clock | December 12, 2008Correct. The hypothetico-deductive method is just one aspect of the Scientific Method. When are they going to finally update the textbooks?
clock | December 12, 2008Melissa puts the whole auto-makers non-bailout non-deal most succinctly and correctly of them all:
In short, the GOP demanded that the bailout be contingent upon busting unions, and, when their demand wasn't met, they tanked the deal.
With each such stunt, over the years, Republicans lost another segment of the voting population and this one is no different - all the people employed by or dependent on the car industry will remember this for a generation.
The craziest thing that Shakes notes, though, is this silly quote by Dick Cheney:
"If we don't do this, we will be known as the party of…
clock | December 12, 2008From Reproducible Ideas:
Even when lab work and statistical analysis carried out perfectly, microarray experiment conclusions have a high probability of being incorrect for probabilistic reasons. Of course lab work and statistical analysis are not carried out perfectly. I went to a talk earlier this week that demonstrated reproducibility problems coming both from the wet lab and from the statistical analysis.
Continue the discussion here....
clock | December 12, 2008Tending to recent immigrants and other travelers, Carlos Franco-Paredes diagnoses diseases that few other physicians in North America have ever seen:
Q: What's the most important diagnostic tool you use?
A: The Internet. We rely on it heavily, probably more than other specialists do. Online, we access recent medical journals from all over the world, including PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases and the Journal of Infectious Diseases in Developing Countries. They have really good articles written by people on the local level. But beyond that, we use the Internet to keep up on what's happening in…
clock | December 12, 2008
Maxine:
Nature Education, a new division of Nature Publishing Group, has launched Scitable, a free online educational resource for undergraduate biology instructors and students.
Scitable, which currently covers the field of genetics, is built on a library of overviews of key science concepts compiled by Nature Publishing Group's editorial staff. Scitable's evidence-based approach explains science through the lens of the scientific method, with links to milestone research papers.
Topics of investigation include:
⢠Chromosomes and cytogenetics
⢠Evolutionary genetics
⢠Gene expression and…
clock | December 12, 2008Prime time makes a scientific discovery
"My husband, who's a physicist at CalTech, says, 'Physics is the new black,' " says Jennifer Ouellette, who regularly blogs about the subject on cocktailpartyphysics.com. The author of such science-friendly books as "The Physics of the Buffyverse," in which she deconstructed the science of " Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Ouellette is also the new director of the Science and Entertainment Exchange, a new program developed by the National Academy of Science to help Hollywood understand scientists and visa versa.
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"Most people in the…
clock | December 12, 2008Ideas in Ecology and Evolution is a new Open Access journals which is also experimenting with the review process.
Bob O'Hara and commenters go into details. I hope it does not end like Medical Hypotheses: a great source of blog-fodder for snarky bloggers and not much else. We'll keep an eye....
clock | December 12, 2008Starting this month, a new PBS documentary-three years in the making-will change the way Americans see life on Earth. Scientists the world over now agree that Earth is experiencing runaway mass extinction of life across virtually all ecosystems.
The bottom line? Life on Earth is dying off, fast. The good news? People everywhere are waking up and doing something about it.
Far from being just another nature film with awe-inspiring aerials (although it sports some), HOTSPOTS takes American television audiences to the front lines of some of the most far-flung places on Earth. Viewers are given a…
clock | December 12, 2008I and the Bird #90: Christmas Count Tally Rally - is up on Jeffrey A. Gordon
December Change of Shift is up on Marijke: nurse turned writer
Friday Ark #221 is up on Modulator
clock | December 12, 2008If you go to the Science page of New York Times, starting today, you will see on the right side, just below the "Most popular" box a brand new widget - "Selected Posts From Sb Scienceblogs" that looks like this:
Soon, we'll reciprocate the link by linking to NYTimes science content as well. A nice way for old media and new media to integrate with each other, send readers to each other and educate the general audience about the difference in format, form, style, voice and quality between the old and new media. Everybody wins.
clock | December 12, 2008I grew up in the big city. I like visiting big cities. The moment you drop me in NYCity, San Francisco, or London, I get into my "city mode" - the quicker pace of walking, a different demeanor. It's fun - for a few days. I don't want to move into and live in a big city again. I am much happier getting out on my front porch and taking a picture of a deer in the front yard:
clock | December 12, 2008It appears that the clash of generations in regards to journalism is also happening in journalism schools: Screw AP style! Why I don't want to be a journalist anymore.
5 of my friends began their college careers as eager journalists. 5 of my friends are now either in a different field or no longer eager about being a journalist but eager to graduate. My choice is to go back and get another degree in Graphic Design - something that results in product that highlights as opposed to false light.
And this comes from one of the most promising students in that class!
My question: is it the industry…
clock | December 12, 2008Boy Or Girl? It's In The Father's Genes:
A Newcastle University study involving thousands of families is helping prospective parents work out whether they are likely to have sons or daughters. The work by Corry Gellatly, a research scientist at the university, has shown that men inherit a tendency to have more sons or more daughters from their parents. This means that a man with many brothers is more likely to have sons, while a man with many sisters is more likely to have daughters.
The Last Neandertals? Late Neandertals And Modern Human Contact In Southeastern Iberia:
It is widely accepted…
clock | December 11, 2008One reason I don't drink is because I wish to know when I'm having a good time.
- Nancy Astor
clock | December 11, 2008There are 10 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:
Glaucoma Alters the Circadian Timing System:
Glaucoma is a widespread ocular disease and major cause of blindness characterized by progressive, irreversible damage of the optic nerve. Although the degenerative loss…
clock | December 11, 2008Paper number 0000001 was published in PLoS ONE on December 20th 2006 - exactly two years ago. So, we will have various types of celebrations, of course. One of those, the one you can and should participate in, is the Second Birthday Synchroblogging Competition.
So, how does it go? How can you participate?
First, spread the word about it to your own contacts and readers.
Second, if you are not already registered with ResearchBlogging.org, do so ASAP, or on December 17th at the latest (to give them enough time to approve you and to give yourself enough time to look around and familiarize…
clock | December 11, 2008Scott Derrickson, director of the new version of The Day the Earth Stood Still, talks about his take on the iconic sci-fi movie. And Nobel laureate, Richard Roberts, discusses the importance of open-access science publishing. Plus, we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news.
Listen here.