Greg Laden is a biological anthropologist and science communicator. His research has covered North American prehistoric and historic archaeology and African archaeology and human ecology. He is an OpenSource and OpenAccess advocate. Greg's wife, Amanda, is a High School biology teacher, his daughter Julia is a world traveler and his son Huxley is 2.
Who would think that men of the cloth or elected officials would be involved in graft?!?!?
NEWARK, N.J. - Three New Jersey mayors, two state lawmakers, a deputy mayor and five rabbis were among 44 people charged Thursday in a two-track corruption and international money-laundering probe, the U.S.…
Over the last week two vacuum leaks have been found in sectors 8-1 and 2-3 (Sector 7g is still holding). The leaks are similar to each other in position and therefore in likely cause. Unfortunately, these leaks are in already chilled down parts of the LHC and they will have to be warmed up to…
An exclusive KIRO 7 Investigation reveals an alarming number of Apple brand iPod MP3 players have suddenly burst into flames and smoke, injuring people and damaging property.
details
Vaccine
Human trials of a vaccine to protect against the H1N1 swine flu virus have begun in Australia.
Riots spread in South Africa
Violence in South Africa's townships has spread as residents protest about what they say is a lack of basic services, such as water and housing.
Scientist will make…
Don't worry, it is not as bad as it sounds, but it is somewhat contagious.
Abwrackpraemie is German for "car scrappage bonus" which is what you get if you turn in your older lower mpg car for a new higher mpg car, I assume.
The word was added to the German Language earlier today as five…
... or something. You will recall that Michele Bachmann has lambasted Americorps, the Bill Clinton Legacy program like the Peace Corps, as a political re-education camp in the service of the Liberal Left Wing. WEll, Harrison Bachmann, son of Michele, entered the program just a couple of weeks ago…
There has been some recent discussion on the blogs and on Facebook about the tension an adviser might experience between paying attention to graduate students and doing the other stuff you are supposed to do, or from the student perspective, how to deal with getting that quality time from your…
In any event, more people seem to like Al Franken than who voted for him ... if we compare the 42% of the vote he got with the 49% approval rating he now has. (details)
This is partly a function of increased favorablity following the nasty recount process, but is also reminds us of something else…
Appropedia, like Wikipedia, lets anyone contribute or edit articles. Its goal is narrowly focused on collaborating to find solutions that can reduce poverty, increase sustainable living, and help people in developing countries. If you have ideas that you can contribute, consider submitting an…
...Mentally and socially, we begin our lives as tabula rasa, empty vessels waiting to be filled and develop our sense of selves based on the totality of interactions we have while developing. This then affects the way that we approach questions. As people we decide what to accept and what to…
It has become axiomatic that the use of adornment by humans is some sort of symbolic act, and thus is linked to the human symbolic and linguistic mind. The human symbolic and linguistic mind is the trait that we axiomatically believe to be the derived human feature ... the cladistic apomorphy that…
A three part conversation between two women overheard on the University of Minnesota campus.
Part 1 of conversation:
"So, did you read that obnoxious post that that Isis the Scientist, that Goddess blogger, did and her yelling at ERV and all?"
"Yeah, I did. What a bunch of stupid."
"If you listen…
... by Skepchick by "carr2d2" ... touch on a wide range of topics that make TAM7 seem like a microcosm of the blogosphere, academia, and to some (limited) extent the broader society.
"...a lot of men in the skeptical movement, well intentioned as they may be, have a tendency to look at women as…
It would appear so. We see it in a ...
Preliminary image showing a black mark in Jupiters South Polar Region (SPR) which is almost certainly the result of a large impact - either an asteroid or comet - similar to the Shoemaker-Ley impacts in 1994.
This is on Anthony Wesley's web site, and what…
Because some of you are not my facebook friends ....
Here are the instructions....
Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you.
First 15 you can recall in no more than 15 minutes.
Copy the instructions into your own note, and be sure to tag the…
I will be hosting Berry Go Round # 18, for July 31st 2009.
Please send me your submissions. Try to use the word "berry" or something in the subject line so I can find them! Berry Go Round is a blog carnival devoted to highlight recent posts from the blogosphere about any aspect of plant life.
Seriously, I'm not kidding.
Rebecca Skloot has ended up with a puppy (off the street) that is going to die unless it receives expensive medical treatment. Go here to find out the details and donate a buck or two via paypal.
Did you ever notice how some verbal expressions have an extra meaning for you, just you, because of history? In reflecting on this, it is impossible to not consider such lofty topics as memes, cultural transmission, and ... well, meaning. A particular expression might invoke a memory of an event…
The McGregor Museum is a complex building with several wings surrounding an inner court yard, a multi-layered roof, balconies everywhere, and numerous trees in the court yard close in to the building. So, a cat can spend the heat of the day in the shaded crown of a tree, and the cool of the…
Did Past Climate Changes Promote Speciation in the Amazon?
Any time you've got a whopping big river like the Amazon (or a mountain chain like the Andes, or an ocean, or whatever), you've gotta figure that it will be a biogeographical barrier. Depending on the kind of organisms, big rivers, high…
As promised, the footnotes for A True Ghost Story.
1Unless this statement itself is not true, in which case, how can you know what is true and what is not true? And besides, it can't really all be true because some of it is about ghosts.
2Who wants to be alone sitting in the dark?
3I use the term…
... continued
Finally, without any further interruption ...
One morning I was up a bit earlier than usual, and I was in the bathroom shaving. It was an hour or so before sunup. The lighting in the bathroom was poor, but there was a security spotlight outside the window, as I recall, so I had…
... Well, that is not really what the former Democratic opponent of Wackaloon Bachmann said, but he might as well have. As is being reported generally and nicely summarized on DMB, Tinklenberg, who will be running for Michele "The Congresswoman" Bachmann's seat, has publicly announced that he will…
A gingerbread computer can be complicated.
When you, Joe or Mary user, buy a computer at Best Buy or Computer Village or order a computer from Dell or Gateway, you get a computer with a system already installed. Do you think they had any trouble installing that system on that computer? Do…
