Random Thoughts

A Gym For The Brain?

I was reading Charlie Brooker's excellent column in The Guardian and was disappointed to learn that our educational system, underfunded though it is, seems to have bought into the wave of pseudo-scientific nonsense that is washing over us and is payin ...

Article - Ben Morrish - Oct 3 2009 - 9:57am

Testing The Fairness Of My Rejection Of Homeopathy

To test whether my belief that homeopathy is not an evidence-based rational system of medicine is reasonable or just prejudice on my part, I did a quick experiment using Google Scholar. (This was done Jan 17, 2008) A "layman's meta-analysis" ...

Article - Ben Morrish - Oct 5 2009 - 2:34pm

Morning Science Quote

Man may be excused for feeling some pride at having risen, though not through his own exertions, to the very summit of the organic scale; and the fact of his having thus risen, instead of having been aboriginally placed there, may give him hope for a stil ...

Blog Post - Michael White - Oct 7 2009 - 8:59am

Silvio on the Wrong Side of the Dildo

This just in: Berlusconi is not above the law. In a reassuring sentence the judges of the Italian "Consulta" of the constitutional court have ruled today that the "Lodo Alfano", a law strongly wanted by Berlusconi himself, is in conflic ...

Blog Post - Tommaso Dorigo - Oct 7 2009 - 1:27pm

Above Average Issue of Nature

Last week it was Science, with a swath of Ardipithecus papers. This week Nature has an above-average issue. I can't vouch for the quality of the papers (since I havent' finished them yet), but these look interesting (subscription required, unfort ...

Blog Post - Michael White - Oct 7 2009 - 2:20pm

H1N1 Swine Flu: How it feels to have the dreaded "Pandemic Flu". Don't Panic.

It's been all over the news for so long and so hyped that people expect it to be 1918-1919 all over again.  Well I reckon that I have that pandemic flu.  Let me tell you all you need to know about this flu.  How bad is it? How easy is it to catch it? ...

Blog Post - Hontas Farmer - Oct 8 2009 - 10:00am

Teaching the iGeneration

Some instructors have lamented the challenges of teaching students who are constantly logged-on, plugged-in, facebooked, etc. Guess what? I like teaching the iGeneration*. I enjoy using YouTube clips in my lectures, putting together online discussions, and ...

Blog Post - T. Ryan Gregory - Oct 12 2009 - 10:19am

The Elettra Experience

Just over a year ago, the Daresbury synchrotron closed down (Is The Ring Destined For The Cracks Of Doom?) and I was contemplating the prospect of travelling to THE Continent (OK, the European mainland) in order to continue our Small-angle X-ray scatterin ...

Article - Robert H Olley - Oct 21 2009 - 7:19pm

Extremist Viewpoints

An article " Why Extremist Views Dominate " suggested that such views are expressed more willingly when people believe they hold a majority opinion.  In the study the point was that students that were pro-alcohol were more willing to express thei ...

Blog Post - Gerhard Adam - Oct 21 2009 - 9:21pm

A Squid Fishing Haiku, Because I Am Tired

Skunked again today. Squid are here--but so are storms. It's not called "catching." ...

Blog Post - Danna Staaf - Oct 24 2009 - 9:45pm