Richard Gayle: A Man With A PhD

Almost a Dickian story - A Man With A PhD

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:47:32 GMT

Surrogates: Lifeâo[oe] Only Shallower: [Via Science Not Fiction]

The world of Surrogates, people venture forth into the world via sleek and sexy avatars from the comfort of elaborate wireless hookups in their bedrooms. Lifeâo[oe]Only Better goes the technology tagline. In theory, the scene wonâo[dot accent]t take place for another half century - unless youâo[dot accent]re watching the film in Los ... [More]

I was struck by how much this felt like a movie based on a Philip K. Dick story. The paranoia, the inability to know what was real or not, the disconnection of human emotion from consequence. It even had a novel drug - sparking, where the surrogates slightly electrocuted each other. I really liked it. Very much a genre movie without a whole lot of deep thought about the message that was there. Just put us into this world, and solve a murder. But it is a world where you can never be sure just who is operating the surrogate you are interacting with, where there is not a single human-human interaction or even a touch until the very end. It did not do well at the box office but I think it will gain in stature as time goes one. It posits important questions about what makes us human that are not easily answered.

Technorati Tags: General, Science, Technology

Can they be housebroken? - A MAn with a PhD

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 19:24:33 GMT

"Creodonts": Carnivores by Association: [Via Catalogue of Organisms]

"Karianne's Pet" by Carl Buell. The large animal in the painting is the hyaenodontid Megistotherium osteothlastes, a contender for the title of biggest carnivorous mammal ever. As explained in an earlier post (which you may be interested in reading as a bit of background to this one), the earlier part of the Caenozoic (the current era of the earth's history) was home to a number of mammalian lineages of very mysterious relationships. Very few of the familiar orders around us today had yet put in an appearance, and instead the world was home to such oddities as pantodonts, tillodonts and dinocerates. Among the prominent carnivorous mammals of the time were a group known as the creodonts. Creodonts ranged in size from that of a small cat to lion- or bear-size species, and often converged in appearance with those animals. But what were creodonts? Current authors regard the Creodonta as including two families, the vaguely cat-like Oxyaenidae and the largely dog- or hyaena-like Hyaenodontidae. Oxyaenids were found in North America and Europe during the late Palaeocene and Eocene, while hyaenodontids were found in Africa, Eurasia and North America from the Late Palaeocene to near the end of the Miocene, though they disappeared from North America not long after the end of the Eocene (Gheerbrant et al., 2006). Many authors have suggested a relationship with modern carnivorans (cats, dogs, weasels, bears, etc.), and they have been included with the latter in a superorder Ferae. Popular as this arrangement has been, however, there's just one small problem - there's not a shred of evidence to support it. [More]

A wonderful post demonstrating why taxonomy at lower levels and biological systematics at higher levels can be so troublesome. we just do not have enough information about some extinct species to make an accurate call. And his explanation for taxonomic drift is excellent and why taxonomy requires a tremendous depth of knowledge in order to keep things straight. Because even though researchers may be using the same names, they may be describing separate species. It does make me wish some creodonts survived. Wouldn't it be nice to have one as a pet? [More at A Man with a PhD]

Technorati Tags: Science

How science corrects misrepresentation - A Man with a PhD

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 19:23:42 GMT

Two weeks from blog post to paper submitted: [Via Deltoid]

