Two days ago, Fedora 14 was released, and I decided to give it a try. In a previous post, I was using openSUSE 11.3, and I was proud of it. Well, I was, but now I have moved on. I shift between Linux distributions as my needs and desires change, and I don’t believe there [...]
Archive for the ‘Science’ Category
Returning to the Source — the Open Source
Posted in Culture, Science, tagged Apple, Computers, Linux, Microsoft, Open Source on November 5, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Recent Discoveries Challenge Perceptions about Primate Origins, Human Migration, Tool Usage
Posted in Science, tagged Anthropoids, Anthropology, Archaeology, China, Conservation, Ehud Netzer, Evolution, Homo floresiensis, Israel, Libya, Neanderthals, Primates, Primatology, South Africa, Tool-making on October 29, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Three new archaeological finds have provided evidence questioning anthropologists’ previous theory that primates originated in Africa and pushing back accepted dates on migration to Asia and the origins of stone tool-making. The questions start with a new study published in Nature describing newly discovered anthropoid fossils in Dur At-Talah in Libya. Anthropoids are the primate [...]
British Science Funding Spared (Kind Of), But Book Prize May Not Be
Posted in Politics, Science, tagged George Osbourne, Royal Society Prize for Science Books, Science, United Kingdom on October 20, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Scientists in the United Kingdom are celebrating today as government cuts to research funds have been frozen rather than slashed dramatically, as they previously feared. A comprehensive review of government spending, released today, promised that science funding would be kept at £4.6 billion annually, amounting to only around a 10 percent loss due to inflation. [...]
Half of Americans Fail Climate Change Quiz
Posted in Science, tagged Climate Change, Global Warming, Yale on October 15, 2010 | 1 Comment »
A new study from the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication gives more than half of Americans a failing grade on the specifics of climate change. When questioned about the greenhouse effect, the difference between weather and climate, fossil fuels, carbon dioxide, skeptic arguments and solutions, fully 52 percent of respondents received a failing grade. [...]
The Imbibing Idiot Bias
Posted in Science, tagged Academia, Alcohol, Job Search, Research, Science on September 19, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
“Mad Men” is on tonight (and make sure to check back tomorrow for analysis from ACG Blog contributors). You are almost certain to see someone have a drink at the office. Probably not a good idea, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Michigan say. Scott Rick and Maurice Schweitzer conducted six [...]
George F. Will Blinds Himself with Science
Posted in Politics, Science, tagged Climate Change, George F. Will, Robert Laughlin on September 16, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
America’s energy policy is often dictated by short-term requirements: increasing need, lags in the development of alternative energy sources, the discovery and exploitation of new sources of fossil fuels. Environmentalists have typically cautioned in the past that such short-term thinking is progressively more detrimental to the global ecosystem and responsible energy policy will account for [...]
On Russia and Open Source Software
Posted in Politics, Science, tagged Apple, Computers, Linux, Microsoft, Russia on September 14, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I heard this story on NPR today as I was driving home from Target, and it made me rather sad. Apparently, Russia has made it a policy as of late to raid groups that oppose its government and confiscate their computers, claiming that they are investigating whether or not the group is using pirated Microsoft [...]
What NASA Can Learn From ‘Sunshine’
Posted in Movies, Science, tagged Cillian Murphy, NASA, Sunshine, The Sun on September 6, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
They’ve already blown up the moon, and now NASA wants to crash a spaceship into the sun. That’s right: the sun. By 2018 (they hope, but no one really believes the budget will let that happen), NASA wants to send a probe through the sun’s corona. Scientifically, it’s not as silly as it sounds. The [...]
Why Congress Should Pass the Great Ape Protection Act
Posted in Politics, Science, tagged Chimpanzees, Great Ape Protection Act, House of Representatives, Senate on September 2, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Legislation is pending in both chambers of Congress to provide great apes — the bill specifically identifies chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans, as well as gibbons, which are technically a lesser ape — with protection against invasive biomedical research and to ban federal funding for such research inside and outside the United States. Congress should [...]
The Growing Asteroid Field
Posted in Science, tagged Asteroids, Cool Videos, Scary on August 27, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Think space is a wide open frontier, empty and black except for the occasional asteroid? You have to see this truly stunning video. YouTuber szyzyg compiled asteroid discovery and tracking from 1980 on. The video starts off a little slow, but by the late ’90s tracking picked up and the number absolutely skyrockets. Ultimately, the [...]
