clock | February 19, 2009Mrs.Coturnix and I arrived nicely in NYC last night and had a nice dinner at Heartland Brewery. This morning, we had breakfast at the Hungarian Pastry Shop, where I ordered my pastry using a Serbian name for the cake, and the Albanian woman working in the Hungarian shop understood what I wanted! I forgot to bring my camera with me today, and Mrs.Coturnix did not bring her cable, so the pictures of the pastries will have to wait our return home.
Then, Mrs.Coturnix went for a long walk (it was nice in the morning, got cold in the afternoon), ending up in the Met. I joined my co-panelists Jean-…
clock | February 19, 2009I and the Bird #94 is up on The Birder's Report
Encephalon - 64th Edition - is up on The Neurocritic
clock | February 19, 2009Buying Experiences, Not Possessions, Leads To Greater Happiness:
Can money make us happy if we spend it on the right purchases? A new psychology study suggests that buying life experiences rather than material possessions leads to greater happiness for both the consumer and those around them.
Surfing The Net Helps Seniors Cope With Pain:
Surfing the Internet could provide significant relief for seniors with chronic pain, according to new research reported in The Journal of Pain, published by the American Pain Society.
Multilingualism Brings Communities Closer Together:
Learning their…
clock | February 18, 2009Too often the opportunity knocks, but by the time you push back the chain, push back the bolt, unhook the locks and shut off the burglar alarm, it's too late.
- Rita Coolidge
clock | February 18, 2009There are 12 new articles in PLoS ONE today. As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. You can now also easily place articles on various social services (CiteULike, Connotea, Stumbleupon, Facebook and Digg) with just one click. Here are my own picks for the week - you go and look for your own favourites:
Estimating Mass Properties of Dinosaurs Using Laser Imaging and 3D Computer Modelling:
Body mass reconstructions of extinct vertebrates are most robust when complete to near-complete skeletons allow the…
clock | February 18, 2009Air-filled Bones Extended Lung Capacity And Helped Prehistoric Reptiles Take First Flight:
In the Mesozoic Era, 70 million years before birds first conquered the skies, pterosaurs dominated the air with sparrow- to Cessna-sized wingspans. Researchers suspected that these extinct reptiles sustained flight through flapping, based on fossil evidence from the wings, but had little understanding of how pterosaurs met the energetic demands of active flight.
In Flurry Of Studies, Researcher Details Role Of Apples In Inhibiting Breast Cancer:
Six studies published in the past year by a Cornell…
clock | February 17, 2009Adversity will melt like a giant icicle, though your hardships be that time in between deep Winter and long awaited Spring.
- Richard S. Drapo
clock | February 17, 2009Grand Rounds Vol. 5 No. 22 are now up on Emergiblog
The 164th Carnival of Homeschooling is up on Topsy-Techieis
clock | February 17, 2009The Open Science panel is this Thursday at 3-5pm.
If you miss that, or even if you don't, come and meet me and other local bloggers, scientists and onlookers on Friday at Old Town Bar on 45 East 18th Street at 8pm.
clock | February 17, 2009There are 18 new articles in PLoS ONE today. As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. You can now also easily place articles on various social services (CiteULike, Connotea, Stumbleupon, Facebook and Digg) with just one click. Here are my own picks for the week - you go and look for your own favourites:
Respiratory Evolution Facilitated the Origin of Pterosaur Flight and Aerial Gigantism:
Pterosaurs, enigmatic extinct Mesozoic reptiles, were the first vertebrates to achieve true flapping flight. Various lines of…
clock | February 17, 2009Last week a did an interview with Dr.Adam Ratner and it is now posted on the PLoS Blog. Go check it out.
clock | February 17, 2009Rote Memorization Of Historical Facts Adds To Collective Cluelessness:
As fans of talk-show host Jay Leno's man-on-the-street interviews know, Americans suffer from a national epidemic of historical and civic ignorance. But just because most Americans know more about "American Idol" than they do about American government doesn't necessarily mean it's entirely their fault. Americans' historical apathy is also an indictment of the way history is taught in grades K-12, according to a University of Illinois professor who studies and teaches historical instruction.
Baboons And Pigeons Are Capable…
clock | February 16, 2009Every time Bush talks about trust it makes chills run up and down my spine. The way he has trampled on the truth is a travesty of the American political system.
- William Jefferson Clinton
clock | February 16, 2009
No comment....(can you imagine Bush saying anything like this? Ever? Any Republican?)
clock | February 16, 2009Mrs.Coturnix and I will be in NYCity this week. My main business is the Open Science panel at Columbia on Thursday afternoon, which I hope you can attend.
For a more informal way to meet, let's gather at Old Town bar near Union Square at 8pm on Friday night. Tell your friends! And I hope to see you soon.
clock | February 16, 2009Praxis No. 6 is up on mudphudder
Carnival of the Green #167 is up on Reclaimed Home
clock | February 16, 2009Insights on Economic Choices From Game Theory and Cognitive Psychology:
How game theory and insights from cognitive psychology can shed light on the economic choices people and corporations make will be the focus of a topical lecture presented by California Institute of Technology (Caltech) behavioral economist Colin Camerer at the 2009 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).*
It's Hard Work That Fosters Responsibility In Teen Programs:
Millions of American teenagers participate in Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, 4-H, and other programs designed to develop…
clock | February 15, 2009Being quite busy lately, I accumulated a lot of links to stuff I wanted to comment on but never found time. Well, it does not appear I will find time any time soon, so here are the links for you to comment on anyway (just because I link to them does not mean I agree with them - in some cases quite the opposite):
In Defense of Secrecy :
Given the pervasive secrecy of the Bush-Cheney administration, and the sorry consequences of that disposition, President Barack Obama's early emphasis on openness in government seems almost inevitable. One of the first official communications issued by the new…