It's only taken two weeks to go from the blog posts shredding McLean et al to a paper submitted to the Journal of Geophysical Research. The authors are G. Foster, J. D. Annan, P. D. Jones, M. E. Mann, B. Mullan, J. Renwick, J. Salinger, G. A. Schmidt, and K. E. Trenberth and the abstract says: McLean et al. [2009] (henceforth MFC09) claim that the El NiÃ±o/Southern Oscillation (ENSO), as represented by the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), accounts for as much as 72% of the global tropospheric temperature anomaly (GTTA) and an even higher 81% of this anomaly in the tropics. They conclude that the SOI is a "dominant and consistent influence on mean global temperatures," "and perhaps recent trends in global temperatures". However, their analysis is incorrect in a number of ways, and greatly overstates the influence of ENSO on the climate system. This comment first briefly reviews what is understood about the influence of ENSO on global temperatures, then goes on to show that the analysis of MFC09 severely overestimates the correlation between temperature anomalies and the SOI by inflating the power in the 2-6 year time window while filtering out variability on longer and shorter time scales. It is only because of this faulty analysis that they are able to claim such extremely high correlations. The suggestion in their conclusions that ENSO may be a major contributor to recent trends in global temperature is not supported by their analysis or any physical theory presented in that paper, especially as the analysis method itself eliminates the influence of trends on the purported correlations. Via Joe Romm and Gareth Renowden. [More]

This is how science works. A published paper is critiqued and its faults revealed by further publications. As time goes on, a better model of the natural world emerges. That is how it is supposed to be done.Truth is not decided by who shouts the most, who is the most frightening or who has the best PR machine. Openness and transparency help prevent the distortion of facts. [More at A Man with a PhD]

Technorati Tags: Environment, Science

Astroturf is not democracy - A Man with a PhD

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 19:22:45 GMT

by suneko Fixing our health care system is critical for the United States, not only because it might be the humane thing to do but also in order to maintain a competitive economy. 15% of our GDP pays for healthcare and this is projected to raise to about 20% by 2017. Our health insurance premiums have more than doubled in 10 years. We pay more than any other developed country while insuring a smaller portion of the population. Over 50% of all personal bankruptcies are due to medical expenses, something that is not even possible in most developed countries. Health care costs to businesses are increasing much faster than profits, resulting in the mathematical certainty that either total health insurance costs to businesses will become greater than total profits or even more people will be without health care. Businesses in most other countries do not have the burden of paying healthcare out of their profits, making it easier for them to be profitable. Finally, health insurance costs raise each year but at an unknown rate. It is quite difficult for most businesses, especially small ones, to forecast just what their health care costs will be each year. This adds another problematic layer for the financial health of small companies. These should all be part of any debate on health care reform in this country. But we are not seeing that. What we are seeing are the same sorts of bullying, astroturf tactics that have been used before by vested interests to stop debate and to stop the democratic process. They do not have any interest in our real health concerns. They are concerned solely about maintaining their profits. There has been well-documented instances of astroturfing over the years. One of the most recent instances of fraud dealt with a lobbying group that forged letters using legitimate organization's letterheads; trying to make it seem as though groups like the NAACP were against legislation that was harmful to the group that paid for the campaign. Astroturf may be fraud. But it is used constantly by lobbying groups, and others with vested interests. Rachel Maddow has been doing a great job reporting on the history of this fraudulent approach and who is behind its current usage against health care reform. [More at A Man With A PhD]

Technorati Tags: Economy, Health

Spreading lies should have consequences - A Man With A PhD

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:54:38 GMT

by suneko The AVN is reaping what they sowed: [Via Bad Astronomy]

Iâo[dot accent]m not shedding too many tears over the tsunami of bad press the Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) is receiving right now. Iâo[dot accent]ve written about them before, oh yes. They are the ones headed by Meryl Dorey, the woman who says vaccinations are dangerous, who says no one dies of pertussis, who says that itâo[dot accent]s better not to vaccinate, who insinuates (at the 11:50 mark of that video) that doctors only vaccinate children because itâo[dot accent]s profitable for them. She says that, even though on that live TV program she sat a few feet away from Toni and David McCaffery, parents who had just lost their four week old daughter to pertussis because she was too young to be vaccinated yet and the herd immunity in Sydney was too low to suppress the pertussis bacterium. This year alone, three babies in Australia, including young Dana McCaffery, have died from pertussis. Not enough parents are vaccinating their children. And groups like the AVN spread misinformation about vaccines, spread it like a foul odor on the wind. [More]

I hope the full force of the law is brought to bear against this people. Their lies result in people dying. Misrepresent facts and children will die.

