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dnmlthr



Posts: 565
Joined: Mar. 2008

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 06 2009,13:01   

Quote
ARGONNE, Illinois — In the basement of a nondescript building here at Argonne National Laboratory, nickel particles in a beaker are building themselves into magnetic snakes that may one day give clues about how life originally organized itself.

These chains of metal particles look so much like real, living animals, it is hard not to think of them as alive. (See exclusive video below.) But they are actually bits of metal that came together under the influence of a specially tuned magnetic field.


Swim my darlings, swim!

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Guess what? I don't give a flying f*ck how "science works" - Ftk

  
Henry J



Posts: 5786
Joined: Mar. 2005

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 06 2009,14:18   

Quote
they can generate different types of systems. Besides the hunter, they've generated single- and multiple-snake systems, chains that stay still but pump water, and others that just shimmy in place.

Well, that answers Kristine's question - shimmies came before hips.  :p

  
Reed



Posts: 274
Joined: Feb. 2008

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 06 2009,19:29   

Carl Zimmer has a nice post about viroids.

  
Lou FCD



Posts: 5455
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 10 2009,15:51   

In PLoS ONE:

Quote
Free-Ranging Macaque Mothers Exaggerate Tool-Using Behavior when Observed by Offspring

Abstract

The population-level use of tools has been reported in various animals. Nonetheless, how tool use might spread throughout a population is still an open question. In order to answer that, we observed the behavior of inserting human hair or human-hair-like material between their teeth as if they were using dental floss in a group of long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) in Thailand. The observation was undertaken by video-recording the tool-use of 7 adult females who were rearing 1-year-old infants, using the focal-animal-sampling method. When the data recorded were analyzed separately according to the presence/absence of the infant of the target animal in the target animal's proximity, the pattern of the tool-using action of long-tailed adult female macaques under our observation changed in the presence of the infant as compared with that in the absence of the infant so that the stream of tool-using action was punctuated by more pauses, repeated more often, and performed for a longer period during each bout in the presence of the infant. We interpret this as evidence for the possibility that they exaggerate their action in tool-using so as to facilitate the learning of the action by their own infants.


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“Why do creationists have such a hard time with commas?

Linky“. ~ Steve Story, Legend

   
Kristine



Posts: 3061
Joined: Sep. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 10 2009,22:08   

I can haz Ken Milleh at my skool! :)

Quote
Finding Darwin’s God: A Scientist’s Search for Common Ground Between God and Evolution

Dr. Kenneth Miller, Professor of Biology
Brown University

7:00 PM
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Jeanne d’Arc Auditorium
College of St. Catherine
2004 Randolph Avenue
St. Paul, MN   55105

The lecture is free and open to the public, but tickets are required to assure seating.  Tickets are available from Lynne Linder in Mendel 112: lelinder@stkate.edu  or 651-690-6203.  Please direct any questions about Dr. Miller’s visit to Cindy Norton, Endowed Professor in the Sciences: cgnorton@stkate.edu  or 651-690-6631.

Dr. Miller’s visit is sponsored by the Myser Initiative on Catholic Identity, the Endowed Professorship in the Sciences, the President’s Office, and the Student Senate at the College of St. Catherine.


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Which came first: the shimmy, or the hip?

AtBC Poet Laureate

"I happen to think that this prerequisite criterion of empirical evidence is itself not empirical." - Clive

"Damn you. This means a trip to the library. Again." -- fnxtr

  
Kristine



Posts: 3061
Joined: Sep. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 10 2009,22:46   

First Woman to Earn Computer Science Ph.D. in U.S. Wins Turing Award
 
Quote
Barbara Liskov, the first woman in the United States to earn a Ph.D. from a computer-science department and a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been awarded the A.M. Turing Award for 2008.

Ms. Liskov was chosen for the $250,000 prize, given by the Association for Computing Machinery, for her contributions to the computer programs that “form the infrastructure of our information-based society,” an association statement said.
:)

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Which came first: the shimmy, or the hip?

