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National Academies Press ? for free
2008-01-05 14:24:00
Free books -- it's a tough deal to beat, especially when they're good. The National Academies Press (i.e., the press for the National Academies -- of Science, of Engineering, etc.) has over 3700 books available for free online reading. But what spurred this post is the recent update & re-release of Science, Evolution, and Creationism -- a quick read at 88 pages, and now free for download in PDF form...
More About: Biology , Free

Casual Friday ? Are you at risk of robot attack?
2008-01-04 14:03:00
A classic SNL pseudo-commercial (WARNING: persons denying the existence of Robot s may be Robots themselves)
More About: Friday , Risk , Casual , Attack

Ah, stars ? they grow up so fast these days?
2008-01-03 15:19:00
The current state of knowledge suggests that the Earth formed within 100 million years of the birth of the Sun -- but there's been a lot of debate about this number, as well as questions over just how representative of other stars it may be. Theoretically, planetary formation should take place much more quickly -- in as little as 10 million years -- but there's been no observational support for this. Until now....
More About: Stars , Space , Astronomy , Days , Fast

Carnivalia
2008-01-02 14:32:00
It's Wednesday, so time for a round-up of the past week's (mostly) science-related blog carnivals. A few of the "usual suspects" are taking the week off for the holidays, but there's still plenty for you to work with...
More About: Biology , Math , Vali

Armchair tourist ? #1, the oncoming dunes
2008-01-01 19:26:00
It's a new year, so I thought it would be a good time to roll out a new site feature. I've uploaded to Flickr pictures that I've taken over the years -- and all deal (at least peripherally) with some aspect of science. What I plan on doing is picking one of these images every week or two, and discussing it a bit in a blog post. The inaugural picture is from White Sands National Monument, in New Mexico (USA)...
More About: Biology , Geology , Tourist

Casual Friday ? lunar ATHLETE
2007-12-28 14:13:00
An interesting video tour of ATHLETE -- a rover concept for the moon that's currently under development at JPL...
More About: Friday , Lunar , Casual , Athlete

Carnivalia
2007-12-27 06:11:00
Holidays or not, the science blog carnivals just keep giving you good reading material...
More About: Space , Astronomy , Biology , Humanity , Critical thinking

Episode 15 ? The Solar Cycle
2007-12-22 16:04:00
No, it's not a sporty new solar-powered form of transportation -- it's a basic part of how the Sun behaves! There's been a recent surge of news about solar activity and the solar cycle -- and of course, variations in solar activity always seem to get brought into discussions of climate change. Listen in this week, and I'll give you some quick background on solar physics, the solar cycle, and how it all impacts us in the end...
More About: Space , Astronomy , Episode , Physics , Climate

Casual Friday — Evolution in animation
2007-12-21 14:00:00
Courtesy of YouTube (and with a hat tip to Greg Laden), here's a neat old animated vision of how evolution works...
More About: Animation , Evolution , Friday , Casual , Imation

Carnivalia
2007-12-19 14:01:00
The past week's crop of (mostly) science-related blog carnival goodness...
More About: Space , History , Biology , Vali

Blogiversaries
2007-12-15 14:00:00
A couple of bloggers have recently celebrated the anniversaries / birthdays of their blogging, so I thought I'd bring them to your attention here...
More About: Biology , Critical thinking , Logi

Casual Friday ? gonna? party like it?s 1999?
2007-12-14 14:00:00
Here's another interesting look at the future -- this time from 1967, looking all the way forward to the wonders of 1999...
More About: Party , Friday , Casual , Gonna

Carnivalia
2007-12-12 14:02:00
You've got another healthy selection of reading material with this week's blog carnivals...
More About: Space , Biology , Critical thinking , Vali

Science in the news
2007-12-11 14:59:00
There's lots of interesting stuff in the news that I'd love to blog about, but just won't have time to cover (I'm working on an in-depth article and a podcast episode right now, so the rest will have to slide). Anyway, I'll just recommend the following items as good reading material...
More About: Science , News , Technology , Space , Astronomy

Casual Friday ? Stonehenge, by hand
2007-12-07 14:22:00
I found an interesting video by way of Physics Buzz, and thought I should pass it along (it's about 6 minutes in length, but well worth your time). Wally Wallington, a retired construction worker, may well have figured out how a handful of people could have constructed Stonehenge -- with just some rocks and a bit of timber to use as moving "equipment"...
More About: Friday , Hand , Casual

Carnivalia
2007-12-06 01:48:00
You've got a bumper crop of science-related blog carnivals to choose from this week, so dig on in...
More About: Space , Astronomy , Biology , Humanity , Vali

Philosophia Naturalis #15
2007-11-30 19:41:00
Welcome to the 15th mostly-monthly installment of the Philosophia Naturalis blog carnival -- home of the best blog posts in the natural sciences that you'll find! There's all sorts of good reading material for you to choose from, so let's get right to business...
More About: Space , History , Astronomy , Physics , Biology

Philosophia Naturalis ? a slight delay
2007-11-29 14:57:00
For those waiting for the next installment of the Philosophia Naturalis blog carnival, I've got to announce a slight delay -- rather than today, I'll be posting it tomorrow. Due to some work commitments pouring over into my home time, I haven't quite had the free time I've needed to do the job well.I'd rather be a bit late than produce a shoddy product; thanks for your patience...
More About: Site News

