The Fount of Useless Information
Your place for useless information that just might possibly be interesting.
Longevity Traced to Grandmothers
http://www.voanews.com/content/grandmothers-longevity-24oct12/1532183.html
I talked a bit before about group evolution and that post-child-bearing adults are valuable to families. The grandmother hypothesis is a variation on the same theme. Looking over the wiki page it seems to …
A Simple Fix for Farming
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/19/a-simple-fix-for-food/
I read many years ago about a rancher in the mid west that decided to forgo the hugely expensive and time consuming effort of clearing shrubs and bushes, killing ‘invasive’ browsers (like antelope) and …
WHITE WHALE spent 4 years trying to tell us something, then stopped
Startled diver ‘given orders in English,’ say boffins
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/10/23/whale_speaks_english/
I have always felt that whales and dolphins are (at least) as smart as us and wanted to be …
Scientists aghast after colleagues convicted of manslaughter over Italy quake
http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/23/world/europe/italy-quake-scientists-guilty/index.html
This is what happens when ignorant people choose ignorance yet wind up in positions of power. The parallels here in the US are impossible to miss!…
‘Power naps’ may boost right-brain activity
http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/17/health/health-naps-brain/index.html?hpt=hp_bn12
I haven’t noticed that I get any smarter after a nap, but I have noticed that I can often get better ideas by going for a walk where I sort of let my …
Global warming stopped 16 years ago, reveals Met Office report quietly released… and here is the chart to prove it
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 …
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 …