Archive for November, 2009
November 30, 2009 at 11:56 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
This week, ten years ago, between 50,000 and 100,000 protesters from a wide variety of labor, environmental and global justice organizations descended on the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference being held in Seattle and prevented delegates from reaching the convention hall. This effectively shut down the talks and focused public attention on an undemocratic institution that had previously been little understood. Delegates from more than forty poor African, Caribbean and Latin American nations were united in opposition to their treatment by the wealthy countries and the public outcry allowed them to renegotiate the terms of trade that were being imposed.
On the ten year anniversary, former BBC correspondent Greg Palast sits down with the “Generalissimo of Globalization,” the Director General of the WTO Pascal Lamay, to find out if the institution has learned it’s lessons from this public outcry during the last decade:
To watch a discussion about the actions [...]
Original post by Eric Michael Johnson none@example.com
November 30, 2009 at 10:48 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Minneapolis-based illustrator Brock Davis painted Expressionist screenshots of classic arcade games, such as the above Donkey Kong. Two more at the link.
Link via Geekologie | Artist’s Website | Flickr Stream | Interview with the Artist
Original post by John Farrier
November 30, 2009 at 10:35 pm · Filed under 33852
This door by the architectural firm Matharaoo Associates is designed to resemble a sine wave. Now in the home of a diamond merchant in Surat, India, the door measures 5.2m high and 1.7m wide and is made from 40 blocks of teak. Thanks to 160 pulleys and 80 ball bearings, it pushes open easily, despite its weight. More pictures at the link.
Link via Fast Company | Photo: Dinesh Mehta
Original post by John Farrier
November 30, 2009 at 10:30 pm · Filed under 33864
For many religious people, the popular question “What would Jesus do?” is essentially the same as “What would I do?” That’s the message from an intriguing and controversial new study by Nicholas Epley from the University of Chicago. Through a combination of surveys, psychological manipulation and brain-scanning, he has found that when religious Americans try to infer the will of God, they mainly draw on their own personal beliefs.
Psychological studies have found that people are always a tad egocentric when considering other people’s mindsets. They use their own beliefs as a starting point, which colours their final conclusions. Epley found that the same process happens, and then some, when people try and divine the mind of God. Their opinions on God’s attitudes on important social issues closely mirror their own beliefs. If their own attitudes change, so do their perceptions of what God thinks. They even use the same [...]
Original post by Ed Yong none@example.com
November 30, 2009 at 10:12 pm · Filed under 33856
Researchers at Eindhoven University in the Netherlands have recently grown synthetic pork meat in a laboratory setting. Lois Rogers writes for The Times:
The advent of so-called “in-vitro” or cultured meat could reduce the billions of tons of greenhouse gases emitted each year by farm animals — if people are willing to eat it.
So far the scientists have not tasted it, but they believe the breakthrough could lead to sausages and other processed products being made from laboratory meat in as little as five years’ time.
They initially extracted cells from the muscle of a live pig. Called myoblasts, these cells are programmed to grow into muscle and repair damage in animals.
The cells were then incubated in a solution containing nutrients to encourage them to multiply indefinitely. This nutritious “broth” is derived from the blood products of animal foetuses, although the intention is to come up with a synthetic solution.
Link via [...]
Original post by John Farrier
November 30, 2009 at 9:51 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
For the eco-irony of the day, check out this book on threatened trees, which is thicker than a phone book:
Read the comments on this post…
Also check out the featured ScienceBlog of the week: Applied Statistics
Original post by Jennifer L. Jacquet none@example.com
November 30, 2009 at 9:46 pm · Filed under 33860
After Mussolini was executed, his body was strung up before being brought to the hospital for autopsy and eventually returned to the family members. So, when an eBay auction started for the brain and some blood samples of the deceased dictator, it was entirely possible that the remains (which started at around $22,000) were authentic. Fortunately, eBay has a policy of not allowing these sorts of things, so the auction was canceled a few hours in, before his granddaughter had even heard about the auction.
Link Image Via Euskalanato [Flickr]
Original post by Jill Harness
November 30, 2009 at 8:59 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
tags: education, academic achievement, university, college, Crossing the Finish Line: Completing College at America’s Public Universities, William G. Bowen, Matthew M. Chingos, Michael S. McPherson, book review
The second book review I’ve ever published in Nature Magazine appeared last week, roughly the same time I was on a trans-Atlantic flight from NYC to Frankfurt, Germany. Due to my lack of wireless and jet lag, I’ve neglected to mention this until now. This review discusses a book that I think is very important for everyone involved in higher education to read and think about: Crossing the Finish Line: Completing College at America’s Public Universities by William G. Bowen, Matthew M. Chingos, and Michael S. McPherson. If you would like a free PDF of this review, either click here or, if that link does not allow you to access the review, leave a comment here and I’ll email the PDF to you. [...]
Original post by "GrrlScientist" none@example.com
November 30, 2009 at 8:52 pm · Filed under 33836
“Your pumpkin pie slice skin, your caramel corn nice skin, your toffee wrapped, ginger snapped, cinnamon spice skin!”
A Twitt from occasional commenter @szvan alerted me to this blog post pointing to an AP story about the recent State Dinner hosted by the President and First Lady. The blog post was updated to say the AP story had been subsequently edited to redact the offending bit but I was able to screen capture what seems to be the original version. Anybody spot the problem?
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Read the comments on this post…
Also check out the featured ScienceBlog of the week: Applied Statistics
Original post by DrugMonkey none@example.com
November 30, 2009 at 8:37 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
ABC Cookie Cutters – $8.95
What’s better than a warm and yummy gingerbread man cookie for Christmas? How about ones that are funny to boot? Here’s the ABC (Already Been Chewed) Cookie Cutters, from the Neatorama Shop: Link
Get a free Mystery Bonus with every purchase (while supplies last), part of Neatorama’s Christmas Special.
Original post by Alex
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