Random Thoughts

Morning Science Quote

Observation is the generative act in scientific discovery. For all its aberrations, the evidence of the senses is essentially to be relied upon--provided we observe nature as a child does, without prejudices and preconceptions, but with that clear and can ...

Blog Post - Michael White - Aug 14 2009 - 6:00am

Fat Studies: Is it about body acceptance and self esteem, or jealousy?

The goal of a world where body weight was not cause for discrimination or denigration is a nobel one, but at what cost?  In the zero sum game point of view some activist have it seems that for people of high BMI to gain, those who are of normal BMI must lo ...

Blog Post - Hontas Farmer - Oct 19 2010 - 4:30am

Class of 2013: the Beloit College Mindset List

Ahh, the annual list that makes you feel old, and makes you nostalgic for the good old days of the late 1990s when cell phones were still non-ubiquitous. The Beloit College Mindset List is a list of cultural touchstones that have shaped the lives and refer ...

Blog Post - Becky Jungbauer - Aug 19 2009 - 12:50pm

Morning Science Quote

In physics the truth is rarely perfectly clear, and that is certainly universally the case in human affairs. Hence, what is not surrounded by uncertainty cannot be the truth.- Richard Feynman, Letter to the Editor of the California Tech, Feb. 27 1976 ...

Blog Post - Michael White - Aug 21 2009 - 7:51am

Another Scalp- International Master Vladimir Barskij

Back from vacations, I found the usual pile of errands, tons of unattended emails, papers to review to take care of at work. I got home pretty tired tonight, and I was more than else looking for some relaxation when I logged on the Internet Chess Club for ...

Blog Post - Tommaso Dorigo - Aug 21 2009 - 3:51pm

Misunderstanding Government Help

In watching an interview the other day with Craig T. Nelson, I couldn't help but be struck by how dramatically the role of government is both taken for granted, and ignored.  It is precisely this level of misunderstanding that has given rise to the h ...

Blog Post - Gerhard Adam - Aug 21 2009 - 3:57pm

Morning Science Quote

The perception of truth is almost as simple a feeling as the perception of beauty; and the genius of Newton, of Shakespeare, of Michael Angelo, and of Handel, are not very remote in character from each other. Imagination, as well as the reason, is necessa ...

Blog Post - Michael White - Aug 23 2009 - 10:38am

Saddest headline I've seen in a long time

While searching Scientific Blogging to make sure no one had written anything on a topic I'm about to undertake, I saw the following headline under the Science Codex bar on the bottom right of the screen: "New research examines how career dreams d ...

Blog Post - Becky Jungbauer - Aug 25 2009 - 12:34pm

Damn Those Traffic Statistics

Before blogs, writers could delusionally imagine great things about who was reading them: If you look at the traffic statistics for any newsish website you’ll see that people are reading when they’re supposed to be at work. Which means they’re multitasking ...

Blog Post - Michael White - Aug 25 2009 - 8:42pm

Wow... Evidence Of The Recession Really Is Everywhere

In 2007, advertisements talking about how much money you could make sitting on your butt if you would just BUY THEIR SECRET were at least interesting.     We got tales of people making obnoxious amounts of money selling stuff on the interwebs or flipping h ...

Blog Post - Hank Campbell - Aug 26 2009 - 12:09am