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Thomas Friedman wishes America was more like communist dictatorships

Thomas Friedman wishes America was more like communist dictatorships

Sep 19 2010 | comment(s)

Poor Thomas Friedman.  The NY Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner, who only knows the science that is framed for him through progressive politics and kooky economics, thinks the Chinese are onto something with climate change.  He fawns over:
“There is really no debate about climate change in China,” said Peggy Liu, chairwoman of the Joint U.S.-China Collaboration on Clean Energy, a nonprofit group working to accelerate the greening of China. “China’s leaders are mostly engineers and scientists, so they don’t waste time questioning scientific data.” 
Petermann's Progress

Petermann's Progress

Sep 19 2010 | comment(s)

Petermann's Progress

The huge ice island which calved from Petermann Glacier on August 4th was stuck in the mouth of Petermann Fjord for quite some time.  As I had suggested, it did not get into Nares Strait as a single ice island.  It broke into two main parts: Petermann 2010-A and Petermann 2010-B


Petermann Ice Island 2010-B
The Say Of The Week - Kendall On Bayesians

The Say Of The Week - Kendall On Bayesians

Sep 19 2010 | comment(s)

"If they would only do as he did and publish posthumously, we should all be saved a lot of trouble".

[Maurice Kendall, famous British statistician, talking of Bayesians (statisticians who employ Bayes' theorem and Bayes' approach to statistical inference, particularly related to  the use of "prior beliefs") and of Bayes himself, whose groundbreaking work was only published after his death]
Messy biology and the origins of evolutionary innovations - Nature Chemical Biology

Messy biology and the origins of evolutionary innovations - Nature Chemical Biology

Sep 19 2010 | comment(s)

Biological messiness relates to infidelity, heterogeneity, stochastic noise and variation—both genetic and phenotypic—at all levels, from single proteins to organisms. Messiness comes from the complexity and evolutionary history of biological systems and from the high cost of accuracy. For better or for worse, messiness is inherent to biology. It also provides the raw material for physiological and evolutionary adaptations to new challenges.
Does atheism poison everything? - Washington Times

Does atheism poison everything? - Washington Times

Sep 19 2010 | comment(s)

Excerpt from Washington Times:

On Sept. 7, David Berlinski and Christopher Hitchens met for a debate in Birmingham, Alabama. Hosted by the Fixed Point Foundation, the debate premise was "Atheism Poisons Everything," a spin off of the subtitle of Hitchens' book, "God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything".


Genes May Not Make You Smart, They May Make You Dumb

Genes May Not Make You Smart, They May Make You Dumb

Sep 19 2010 | comment(s)

We accept that genetics make some people smarter though few consider instead that genes may be making us dumber, but deleting the RGS14 gene in mice did make them smarter - by unlocking a mysterious region of the brain considered to be relatively inflexible, scientists at Emory University School of Medicine have found.

Bring on the psychic fans!

Studies on biomass utilization in the rural India and its impact assessment on environment with suggestions for possible alternatives.

Studies on biomass utilization in the rural India and its impact assessment on environment with suggestions for possible alternatives.

Sep 19 2010 | comment(s)

Studies on biomass utilization in the rural India and its impact assessment on environment with suggestions for possible alternatives. Santosh Sharma, Annapurna Rathore and Ashwini Kumar New Generation Development and Globilization Foundation, 2-Kha-14, Sector-2, Jawaharnagar, Jaipur, 302004. India. Email: ngdgf_nature@yahoo.com
Rural energy needs of India and role of women in developing alternative sources of energy: a case study.

Rural energy needs of India and role of women in developing alternative sources of energy: a case study.