AtBC Poet Laureate

"I happen to think that this prerequisite criterion of empirical evidence is itself not empirical." - Clive

"Damn you. This means a trip to the library. Again." -- fnxtr

  
midwifetoad



Posts: 4003
Joined: Mar. 2008

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 11 2009,01:37   

Yeah, but did she invent COBOL?

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Any version of ID consistent with all the evidence is indistinguishable from evolution.

  
dvunkannon



Posts: 1377
Joined: June 2008

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 11 2009,08:42   

Quote (midwifetoad @ Mar. 11 2009,02:37)
Yeah, but did she invent COBOL?

That was Rear Admiral Dr. Grace Murray Hopper.

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I’m referring to evolution, not changes in allele frequencies. - Cornelius Hunter
I’m not an evolutionist, I’m a change in allele frequentist! - Nakashima

  
dvunkannon



Posts: 1377
Joined: June 2008

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 11 2009,08:50   

Quote (dnmlthr @ Mar. 06 2009,14:01)
Quote
ARGONNE, Illinois — In the basement of a nondescript building here at Argonne National Laboratory, nickel particles in a beaker are building themselves into magnetic snakes that may one day give clues about how life originally organized itself.

These chains of metal particles look so much like real, living animals, it is hard not to think of them as alive. (See exclusive video below.) But they are actually bits of metal that came together under the influence of a specially tuned magnetic field.


Swim my darlings, swim!

Quote
But when the magnetic field is tuned just right, something strange happens.


The creationist quotemine, appearing on UD in 10, 9,...

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I’m referring to evolution, not changes in allele frequencies. - Cornelius Hunter
I’m not an evolutionist, I’m a change in allele frequentist! - Nakashima

  
Albatrossity2



Posts: 2780
Joined: Mar. 2007

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 11 2009,10:52   

Highly conserved pathways used in yeast for mating factor export and in fruitflies for export of a chemoattractant molecule necessary for germ cell migration to the developing gonad.

Ricardo and Lehman, at NYU Med School, show that a membrane-bound transport protein, needed for export of a lipophilic (geranlygeranlylated) chemoattractant peptide in Drosophila, is related to another transport protein in yeast. In flies, the chemoattractant peptide is necessary for migration of germ cells to the presumptive gonad in developing embryos; in yeast the same system (probably using a different chemoattractant) allows production and secretion of lipophilic mating factors. The yeast protein can functionally substitute in fly embryos missing the regular fly protein. The authors conclude    
Quote
The use of a prenylated signal may thus be an ancient mechanism of cell communication. It is striking that this pathway is used in yeast and flies to facilitate the migration and adhesion of germ cells, the essential cells for reproduction.

More speculatively, the lipid synthesis pathway that produces the lipophilic isoprene-based moieties that are attached to these pheromones is the same pathway that produces the sterols, and thus the steroid hormones that are so important in sex determination in eukaryotes. This ancient pathway is probably derived from the hopanoid biosynthetic system in prokaryotes, the difference being that hopanoid synthesis can happen in anaerobic conditions, while sterol synthesis requires molecular oxygen. These lipids all have functions in assuring the integrity of biomembranes, but it appears that some of the products of the pathway were co-opted early on in the evolution of sex.

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Flesh of the sky, child of the sky, the mind
Has been obligated from the beginning
To create an ordered universe
As the only possible proof of its own inheritance.
                        - Pattiann Rogers

   
Lou FCD



Posts: 5455
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 11 2009,18:53   

Peking Man older than thought, from Nature News:

Quote
Researchers have sifted the sands of time to show that Homo erectus  lived at China's most famous anthropology site at least 250,000 years earlier than was thought.

The new date means that this early human ancestor — the first lineage to migrate out of Africa — prospered in an earlier, colder climate, and its physical development in China matched that in Africa, where the species first evolved.

Discovered in 1918, the Zhoukoudian caves near Beijing have yielded surprises for nearly a century. Layers in the hillside cave system overlooking a river valley have produced some 17,000 stone artefacts and fossils of 50 H. erectus individuals, including six skulls. The species had a distinctive barrel-shaped torso and stood 145–180 centimetres tall, walking upright in a similar way to modern humans (Homo sapiens).

