from Burma.Read more: Stateless Rohingya – Running on empty

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12:11 PM | Friday Cephalopod: Our cunning plan exposed

This pretty pink photo that accompanied the article has nothing at all to do with the contents; this can’t be the species involved. But that’s appropriate to the devious nature of the story. A squid was caught in China that had swallowed a three pound bomb — a live explosive that was later detonated by…

March 28, 2013

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10:00 PM | WTF Forensik – Hypothesen zur berühmtesten Hinrichtung der Welt (zur Feier? des Tages)

Warnung: in dieser Reihe wird es immer wieder zu Begegnungen mit und Blicke in die tiefsten menschlichen Abgründe kommen und obgleich ich mich stets bemühen werde, nicht ins Sensationalistische abzugleiten, mag bisweilen die unausgeschmückte Realität bereits mehr sein, als manche(r) erträgt. Diesmal: Mögliche Todesmechanismen bei der Kreuzigung eines hypothetischen, haploiden Handwerkers (HHH). Ich dachte mir,…

Bergeron JW (2012). The crucifixion of Jesus: review of hypothesized mechanisms of death and implications of shock and trauma-induced coagulopathy., Journal of forensic and legal medicine, 19 (3) 113-6. PMID: 22390994

Citation

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3:44 PM | No, I will not ever debate Joseph Mastropaolo

So you can stop sending me email about it now. Also, dear gob, but I despise the Huffington Post. They’ve started this recent flurry of publicity for deranged loon Mastropaolo with an awful article on his tired old stunt of announcing a $10,000 prize for a debate — an article in which they blithely consult…

March 27, 2013

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4:58 PM | ¿Homeopatía legitimada?

Por Martín Bonfil Olivera Dirección General de Divulgación de la Ciencia, UNAM Publicado en Milenio Diario, 27 de marzo de 2013 Nunca acaba la lucha contra las seudociencias. Sobre todo las médicas, que pueden causar daño directa y activamente, al prescribir tratamientos perjudiciales, o indirectamente, al recomendar tratamientos inútiles que retrasan o suplantan a los probadamente efectivos. La homeopatía es –junto con la acupuntura– una de las seudociencias […]