Sep 19 2010 | comment(s)

Rural energy needs of India and role of women in developing alternative sources of energy: a case study. Annapurna Rathore, Santosh Sharma, and Ashwini Kumar New Generation Development and Globilization Foundation, 2-Kha-14, Sector-2, Jawaharnagar, Jaipur, 302004. India. Email: ngdgf_nature@yahoo.com The changing scenerio of the rural energy needs and the role of women in developing alternative sources of energy has not been worked out for the semi-arid and arid regions of India. The present paper will describe the role of women in the developmen t of alternative sources of energy.
Moles & Grubs: The Nonexistent Correlation

Moles & Grubs: The Nonexistent Correlation

Sep 19 2010 | comment(s)

I have a unique ability to put things in places where they don't belong, leave them there temporarily until I can find a good place, get used to them being there, then forget they are there altogether. I don't know if this skill is unique to those of us who possess an Y chromosome, but I am definitely quite good at it.

Sometimes, these misplaced "things" are really ideas. One of these misplaced ideas is the belief that moles are an indication of a grub infestation. It's been sitting there for so long, I often forget it's even around.

The basis of this idea is an erroneous error of logic. Moles eat grubs = true. If there are no grubs, moles won't stick around = untrue.
With Great Technology Comes Great Responsibility

With Great Technology Comes Great Responsibility

Sep 19 2010 | comment(s)

The spread of mass panic through Short Message Service (SMS) and text on phones and services like Twitter is unnecessary and people need to learn to look at information with a more critical eye.   People in general are too quick to pass on information without checking - especially if they want to believe what it says - and propagating dubious or false information can have devastating results. 

Mass-panic through technology is not a new phenomenon - in 1938 the first segment of HG Wells' "War of the Worlds" was aired over the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) radio network and as the first episode was done as a simulated news bulletin, many listeners who came on late thought that an actual Martian invasion was taking place.

Friendship Paradox renders Network Analysis Redundant

Friendship Paradox renders Network Analysis Redundant

Sep 19 2010 | comment(s)

Since there are more and more unbearable TED talks, it becomes useful to recommend the one or the other, as I am sure many have given up on watching them all, which in the beginning of TED was still possible.

The talk by Nicholas Christakis on social networks actually taught me something new and potentially useful in many scientific or other endeavors:

1) You want to target the most connected (say for advertising, or vaccination to ensure population immunity).

2) However, you do not know who the most connected are.
Australia’s 4 billion dollar bee industry at imminent risk from locust spraying

Australia’s 4 billion dollar bee industry at imminent risk from locust spraying

Sep 19 2010 | comment(s)

Swarms of locusts are predicted across four Australian states in coming months and the sprays used to kill locusts also harm and kill bees, which is a big concern to Australia’s beekeepers.

The 4 billion dollar bee industry produces honey and pollinates plants for farmers, such as almond, peach, nectarine, cherry, plum, blackcurrant, blueberry, cranberry trees just to mention a few. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_crop_plants_pollinated_by_bees for a full list of crops pollinated by bees.
Electron Beams Whip Up A Quantum Tornado

Electron Beams Whip Up A Quantum Tornado

Sep 19 2010 | comment(s)

A group of researchers have developed what are known as vortex beams - rotating electron beams - which make it possible to investigate the magnetic properties of materials and in the future it may be possible to manipulate the tiniest components in a targeted manner and set them in rotation also.

Electron beams have been used to analyze materials for a while, such as in electron microscopes. For the most part, the beams' rotation does not affect this analysis because in classical physics, an electron current in a vacuum does not have any orbital angular momentum. But in quantum mechanics, the electrons must be envisaged as a wavelike current, which can rotate as a whole about its propagation direction, similar to the air flow in a tornado.
Isolated Microspore Embryogenesis in Cereals: Aspects and Prospects

Isolated Microspore Embryogenesis in Cereals: Aspects and Prospects

Sep 19 2010 | comment(s)

Isolated Microspore Embryogenesis in Cereals: Aspects and Prospects Archana Chugh and François Eudes Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lethbridge Research Centre, 5403 1st Avenue South, PO Box-3000, Lethbridge, Alberta T1J 4B1, CANADA. Telephone: 1-403-317-3358/3338, Fax: 1-403-382-3156 e-mail: chugha@agr.gc.ca, eudesf@agr.gc.ca Abstract
Himalayan biodiversity has great medicinal potential but it needs to be conserved.

