bushwells | September 12, 2006After living here for a couple of years, I'm still a stranger in the strange land of Einsteinville, and I continue to make small discoveries in this precious little community. One of these is Princeton University's predilection for the confluence of art and science. The Lost Boys over at Frink Tank posted a thoroughly hootworthy piece on the subject in June: Like alcohol and nightswimming, it's a winning combination. The temporary installation of Quark Park on a vacant lot in Princeton takes this sometimes uneasy combination a step further, and turns it into a living three-dimensional…
jfiore | September 9, 2006Well, well, we seem to have a bit of war, a tussle if you will, concerning who claims the mantle of most nerdy-worthy sci-blogger. After taking the test and giving it a bit of thought, I have come to the conclusion that the test is faulty (one might even argue that it is a Tower of Fawlty-ness).
I know, some would say that I am merely disgruntled after scoring a measly mid 70. That's an obvious argument to make, but in spite of my apparent "disgruntledness", even had I scored triple digits and therefore been fully gruntled by the result, I would still claim that the test is a less than…
bushwells | September 8, 2006
Worship me, fools.
Really, there was no hope for me. My path to nerdocity was shaped by older siblings: my late sister who was a junior high school math and science teacher (originally wanted to be an engineer, but in the late 50's/early 60's, this wasn't exactly encouraged) and my brother who is a physicist. At age 6, I played chess with my brother who was a member of the high school chess team (if that doesn't say "Kick me," I don't know what does), and poured over my sister's college biology textbooks. I waxed poetic on the various species of dinosaurs in my first grade class circa…
bushwells | September 4, 2006Holy moly.
A pant-hoot and a vigorous grooming session go to Frink Tank for unearthing this pile of Christmongering termites.
jfiore | September 4, 2006Suppose you want to raise a little money for a charitable organization. Suppose you do it by spoofing the premise of a comedic Hollywood movie, having yourself be the butt of the joke. Finally, suppose that you live in the so-called moral heartland of America, say Iowa. What could possibly go wrong?
It seems that Manning, Iowa superintendent Roger Schmiedeskamp had no idea just how dumb and humorless some folks can be. Schmiedeskamp, along with other men of the community, posed for a 2007 calendar which will be sold to raise money for the Rotary Club. The twist is that the calendar features…
bushwells | September 3, 2006The latest Science Blogs hot topic on Dario Ringach's decision to cease his research struck a Bushwellian nerve or two thousand. Here's an excerpt from Predators Unleashed (see Investors.com, 8/24/2006).
A group named Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty has reportedly posted on its Web site the home telephone numbers, addresses and the children's schools of those who work for or do business with Huntingdon Life Sciences, a contract animal-research firm.
Last March, in the midst of a bunch of other tumultuous life events, I received a disconcerting e-mail from Dark Overlords Pharmaceuticals, Inc…
jfiore | August 26, 2006Is it just me, or has there been an almost annoying increase in the number of "Let's see how smart you are" ads on the Web these days? From self-propelled pseudo-IQ tests to numeric sequences to who-knows-what-else, I see these little buggers pop up on all manner of pages. I find them to be a waste of time, not because I think any form of testing is bad, but because the very premise of a correct answer is sometimes flawed. In some cases, all they tell you is whether or not you think like the person who wrote the test.
A case in point: The other day while checking the weather forecast, I saw…
bushwells | August 26, 2006Tim Kreider took a break from his cartoonist's luxury vacation to comment on Pluto's debasement. In case you missed it, check this out:
The Pain - When Will It End?
bushwells | August 25, 2006She waited, yearning, quivering, and she spread her vivid pink petals wide. Then she heard the buzz of his wings then felt the caress of his six legs. "Yes, yes, that's the spot," she cried as she strained and lifted her tender pistils toward him. "Damn," he thought to himself. "Those babies are as red as Mrs. Gardener's canker sores. I'm goin' in!"
jfiore | August 24, 2006My wife and I went to a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young concert the other evening at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. It was a great show in spite of a little rain. You can read a local review of it here. What does this have to do with photons and pressure waves? I'll get to that in a minute.
First, a little about the show. This concert was part of their 2006 "Freedom of Speech" tour. They did two sets, each around 90 minutes long. We had lawn seats (if you're not familiar with SPAC, the facility is on a hillside with a portion of the seating on a grassy slope). The first half was…
bushwells | August 24, 2006My elder kid will leave for college this weekend. I'm going to miss the sprog something fierce. I'm sorry. I'm a little verklempt. Please talk amongst yourselves. Here's a little story about our mother and son camping adventure which you can read while I go wail and rend my garments.