Now, work by a team of scientists based in China and the United States reveals that the Zhoukoudian cave fossils are about 770,000 years old — much more ancient than previous estimates of 230,000–500,000 years.


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“Why do creationists have such a hard time with commas?

Linky“. ~ Steve Story, Legend

   
Henry J



Posts: 5786
Joined: Mar. 2005

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 11 2009,19:07   

Yeasts are such fun gi's. And, they don't take up mush room.

  
Timothy McDougald



Posts: 1036
Joined: Dec. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 12 2009,21:30   

From PLoS One:

Identification of Coevolving Residues and Coevolution Potentials Emphasizing Structure, Bond Formation and Catalytic Coordination in Protein Evolution

The abstract:

Quote
The structure and function of a protein is dependent on coordinated interactions between its residues. The selective pressures associated with a mutation at one site should therefore depend on the amino acid identity of interacting sites. Mutual information has previously been applied to multiple sequence alignments as a means of detecting coevolutionary interactions. Here, we introduce a refinement of the mutual information method that: 1) removes a significant, non-coevolutionary bias and 2) accounts for heteroscedasticity. Using a large, non-overlapping database of protein alignments, we demonstrate that predicted coevolving residue-pairs tend to lie in close physical proximity. We introduce coevolution potentials as a novel measure of the propensity for the 20 amino acids to pair amongst predicted coevolutionary interactions. Ionic, hydrogen, and disulfide bond-forming pairs exhibited the highest potentials. Finally, we demonstrate that pairs of catalytic residues have a significantly increased likelihood to be identified as coevolving. These correlations to distinct protein features verify the accuracy of our algorithm and are consistent with a model of coevolution in which selective pressures towards preserving residue interactions act to shape the mutational landscape of a protein by restricting the set of admissible neutral mutations.


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Church burning ebola boy

FTK: I Didn't answer your questions because it beats the hell out of me.

PaV: I suppose for me to be pried away from what I do to focus long and hard on that particular problem would take, quite honestly, hundreds of thousands of dollars to begin to pique my interest.

   
Erasmus, FCD



Posts: 6349
Joined: June 2007

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 14 2009,17:29   

behind wall

i snipped some

Science 13 February 2009:
Vol. 323. no. 5916, pp. 880 - 881

Should Whales Be Culled to Increase Fishery Yield?
Leah R. Gerber, Lyne Morissette,Kristin Kaschner Daniel Pauly

 
Quote
Science and international politics play complicated roles in the global arena of whale conservation and the management of the resources of the world's oceans. The International Whaling Commission (IWC), charged with the global conservation of whales and the management of whaling, introduced a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986 because of the widespread depletion of whale species and stocks. Despite a lack of scientific data to indicate that many whale stocks have recovered, every year a heated debate takes place at the IWC meeting about the future of commercial whaling. Recently, whaling countries have introduced a new argument for resuming whaling by blaming whale populations for the decline in commercial fish stocks.

Couched in terms of "ecosystem management," whaling countries, including Japan, advocate the culling of whales as a solution to recover overexploited fish stocks and to increase fishery yield (1, 2). Some developing countries, which may benefit economically and politically by supporting pro-whaling nations at IWC (3-7), have also supported the "whales-eat-fish" assertion. The Caribbean-driven St. Kitts Declaration at the 58th Annual Meeting of the IWC stated: "scientific research has shown that whales consume huge quantities of fish making the issue a matter of food security for coastal nations" (6). This issue was also claimed to be one of global concern at a 2008 symposium of IWC members in the Northwest Africa region (8).


Quote
The rationale for whaling as the solution to depleted fisheries has been questioned by many in the scientific community in light of documented overfishing in oceans globally (15), a lack of spatially explicit overlap of resource exploitation between fisheries and whales (2), and the unpredictable consequences of culling (16, 17). Based on stomach content analyses of whales caught during the Japanese scientific whaling program and available data on whale abundance, Japanese scientists estimate that whales consume several times as much food as the combined global fisheries catch in recent years (18). However, the methodology used by Japanese researchers to support their claim that whales' consumption of fish is an important component of fish declines has been repeatedly criticized (19-22). Although these discussions have been insightful, they have not stimulated movement within the IWC to break the current deadlock.

