Trees ARE freaking awesome!
Really nicely done.
Via @veritasium.
.
October 31, 2012
Examples of glorious peer review and also paradigm shifts. Sciencegeeks, we present the 2012 Candy Hierarchy.
If you really think this sucks, then please leave a comment here.
(Click for larger version)
October 30, 2012
How to eat a Triceratops: A visual guide
As Fowler and his colleagues examined the various types of bite mark on the skulls, they were intrigued by the extensive puncture and pull marks on the neck frills on some of the specimens. At first, this seemed to make no sense. “The frill would have been mostly bone and keratin,” says Fowler. “Not much to eat there.” The pulling action and the presence of deep parallel grooves led the team to realise that these marks were probably not indicative of actual eating, but repositioning of the prey. The scientists suggest that the frills were in the way of Tyrannosaurus as it was trying to get at the nutrient-rich neck muscles.
STEP 1: HOLD!
STEP 2: YANK!
STEP 3: PULL VIA NOSE!
STEP 4: ENJOY!
Article by Matt Kaplan in Nature. Research via Denver Fowler (and colleagues) at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana.
October 26, 2012
Favourite candy for Halloween. Here is some kid derived raw data.
Hmmm… interesting…
October 24, 2012
What do fish, robots, aliens and Pokemon have in common? Free #openscience talks on Nov 1st. #ubc #vancouver
Answer: A line up that I’ve set up who will participate in an OPEN SCIENCE roster of UBC speakers.
On thursday afternoon, November 1st, come check out a number of free talks on various nuances around the topic of open science. I can personally vouch for the awesomeness of all of them, especially Daniel’s, Rosie’s and Jon’s.
Here you’ll get a chance to see: (1) the environmentally critical work of a world class fisheries lab; (2) hear the feisty tale of a professor who confronted NASA on some pretty shoddy science; (3) enjoy the antics of a science literacy advocate whose crowd-sourcing projects could double as a comedic act; (4) and check out a room full of kick ass robots, all prototyped in a special UBC class all about imaginative equipment and robot design.
Here’s the detailed program. Come to all, or just come to one!
- Dr. Daniel Pauly (The Sea Around US – Note that Daniel and his team are the keynote) 1 – 1:50pm
- Dr. Rosie Redfield, (#arseniclife, social media and open science) 2 – 2:40pm
- Dr. David Ng (Adventures in Open Science Advocacy) 2:45pm – 3:45pm
- Jon Nakane (Physical Prototyping at UBC and Open Robotics Demo – Note: this session will be more like a MAKERFAIRE set-up) 3 – 5pm
Date/Time – Thursday, November 1st 1-5pm
Place – Irving K. Barber Learning Centre – Lillooet Room, UBC Campus.
Cost – All talks are free and open to everyone at UBC and the public at large. Registration is not necessary but is appreciated. You can do this at the follow link (http://scholcomm.ubc.ca/events/oaweek/schedule-at-a-glance-2012/).
October 24, 2012
Welcome to Heisenberg’s! (a.k.a. fast food conundrum)
By Mark Stivers. More about Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle here.
October 23, 2012
Remember the Candy Hierarchy? It sure did make a lot of folks angry! Ben and I are working on the 2012 edition right now…
Here is the 2011 version (see original 2011 link for footnotes here).
Had a chance to read over 500 comments (from various places where the ranking was reposted, etc), and we’re working hard to change things accordingly (i.e. the power of peer review in action!) Stay tuned…
October 23, 2012
Here is a song I wrote about that buzz you get when you meet folks who speak your (scientific) language, jargon and all. #scio13
Just an old demo, but kind of nice.
Essentially, it started with a challenge of giving me strange technical terms that I would have to incorporate into a song. The words that immediately came back included Epiglottis, Flagella, Dictyostelium, Homo erectus, and Phthalates.
And so, I went ahead and wrote something pretty quick about how sometimes it’s kind of wonderful to revel in jargon, especially when you’re nattering on with your scientific peers. In some ways, I kind of feel like it’s my own unofficial theme song to the ScienceOnline2013 conference coming up in January. This is my tribe – we talk science, and we love it.
Play above or here is the mp3 to check out, and lyrics reprinted below.
One of these days, I’ll have to re-record a second take (sound levels are very low), and maybe with a capo on the second fret to move it up vocally a bit. Also, you may notice that the word Phthalate didn’t make the song – that was more because I didn’t know how to pronounce it! If you let me know how to say it properly, maybe I’ll write a song just about that.
JARGON FUELED WAYS
I notice something today
About the way you talk in jargon fueled ways
It’s those crazy words that you say
That make me realize about your jargon fueled ways
BRIDGE
Those things you sing to me acapella
Like dictyostelium and flagella
You shout out stuff like homo erectus
Always great to hear epiglottis
So when you think you will say
The sort of things in your own jargon fueled way
And let’s just say it’s o.k.
That I kind of love your jargon fueled ways.
END
October 22, 2012
In which it might take a while for Global Warming Man to save the day…
By Cyanide and Happiness. Note that the site is NSFW.
October 20, 2012
“Big Blue Wave” by Hey Ocean! #song4mixtape
A bit of a departure from their earlier stuff, but I do appreciate some good melodic pop.
By Hey Ocean!.
October 20, 2012
“Out Like a Lion” by Whitehorse (acoustic version). #song4mixtape
p.s. the studion version is even better in my opinion.
By Whitehorse.
October 20, 2012
Did you hear about the guy who froze himself to absolute zero? He’s 0K now. #funny
This is so bad, that it’s good…
popperfont.net 