The Fount of Useless Information
Your place for useless information that just might possibly be interesting.
How Many Are You?
http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/how_many_are_you/
An interesting idea, that you could be more than one person inside your head. It might go a long way toward explaining multiple personality disorder and people who hear voices. I am used to having …
Iran sanctions now causing food insecurity, mass suffering
Yet again, the US and its allies spread mass human misery though a policy that is as morally indefensible as it is counter-productive
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/07/iran-santions-suffering
Since us Americans, as a species, tend to …
Chemical bond shields extreme microbes from poison
Molecular structure explains how ‘arsenic life’ bacteria rely on phosphate instead
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/345502/title/Chemical_bond_shields_extreme_microbes_from_poison
I mention this research before here, if you are interested in a tiny bit of background. The interesting thing to …
Misconduct prompts most retractions
Two-thirds of scientific papers pulled from journals are for fraud, suspected fraud and plagiarism
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/345465/title/Misconduct_prompts_most_retractions
I like this analogy:
…The culture of science may be to blame for a recent increase in fraud cases: Journal publications
Can we stop lies from becoming “facts”?
Using strategies like “de-biasing,” scientists are working on concrete methods to prevent the spread of false info
http://www.salon.com/2012/10/04/can_we_stop_lies_from_becoming_facts/
An interesting article showing how damn cussed we are at changing our opinions. It seems …
Four ways banks have ruined higher education
Colleges and universities are padding their bottom lines — and the American public is footing the bill
http://www.salon.com/2012/10/04/four_ways_banks_have_ruined_colleges_and_universities/
Except for a very few degrees, the cost of education has reached the point where, …
Blue Truth, Red Truth
Both candidates say White House hopefuls should talk straight with voters. Here’s why neither man is ready to take his own advice
http://swampland.time.com/2012/10/03/blue-truth-red-truth/?hpt=hp_t2
The ‘truth’ is, in fact, mutable, though it is clear that not everything …
College graduates are in for a rude awakening
Grade inflation has spawned a generation of graduates convinced they’re exceptional. They’re not
http://www.salon.com/2012/10/03/college_graduates_are_in_for_a_rude_awakening/
None of the articles I read yesterday or today grabbed me, but this one did. I really like …
As a kid I was big into Dungeons and Dragons, whiling away many, many weekends on adventures. I actually wound up being Dungeon Master quite a bit of that time, either because no one else would touch it or my …
Nate Silver: The polls aren’t wrong
Bias? The stats guru who nailed the 2008 election tells Salon it’s very hard for this many surveys to all be off
http://www.salon.com/2012/09/29/nate_silver_the_polls_arent_wrong/
The most interesting revelation to me in this article is that …