By spreading misinformation about vaccinations the AVN is scaring parents. The herd immunity is low in part because parents are scared to vaccinate their children. The low herd immunity is killing babies. It really is just that simple.

The works of vaccine denialists are responsible for low vaccination rates which remove the herd immunity that provides so many people protection. [More at A Man With A PhD]

Technorati Tags: Health, Science

Bad news - A Man With A PhD

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 23:17:28 GMT

by nick_russill
Newsweek's Science Editor explains why climate change is even worse than we feared and howa consensus has developed during IPY that the Greenland ice sheet will disappear.:

[Via Climate Progress]

'Among the phrases you really, really do not want to hear from climate scientists are: "that really shocked us," "we had no idea how bad it was," and "reality is well ahead of the climate models." Yet in speaking to researchers who focus on the Arctic, you hear comments like these so regularly they begin to sound like the thumping refrain from Jaws: annoying harbingers of something that you really, really wish would go away.'

So writes Newsweek's Sharon Begley in one of the most thoughtful climate pieces ever to appear in a major national publication. She makes the very case I did in my recent post (except without the hyperlinks - the Achilles Heel of MSM science writing). For more on the International Polar Year, see The IPY: Arctic sea ice will probably not recover and their website.

[More]

One thing mentioned in the article is the much larger amount of methane held in the Arctic tundra than previously believed. When warmed up, this methane enters the atmosphere, increasing global warming. Although this is a 'natural' effect (so expect to hear deniers try to claim that man is not responsible for warming - it is the natural release from the tundra.), it is only happening due to the increased temperatures of anthropogenic production of greenhouse gases.

[More at A Man With A PhD]

Technorati Tags: Environment, Science

Userland Shutdown

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 21:34:37 GMT

Userland, which has hosted my blog for 7 years, will shut down its servers on Dec. 31. I will see about moving this but anyone reading this here should strat following my other blogs:

A Man With A PhD - essentially this blog but hosted at Wordpress.
A Path to Sustainable - dealing with topics that overlap with some of my work with the Sustainable Path Foundation.
SpreadingScience - my work blog.
Idea Club Blog - my work on Idea Club for Sustainable Path

So please, follow me and my ramblings at these other blogs.

Dinosaur called Dakota - A Man With a PhD

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:19:44 GMT

by hoyasmeg Dinosaur mummy yields its secrets: [Via BBC News | Science/Nature | World Edition]

A beautifully preserved dinosaur found in the US retains remarkable detail of skin cells. [More]

Now this is really cool. The dinosaur's soft tissue was so well preserved and then replaced by minerals that its underlying structure was still maintained. So they could actually see cellular structure. They could determine that the skin had two layers, just as expected by study of modern relatives of the dinosaur. They found that in regions of the dinosaur that had shown bite marks in previous fossils, the skin was much thinner explaining why predators would go for that region first. [More at a Man With A PhD]

Technorati Tags: Science

Change science education - A Man With A PhD

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:39:57 GMT

by Lee Nachtigal Science Teacher Retention: It Takes More Than Money: [Via AAAS News - RSS Feed] Science Teacher Retention: It Takes More Than Money

High school science teachers value control over their lesson plans and prestige in their school districts more than salary increases, according to a survey discussed at AAAS. [More]

I am very willing to believe that it would be lot easier to retain science teachers if they did not have to put up with some of the control of curriculum by non-scientists or administrators. But then that really only happens because administrators do not really respect the science teachers. So the two problems go hand in hand. But then, that is because our education system is based on an out-moded approach where finding and disbursing information is hard and must be carefully taught by authority figures. [More at A Man With A PhD]

Technorati Tags: General

Scorpions and frogs - A Man With A PhD

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:37:57 GMT

by noodlemaps

I discuss Paul Krugman's column on the cynical ploys of so many Representatives in Congress at Path to Sustainable. In this case, their denialist views on climate change.

