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Science

Gossip

I’ve been hearing a lot of chatter recently about the evils of gossip.
I have neither the time nor interest in writing a lengthy treatise on why fighting our instincts on this one is a bad idea, so I’ll give you a couple quotes that will link off to a few articles to get you started.

“We [...]

Dentistry 2024

See this in your mind and hold it there, because this is the future:
You’re reclining in a dentist’s chair. You’re wearing one of those ridiculous bibs. The radio softly plays Steve Miller in the lobby. The pretty brunette dental hygienist pats your shoulder and walks out as the dentist, a tiny monkey, climbs up your [...]

The Galileo Fallacy

“The Galileo Fallacy”
This is a great phrase. It’s going to save me so much time as soon as it catches on.

Vanilla was my favorite icecream flavor.

Ig Nobel Prize: Vanilla flavoring from cow dung
OK, I’ll be honest, the only vanilla worth eating is the stuff that comes directly from vanilla beans. Don’t bother with that fake stuff… even though I’m sure the cow dung vanilla is perfectly OK for human consumption.

Ethical Guidelines

I’ve collected a short list of interesting studies that give a little taste of why we now have ethical guidelines for research. Most of them come with YouTube videos embedded, for maximum enjoyment.

You’ve got to frame just about everything…

Look, more evidence that we just can’t process negatives.
Aetiology: Deck is stacked against “mythbusters”

Today’s Homework

1. Go to scienceblogs.com.
2. Start reading.

Richard Dawkins: The Enemies of Reason

This video is nearly 48 minutes long, so don’t think it’s good for a laugh during lunch:
[googlevideo]http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8669488783707640763&hl=en-GB[/googlevideo]

When I’m President

When I was young I liked to play a daydream game I called “When I’m President”. The fun came from imagining the inevitability of being elected president with all the power that comes with it. As I got older, my presidential edicts and executive priviledges increased in their absurdity, so the game had to be [...]

Did the Earth Move for You?

Yes. Yes, it did. The folks at Quirkology can tell us just how far.

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