Tracks and Traces 4.26.10

  • Check out my article on the atmosphere and evolution, "The History of Air", over at Smithsonian.
  • The Raleigh News & Observer has a brief interview with me (conducted by DeLene Beeland) on paleontology, evolution, and my forthcoming book Written in Stone. (Check out the comments, too - I already have fundamentalists praying for me *headdesk*)

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When we look at a the data for a population+ often the first thing we do is look at the mean. But even if we know that the distribution
I love this question: Why is it warmer in the summer than in the winter (for the Northern hemisphere)? Go ahead and ask your friends. I suppose they will give one of the following likely answers:
Technorati Tags: ddftw, bozos, markcc-screwups
Last week we looked at the organ systems involved in regulation and control of body functions: the nervous, sensory, endocrine and circadian systems. This week, we will cover the organ systems that are regulated and controlled.

You get people who pray for you; I just get the ones who urge me to be open-minded (to the possibility that, say, the machine made from old microwave parts in some guy's garage will really let us travel to the stars!).

I'm praying for you - do you want to guess which side of the "evolution" issue I'm on?

Oooh, ooh, I know — the uninformed one!

[sigh]

"I'll pray for you" is just the fundie way of giving someone the finger.

Alien prequel! Cool. Hope there's no damn humans in it. Humans ruin the Jurassic Park series, too. Wish all the humans, especially the annoying kids, would just get eaten in the first couple minutes, and the dinos get on with doing their thing.

By darwinsdog (not verified) on 26 Apr 2010 #permalink

I've always wondered about the fact that they're rather non-specific about what outcome they're hoping for from said praying...

I just respond, Thank you (usually). Or if I'm snarky I'll ask what for, and depending on what they tell me I usually get to point out they've just made a judgment about my personal beliefs without even the courtesy of asking me about them. "I'll take Wrong Assumptions for a 1,000, Alex". Or if I'm just cranky, I'll take them to task for judging.

By Daniel J. Andrews (not verified) on 30 Apr 2010 #permalink

Brian -

I looked up your blog after seeing the N&O article. Enjoyed the posts I've read so far. I think I'll get your book as well (or at least look for it in the library :)). If you've not visited Raleigh's natural history museum before make sure to stop in if you're in town. It's really a gem for our fair city.

Down here when folks pray for you it's always with the best intentions!

By John Schultz (not verified) on 01 May 2010 #permalink

John - Thanks for the comment, and I am glad you have been enjoying the blog. The book won't be out until November, but I hope you give it a look when it comes out. :)

And I did have the chance to visit the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences last January. The tour was a bit of a whirlwind (I wish I had more time to explore!), but it was lovely, and it was certainly nice to poke around in the collections for a bit. Maybe, when the book comes out, I will organize a talk down there and visit again.