One of the obstacles in scientific studies of whales is that there are few data and models available to inform policy discussions. This is particularly true in the tropical waters bordering many of the developing countries that support the resumption of commercial whaling, although these areas are known to be primarily breeding (not feeding) grounds for baleen whales (23-27). We conducted an extensive literature search to compile and make use of all available sources of local data to provide a scientific starting point to the discussion (9). We also sought to actively involve scientific advisers of delegates who support Japan's position at the IWC meetings and to foster regional collaboration and active dissemination of our findings to inform discussions in local communities among scientists, managers, and other local experts (e.g., 2008 "Whales-Eat-Fish" regional workshops held in Senegal and Barbados, link


 
Quote
Using data available from the literature, and e.g., the Sea Around Us Project (www.seaaroundus.org) and obtained during our regional stakeholder workshops, we developed ecosystem models to examine the potential increase in the biomass of commercially important fish stocks that would result from a reduction in whale abundance in the Northwest African and Caribbean ecosystems (9). Any discussion about the interactions between whales and fisheries must be considered in an ecosystem context, which allows investigation of the complex indirect effects of trophic relationships that would otherwise be very difficult to study. Although the IWC Scientific Committee maintains that "Ecosystem modelling cannot be used to predict interactions between marine mammals and fisheries" (28-30), other studies provide evidence to the contrary that mammals and fisheries can be studied with ecosystem models (31-32).

Our approach to addressing concerns about scientific uncertainty was to conduct extensive sensitivity analyses to explore the results emerging from a range of assumptions about ecosystem structure and the quality of our input data (table S2). For a wide range of assumptions about whale abundance, feeding rates, and fish biomass, even a complete eradication of baleen whales in these tropical areas does not lead to any appreciable increase in the biomass of commercially exploited fish. In contrast, just small changes in fishing rates lead to considerable increases in fish biomass *(see figure, p. 880). We found little overlap between fisheries and whale consumption in terms of prey types, and we also found that fisheries remove far more fish biomass than whales consume (9). Moreover, because some whale prey species compete with commercially targeted fish for plankton and prey occupying a lower trophic level in the food web, it is possible that removing whales from marine ecosystems could result in fewer fish available to the fisheries (9).


 
Quote
Here, we offer a set of recommendations for rational decision-making by effectively applying ecosystem management concepts to managing whales.

First, the question of "who is eating our fish" should be considered in a larger context (with respect to foreign fleets, ecosystem collapses, and climate change). Indirect social and economic benefits of whales in tropical ecosystems [e.g., tourism (36, 37)] should also be taken into account.

Second, despite complicated politics, science should be an integral component of the discussions about managing whale and fishery interactions. An effort must be made to actively engage scientists and managers from countries that support Japan's claims (3-5) to help them investigate this issue within an ecosystem context in their own regions. In many cases, fisheries officers in tropical areas, such as the Caribbean, do not necessarily believe the whales-eat-fish arguments. Rather, the arguments are endorsed for reasons related to their aid relationship with Japan, especially in the fisheries sector.

Third, ecosystem modeling tools should be developed in order to bring the best available science to decision-making about the conservation of whales. Research aimed at filling the gaps on key scientific parameters (e.g., abundance, consumption rates, and diet information for key marine organisms) should be supported.

Finally, it is important to recognize that the goal of ecosystem-based management is to manage the whole system for long-term sustainability rather than modifying particular trophic levels in an attempt to maximize fishery yield (38). Broad-based, ecosystem management can and should increase an ecosystem's value so that it can provide benefits for future generations.
[/quote]

interesting problem.  like shooting wolves, except they swim  and poop and eat and sing over hundreds of thousands of square miles.  

you are usually on safe ground to be skeptical of top down regulation of some large population or assemblage but following Erasmus' Rule**  there will always be exceptions.  in this case erring on the side of caution seems prudent, despite the creationist like mewling about social and economic persecution by those big bad guys (here the bad guys are different, ie not the EAC necessarily, but it's all part of the dichotomy of these sorts of mythical narratives to have your emmanual goldstein or jonas brothers)

surely in such a large heterogeneous contingent set of biologies referenced in the claim "whales deplete fisheries" these nonlinear relationships exist are at present unpredictable.  