Carnivalia
2007-11-28 15:05:00
Here's this week's crop of blog carnival goodness (a bit skinnier than usual, folks must still be sleeping off their Thanksgiving dinners)...
More About: Biology , Vali

Googlediving, hybrid vehicles, and energy consumption
2007-11-28 03:56:00
A recent thread of discussion (namely, some comments on the hybrid cars podcast episode) brings me to remind you of the wisdom of cross-checking ostensibly "scientific" things you hear in conversation, or see mentioned in print or online somewhere. Fortunately, it's pretty easy these days to check things using the internet. When I run across something that seems to be questionable, I've gotten into the habit of doing a quick bit of checking things out with Google. I call this "googlediving" -- it's essentially the information equivalent of dumpster diving but doesn't leave you all smelly when you're done. Best of all, it usually takes just a few minutes to run a quick check. Let's look at the recent discussion as a good example....
More About: Hybrid , Energy , Vehicles , Critical thinking , Hybrid Vehicles

Chaco Canyon
2007-11-25 15:32:00
One of the advantages of rearranging your house is that sometimes you’ll find a long-lost treasure in the process. Over the past few weeks, we’ve been going through a big in-house reshuffle to make better use of space, and I stumbled across some old slides I took on a visit to Chaco Canyon decades back. Sadly, ...
More About: Site News , History , Humanity

Casual Friday ? Steam Trek: The Moving Picture
2007-11-23 14:39:00
You don’t have to know much about the original Star Trek TV series / movie to appreciate this hand-made parody. 9 minutes and 53 seconds long, and originally made in 1994 on Super-8 movie film, I don’t know why it took me so long to post this… Bookmark to: Hide Sites
More About: Picture , Moving , Friday , Steam

Episode 14 ? Hybrid Cars
2007-11-22 15:07:00
If you're like many people, you'd like to help do something about climate change through the choices you make and the way you live. Celebrities and the mass media (among others) are presenting hybrid vehicles as a big step forward in this regard. But left out of this rush to technology is any discussion of the fact that not all hybrids are equal. Some are little different from conventional cars, and consume fuel with equal gusto. Others offer dramatic improvements in fuel economy, but may not appear at your local automotive dealer's showroom floor for years. What's a well-intentioned, but budget-minded potential car buyer to do? Listen in to this episode, and I'll give you a quick education in hybrid vehicle technologies. You'll be able to tell series from parallel, and electric from hydraulic with aplomb -- and more importantly, understand some of the challenges that lie ahead for this technology, and how to tell when a hybrid vehicle's price premium makes it a worthwhile in...
More About: Technology , Cars , Hybrid , Episode , Hybrid Cars

Carnivalia, and a Call for Submissions
2007-11-22 04:49:00
This week’s selection of (mostly) science-related blog carnivals: Accretionary Wedge #3 Carnivalesque XXXIII Carnival of Education Carnival of the Green #104 Change of Shift: Vol. 2, Number 11 Carnival of Space 29 The Four Stone Hearth #28 Friday Ark #165 Gene Genie #20 I and the Bird # 62 Oekologie #11 Skeptics’ Circle #74 Also, don’t forget that I’ll be hosting the 15th installment of the Philosphia Naturalis ...
More About: Biology , Humanity , Call , Geology , Critical thinking

Carnivalia, and a Call for Submissions
2007-11-22 00:49:00
This week’s selection of (mostly) science-related blog carnivals: Accretionary Wedge #3 Carnivalesque XXXIII Carnival of Education Carnival of the Green #104 Change of Shift: Vol. 2, Number 11 Carnival of Space 29 The Four Stone Hearth #28 Friday Ark #165 Gene Genie #20 I and the Bird # 62 Oekologie #11 Skeptics’ Circle #74 Also, don’t forget that I’ll be hosting the 15th installment of the Philosphia Naturalis ...
More About: Biology , Humanity , Call , Geology , Critical thinking

Casual Friday ? What Kind of Reader are You?
2007-11-16 13:56:00
What Kind of Reader Are You? Another silly quiz for Casual Friday ...

Carnivalia
2007-11-14 13:51:00
This week sees another great selection of (mostly) science-related blog carnivals available for your reading pleasure: The Boneyard # 9 Books Carnival Carnival of Education Carnival of Space #28 Encephelon #35 Friday Ark #164 Grand Rounds - Volume 4 number 8 History Carnival 58 Skeptics? Circle #73 Tangled Bank #92 Bookmark to: Hide Sites
More About: Biology , Vali

So Aussie bees are off the hook, then?
2007-11-13 06:33:00
You might recall that back in September, I published a podcast episode on Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) -- a malady that has been wreaking some serious havoc on honeybee colonies in the U.S. and Europe. Well, there's some new news on this front, and it just means that things are getting more interesting...
More About: Biology , Bees , Critical thinking , Aussie , Hook

Casual Friday ? HD Video from the Moon!
2007-11-09 14:00:00
Courtesy of Japan's Kaguya spacecraft, here's some video of the Moon from orbit:For even sharper video, make sure you look at the original video on the JAXA web site.
More About: Video , Space , Friday , The Moon

Four Stone Hearth, vol. 27
2007-11-07 14:00:00
Welcome to the 27th installment of the four-field anthropology blog carnival, the Four Stone Hearth ...
More About: Biology , Tone