Via Elemy: “The average homeowner should expect to repair direct meteor damage every hundred million years.” Via the Motley Fool: “When you are in deep trouble, say nothing and try to be cool.”
Read More27Sep05 — 2
Science
20Sep05 — 2
Space Invaders
And talking of photogenic sea life, here’s something you don’t see every day: giant rectangular fish leaping into the air.
Read More20Sep05 — 5
Birds, Eh?
Penguins: evidence of Intelligent Design or gay Commie bastards? You decide. [Having provided this link about animal behaviour and evolution I am now bracing myself for a breathtakingly confused Cuthbertson post accusing me of elevating “my radical politics” over “what science tells us about human goals and social realities” by failing to point out that […]
Read More15Sep05 — 3
Noooooooo!
Further to one of my shortest and most cited posts, if you don’t mind having Return of the Sith spoiled [hah!], the frankly strange Mike Doughty explains that, because Darth Vader is black, you must trust your feelings and know that he is your father. Mike was an amazingly prescient child: “I have this interesting […]
Read More02Sep05 — 2
Learning To Talk
File this one under “Amazing If True”: “Cornell University and Tel Aviv University researchers have developed a method for enabling a computer program to scan text in any of a number of languages, including English and Chinese, and autonomously and without previous information infer the underlying rules of grammar. The rules can then be used […]
Read More30Aug05 — 3
Cruelty To Animals
I have mentioned the wacky “campaigning windows” of Cambridge residents before. Today I walked past one that had a picture of a Labrador on display, with the caption “Liberate Laboratory Animals!” Also today I read this story: “Animal rights activists have stolen six huntaway dogs from a Massey University farm, some of which are carrying […]
Read More26Aug05 — 3
Men Better At IQ Tests Than Women
Two men dumb enough to think it makes them smarter: “Academics in the UK claim their research shows that men are more intelligent than women. A study to be published later this year in the British Journal of Psychology says that men are on average five points ahead on IQ tests. Paul Irwing and Professor […]
Read More22Aug05 — 32
What Damian Did Next
Some weeks ago I promised you, dear PooterGeekers, that I would be telling you what I planned to do with my life now that the Medical Research Council no longer has need of my services. Those of you who come here for the trouser jokes can stop reading now. The rest of you might be […]
Read More17Aug05 — 3
Evangelical Scientist Refutes Gravity, Sequences Human Genome
“Things fall not because they are acted upon by some gravitational force, but because a higher intelligence, ‘God’ if you will, is pushing them down,” said Gabriel Burdett, who holds degrees in education, applied Scripture, and physics from Oral Roberts University. The funny thing about this Onion story, is that the made-up fundamentalist “scientist” quoted […]
Read More03Aug05 — 0
Separated At Birth
To minimize the inevitable public disapproval it is crucial when creating a cloned mammal in your laboratory to make as little mention as possible of your previous failed attempts to do so, and to give your successful clone a cute name: “Dolly” the sheep, “Ralph” the rat, and now “Snuppy”, the Afghan puppy who thinks […]
Read More03Aug05 — 2
Thank You, UK Taxpayers
I’m still feeling rough so, even if there were a laboratory for me to go to (which there isn’t because it’s been shut down), I wouldn’t be there anyway. You lot are paying my wages until September though. So, if any of you have recently sequenced a gene and would like me to predict the […]
Read More19Jul05 — 1
Erm…
Over at Norm’s place Alan Johnson asks why the Labour Party has not been opposing terrorism more overtly. I can’t believe Alan hasn’t had the Bateman-esque experience of, say, commenting favourably on George Bush’s foreign policy in the company of Labour activists. If he hasn’t, thoughtful James Hamilton has some answers.
