Cool Links

Bad Agronomy

Bad Agronomy

Aug 28 2010 | comment(s)

With Phil Plait getting his own TV show this weekend, look for new homages ... but why would anyone want to be bad?  I am not sure, though when you make something popular people will copy it, often for the best of reasons.

We even had a Bad Archaeology here years ago, for an article anyway.   Will we now change our name to Bad Science 2.0?   We don't like Phil that much.
Yale Aerial Manipulator: Flying robot hands are creepy - and by creepy, I mean cool

Yale Aerial Manipulator: Flying robot hands are creepy - and by creepy, I mean cool

Aug 28 2010 | comment(s)

A robotic hand attached to a small helicopter can successfully and autonomously grip objects while the helicopter is hovering(link to video there too) ...

Yale Aerial Manipulator

Article: Paul E.I. Pounds and Aaron M. Dollar,  Hovering Stability of Helicopters with Elastic Constraints, proceedings of the 2010 ASME Dynamics Systems and Control Conference (DSCC 2010).
Old men in Florida redeemed! Romans wore socks with sandals - Telegraph

Old men in Florida redeemed! Romans wore socks with sandals - Telegraph

Aug 28 2010 | comment(s)

Britons may be famous for their lack of fashion sense but they may have inherited one of their biggest sartorial crimes, wearing socks with sandals, from Italians.
Galileo, Open Science, and History

Galileo, Open Science, and History

Aug 27 2010 | comment(s)

From Daily Life in an Ivory Basement:
I'm a big believer in open science...but it's always interesting to think about how such things as "data release" can be perverted by clever scientists. I'm currently in France working on some ascidians with Billie Swalla...and we've been talking about what data we plan to release, and how. During these talks...Billie brought up an interesting historical parallel.
Read more
Asteroid discovery since 1980 - in video

Asteroid discovery since 1980 - in video

Aug 27 2010 | comment(s)

Here's a  video showing how many asteroids we’ve discovered since 1980.  Is it accurate? No idea but we want it to be accurate, which is good enough.

Benchfly: The Seven Habits of a Highly Successful Scientist

Benchfly: The Seven Habits of a Highly Successful Scientist

Aug 27 2010 | comment(s)

In the interest of your to-do list (and wallet), we’ve adapted Stephen Covey's best-selling self-help book "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" to create The Seven Habits of a Highly Successful Scientist…
Economist: The mere presence of women seems to bring health benefits to men

Economist: The mere presence of women seems to bring health benefits to men

Aug 27 2010 | comment(s)

FOR hormone-addled teenagers, finding a date can often seem to be a matter of life and death. As it turns out, that may not be so far from the truth.
The Bible Online: World First Bible-Based MMO Game

The Bible Online: World First Bible-Based MMO Game

Aug 26 2010 | comment(s)

Always wanted to live out actual hordes of locusts and see what that whole Sodom place was all about?

You're in luck.  The Bible Online, a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game, is coming this September.



The first chapter of the game, Heroes, goes into open beta on September 6th and will follow the book of Genesis as players guide Abraham and his people to the promised land.

Bible Online MMO screenshots
Multitasking herself - Woman Nabbed For Auto Erotic Crime

Multitasking herself - Woman Nabbed For Auto Erotic Crime

Aug 26 2010 | comment(s)

A Cincinnati woman was simultaneously masturbating with a sex toy and watching a pornographic video while driving last week, according to cops who arrested her on assorted criminal charges.
Knight Science Journalism Tracker: Science is messy. Should we tell the readers?

Knight Science Journalism Tracker: Science is messy. Should we tell the readers?

Aug 26 2010 | comment(s)

Science is messy. Should we tell the readers? Tell our editors? Or would that discourage attention to the endeavor we love? Do we still have to follow the money?

The flurry of stories about that Gulf of Mexico oil plume–here today, gone tomorrow–is yet another example of why daily journalism (nay, hourly journalism) is a terrible way to cover science.
CNN: How reporters mangled science about the Gulf oil spill

CNN: How reporters mangled science about the Gulf oil spill

Aug 26 2010 | comment(s)

Chrisopher Reddy, associate scientist and director of the Coastal Ocean Institute at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, writes in CNN how hourly news can give us stories on how the huge Gulf oil spill plume might persist for years and then how the plume was basically gone, eaten by natural bacteria - and that both were studies from Science and both basically right ... and wrong.
Forbes: The forgotten patients - why medicine ignores suicide

Forbes: The forgotten patients - why medicine ignores suicide

Aug 26 2010 | comment(s)

The Forgotten Patients by Robert Langreth and Rebecca Ruiz

The mental health industry ignores the 35,000 people a year who commit suicide. A few researchers are trying to change that.
Jezebel: When Men Watch Porn, They're Not Looking At What You'd Think

Jezebel: When Men Watch Porn, They're Not Looking At What You'd Think

Aug 24 2010 | comment(s)

Celebrity, Sex And Fashion for women - Gawker Media's Jezebel gets some Science 2.0: 
What do men and women focus on when they see sexy pictures? Turns out, it's not what you'd expect.
NPR: Einstein, Bohr, And Ultimate Reality

NPR: Einstein, Bohr, And Ultimate Reality

Aug 24 2010 | comment(s)

Theoretical Physicist Marcelo Gleiser, Appleton Professor of Natural Philosophy at Dartmouth College, writes about Einstein and Bohr and adds his own insight to one of my favorite series here on Science 2.0, by Don Howard - Revisiting The Einstein-Bohr Dialogue.
Nature Network: How to write a neuroscience story for the public

Nature Network: How to write a neuroscience story for the public

Aug 24 2010 | comment(s)

Start by scaring people about some digital stuff.
Then, over-hype some animal behavioral experiments that are difficult to translate to humans.

Rest on Nature Network
National Geographic: Your Hair Reveals Whether You're a Morning Person

National Geographic: Your Hair Reveals Whether You're a Morning Person

Aug 24 2010 | comment(s)

Body-clock gene reveals sleep cycles with just a pluck, study says.  Early bird or late riser? The mysteries of your sleep cycle may be unlocked by the hairs on your head, says this National Geographic article, and that's because the genes that regulate our body clocks can be found in hair-follicle cells, researchers have discovered.
And The Latest Word On Climate Change Is -

And The Latest Word On Climate Change Is -

Aug 24 2010 | comment(s)

And The Latest Word On Climate Change Is -

How to solve the climate change problem?

Invent a new word.

There!  Job done.  You can go back to sleep now.


http://www.grist.org/article/2010-08-24-climate-change-found-to-be-rapid...
A coffee table for Generation Y - made of a Playstation controller

A coffee table for Generation Y - made of a Playstation controller

Aug 24 2010 | comment(s)

As told by the creator at Overclockers.com
I made the Playstation controller coffee table for my year 12 major work, as an Industrial Technology project. I made the whole controller out of Plywood, MDF and Veneer on Veneer. I used the MDF for the R and L legs and the Veneer on Veneer for the 2 analogue joysticks as the 6mm Bendy Plywood wouldn’t bend around such a small diameter. To bend around the Handles I used 6mm Bendy Plywood. To give the finish of the playstation controller coffee table I used polyurethane full gloss finish. I used White gloss for the whole controller and the Black gloss for the Buttons.
Science Cards – Trade 'em and collect 'em

Science Cards – Trade 'em and collect 'em

Aug 24 2010 | comment(s)

A game that involves scientists?  Why not?   AmoebaMike is creating a series of Science Trading Cards - now he just needs to invent a game to go with it.  Sample:



Sure, some of our writers have cards, but they are more like Magic:The Gathering, with some specific effects, as you can see: