Posts

May 06, 2013

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11:45 PM | Mary’s Monday Metazoan: More charismatic megafauna?

Oh, no. The metazoan curator sent me this photo for this time around, and I groaned a bit: more big furries. I told her, “Where are the tubeworms, the crustaceans, the zooplankton? Why no jellyfish or echinoderms?” And she said, “But they’re so cute!” and gave me that look. That look that means I have…

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10:46 PM | Teoría y Práctica – Richard Feynman

Richard Feynman En el libro No ordnary Genius de Christopher Sykes se cuenta que durante una visita a Ginebra, Richard Feynman decidió visitar el Laboratorio de Física del CERN. En la línea del acelerador de partículas se encontraba una gigantesca máquina llena de luces y perillas, con andamios y hombres por todos lados. Feynman preguntó para [...]

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10:00 PM | Zum Welttag der Genitalautonomie

Heute jährt sich erstmalig das Urteil des Landgerichts Köln, das die medizinisch nicht indizierte Beschneidung von Jungen als Körperverletzung und damit als strafbare Handlung wertete. Quelle Zugegeben, der Welttag der Genitalautonomie klingt etwas gestelzt. Dennoch ist es bitter nötig, daran zu erinnern und noch einmal darauf aufmerksam zu machen, daß das mutige und gute Urteil…

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7:01 PM | La medicina alternativa es política-ideología

La medicina alternativa y complementaria es una entidad política-ideológica, no científica. Es una categoría artificial creada con el propósito de promocionar una variedad de prácticas de salud fraudulentas, dudosas o no verificadas. Dr. Steven Novella -Steven Novella

May 05, 2013

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11:47 PM | Interfaith delusions

I am not claiming that “interfaith” activity is bad – obviously it can do a lot to reduce inter-religious friction, hostility and violence. And that is certainly needed in parts of the world today. No – the bad arises when … Continue reading →

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10:46 PM | Esta semana en ciencia – 5 de mayo 2013

Seis noticias científicas cortas que ocurrieron esta semana...

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10:00 PM | WTF Forensik – Tod durch Philemon und Baucis Syndrom

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: drei Fälle von Simultanversterben von Ehepartnern. „Philemon und Baucis“ aus den Metamorphosen von…

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8:54 PM | Religion doesn't seem to protect against depression.

In most countries, religious people tend to be happier and less depressed, and it's often suggested that religion somehow provides a happiness boost and protects against depression. Maybe, so the thought process goes, religious belief alone is enough to perk people up, but even if it doesn't then participating in religious gatherings, and the social support that goes with it - well surely that's got to help. It's an attractive idea, but the problem is that it's really difficult to unpick […]

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8:00 PM | Kurzes Fazit zum Deutschen Humanistentag

Ich bin zurück aus Hamburg vom Deutschen Humanistentag. Es waren schöne und anstrengende zwei (von insgesamt vier) Tage, die ich dort zugebracht habe. Das Ganze fand in den Fliegenden Bauten ganz in der Nähe der Reeperbahn statt, einem Theater, dessen Name den in den Begriffen der Landesbauordnungen Firmen bereits andeutet, daß es in einer Art…

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7:13 PM | May Atheism succeed demographically?

In the wake of the fruitful explosion of Evolutionary Studies of Religion, Evolutionary Studies of Atheism are making inroads, too. I was glad to be able to blog about Dominic Johnson's respective hypotheses last summer and recently about a ground-breaking paper by Ara Norenzayan and Will M. Gervais. Although we are beginning to understand the emergence and expansion of non-religious worldviews better than ever, a major question remains: Are human populations lacking any beliefs in […]

May 04, 2013

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6:00 AM | Muselmann – Joden als Moslims in de Concentratiekampen

Closer Blog: Alle muzelmannen die naar de gaskamer gaan hebben dezelfde geschiedenis, of juister gezegd: hebben geen geschiedenis: ze zijn tot de bodem toe omlaag gegleden, vanzelf, als water dat naar de zee stroomt. Primo Lévi over de Joden als Moslims in de vernietigingskampen.Read more: Muselmann – Joden als Moslims in de Concentratiekampen

May 03, 2013

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5:22 PM | Demet TV vs. Nieuwsuur: Taal, Beeldvorming en Islam

Closer Blog: N.a.v. een uitzending van Nieuwsuur heeft Demet TV veel reacties gekregen. Reacties van mensen die zich verbazen over een ‘onjuiste’ ondertiteling van Nieuwsuur. Men meent dat moslims door deze ondertiteling met opzet als gewelddadig worden neergezet. Demet TV ging op onderzoek uit.Read more: Demet TV vs. Nieuwsuur: Taal, Beeldvorming en Islam

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11:32 AM | Friday Cephalopod: Free fallin’

From a lovely article in the New York Review of Books about octopods:

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8:50 AM | Morality, and a Lack Thereof

The latest "Creation Science Update" article is called "Abortion: The Evolution Connection," by Jake Hebert and a guy called Michael Stamp.