Addendum: pre-departure photo (08/26/2006) of my college bound sprog included.
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Growing up on a farm brought me into close contact with nature. I was not, and still am not, the kind of woman in whom snakes, bees, wasps, or mice strike gut wrenching fear. Instead, I harbored a keen…
bushwells | August 22, 2006A pant-hoot of appreciation goes out to United Kingdom bonobo, grimupnorth, for passing this along.
Adam Kay is a junior doctor from the UK who passes his limited spare time by writing songs, including one about a new wonder-drug called Paracetamoxyfrusebendroneomycin.
He's built up a cult following, and he's currently selling out at the Edinburgh festival.
There are some clips from the songs on this site:
The Friday Project ("Paracetamoxyfrusebendroneomycin" contained therein - Doc Bushwell)
He gives all proceeds from his album sales to a cancer charity.
See what you think.
Adam Kay has a…
bushwells | August 17, 2006After being buggery-augered with no lube by the New England Journal of Medicine's finest, it's refreshing for us minions of Big Bad Pharma and our small company lampreys to read an article in that august journal which moves beyond Angellic knee jerk histrionics.
Alastair J.J. Wood, M.D. offers a proposal for radical changes in the drug-approval process. As Joseph j7uy5, proprietor of Corpus Callosum notes, this is a free access article and a worthwhile read.
Wood's proposals include severe kicking of the tires for me-too drugs, follow-up on safety after a drug's launch, demonstration of…
bushwells | August 11, 2006Petals and sepals...do you know what your buds are watching?
Please see The Perry Bible Fellowship for more of Nicholas Gurewitch's comic strips.
A pant-hoot of appreciation goes to SiBling Karmen of Chaotic Utopia for reminding me of this bit of florotica.
jfiore | August 10, 2006If you haven't seen it, 30 Days is Supersize Me author Morgan Spurlock's show on FX. The premise is straight-forward: immerse someone for 30 days in a situation opposite to what they're used to. Ostensibly, the idea is to learn "how the other half lives", so to speak. The August 9 episode featured a woman, married with children, who happens to be an atheist. For 30 days she lived with a Christian family in Texas. To my eyes, there was a constant undercurrent of tension in spite of some very friendly and polite surface conversation. There's plenty to jaw about here, but I'd like to offer up…
jfiore | August 9, 2006So, Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut lost his Democratic primary bid to Ned Lamont, 48 to 52 percent. Many have suggested that it was Lieberman's apparent "cozyness" with the Bush administration that did him in. I was never either a fan nor a detractor of Lieberman, but I thought that maybe he was not the best face for the party. In short, I felt that he had all the charm, excitement, and charisma of a bottle opener. Functional in certain instances, perhaps, but nothing to wrote home about. In any case, the people of Connecticut have spoken. But that, of course, doesn't mean that…
bushwells | August 4, 2006Madison WI - Members of the Oconomowoc Happy Hoes Garden Club were outraged during a horticulturally themed tour of the University of Wisconsin campus. When the ladies viewed the UW-Madison Botany Garden near Birge Hall, many gasped and one fainted upon viewing the Essence installation. "I am outraged that state tax payers' precious funds might be supporting this kind of filth," said Edna Svendborg, Happy Hoes president, as she was confronted with "The Flower."
"It's far too alluring and obviously a terrible influence on the impressionable young students of this sedate conservative campus…
bushwells | August 3, 2006What movie do you think does something admirable (though not necessarily accurate) regarding science? Bonus points for answering whether the chosen movie is any good generally....
My tastes in sci-fi movies are similar to PZ's, and likewise, are indefensible. Heck, I'm a fan of SciFi Originals, and really, I don't think Mansquito did much to advance the cause of science. As usual, there was a big bad corporation behind the metamorphosis of man to skeeter. I mean, what's up with this? Always with the evil drug company and its secret formulas which turn people into large insects or…
bushwells | August 1, 2006My elder kid and I returned yesterday from Madison, Wisconsin where he spent a couple of days taking placement tests and becoming oriented and advised. Poor guy. He is in some danger of being pegged as a reviled "Coastie." . Fortunately, he belongs to an uber-nerd species whose habits and nature are a far cry from the Westchester preppie ilk which has invaded Mad City like so much purple loosestrife in a Wisconsin wetland. He has legitimate claim to Cheesehead status by virtue of having been popped out of the ol' womb at Madison General. However, he is known to wear New Zealand Ugg…