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10 Percent Of UK Men Who Gamble Prefer iPads To Girlfriends

10 Percent Of UK Men Who Gamble Prefer iPads To Girlfriends

Apr 23 2012 | comment(s)

iPads are apparently pretty sexy.  I don't know, I don't have one. I do have a Kindle Fire, I like to be able to download and read old books I have that are too valuable to me to risk reading in hardback, and I bought an iPad for my wife, but I do most things on a laptop, so an iPad is too small, and my Kindle Fire is about the size of a book, so an iPad is too big.

But 10% of Internet gambling men in the UK said they would rather than an iPad than a girlfriend, and 3% of respondents to the RoxyPalace.com survey said they would leave the girlfriend they already have.  That's sexy folks.


H5N1 Avian Influenza Controversy - The Fix Was In?

H5N1 Avian Influenza Controversy - The Fix Was In?

Apr 16 2012 | comment(s)

A closed U.S. Government-requested meeting last month set out to determine the fate of two controversial unpublished papers on the H5N1 avian influenza virus but it was stacked in favor of their full publication, a participant now says. 

The meeting agenda and presenters were “designed to produce the outcome that occurred”, according to a letter leaked to Nature by an anonymous source.

It's open science versus bioterrorism concerns. 
A Double-Blind Test Of Astrology For The 21st Century

A Double-Blind Test Of Astrology For The 21st Century

Apr 16 2012 | comment(s)

When we are talking about anti-science beliefs that fall on the left and the right, we often use astrology and belief in ghosts for left-wing crazies.  But astrology may be as accurate as psychology, at least when it comes to personality assessments (1) so perhaps it deserves more respect.

Neuroskeptic, the, well, neuroscience skeptic, from the UK recently discussed this 2008 update of a 1985 double-blind test of astrology. 
Roger Ailes Tells Journalism Students To Go Into It For The Right Reasons

Roger Ailes Tells Journalism Students To Go Into It For The Right Reasons

Apr 15 2012 | comment(s)

Journalism used to be about telling the story - I won't rehash the modern history here but basically it became about making a difference. And that is the wrong reason to be a journalist because 'making a difference' is going to come down on where you sit regarding your personal advocacy and advocacy prevents journalists from being trusted guides for the public.
It Never Changes - Boobs Bust Anonymous Hacker

It Never Changes - Boobs Bust Anonymous Hacker

Apr 15 2012 | comment(s)

If you are going to brag about your hacking, don't use a photo of your online honey's boobs and leave the EXIF information intact.

Yes, it is cool you have an online chick who will send you pictures, and that she actually has boobs (webcams don't lie!), but it doesn't take long to track that stuff down.  The FBI saw it, tracked the EXIF data to her and then to him. 

Pwned by the FBI can be his next pic.  



Suspected Anonymous Hacker Busted By FBI — Thanks To A Racy Photo CBS Houston
Earthquake Wallpaper May Save Your Life

Earthquake Wallpaper May Save Your Life

Apr 14 2012 | comment(s)

Recent tests by Bayer show that a glass fiber wallpaper in conjunction with a special adhesive made from polyurethane can prevent the collapse of building walls during an earthquake. This innovation could be a lifesaver for people living in earthquake areas.

Akrotiri Archaeology: Santorini Site Set To Reopen After 7 Years

Akrotiri Archaeology: Santorini Site Set To Reopen After 7 Years

Apr 11 2012 | comment(s)

Greece has reopened a major archaeological site on the island of Santorini. It was closed for over six years years after a roof collapsed, killing a tourist.

The bronze-age town at Akrotiri reopened today, following completion of a new roof that shelters the entire site of the excavation from the elements.

Santorini
Skulls On Stakes - Stone Age Swedes Did Not Mess Around

Skulls On Stakes - Stone Age Swedes Did Not Mess Around

Apr 10 2012 | comment(s)

Why would Stone Age man remove brains from skulls and put them on stakes? At the bottom of a pond?
 
Why would Stone Age man carve a wooden fish?

It's a science mystery.

It’s unusual to find a stone burial mound this old. Swedish burial mounds did not become common until around 500 B.C., the Iron Age - its location at the bottom of a little pond is yet another puzzle.


White Nose Syndrome Bat Die-Off: Blame Europe

White Nose Syndrome Bat Die-Off: Blame Europe

Apr 10 2012 | comment(s)

The deaths of millions of bats in the United States and Canada due to 'white nose syndrome' over the last few years has been linked to a fungus that came from Europe, scientists have reported.

In North America, more than 5.7 million bats have died since 2006 when white nose syndrome was first detected in a cave in upstate New York. The disease does not pose a threat to humans but people can carry fungal spores, so while it's not known exactly how the fungus crossed the Atlantic, it was likely brought accidentally introduced by tourists. Spores are known to stick to people's clothes, boots and caving gear.
Canadian Military Implicated In Death Of Something

Canadian Military Implicated In Death Of Something

Apr 09 2012 | comment(s)

The Canadian military, those legends of World War II, don't get a lot of respect these days - namely from the Canadian government.

But they can still kill stuff. Unfortunately, the only time it makes the news is when they might have killed a whale during training exercises.  There's no proof, of course, but when it comes to criticizing the military, Canadian news does not need proof; the headlines make the claim and then they bury the qualifiers.