Quote
Could whales have maintained a high abundance of krill?
Willis J  2007 EVOLUTIONARY ECOLOGY RESEARCH    Volume: 9    Issue: 4    Pages: 651-662      
Quote
Abstract: Question: Several million large whales were killed between 1900 and 1970. All these whales preyed on krill (Euphausia superba). Why has krill population abundance declined after the elimination of their primary predator?

Hypothesis: Krill have changed their behaviour due to the absence of whales and this change in behaviour has resulted in a decrease in krill abundance.

Methods: I reproduced a computer model of krill life history. I then extended the model as an individual-based model to show the effects of habitat choice on individual lifetime reproductive success and abundance.

Conclusions: In the context of our current understanding of krill physiology, predator-invoked behaviour may lead to increased population abundance and, without the predator, natural selection may favour behaviour that would lead to lower abundance. This reverses the predictions of mass balance ecosystem models.


whale wars?

hey zero as i am typing this there are whales on my TV on some pacific life commercial during the PAC 10 game.  spoooooky


*my bolding

**Shit varies, it matters, sometimes.

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You're obviously illiterate as hell. Peach, bro.-FtK

Finding something hard to believe based on the evidence, is science.-JoeG

the odds of getting some loathsome taint are low-- Gordon E Mullings Manjack Heights Montserrat

I work on molecular systems with pathway charts and such.-Giggles

  
Henry J



Posts: 5786
Joined: Mar. 2005

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 14 2009,20:06   

This brings to mind one of the Star Trek movies.

Henry

  
Lou FCD



Posts: 5455
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 15 2009,16:37   

Sweet counterpoint to Behe's drivel at UNCW a few weeks ago:

Darwin's Legacy 2009 Conference

Quote
Darwin's Legacy: Evolution's Impact on Science and Culture
March 19-21, 2009

UNCW's Evolution Learning Community will be hosting "Darwin's Legacy: Evolution's Impact on Science and Culture," a multidisciplinary student conference on March 19-21, 2009.

The conference will be a unique opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students in the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities and arts who are conducting research or creative endeavors related to evolution to present their research, investigate graduate study opportunities, network, enhance their resumes, and enrich the body of knowledge surrounding evolution.

With the exception of the four keynote speakers, all presentations will be made by students.

Keynote Speakers:

Dr. David Buss, University of Texas

Dr. Peter Carruthers, University of Maryland

Dr. David Mindell, California Academy of Sciences

Dr. Kevin Padian, University of California, Berkeley


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“Why do creationists have such a hard time with commas?

Linky“. ~ Steve Story, Legend

   
khan



Posts: 1554
Joined: May 2007

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 15 2009,19:42   

Indonesia's psychedelic fish

A funky, psychedelic fish that bounces on the ocean floor like a rubber ball has been classified as a new species, a scientific journal reported.

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"It's as if all those words, in their hurry to escape from the loony, have fallen over each other, forming scrambled heaps of meaninglessness." -damitall

That's so fucking stupid it merits a wing in the museum of stupid. -midwifetoad

Frequency is just the plural of wavelength...
-JoeG

  
dvunkannon



Posts: 1377
Joined: June 2008

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 16 2009,18:11   

Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate

This is sig-worthy:
 
Quote
The whole debacle has painted a new picture of how planetary scientists operate.

"I think this has been one of the more disappointing episodes for science with regard to the IAU," Stern said. "Now school kids see science as voting, and that's not the best way to do science."

"I like to call it the Irrelevant Astronomical Union," Stern added. He summed up the messiness of the scientific process as being "like cats herding themselves."