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6:42 AM | The plight of Qatar’s migrant workers

Closer Blog: A recent report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned that foreign workers in Qatar risk serious abuse in the run-up to the 2022 football World Cup.Read more: The plight of Qatar’s migrant workers

May 02, 2013

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7:05 AM | Ontkerkelijking nou en? Over de oorzaken en gevolgen van ontkerkelijking in Nederland

Closer Blog: Op 31 mei aanstaande vindt aan de Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen het jaarlijkse publiekssymposium van het tijdschrift Religie en Samenleving plaats. Dit jaar is het thema: Ontkerkelijking nou en? Over de oorzaken en gevolgen van ontkerkelijking in Nederland.Read more: Ontkerkelijking nou en? Over de oorzaken en gevolgen van ontkerkelijking in Nederland

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4:41 AM | The limits of philosophy

Or should I say - “The trouble with philosophy?” Whatever. The title certainly makes a change from those like “The Limits of science.” How many times have I seen such titles on articles written by religious apologists, philosophers of religion, … Continue reading →

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1:17 AM | Medicina y pseudomedicinas, entrevista radial

Entrevista radial sobre Medicina y pseudomedicinas: Terapias alternativas, Relación médico-paciente, efecto placebo y diagnóstico placebo, Cómo saber si una terapia funciona, Ilusiones auditivas y más...

May 01, 2013

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3:15 PM | Ciencia, Universidad y medios

Por Martín Bonfil Olivera Dirección General de Divulgación de la Ciencia, UNAM Publicado en Milenio Diario, 1 de mayo de 2013 Sin la menor duda, la ciencia es una actividad básica para el desarrollo y el bienestar de cualquier país. La producción de conocimiento científico, que nos permite conocer con mayor detalle y precisión el mundo natural, y al mismo tiempo nos permite manipularlo para nuestra conveniencia (y a veces, desgraciadamente, para causar daño), es […]

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10:15 AM | A Strange New Paternal Lineage

Y chromosomal Adam lived much earlier than we thought, but that doesn't mean that Neanderthals and Denisovans were humans.

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3:58 AM | 10 Razones por las que amamos la ciencia

Vi este listado acá y se me dio por traducirlo: 10 Razones por las que amamos la ciencia La ciencia tiene historias y misterio. La ciencia dice la verdad (o las cosas como son). La ciencia nos cuenta nuestro pasado. La ciencia determina nuestro futuro. La ciencia mejora nuestra calidad de vida. La ciencia nos [...]

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2:11 AM | April ’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 →

April 30, 2013

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10:00 PM | Ausgeraucht in NRW! Endlich.

Ab heute befindet sich NRW einen Schritt näher an der Normalität, ein Zustand, den ich schon seit Jahren herbeisehne und den zu erleben ich zwischezeitlich fast nicht mehr zu hoffen wagte: Ab heute gilt in NRW ein generelles und ausnahmsloses Rauchverbot in der Gastronomie, das auch und insbesondere diese grausigen Brauchtümeleien (Harneval und Konsorten) betrifft,…

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5:45 AM | Long live the king – Bahrain Under Occupation

Closer Blog: At this moment crown prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, son of Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, king of Bahrain is in the Netherlands for queen Beatrix' abdication and the investiture of the new king: Willem. A good time for some background information about Bahrain against the background of the current, often forgotten, uprising.Read more: Long live the king – Bahrain Under Occupation

April 29, 2013

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10:00 PM | Heute bei Quarks und Co

Kurze Erinnerung: Heute um 21 Uhr kommt in der Sendung Quarks & Co im WDR-Fernsehen zum Thema „Verbrechen“ ein Beitrag über unser Forschungsprojekt zur molekularen Ballistik und seiner erfolgreichen Anwendung in einem Mordfall, von dem ich hier schon berichtet habe. Hier gibt es auch schon ‘mal eine Vorschau! Viel Spaß!

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7:03 PM | What I taught in the development lab today

After our disastrous chick lab — it turns out that getting fertilized chicken eggs shipped to remote Morris, Minnesota during a blizzard is a formula for generating dead embryos — the final developmental biology lab for the semester is an easy one. I lectured the students on structuralism and how there are more to cells…

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4:25 PM | What I taught today: a send-off with an assignment

Today was the last day I lecture at my developmental biology students. We have one more lab and one final class hour which will be all about assessment, but this was my last chance to pontificate at them…so I told them about all the things I didn’t teach them, and gave them a reading list…

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2:08 PM | Esta semana en ciencia – 28 de abril 2013

Seis noticias científicas cortas que ocurrieron esta semana...

April 28, 2013

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6:00 PM | The Surprises Will Never Stop

In Circular RNAs Increase Cell Bio-Complexity (5 April 2013) Jeffrey Tomkins makes the arguement we've seen so many times even in the last week: something has been found to be biologically functional, therefore "bio-complexity" has increased, therefore design, therefore God.

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2:21 PM | Oh, no, not the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis again!

I think BAHFest — the festival of Bad Ad Hoc Hypotheses — has been made entirely redundant. It’s an event to mock the absurdly adaptationist hypotheses put forward by some scientists, and it’s intended to be extravagantly ridiculous. But then, you look at some ideas that are inexplicably popular among scientists, and you realize…it’s a…