Space stinks
But it’s not an unpleasant smell.
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Love those Neanderthals
Here’s some evidence that modern humans mated with Neanderthals, and that we carry remnants of the encounter in our genetic code. I’ve long had a fondness (of the platonic sort!) for Neanderthals. At least in my imagination; in real life … Continue reading →
Experts and their predictions
From political science professor Jacqueline Stevens (via Volokh): It’s an open secret in my discipline: in terms of accurate political predictions (the field’s benchmark for what counts as science), my colleagues have failed spectacularly and wasted colossal amounts of time … Continue reading →
Why music?
This article describes several theories which seek to explain why music is a human universal. All of them focus on group cohesion of some sort, and the fact that music seems to foster it, whether it be in work, play, … Continue reading →
A big search…
…for a little particle has culminated with its discovery. Maybe: Signaling a likely end to one of the longest, most expensive searches in the history of science, physicists said Wednesday that they had discovered a new subatomic particle that looks … Continue reading →
Scientists may be a little strange…
…but rats are more like people than you might think: Now may be as good a time as any to say that I am puzzled by people (or rats, for that matter) who like to be tickled. When I was … Continue reading →
Who are you going to believe…
…AGW projections, or your lying instruments? And I love how the seals got into the act of measuring for the scientists. Also, I learned a new word: the Briticism “boffins.”
Continue reading →Religiosity and age
Here’s a study that purports to indicate that people get more religious over time: Belief in God is highest among older people and increases with age, perhaps due to the growing realization that death is coming closer, University of Chicago … Continue reading →
Right brain left brain, right and left
There was a lot of discussion in this thread yesterday about liberals being right-brained and conservatives left-brained, and/or liberals “feeling” and conservatives “thinking.” I think that’s an oversimplification. Sorry, but I know lots of very logical and rational liberals, very … Continue reading →
Hard-wired politics: what about changers?
New York magazine’s Sasha Issenberg has a weak article on a topic that interests me, the difference between liberals and conservatives, and whether it’s hard-wired. In it, he (and some of the researchers he quotes) not only displays the typical … Continue reading →
Autism and…maternal obesity?
This seems an odd and unexpected finding: Children born to obese or very overweight mothers are at higher risk of having autism or developmental delays, new research suggests. The study of more than 1,000 children found that the offspring of … Continue reading →
Those threatened polar bears
Well, maybe not so much.
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