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I’m referring to evolution, not changes in allele frequencies. - Cornelius Hunter
I’m not an evolutionist, I’m a change in allele frequentist! - Nakashima

  
Henry J



Posts: 5786
Joined: Mar. 2005

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 17 2009,14:41   

But, the status of Pluto is a question of terminology, not of basic facts. What to use as official terminology is something that can be decided by a vote.

I wonder if geologists have ever held a debate about whether Europe and Asia are two continents, or one.  :p

Henry

  
midwifetoad



Posts: 4003
Joined: Mar. 2008

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 17 2009,14:51   

Quote (Henry J @ Mar. 17 2009,14:41)
But, the status of Pluto is a question of terminology, not of basic facts. What to use as official terminology is something that can be decided by a vote.

I wonder if geologists have ever held a debate about whether Europe and Asia are two continents, or one.  :p

Henry

More a matter of when than whether.

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Any version of ID consistent with all the evidence is indistinguishable from evolution.

  
Henry J



Posts: 5786
Joined: Mar. 2005

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 17 2009,15:15   

When? Does that mean they used to be two, but collided in their Urals?

  
Timothy McDougald



Posts: 1036
Joined: Dec. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 18 2009,19:23   

This is interesting. Positive Darwinian selection and the birth of an olfactory receptor clade in teleosts. Here is the abstract:

Quote
Trace amine-associated receptors (TAARs) in mammals recently have been shown to function as olfactory receptors. We have delineated the taar gene family in jawless, cartilaginous, and bony fish (zero, 2, and >100 genes, respectively). We conclude that taar genes are evolutionary much younger than the related OR and ORA/V1R olfactory receptor families, which are present already in lamprey, a jawless vertebrate. The 2 cartilaginous fish genes appear to be ancestral for 2 taar classes, each with mammalian and bony fish (teleost) representatives. Unexpectedly, a whole new clade, class III, of taar genes originated even later, within the teleost lineage. Taar genes from all 3 classes are expressed in subsets of zebrafish olfactory receptor neurons, supporting their function as olfactory receptors. The highly conserved TAAR1 (shark, mammalian, and teleost orthologs) is not expressed in the olfactory epithelium and may constitute the sole remnant of a primordial, nonolfactory function of this family. Class III comprises three-fourths of all teleost taar genes and is characterized by the complete loss of the aminergic ligand-binding motif, stringently conserved in the other 2 classes. Two independent intron gains in class III taar genes represent extraordinary evolutionary dynamics, considering the virtual absence of intron gains during vertebrate evolution. The dN/dS analysis suggests both minimal global negative selection and an unparalleled degree of local positive selection as another hallmark of class III genes. The accelerated evolution of class III teleost taar genes conceivably might mark the birth of another olfactory receptor gene family.


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Church burning ebola boy

FTK: I Didn't answer your questions because it beats the hell out of me.

PaV: I suppose for me to be pried away from what I do to focus long and hard on that particular problem would take, quite honestly, hundreds of thousands of dollars to begin to pique my interest.

   
rhmc



Posts: 340
Joined: Dec. 2007

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 19 2009,17:51   

not sure if these qualify as "science" but...  


Bill Would Allow Texas School to Grant Master's Degree in Science for Creationism


A Texas legislator is waging a war of biblical proportions against the science and education communities in the Lone Star State as he fights for a bill that would allow a private school that teaches creationism to grant a Master of Science degree in the subject.

State Rep. Leo Berman (R-Tyler) proposed House Bill 2800 when he learned that The Institute for Creation Research (ICR), a private institution that specializes in the education and research of biblical creationism, was not able to receive a certificate of authority from Texas' Higher Education Coordinating Board to grant Master of Science degrees.

Berman's bill would allow private, non-profit educational institutions to be exempt from the board’s authority.

“If you don’t take any federal funds, if you don’t take any state funds, you can do a lot more than some business that does take state funding or federal funding,” Berman says. “Why should you be regulated if you don’t take any state or federal funding?”