As I said, it reminds me of the fable about the scorpion and the frog. This led me to a very interesting page about the ethics of the situation. In particular, it discusses the scorpion's response or defection, in the context of a real game, one with a definite end..

As the scorpion thinks, 'If the game comes to an end, then I need to get mine before that happens. I need to grab for as much of what is available NOW before the frog gets theirs.'

If there is no future, no shadow on the scorpion, then it might as well do what it wants and follow its nature. No future means it is free to defect from the beginning and never have to cooperate.

Since the scorpion will cynically defect and sting at the first opportunity (why wait until the end anyway?), the decision of the frog now becomes paramount. What should the frog do?

[More at A Man With A PhD]

Technorati Tags: Government, Politics

Walking away - A Man With A PhD

Sun, 17 May 2009 18:24:17 GMT

by aussiegall

Back in November, I wrote about Those Who Walk Away From Omelas, Ursula K. LeQuin's classic story of what people will accept for Utopia, or its facsimile.

In the story, the people of Omelas have to ignore the central horrifying truth of the source of their Utopia. And, in a terrifying recognition of humanity's need for rationalization and self-delusion, most of the inhabitants can accept the apparent immorality of their choice simply by ignoring it. Only a few chose to leave, perhaps finding another place to live.

In my discussion, I wrote:

As much as we have tried to hide it, we are now all aware of the dark secrets that were the source of our Utopia. As in the story, the act of bringing these secrets into the open destroys our paradise.

It is now all different. The world has shifted. The dreamworld is no more. Omelas has been overthrown.

Too many of our leaders wish to ignore this shift, to pretend the dream is still achievable. CEOs still behave as if we were unaware of the changed circumstances. Politicians speak as if just a little reworking of the message will get everything back to right. Both feel that money, the root of what caused our dreams to shatter, will be able to fix the problems.

They are both acting as greedily and are as inconsiderate of the world around them as they did while we were all dreamers. They are attempting to rebuild Omelas from the burnt ashes of the ruins. This is a choice of failure.

Now, those of us who wish to survive are forced to make new choices, to find a new path, to walk away from Omelas. We really have no choice because Omelas no longer exists.

I may not know where we are going to but I do know from where we are marching. I only hope I can live long enough see the new place we chose to inhabit. I wonder what it will look like.

Yeah, I was full of my prose but the basic point is true. Our Omelas is gone and those of us who see that know we have to walk away, to find ourselves a new place to live. But we continue to hear from those who want to remain in the city, to hold onto Utopia even as it crumbles around them.

[More at A Man WIth A PhD]

Technorati Tags: General

Could allergies have an effect on flu transmission? A Man With A PhD

Fri, 15 May 2009 18:46:18 GMT

by ejhogbin Human noses too cold for bird flu: [Via BBC News | Science/Nature | World Edition]

Bird flu may not have become the threat to humans that some predicted because our noses are too cold for the virus to thrive, say UK researchers. [More]

I had not realized that there was such a difference between the temperature in our nose and our bodies. Apparently the low temperatures in the nose are very important as a first line of defense against a range of invaders, both bacterial and viral. It made me wonder if things that increase nasal temperatures, like allergies, might also have some impact on the spread of flu. I would expect that the oral temperature (about 37 Â°C) is much closer to our core temperature since that is where we used to place thermometers. ANother reason not to breathe through your mouth. Of course, the BBC does not link directly to the paper itself but here it is: Avian Influenza Virus Glycoproteins Restrict Virus Replication and Spread through Human Airway Epithelium at Temperatures of the Proximal Airways. It is Open Access so anyone can read it. [More at A Man With A PhD]

Technorati Tags: Health

Am I a Bot? My Mom says NO - A Man With A PhD

Wed, 13 May 2009 17:52:53 GMT

by à voir etc...

