SC 1st lady says she may forgive husband's affair
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The wife of embattled South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford called his affair with an Argentine woman "inexcusable" butSpeedmaster Reduced Watches said Thursday she is willing to forgive him....
~ published: Friday at 23:46 ~ source: Science Blog - Think. It's not illegal yet. ~ permalink ~ points: 0
Benford’s law, Zipf’s law, and the Pareto distribution
A remarkable phenomenon in probability theory is that of universality – that many seemingly unrelated probability distributions, which ostensibly involve large numbers of unknown parameters, can end up converging to a universal law that may only dep...
~ published: Friday at 21:27 ~ source: What's New (Terrence Tao's Blog) ~ permalink ~ points: 0
Sahelanthropus: "The femur of Toumaï?"
Some weeks ago, I wrote about an article by Alain Beauvilain and Jean-Pierre Watté, in my post, "Sahelanthropus: Did camelherders bury Toumaï facing Mecca?" If you missed that post, go back and read it -- it gives some essent...
~ published: Friday at 16:36 ~ source: John Hawks Anthropology Weblog ~ permalink ~ points: 0
Bigfoot biogeography
So a couple of weeks ago, the Journal of Biogeography published a paper arguing that humans and orangutans are sister taxa. This week, the journal has published a paper on the biogeography of Sasquatch. Yes, that's correct. The same journal that publishe...
~ published: Friday at 12:52 ~ source: John Hawks Anthropology Weblog ~ permalink ~ points: 0
The BCA "Plethora of evidence": The Fallon Paper
After a long, long wait, the BCA published its list of 'evidence' on the Simon Singh case. There was one paper that no-one could find for a while that has finally emerged into public view, and it doesn't look good. For those of you who haven't been follow...
~ published: Friday at 05:56 ~ source: Science Blog - Think. It's not illegal yet. ~ permalink ~ points: 0
Jordansport2
Jordan sneaker...
~ published: Friday at 00:32 ~ source: Science Blog - Think. It's not illegal yet. ~ permalink ~ points: 0
Whale societies
Wired's science blog has a piece on cetacean culture and communciation: "Whales might be as much like people as apes are". Dalhousie University researcher Hal Whitehead and his students are the center of the story:“My strong suspicion is that ...
~ published: Thursday at 23:53 ~ source: John Hawks Anthropology Weblog ~ permalink ~ points: 0
Dude, it's called "relaxed selection"
This is a doofy story running on MSNBC without an author byline: "Shrinking of Scottish sheep tied to warming". Why do I say "doofy"? Take a look at the way it describes natural selection: The study upends the belief that natural selec...
~ published: Thursday at 17:53 ~ source: John Hawks Anthropology Weblog ~ permalink ~ points: 0
Poor health among indigenous peoples a question of cultural loss as well as poverty
Edmonton, Alberta (July 3, 2009) -- The health problems of Indigenous peoples around the world are intimately tied to a number of unique factors, such as colonization, globalization, migration, and loss of land, language and culture....
~ published: Thursday at 17:30 ~ source: Science Blog - Think. It's not illegal yet. ~ permalink ~ points: 0
New type of El Nino could mean more hurricanes make landfall
El Niño years typically result in fewer hurricanes forming in the Atlantic Ocean. But a new study suggests that the form of El Niño may be changing potentially causing not only a greater number of hurricanes than in average years, but also a greater cha...
~ published: Thursday at 12:30 ~ source: Science Blog - Think. It's not illegal yet. ~ permalink ~ points: 0
MIT researchers find new actions of neurochemicals
Although the tiny roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans has only 302 neurons in its entire nervous system, studies of this simple animal have significantly advanced our understanding of human brain function because it shares many genes and neurochemical signal...
~ published: Thursday at 12:30 ~ source: Science Blog - Think. It's not illegal yet. ~ permalink ~ points: 0
VLBA locates superenergetic bursts near giant black hole
Using a worldwide combination of diverse telescopes, astronomers have discovered that a giant galaxy's bursts of very high energy gamma rays are coming from a region very close to the supermassive black hole at its core. The discovery provides important n...
~ published: Thursday at 12:30 ~ source: Science Blog - Think. It's not illegal yet. ~ permalink ~ points: 0
Pinpointing origin of gamma rays from a supermassive black hole
An international collaboration of 390 scientists reports the discovery of an outburst of very-high-energy (VHE) gamma radiation from the giant radio galaxy Messier 87 (M 87), accompanied by a strong rise of the radio flux measured from the direct vicinity...
~ published: Thursday at 12:30 ~ source: Science Blog - Think. It's not illegal yet. ~ permalink ~ points: 0
NASA's Fermi Telescope reveals a population of radio-quiet gamma-ray pulsars
SANTA CRUZ, CA--A new class of pulsars detected by NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is solving the mystery of previously unidentified gamma-ray sources and helping scientists understand the mechanisms behind pulsar emissions. ...
~ published: Thursday at 12:30 ~ source: Science Blog - Think. It's not illegal yet. ~ permalink ~ points: 0
Prostate cancer patients disease free after five years likely to be disease free after 10 years
Prostate cancer patients who receive brachytherapy and remain free of disease for five years or greater are unlikely to have a recurrence at 10 years, according to a study in the July 1 issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Phys...
~ published: Thursday at 11:30 ~ source: Science Blog - Think. It's not illegal yet. ~ permalink ~ points: 0
When are highly-anxious women most anxious? When you least expect it
Take a group of 18- and 19-year-old women, college freshmen and sophomores. Then test them to find out who has the most social anxiety: who's most nervous about dealing with other people, particularly in public situations. What would be the most difficult...