HB 2800 does not specifically name ICR; it would allow any institution that meets its criteria to be exempt from the board's authority. But Berman says ICR was the inspiration for the bill because he feels creationism is as scientific as evolution and should be granted equal weight in the educational community....

more here:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,509719,00.html


and then we have:

Creation Museum: Darwin Not Entirely Wrong
Thursday, March 19, 2009  

LOUISVILLE, Ky. —  A controversial Kentucky museum that trumpets the Bible story of creation and rejects evolution is making room for an odd guest: Charles Darwin.

A new exhibit at the Answers in Genesis Creation Museum argues that natural selection — Darwin's explanation for how species develop new traits over time — can coexist with the creationist assertion that all living things were created by God just a few thousand years ago.

"We wanted to show people that creationists believe in natural selection," said Ken Ham, founder of the Christian ministry Answers in Genesis and frequent Darwin critic...

more here:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,509800,00.html

  
Richardthughes



Posts: 11178
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 22 2009,23:30   

http://www.physorg.com/news156767725.html

Brain on the edge of chaos..

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"Richardthughes, you magnificent bastard, I stand in awe of you..." : Arden Chatfield
"You magnificent bastard! " : Louis
"ATBC poster child", "I have to agree with Rich.." : DaveTard
"I bow to your superior skills" : deadman_932
"...it was Richardthughes making me lie in bed.." : Kristine

  
Arden Chatfield



Posts: 6657
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 22 2009,23:45   

Quote (rhmc @ Mar. 19 2009,15:51)
“Why should you be regulated if you don’t take any state or federal funding?”

By that reasoning, if I owe taxes every April 15th and don't work for the government, I should be able to have people killed and drive as fast as I want.

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"Rich is just mad because he thought all titties had fur on them until last week when a shorn transvestite ruined his childhood dreams by jumping out of a spider man cake and man boobing him in the face lips." - Erasmus

  
Erasmus, FCD



Posts: 6349
Joined: June 2007

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 24 2009,21:04   

See how long this lasts.

Quote
WASHINGTON - Dozens of mountaintop coal-mining permits are being put on hold until the projects’ impacts on streams and wetlands can be reviewed, the Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday.

Announced by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, the move targets a controversial practice by coal mining companies that blasts away whole peaks and sends mining waste into streams and wetlands. It does not apply to existing mines, but to requests for new permits, a number estimated to be as high as 200.

EPA spokeswoman Adora Andy said the agency does not expect problems with the overwhelming majority of permits.
Story continues below ?advertisement | your ad here

The EPA also urged the Army Corps of Engineers not to issue permits for two new projects unless their impacts were reduced. The projects would allow companies to fill thousands of feet of streams with mining waste at two sites in West Virginia and Kentucky.

"The two letters reflect EPA’s considerable concern regarding the environmental impact these projects would have on fragile habitats and streams," Jackson said in a statement.

"I have directed the agency to review other mining permit requests" as well, she added. "EPA will use the best science and follow the letter of the law in ensuring we are protecting our environment."

The EPA said the letters stated that the projects "would likely cause water quality problems in streams below the mines, would cause significant degradation to streams buried by mining activities, and that proposed steps to offset these impacts are inadequate."

The agency said it had also "recommended specific actions be taken to further avoid and reduce these harmful impacts and to improve mitigation."

The EPA said it would be actively involved in the review of the long list of permits awaiting approval by the Corps, a signal that the agency under the Obama administration will exercise its oversight. The EPA has the authority to review and veto any permit issued by the Corps under the Clean Water Act, but under the Bush administration it did that rarely.

"If the EPA didn't step in and do something now, all those permits would go forward," said Joe Lovett, executive director for the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment. "There are permits that will bury 200 miles of streams pending before the Corps," he claimed.


Bolding mine.  This is the bullshit clause.  Inasmuch as science can provide "should" or "ought" directives and imperatives, there is absolutely no justification for this type of resource destruction.  I personally do not hold the view that science gives us the means to answer those types of questions, but I do hold the view that there is no possible conceivable justification for this sort of mechanized resource extraction under any possible scenario.  Global economies certainly don't provide justification.