Um, say what?: [Via Bad Astronomy] I'm always curious about who links to this blog; it can be very helpful as a blogger, and it can tell you what the buzz is. In my case it helps me find both opponents and allies, which in the skeptic business is important. So I have Google alert me ... [More]

Over at Bad Astronomy, they had a discussion yesterday about a really weird site that had linked to that blog. The author of the blog, Phil Plait, found out about that site because he has a Google Alert set up to find instances when his blog's name is used. You can read more at my A Man With A PhD site but long story short, a commenter claimed that my wordpress site was a spam bot site. I guess my writing is that bad ;-) ANyway, go and read the whole comment. Now if I can just get my reputation back.

Technorati Tags: Science, Web 2.0

There is a problem - A Man With A PhD

Mon, 11 May 2009 18:17:29 GMT

Can the Texas BoE walk and deny evolution at the same time?: [Via Bad Astronomy]

What does it say about your Board of Education when ad executives for a chewing gum company understand evolution better than you do? ... or a beer company, for that matter. Of course, that's a European beer... and evidently beer was invented before the Universe itself was. Tip o' bacterium's flagellum to ... [More]

What makes this so ironic is that, while it is true that the ads display an understanding of evolution that is Promethean compared to the Texas BoE, they still display some misunderstandings of the pace and character of evolution. [More at A Man With A PhD]

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A long fight - A Man With A PhD

Fri, 08 May 2009 15:20:42 GMT

by lu_lu
Giving vaccines a shot in the arm:
[Via Bad Astronomy]

Reading through the truly awful antivax responses to my post where I state flatly and with conviction and evidence that the antivax movement is killing people, I was stunned to see Toni McCaffery had posted a response as well. Ms. McCaffery is the mother of Dana, the infant who died ...

[More]

Anti-vax purity has real world consequences, such as the death of children too young to be vaccinated surrounded by too many who refused. The loss of herd immunity is one of the great tragedies of the modern world, since it is s easily maintained.

[More at A Man With A PhD]

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A new approch to learning - A Man With A PhD

Fri, 08 May 2009 15:19:40 GMT

by jurvetson
MIT President Sees "Third Revolution" in Life Sciences:
[Via AAAS News - RSS Feed]

MIT President Susan Hockfield, at AAAS Forum, Envisions "Third Revolution" in Life Sciences

The convergence of life sciences with physical and engineering sciences could have dramatic human benefits, MIT President Susan Hockfield said at the AAAS Forum on S&T Policy.

[More]

This may get beyond me very rapidly but the idea of a third revolution, tying biology and physics in ways to create new batteries and human therapies, sounds very much like science fiction. I'll have to see just what is going on.

[More at A Man With A PhD]

Technorati Tags: Education, Science

A great writter - A Man With A PhD

Thu, 07 May 2009 05:33:22 GMT

How I believe in God:

[Via Roger Ebert's Journal]

When I was in first or second grade and had just been introduced by the nuns to the concept of a limitless God, I lay awake at night driving myself nuts by repeating over and over, But how could God have no beginning? And how could he have no end? And then I thought of all the stars in the sky: But how could there be a last one? Wouldn't there always have to be one more? Many years later I know the answer to the second question, but I still don't know the answer to the first one.

I took it up with a favorite nun, Sister Marie Donald, who led our rhythm band and was our basketball coach. "Roger," she said, "that is just something you have to believe. Pray for faith." Then I lay awake wondering how I could pray for faith to a God I could not believe in without faith. That seemed to leave me suspended between two questions. These logical puzzles seemed to be generated spontaneously within my mind. They didn't come from my school or my family. Most of my neighborhood friends were Protestants who were not interested in theories about God, apart from the fact that of course he existed.

[More]

Roger Ebert is such an interesting writer and it is so nice that we can read his writings at his blog. I'm not sure where he would have been able to publish this one before the internet but it is interesting nonetheless.

