science

I've been meaning to link to this for awhile. I really like that Dr.Bunsen guy. This post is beautiful and a good reminder of how powerful modern browsers are. It's also a great way to find smart people to follow on Twitter.

Science writing, in an itty bitty nutshell, is writing about science for non-scientific audiences.

I am what some people call a skeptic. Others call me much worse. One thing I have always been skeptical of is the dietary supplement market. I have yet to read a single scientific report that has convinced me that food supplements are anything more than placebos. One of the greatest scientists of the past 100 years was convinced that vitamin C had uncanny beneficial effects on the human condition. He never proved his theories.

I agree with this approach for all publicly funded research.

This is the equivalent of turning the statement “the cancer is not as bad as we thought” into “you don’t have cancer.”

I wish universities would just stop submitting press releases for research results. Honestly, results in a mouse are interesting but they prove nothing about human beings. This kind of stuff at ScienceDaily is just grandstanding for the sake of alumni donors. If major pharmaceutical companies did this, their board would be fired. It's like saying, "Hey, I almost built a house because I've shown that a nail can hold two pieces of wood together.

Why not just give them an effective dose? Fucking human-monsters.

Hey, speaking of ignorant monsters putting their fame above all else, Google searches aren't equivalent to years of hard work. This is a very good article about the problem of self educating using nothing but a web browser. To become a real expert in a field requires paying dues that go beyond doing some searches on Google and finding studies that confirm your preexisting beliefs. Bingo. There are a lot of things in the world that are a result of hard work done for a very long time.

You know, if we ever did eliminate malaria, Jenny McCarthy would find a way to screw it up.

This sounds like something I will enjoy but I don't need to read it know this: Who we are and who we become depends, in part, on whom we love. I think who we are depends on what we love too.