Recent studies have documented massive shifts in aquatic insect assemblages downstream of MTR and surface mines.  This is a big "No Shit" to anyone paying attention, but the interface between University Science and Corporate Resource Extraction is a nebulous incestuous nepotist affair.  At these same universities documenting the unimaginable community and ecosystem level effects of MTR, you have individuals attempting to find technological means to continue MTR that alleviate the concerns raised by ecologists and conservationists.

I recall recently a researcher nearby at the university of tennessee was taking money from coal companies to plant hybrid blight-resistant chestnut trees on MTR spoil.  Of course it was a failure, but the coal companies thumped their chests about their green initiative.  See, they are doing the right thing, etc etc.  What a bunch of soulless lackwit antihuman traitorious luchre worshippers.  any self respecting moral and ethical biologist would never take money for such a project.

I do wonder what Obama has in mind.  i doubt he has anything in mind, but this could throw the wrench in the works for a lot of rich powerful people.  as much as i love to see it all hit the fan, I fear the retributions on the next cycle.  MTR sucks, and I am trying to be optimistic, but given the history of union busting, ponzi schemes, mob incitement and callous disregard for the law and human dignity exhibited by King Coal it seems that our people are in for some more trouble.

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You're obviously illiterate as hell. Peach, bro.-FtK

Finding something hard to believe based on the evidence, is science.-JoeG

the odds of getting some loathsome taint are low-- Gordon E Mullings Manjack Heights Montserrat

I work on molecular systems with pathway charts and such.-Giggles

  
rhmc



Posts: 340
Joined: Dec. 2007

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 25 2009,17:45   

Quote (Arden Chatfield @ Mar. 23 2009,00:45)
Quote (rhmc @ Mar. 19 2009,15:51)
“Why should you be regulated if you don’t take any state or federal funding?”

By that reasoning, if I owe taxes every April 15th and don't work for the government, I should be able to have people killed and drive as fast as I want.

sounds good to me.  now where did i leave that list...

  
Timothy McDougald



Posts: 1036
Joined: Dec. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 26 2009,22:00   

Based on some of the posts I have read at AtBC over the years I am convinced that quite a few of you will find this interesting. :p  It's from December of 2008, so it's little old, but I just discovered it.



Phytochemical and genetic analyses of ancient cannabis from Central Asia

Here is the abstract:

Quote
The Yanghai Tombs near Turpan, Xinjiang-Uighur Autonomous Region, China have recently been excavated to reveal the 2700-year-old grave of a Caucasoid shaman whose accoutrements included a large cache of cannabis, superbly preserved by climatic and burial conditions. A multidisciplinary international team demonstrated through botanical examination, phytochemical investigation, and genetic deoxyribonucleic acid analysis by polymerase chain reaction that this material contained tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive component of cannabis, its oxidative degradation product, cannabinol, other metabolites, and its synthetic enzyme, tetrahydrocannabinolic acid synthase, as well as a novel genetic variant with two single nucleotide polymorphisms. The cannabis was presumably employed by this culture as a medicinal or psychoactive agent, or an aid to divination. To our knowledge, these investigations provide the oldest documentation of cannabis as a pharmacologically active agent, and contribute to the medical and archaeological record of this pre-Silk Road culture.


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Church burning ebola boy

FTK: I Didn't answer your questions because it beats the hell out of me.

PaV: I suppose for me to be pried away from what I do to focus long and hard on that particular problem would take, quite honestly, hundreds of thousands of dollars to begin to pique my interest.

   
Henry J



Posts: 5786
Joined: Mar. 2005

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 27 2009,13:31   

[not me]
But how do you knows what those people thousands off year ago did with that stuff? Were you THERE?? !!!1111!one!
[/not me]

  
Richardthughes



Posts: 11178
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: April 06 2009,10:22   

Privileged Planet? - notsomuch:


http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/23309/

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"Richardthughes, you magnificent bastard, I stand in awe of you..." : Arden Chatfield
"You magnificent bastard! " : Louis
"ATBC poster child", "I have to agree with Rich.." : DaveTard
"I bow to your superior skills" : deadman_932
"...it was Richardthughes making me lie in bed.." : Kristine

  
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