A young killer whale, orca L112, died on the beach in Washington state in February a few days after HMCS Ottawa conducted sonar training exercises in the waters off Victoria, B.C. This prompted Americans to launch an investigation and look at Canadians.
Michigan Grad Students Can't Unionize

Michigan Grad Students Can't Unionize

Apr 06 2012 | comment(s)

If you get into a Ph.D. program, are you there to learn and do research, like an academic, or are you there to earn a wage, like a corporate researcher?  Basically, are you still a student or are you an employee?

A group of Michigan students who had sought to unionize a year ago has been denied. A few weeks back, Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation clarifying that graduate student research assistants are not public employees as recognized by the state Public Employment Relations Act. So they can't form a union.
News Mob: A Flash Mob With Actual Value

News Mob: A Flash Mob With Actual Value

Apr 06 2012 | comment(s)

Usually, when the majority of reporters in a newsroom rallies around coverage of a single story or event something really big is breaking. Maybe a mass shooting, a tsunami, or a terrorist attack.

Or, if you happen to work for the Orange County Register, it’s opening day for the Los Angeles Angels — April 6, 2012 — and you’re part of the newspaper’s first official “news mob.”

So what exactly does an Angels news mob cover?
Let science drive regulation, not fear

Let science drive regulation, not fear

Apr 04 2012 | comment(s)

I have long argued that while the kooky, anti-science conservative is a new phenomenon, the kooky, anti-science progressive has a decades-old history.  And it basically came into existence due to Rachel Carson's anti-science screed "Silent Spring"(1) - unless you really want to believe someone sprayed DDT, got cancer and died 6 months later.
How To Make A Rainbow Part 2 - Use A Shotgun

How To Make A Rainbow Part 2 - Use A Shotgun

Apr 02 2012 | comment(s)

A while back I discussed the optics of rainbows and showed you how to make your own; namely, what angle to stand at and how to use a hose.

But Republicans out there may not have liked all my hippie talk about reflections and refractions and want to be a little more proactive with their rainbow creation - like how it can involve a gun; luckily Kristi at the Endo Gun Blog has that covered.


Science Win: EPA Forced To Investigate Before Blaming Fracking

Science Win: EPA Forced To Investigate Before Blaming Fracking

Apr 01 2012 | comment(s)

In a decision is that is “a vindication of the science-based processes at the Railroad Commission,” according to Barry Smitherman, chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission, a federal judge has ordered the EPA to actually investigate wells in Texas before declaring fracking the culprit and penalizing the company they think is involved.

The case of U.S. v. Range Production Co., 11:-cv-00116, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas (Dallas) was withdrawn by the EPA because the government wants to “shift the agency’s focus in this particular case away from litigation” and instead test water wells in the area.

Shocking.
Einstein's Brain Has Arrived

Einstein's Brain Has Arrived

Mar 30 2012 | comment(s)

Einstein wanted to be cremated and his ashes spread in a secret location to avoid creating a shrine or anything weird.

He got the weird instead. Dr. Thomas Harvey, the pathologist on call the evening Einsten died of a burst aortic aneurysm, stole his brain.  Why? Who knows why, he was no brain specialist.  He got  retroactive permission from Einstein's son, Hans Albert, as long as the brain was used for scientific purposes, whatever that was supposed to mean. Einstein’s eye doctor, Henry Adams, got the eyeballs from Harvey and they are sitting in a safe deposit box in New York, presumably also for 'scientific purposes'.
Adorable Abomination Of Nature Wins Swiss Hearts

Adorable Abomination Of Nature Wins Swiss Hearts

Mar 30 2012 | comment(s)

A six-legged calf has defied the odds by thriving despite a vet's prediction at birth that it would not survive - and now the Swiss public has fallen in love with Lilli.

Farmer Andreas Knutti from Weissenburg told Blick that a curve in her spine means that Lilli may never become a normal milk cow. Regardless, he couldn't euthanize her because she is just too darn cute.


Lilli. Photograph: Peter Schneider/EPA. Link: Guardian
Footloose In Real Life: NYC Department of Education Wants To Ban 'Dancing'

Footloose In Real Life: NYC Department of Education Wants To Ban 'Dancing'

Mar 29 2012 | comment(s)

The New York City Department of Education wants to remove words that  might upset special interests from standardized tests. Which special interests?  Apparently all of them, if you look at the list, even special interests no one knew existed.
Placentophagia - Eating Afterbirth As Disgusting As It Sounds

Placentophagia - Eating Afterbirth As Disgusting As It Sounds

Mar 28 2012 | comment(s)

In America, we don't eat cats or snails or brains but a lot of food choices are just cultural.  So it may be with afterbirth.

Placentophagia may offer benefits to human mothers and perhaps to non-mothers and even males, according to a new study in Ecology of Food and Nutrition. Hey, they have devoted a whole issue to Placentophagia so it must be important.  
Heat From Hell May Be Secular Green Energy

Heat From Hell May Be Secular Green Energy

Mar 28 2012 | comment(s)

Krafla, in the north of Iceland, is a caldera ten kilometers wide. It is basically a geological cauldron, created when the core of a volcano collapsed in the distant past. The crater Víti (it means “Hell” in Icelandic) is inside Krafla.
 
In 1724 this crater erupted but now scientists want to use the awesome power of Hell for good; so they have drilled a two-kilometre deep well into the crater to see if they can put a geothermal plant there.   A geothermal plant in Hell?  Who has the last laugh now, Satan?