clock | December 9, 2008
The first 25 registered participants who sign up here will get to taste some delicious coffee and discuss the science of coffee at Counter Culture Coffee in Durham (map) on Friday, January 16th at 9:30am. Use the same wiki page also to organize carpooling (locals, please offer to give rides to the guests).
clock | December 9, 2008Journalists are fantastically capable of forgetting the he-said-she-said False Equivalence mode of dishonesty if they are themselves one of the sides. In that case, they quote only the "skeptics" side, not the side that may have actually something intelligent to say about the matter.
Watch this incredible video clip.
It shows a horse dealer, a horse trainer, a farrier and a saddle-maker sitting around the table, with serious faces, discussing this new invention - the car! It is just a fad. Those engineers know nothing about transportation. This will remain just a toy for the idle and the…
clock | December 9, 2008Tina writes - Kinesthetic Learners: Why Old Media Should Never Die:
.....Many classrooms, however, don't offer this type of kinesthetic learning. The hands-on learner is left to fend for themselves and more often than not the only physical interaction they get is with the learning material itself.
You've seen them before. Sometimes, it's a student whose fingers trace the words as they read them. Or the highlighter: the student who makes a colored mosaic of their text as they try to physically interact with the material. Even note-taking is a kinesthetic activity. In a variety of subtle ways,…
clock | December 9, 2008Krugman goes to Stockholm to get a Nobel and give a speech, posts his slides on his blog and apologizes for "light blogging lately" using a LOLcat.
The future is bright....
clock | December 9, 2008See the screen-capture here: If The USA Had A Facebook Page During The Civil War (then click on the image to enlarge).
clock | December 9, 2008Why do you care about and/or work in museums? Nina has her own reasons:
I don't work in museums because I love them. I didn't grow up staring open-mouthed at natural history dioramas or wandering through art galleries. When I visit a new city, I don't clamor to visit museums. I go on hikes. I go to farmer's markets. I walk around and get a sense for people and place. And while I'll visit museums out of professional (and occasionally personal) interest, I don't do it because of a deep emotional connection. Yes, there are some extraordinary museum experiences that have changed my life, but they…
clock | December 8, 2008There is no fence or hedge round time that has gone. You can go back and have what you like if you remember it well enough.
- Richard Llewellyn
clock | December 8, 2008Pulitzer Prizes Broadened to Include Online-Only Publications Primarily Devoted to Original News Reporting:
New York, Dec. 8, 2008 - The Pulitzer Prizes in journalism, which honor the work of American newspapers appearing in print, have been expanded to include many text-based newspapers and news organizations that publish only on the Internet, the Pulitzer Prize Board announced today. [Who defines "newspaper" and "news organization"? Can I claim "A Blog Around The Clock" as one of those if I call it that way? If not, why not? Who decides?]
The Board also has decided to allow entries made up…
clock | December 8, 2008There are 14 new articles in PLoS ONE today, as well as new papers in PLoS Biology and PLoS Medicine.
As always, for PLoS ONE articles, 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- awesome papers! - you go and look for your own favourites:
The Worldwide Variation in Avian Clutch Size across Species and Space:
Why do some bird species lay only one egg in…
clock | December 8, 2008If you agree with this petition, sign it:
Dear President-Elect Obama,
We congratulate you on your historic victory and welcome the change that your election promises to usher in for our nation. As leaders in the sustainable agriculture and rural advocacy community we supported you in record numbers during the caucus, primary and general election because of the family farm-friendly policies that you advocated during your campaign.
As our nation's future president, we hope that you will take our concerns under advisement when nominating our next Secretary of Agriculture because of the crucial…
clock | December 8, 2008If you don't follow the PLoS Blog (you don't? really?), you may have missed a series of posts we recently started, interviewing some of our authors and academic editors, who reveal the behind-the-scenes thoughts about the process. Check out interviews with Jeremy Farrar, Dario Ringach, Ivan Baxter, Niyaz Ahmed and Tian Kegong.
clock | December 8, 2008News from Science Commons:
Today, we are proud to announce the release of Science Commons' first informational video. The video was directed by renowned director Jesse Dylan, the director of the Emmy- award winning "Yes We Can" Barack Obama campaign video with musical artist will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas. The video can also be seen on the front of sciencecommons.org.
"I believe Science Commons represents the true aspiration of the web, and I wanted to tell their story," Dylan said. "They've changed the way we think about exploration and discovery; the important and innovative ideas need…
clock | December 8, 2008
As you know, a portion of the Friday program at ScienceOnline09 is organized by Duke WiSE. They have now put up a webpage with additional information.
In short, if you have signed up for the conference and checked the "I will attend the Friday evening event" box on the registration form you are fine - no need to do anything else, just show up.
But if you are local and want to attend ONLY the WiSE event (and you have not registered for SO'09), you need to register by using this online form.
The program?
6:30 pm Registration
7 - 8 pm Networking reception and informational booths with local…
clock | December 8, 2008
How Shift Workers Can Improve Job Performance And Implement Realistic Sleep Schedule:
A new study in the journal Sleep shows that the use of light exposure therapy, dark sunglasses and a strict sleep schedule can help night-shift workers create a "compromise circadian phase position," which may result in increased performance and alertness during night shifts while still allowing adequate nighttime sleep on days off.
Body Clock Linked To Diabetes And High Blood Sugar In New Genome-wide Study:
Diabetes and high levels of blood sugar may be linked to abnormalities in a person's body clock and…
clock | December 7, 2008Some say no evil thing that walks by night,
In fog or fire, by lake or moorish fen,
Blue meagre hag, or stubborn unlaid ghost
That breaks his magic chains at curfew time,
No goblin, or swart fairy of the mine,
Hath hurtful power o'er true virginity.
- John Milton
clock | December 7, 2008Food Can Affect A Cell In The Same Way Hormones Do:
VIB researchers connected to the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven have discovered an important new mechanism with which cells can detect nutrients. This happens in the same way - and with the same effects - as when cells receive a message from a hormone. This finding can teach us more about how food affects our body; and, furthermore, it can form the basis for new candidate targets for medicines.
Climate Change Wiped Out Cave Bears 13 Millennia Earlier Than Thought:
Enormous cave bears, Ursus spelaeus, that once inhabited a large swathe of…