Read More19Jul05 — 5
Intelligence, Race, And Genetics
I’ve been immersed in a (popular) science book—not dipping in and out for research or reference, but swimming from one end to the other. It is an edited interrogation of the original Jensenist, Arthur R. Jensen, by Frank Miele, former senior editor of the American Skeptic magazine (not to be confused with the British The […]
Read More06Jul05 — 1
Three Celebrity Scientists Go Hunting
MMR vaccine chancer Andrew Wakefield, Arpad “poisonous GM potatoes are poisonous” Pusztai*, and Gilbert “100 000 dead in Iraq war” Burnham go hunting together for rabbits. After only a few minutes walking, all three of them simultaneously catch sight of the same bunny in the distance. Wakefield shoots a tranquilizer dart from his rifle, but it […]
Read More17May05 — 4
Ethnic Aesthetics
“Any random group of thirty Vietnamese women will contain a dozen who make Julia Roberts look like Lyle Lovett.” P. J. O’Rourke (1994), All The Trouble In The World: The Lighter Side of Overpopulation, Famine, Ecological Disaster, Ethnic Hatred, Plague, and Poverty I’ve written here before that I believe humans are naturally disposed to discriminate […]
Read More22Apr05 — 4
Online Satirical Magazine Fails To Raise Laughter
Sadly, an Onion article entitled “Fifth Grade Paper Doesn’t Stand Up To Peer Review” reminds me of my actual working life: DECATUR, IL—A three-member panel of 10-year-old Michael Nogroski’s fellow classmates at Nathaniel Macon Elementary School unanimously agreed Tuesday that his 327-word essay “Otters” did not meet the requirements for peer approval. Nogroski presented his […]
Read More14Apr05 — 2
Your Momma
A PooterGeeker wrote to ask how she could take part in the Genographic Project. The answer is here, though some of us “in the business” might get a little bit sniffy at the idea of a human sample group that is not only partly self-selecting, but includes people who’ve paid to be experimental subjects. Of […]
Read More11Apr05 — 6
Watch The Exxxtreme Mini Bears!
Tardigrades—“water bears”—are amazing. They are mostly less than a millimetre in length, but have a complete multicellular anatomy and physiology with recognisable limbs and organs. Despite their complexity they can go dormant and become hardy little spheres of just-add-water life. In this form they are resistant to all sorts of unpleasant treatment and harsh environments. […]
Read More11Apr05 — 1
Stolen Cartoon
This is a thumbnail image of an unauthorised scan of Saturday’s Biff strip in The Guardian. After you have clicked on it to read the full-size version please visit BiffOnline and buy some merchandise.
Read More06Apr05 — 2
How Not To Get Fired For ‘Blogging
There has been a (false) fire alarm at the Genome Campus. Tens of its employees are standing outside in chilly spring rain and wind. I am joined by my boss’s boss and the senior colleague with whom he is temporarily sharing his office. My boss’s boss turns to his officemate: “Have you read Damian’s ‘Blog?” […]
Read More02Apr05 — 0
Tomato Genome Update
The Koreans have taken a surprising early lead in the race to unravel Solanaceae DNA with the Dutch, perhaps more understandably, right behind them.
Read More30Mar05 — 0
Better Than Brand X
Worried about MRSA? Scared of infecting your little ones with your nasty cold? University of North Carolina researchers recommend the most effective anti-microbial hand-washing product known to modern science. Also on a science kick, Mick Hartley’s ‘Blog always features excellent serious reading material, but what has given rise to the longest (and most amusing) comment […]
Read More28Mar05 — 3
The New Bigotry
Cambridge University* has banned all uniforms or national costume (including kilts) from its graduation ceremonies. According to a ranting politician this is of course “elitist“. Actually it’s the opposite: everyone is expected to dress in exactly the same way, regardless of accidents of birth. Besides, Cambridge is an elite university. Get over it. At least […]
Read More09Mar05 — 3
Jungle VIPs
Scientists are almost as susceptible to a certain type of urban myth as the rest of the population. One popular one was that there are 100 000 genes in the human genome. When the first estimates of “the number of genes”—I use quotes because exactly what constitutes a single gene is subtle, complex, and controversial—based on […]
Read More05Mar05 — 0
Catching
Scientific American writes about EpiSims, a program that simulates the spread of an infectious disease throughout a population, taking into account the social interactions of the people within it. [via Slashdot] This is a good time to point out that I conflated a couple of different issues when I rambled about the spread of HIV […]
Read More03Mar05 — 0
Anti-Striptease
If you have Flash installed in your browser, this is a pleasing diversion. [via The Motley Fool]
Read More02Mar05 — 2
Iran’s Nuclear Programme: The Truth
The BBC has a round-up of “experts’” views on “Iran’s nuclear crisis”. Helpfully, after the introduction to the piece, each comment is abstracted to a single line. One of the wise men questioned by Auntie—Sanam Vakil, of the Council on Foreign Relations, Washington—offers this new insight into the affair: “The Iranians need some really big […]
Read More21Feb05 — 5
Thatch And Poot: The Truth
In the 80s my hair was bigger than hers—and here she is giving me a certificate saying so: [click image to enlarge]
Read More09Feb05 — 0
Beyond Our Ken
Shocking headline reveals that Mattel’s new Evil Cell Biologist Barbie has been given the go-ahead to meddle with Nature.
Read More06Feb05 — 0
In Installation Hell
I am quiet because I am busy fixing a computer. Sorry everyone. I did take a brief break on Friday evening. During that interval I watched two young women hit each other very hard in front of a baying mob—not on screen; in the flesh. Naturally I’ll ‘Blog that. In the meantime, please feel free […]
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