[More at A Man With A PhD]

Technorati Tags: Entertainment, General

Maybe Texas is not the epicenter of crazy - A Man With A PhD

Thu, 07 May 2009 05:03:26 GMT

by Pixel Addict
When Is It Unconstitutional to Call Nonsense Nonsense?:
[Via The Panda's Thumb]

A court in California has ruled that the Establishment Clause was violated by comments a schoolteacher made against certain religious propositions. Ed Brayton has details here. Personally, Iâo[dot accent]m troubled by the ruling for reasons that First Amendment expert Eugene Volokh explains here.

[More]

A teacher loses a case for saying creationism is religious nonsense thus hurting the sensibilities of a student. So, speaking scientific fact by a teacher can result in a lawsuit and the payment of a fine.

[More at A Man With A PhD]

Technorati Tags: Politics, Science

The danger of snark - A Man With A PhD

Tue, 05 May 2009 22:14:01 GMT

Quoth the Rocketboom: Nevermore:
[Via Bad Astronomy]

Rocketboom was one of the original video blogs, taking current geek news and making fun of it.

Sometimes though they're the victim of their own snark. On April 29th they posted this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A337HrpbBoU

The thing is, that whole thing I posted about the Shuttle image being faked? Yeah, Rocketboom, oops. So ...

[More]

As mentioned Poe's Law states "Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is impossible to create a parody of Fundamentalism that SOMEONE won't mistake for the real thing."

[More at A Man With A PhD]

Technorati Tags: Education, General, Science

Ken Layne said it best - A Man With A PhD

Tue, 05 May 2009 19:05:35 GMT

Just Keep Calling It Fact-Checking And Someday They'll Believe You:
[Via The Loom]

Zachary Smith at Talking Points Memo, among others, notes that the Washington Post editorial page editor is still claiming that George Will's many misrepresentations about global warming were subject to "careful fact-checking," some two months after many people showed they were anything but--including some who explained the errors in the ...

[More]

In 2001, Ken Layne famously said " We can fact-check your ass!" In fact, people on the web just hate it when information, which is easily checked, is wrong. And when an organizations continually tries to claim that they did careful fact-checking, when it is so obviously proved that they did not.. well, let's just say their credibility takes a big hit.

[More at A Man With A PhD]

Technorati Tags: Science, Social media

How can they call it science? - A Man With A PhD

Tue, 05 May 2009 18:15:48 GMT

by Pirate_J

AIG Creation AntiScience Fair:

[Via The Panda's Thumb]

Last month I was a judge at a regional science fair for middle- and high-school students, and it was great to see aisle after aisle of smart and hard-working kids doing interesting and careful science. A few weeks later, at a Science Cafe where I was presenting, I had the chance to talk with (and coach a little) two of them who are going to nationals. Those kids are bright shining examples of what we want public education to produce.

On the other hand, thereâo[dot accent]s the creation science fair. PZ has recently posted on a creation science fair in Minnesota, but now theyâo[dot accent]re going big time: Ken Hamâo[dot accent]s Creation Museum is hosting one next year. (Added in edit: I see PZ has posted on this one already this morning, too.)

A Creation Science Fair? Since when do they care about science? They care about the 'factual' basis of the Bible. If sceince fits that, fine. If not, ignore it or fight it.

[More at A Man With A PhD]

Technorati Tags: Education, Science

What would Jesus Do?

Sun, 03 May 2009 07:25:48 GMT

Read the whole post at A Man With A PhD.

Technorati Tags: General

More denialists

Sun, 03 May 2009 07:15:38 GMT

Hand washing denialists:
[Via Bad Astronomy]

In my post the other day about how simply washing your hands can prevent a lot of disease transmission, a scary number of people felt the need to leave comments proudly proclaiming how they don't wash their hands after using the bathroom, and how they don't get sick.

To those disgusting ...

[More]

While disregarding evolution only makes one an idiot, denying the benefits of hand washing makes one a potential killer. But so many people live by anecdote.

A simple example - Puerperal Fever. This often killed women shortly after giving birth. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. wrote about the possible effect of clean hands on this killer of women. He was met with ridicule.

[More at A Man With A PhD]

Technorati Tags: Health, Science