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IPCC Gives Up On Science, Makes Grey Literature Official

IPCC Gives Up On Science, Makes Grey Literature Official

Jun 20 2012 | comment(s)

'Grey' literature, which led to the "Glaciergate" scandal of 2010 when it was revealed that the rate at which Himalayan glaciers are losing ice (gone by 2035!) was stated as fact even though it was not based on evidence, will no longer be a problem for  the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Because they have declared that grey literature will no longer be grey - any information they choose to use will be considered peer reviewed just by being posted on the Internet by the IPCC.  
2012 Reaxys Ph.D. Prize For Organic, Organometallic And Inorganic Chemistry

2012 Reaxys Ph.D. Prize For Organic, Organometallic And Inorganic Chemistry

Jun 19 2012 | comment(s)

Reaxys has announced the winners of their 2012 Reaxys PhD Prize for innovative and original research in organic, organometallic and inorganic chemistry. 

The 2012 Reaxys PhD Prize Winners are:

- Gregory Hamilton from University of California, Berkeley
- Debashis Mandal from Nagoya University
- Craig Stivala, University of California, Santa Barbara

The winners were selected from 45 finalists by the Chairs of the Review Board: Professors Tony Barrett (Imperial College, UK), Barry Trost (Stanford, USA) and Henry Wong (Chinese University Hong Kong, China). 
Should Chelation Therapy Get Science Funding?

Should Chelation Therapy Get Science Funding?

Jun 19 2012 | comment(s)

Henry I. Miller, M.D., physician and molecular biologist, is the Robert Wesson Fellow in Scientific Philosophy and Public Policy at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and was at the NIH and FDA from 1977 to 1994.

He is, basically, a longtime knowledgeable insider into How Things Work. And he isn't a fan of how things work at the National Science Foundation.
Hyperparathyroidism Treatments To Decline Due To Fewer Product Launches And Increased Generic Erosion

Hyperparathyroidism Treatments To Decline Due To Fewer Product Launches And Increased Generic Erosion

Jun 19 2012 | comment(s)

GBI Research, a business intelligence provider, has released its latest research, 'Bone Metabolism Therapeutics Market to 2018 - Hyperparathyroidism Sector to Decline in the Absence of New Product Launches and Increased Generic Erosion for Zemplar, Hectorol and Sensipar', which provides insights into bone metabolic disease therapeutics until 2018.  

Despite Available Treatments, Fewer Than 50% Of Asthmatic Children Control Their Symptoms

Despite Available Treatments, Fewer Than 50% Of Asthmatic Children Control Their Symptoms

Jun 19 2012 | comment(s)

Hundreds of millions of people in the world suffer from allergies, and it is estimated that 300 million have asthma. In some countries, one in three children has asthma, and 80% of them also have other allergies. There are many guidelines and consensus documents about how to treat this disease but the dissemination and implementation of these are still major challenges. 

Crops And Cops - Fruit Theft Rises In A Bad Economy

Crops And Cops - Fruit Theft Rises In A Bad Economy

Jun 19 2012 | comment(s)

Things are not great in America but Spain may have the USA beat - even cherries are being stolen.

Last year, more than 20,000 thefts were reported at Spanish farms.  Is that more or less than in previous years?  No one is sure, it was never a problem before so they have few records.  Now, thieves steal food from farmers and resell them in ad hoc markets.  Welcome to the 14th century. All those people who think the past was better get to see it first hand.
2012 Dirty Dozen - The 12 Most Contaminated Foods

2012 Dirty Dozen - The 12 Most Contaminated Foods

Jun 19 2012 | comment(s)

The Environmental Working Group's annual "Dirty Dozen" report for 2012 has named the fruits and vegetables ranking highest in pesticide residue. Don't get all excited about shopping at Whole Foods to escape the problem, organic food has all kinds of pesticides, they are just 'natural', like strychnine, and the Environmental Working Group did not run any tests of their own, they did a review of government tests ("ranks pesticide contamination for 45 popular fruits and vegetables based on an analysis of more than 60,700 samples taken from 2000 to 2010 by the USDA and the federal Food and Drug Administration.") and then wrote a summary.
B-bar Meson Makes Cracks In The Standard Model?

B-bar Meson Makes Cracks In The Standard Model?

Jun 19 2012 | comment(s)

Recent data from BaBar, a high energy physics experiment at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (originally Stanford Linear Accelerator Center) may suggest possible flaws in the Standard Model of particle physics, the reigning description of how the universe works on sub-atomic scales.

BaBar, a detector built to measure the decay of B mesons and their anti-particles, B-bar mesons and named after those particles, weighed 1,200 tons, and was 6 meters long and 6 meters in diameter.
Photosynthetic Algae - Green Factories For Alternative Fuels

Photosynthetic Algae - Green Factories For Alternative Fuels

Jun 19 2012 | comment(s)

Scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory have shown that ramping up the overall metabolism of algae by feeding in more carbon increases oil production as the organisms continue to grow - and that may point to new ways to turn photosynthetic green algae into tiny "green factories" for producing raw materials for alternative fuels.
Patapsco Aquifer In Maryland Has Ground Water A Million Years Old

Patapsco Aquifer In Maryland Has Ground Water A Million Years Old

Jun 19 2012 | comment(s)

A new study says a portion of the groundwater in the upper Patapsco aquifer underlying Maryland is truly ancient- over a million years old. 
GMOs: Gene Transfer Is Neither Unnatural Nor Dangerous

GMOs: Gene Transfer Is Neither Unnatural Nor Dangerous

Jun 19 2012 | comment(s)

Last week I wrote about the anti-science campaign being waged by opponents of the use of genetically modified organisms in agriculture. In that post, I promised to address a series of questions/fears about GMOs that seem to underly peoples’ objections to the technology. I’m not going to try to make this a comprehensive reference site about GMOs and the literature on their use and safety (I’m compiling some good general resources here.)

Steven Pinker Against Group Selection Or Against Evolution?

Steven Pinker Against Group Selection Or Against Evolution?

Jun 19 2012 | comment(s)

A new edge-essay by Steven Pinker is bound to lead to vehement reactions: The False Allure of Group Selection. It is worth a read – Pinker is a clear writer and so his position is easy to locate, however, I get the feeling that his position is to smooth talk whatever a certain establishment likes to hear being defended. The last time I listened, he told modern society that it is the most peaceful ever (an amazing feat of cherry picking data and re-interpretation). Now it seems he simply roots for the more well established guys in a heated turf battle: who may talk about evolution.

Smore Snarky Puzzle Answers

Smore Snarky Puzzle Answers

Jun 19 2012 | comment(s)

April 24, 24 Steps To The Precession Of The Perihelion Of Mercury

Snarky puzzle
The only metric that is spherically symmetric and solves the Einstein field equations is the Schwarzschild metric, or so sayith Jørg Tofte Jebsen aka Birkhoff's theorem. [Correction: The theorem applies for a spherically symmetric, non-rotating, and uncharged source for the vacuum field equations.]
An Octopus Hitches A Ride On A Dolphin's Naughty Bits

An Octopus Hitches A Ride On A Dolphin's Naughty Bits

Jun 19 2012 | comment(s)

Joan Gonzalvo of the Ionian Dolphin Project, who studies dolphins off western Greece for the Tethys Research Institute, captured an incredible sequence of images showing a leaping bottlenose dolphin with a large octopus clinging to its belly.

Well, more specifically the dolphin's genital slit. Yikes.

What is the difference in Coaching Institute, College, and a University.

What is the difference in Coaching Institute, College, and a University.

Jun 18 2012 | comment(s)

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This Is What Your Brain Looks Like When You Lose Control

This Is What Your Brain Looks Like When You Lose Control

Jun 18 2012 | comment(s)

Self-control is a finite commodity.  Neuroscientists recently took a look at what happens when a person runs out of patience and loses self-control.

This self-control, they say, is limited and once the supply has dwindled, we're less likely to keep our cool when a situation that requires self-control comes around. We have all seen people who lose it over 'nothing' and recognize it may be pent-up frustration.
Would You Like A Fecal Matter Or Non-Fecal Matter Hotel Room?

Would You Like A Fecal Matter Or Non-Fecal Matter Hotel Room?

Jun 18 2012 | comment(s)

A new study suggests that your next hotel room stay may come with a bonus - someone else's fecal matter.

Katie Kirsch, an undergraduate student at the University of Houston, presented the work at the 2012 General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.  The study was designed as the first step in applying the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) system to hotel room cleanliness. Originally developed by NASA, HACCP is a systematic preventive approach that identifies potential physical, chemical and biological hazards and designs measurements to reduce these risks to safe levels.
French Company Gets $25 Million From U.S. Department Of Energy For Solar Plant

French Company Gets $25 Million From U.S. Department Of Energy For Solar Plant

Jun 18 2012 | comment(s)

Soitec, part of Euronext Paris, has announced that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is giving them a SUNPATH award in the amount of $25 million to support its new North American solar manufacturing facility in San Diego, California.

SUNPATH, which stands for Scaling Up Nascent PV At Home, is part of the U.S. governments controversial efforts to increase America's manufacturing competitiveness in the solar market.
10 Most Not-So-Puzzling Ancient Artifacts: The Grooved Spheres

10 Most Not-So-Puzzling Ancient Artifacts: The Grooved Spheres

Jun 18 2012 | comment(s)

I’ve seen this article several times now, and I meant to address it the first time, but then I got distracted by something shiny…er I mean work?

$1 Per Student Per Class - The Future Of Education?

$1 Per Student Per Class - The Future Of Education?

Jun 18 2012 | comment(s)

There's a lot of recent talk about open access in academia - taxpayers fund the bulk of academia in modern times so there isn't much benefit to a billion-dollar corporation charging a subscription fee for science research produced there.

But the university system itself, awash in money, new buildings and new employees after two decades of 'a college education is a right' mentality propped up by unlimited student loans, needs a reboot too. There may be a Science 2.0 solution for that in the works.