Himalayan biodiversity has great medicinal potential but it needs to be conserved.

Sep 19 2010 | comment(s)

The biodiversity of the Himalaya province is extraordinarily high. The eastern part of Himalaya embraces the zones of highest biological diversity, with more than 4,000 species of vascular plants per 10,000 km2 area. This is exceptionally high even in the global context. In the larger part of Himalayan province, the vascular plant species is above 3,000 per 10,000 km2 area. (Fig. 1.4)
Women in chemistry blogging

Women in chemistry blogging

Sep 18 2010 | comment(s)

David Kroll at Terra Sigillata notes that CENtral Science has 9 women contributors and only 4 men, the opposite of the usual sausage-fest in science blogging at most sites and somewhere in the magical realm of social sciences in its overwhelming XX dominance.

It isn't that chemistry is more female friendly than something like biology, which has majority representation of female PhDs almost directly matching American society, it may be an example (at least in chemistry) that they do other things than research after they get a degree:
Ethnobotany And India's Natural Medicine Cuture

Ethnobotany And India's Natural Medicine Cuture

Sep 18 2010 | comment(s)

India, due to its unique variety of geographical and climatic factors, has a rich and varied flora of medicinal plants. No wonder that out of a total number of over 15,000 plant species in India, about 2,000 are known to have medicinal properties and some of them are used even as home remedies in the rural and remotest parts of our country (Arora, 1985).

Ethnobotany
Medicinal plants of the Himalayan region

Medicinal plants of the Himalayan region

Sep 18 2010 | comment(s)

Maharanga emodi (Wall.)A.D.C. syn Onsoma emodi Wall (O. emodi Wall.=Maharanga emodi (Wall.) DC.,) (Boraginaceae )

Flower and roots are used as medicine.

The plants are distributed in Alpine Himalayas of Nepal from 3000 to 3900 m. also found from Garhwal to Bhutan at altitudes of 3,500-4,000 m.

The roots of O. emodi Wall.=Maharanga emodi (Wall.) DC., afford a dye which has been used for colouring wool and silk.

Crude drugs 

1. Onsoma bracteatum Wall

2. O. hispidum Wall. ex D. Don syn. O. echioides C.B.( O. hispidum has been reported to be the source of Ratanjot, a red dye yielding root, commonly used for colouring foodstuffs, oils and medicinal preparations.
Video game fans rally around fallen developer's widow

Video game fans rally around fallen developer's widow

Sep 18 2010 | comment(s)

Think science is a close community?  Indeed it is, but video game aficionados are not as shallow as they are portrayed either.

Relic Entertainment developer Brian Wood, aged 33, was driving his Subaru Outback with his pregnant wife in the passenger seat when a Chevy Blazer veered into their lane.   At the last moment before impact, Wood hit the brakes and turned to place himself in the path of the SUV and shield his wife.  The other driver is alleged to have been under the influence of drugs, two passengers in the back seat of her Blazer were killed ... and so was Wood.

Police told her if he had not turned the vehicle they would all be dead.
Indian Medicinal plants of Himalayan region: Astilbe rivularis Buch.-Ham. ex D. Don,

Indian Medicinal plants of Himalayan region: Astilbe rivularis Buch.-Ham. ex D. Don,

Sep 18 2010 | comment(s)

Astilbe rivularis Buch.-Ham. ex D. Don, ( Saxifragaceae) Used Part is Flower It is met with in temperate Himalayas from Kashmir to Bhutan up to altitudes of 1,500-2,700 m and in Khasi hills. Root paste is mixed with honey and taken to control post- partum diarrhoea and dysentery. The rhizome is reported to contain bergenin and three triterpenoid acids, viz. astilbic acid (C30H48O4, m p 219- 23°), ß-peltoboykinolic acid (C30H48O3, m p 227-29°), and acetyl ß- peltoboykinolic acid (C32H50O4, m p 226-28°)