~ published: Thursday at 11:04 ~ source: Cognitive Daily ~ permalink ~ points: 0
Research reveals what drives lung cancer's spread
NEW YORK, JULY 2, 2009 -- A new study by researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) reveals the genetic underpinnings of what causes lung cancer to quickly metastasize, or spread, to the brain and the bone -- the two most prominent si...
~ published: Thursday at 10:30 ~ source: Science Blog - Think. It's not illegal yet. ~ permalink ~ points: 0
Ben-Gurion U. researchers reveal connection between cancer and human evolution
BEER-SHEVA, ISRAEL, July 2, 2009 -- Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) have discovered that gene mutations that once helped humans survive may increase the possibility for diseases, including cancer.The findings were recently the cov...
~ published: Thursday at 10:30 ~ source: Science Blog - Think. It's not illegal yet. ~ permalink ~ points: 0
Research output in developing countries reveals 194 percent increase in five years
London, 2 July 2009 -- The partners of Research4Life announced today at the World Conference of Science Journalists 2009 that a new research impact analysis has demonstrated a dramatic rise in research output by scientists in the developing world since 2...
~ published: Thursday at 08:30 ~ source: Science Blog - Think. It's not illegal yet. ~ permalink ~ points: 0
Predicting the return of prostate cancer: New Johns Hopkins study betters the odds of success
Cancer experts at Johns Hopkins say a study tracking 774 prostate cancer patients for a median of eight years has shown that a three-way combination of measurements has the best chance yet of predicting disease metastasis....
~ published: Thursday at 07:30 ~ source: Science Blog - Think. It's not illegal yet. ~ permalink ~ points: 0
Steve Lekson profile
The NY Times profiles Southwest archaeologist Steve Lekson, "Scientist Tries to Connect Migration Dots of Ancient Southwest":“Steve is possibly the best writer in Southwest archaeology,” said David Phillips, curator of archaeology at the Max...
~ published: Thursday at 07:30 ~ source: John Hawks Anthropology Weblog ~ permalink ~ points: 0
Study shows PET can measure effectiveness of novel breast cancer treatment
RESTON, Va. -- A new study published in the July issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine shows that positron emission tomography (PET) scans in mice can be used to determine whether a novel type of breast cancer treatment is working as intended. ...
~ published: Thursday at 06:30 ~ source: Science Blog - Think. It's not illegal yet. ~ permalink ~ points: 0
Dedekind Domains, Krull-Akizuki and the Picard Group
As has been hinted in many previous posts, many facts about algebraic number theory tell us about geometric objects like elliptic curves. For instance, if you are working on a problem which primarily uses the affine geometry of a curve like the semistable...
~ published: Thursday at 05:27 ~ source: Rigorous Trivialities ~ permalink ~ points: 0
Researchers unite to distribute quantum keys
Researchers from across Europe have united to build the largest quantum key distribution network ever built. The efforts of 41 research and industrial organisations were realised as secure, quantum encrypted information was sent over an eight node, mesh ...
~ published: Wednesday at 23:30 ~ source: Science Blog - Think. It's not illegal yet. ~ permalink ~ points: 0
Obama sees link between stem-cell work, 'scientific integrity'
President Obama will sign an executive order Monday lifting limits on human embryonic stem cell research and will direct federal agencies to "restore scientific integrity" to decision-making, White House aides said Sunday.Obama's order follows y...
~ published: Wednesday at 21:59 ~ source: Science Blog - Think. It's not illegal yet. ~ permalink ~ points: 0
The end of Cognitive Monthly
Due to exciting new career developments, I've decided to shelve Cognitive Monthly. I still think this sort of thing is a good idea, and CogMonthly was selling about as well as I expected. But I'm in the process of making a major career change (which shoul...
~ published: Wednesday at 16:04 ~ source: Cognitive Daily ~ permalink ~ points: 0
Hormone treatment eases post-surgery distress in children
A scary unknown for many children, the prospect of surgery can cause intense preoperative anxiety. ...
~ published: Wednesday at 15:30 ~ source: Science Blog - Think. It's not illegal yet. ~ permalink ~ points: 0
Blood stem cell growth factor reverses memory decline in mice
Tampa, FL (July 1, 2009) -- A human growth factor that stimulates blood stem cells to proliferate in the bone marrow reverses memory impairment in mice genetically altered to develop Alzheimer's disease, researchers at the University of South Florida and ...
~ published: Wednesday at 14:30 ~ source: Science Blog - Think. It's not illegal yet. ~ permalink ~ points: 0
Stanford discovery pinpoints new connection between cancer cells, stem cells
STANFORD, Calif. -- A molecule called telomerase, best known for enabling unlimited cell division of stem cells and cancer cells, has a surprising additional role in the expression of genes in an important stem cell regulatory pathway, say researchers a...
~ published: Wednesday at 12:15 ~ source: Science Blog - Think. It's not illegal yet. ~ permalink ~ points: 0
LHC Status
If you want to keep up with the latest news on the LHC status, tomorrow at 3pm Geneva time there will be a webcast of a talk by Steve Myers. The abstract reads:The status of the LHC will be presented. This will include the repair of sector 34, the ongoin...
~ published: Wednesday at 11:37 ~ source: Not Even Wrong ~ permalink ~ points: 0