Well, two reasons; reason one is that if we write about bdelloid rotifers we just make reference to
bdelloid rotifers but if
they write about bdelloid rotifers, they find a way to incorporate
lesbian necrophiliacs into the title.
Seriously, who is not going to click on that title? I am sure we can all agree that Safe For Work (SFW, because I am so internet lingo hip after getting a Facebook account) articles with 'lesbian' and 'necrophiliac' in the title are kind of rare.
Most scientists wanted someone - anyone - other than George Bush in the White House. Not because of budgets, clearly they went up a lot for NASA, NSF and the NIH during the Bush years, but because there was a perception of an anti-science agenda that went beyond what was seen in the past, though that was primarily due to the rapid-fire ability of the internet to magnify problems and the viral ability of groups with agendas to mobilize their audience on the crisis du jour. In reality, Bush had no more to do with actual science policy than any other president since World War 2 and a lot less than most.
From Esquire magazine, 1949:
"A word to the wives is sufficient. And the word is NO. When you have serious shopping to do, leave the pretty things at home. They can call in a few harpies from the neighborhood, set up a Kaffee-klatsch, tear a few reputations to ribbons, and be as happy as birds."
Now, this is not a Sciencetatorship, you are welcome to go ahead and use these sentiments despite me cautioning against it, but be forewarned that this was meant to be funny even in 1949. And it's still funny. But in 1949 they didn't have No Fault divorce laws and community property.
As December moves along, we're going to be adding a lot of stuff (we hope) but two things are just about ready for prime time - and that's how you can help.
Statistics
Thanksgiving doesn't always get the respect it deserves. It's wedged between the heathen/pagan/godless/goth/vampire wanna-be/sexy nurse/sexy witch awesomeness that is Halloween and the rather more religious/overtly commercial/pagan awesomeness that is Christmas.
Not around here. We take our holidays seriously.
Did Science Build a Better Turkey?It doesn't seem so. Hint: shoot your own and it will taste better.
Science Shows You How To Make A Better Thanksgiving Turkey
In spring 2004, at the meeting of the Scientific Council of the Frombork-based Baltic Research Centre, Jerzy Gąssowski received an interesting challenge - find the remains of Nicolas Copernicus.
To be sure, something was known of his death. He had died in Poland at age 70, and he was buried at his church somewhere, but he died while his work was being printed so the man who theorized that the sun, rather than the Earth, is at the center of the universe, was not yet famous enough to merit a monument. But the provost of the Frombork metropolitan church, bishop Doctor Jacek Jezierski, did not think the job impossible.