Monthly Archives: August 2013

Tesla

Posted on August 8, 2013 by mikethemadbiologist

Not the physicist, the car, as seen on Marlborough Street, Back Bay, Boston. Never seen one up close before. Looks speedy!

Posted in Automobiles | 3 Comments

The Apparent Incorruptability of Economists (Or, the Ethical Lightness of Being Larry Summers)

Posted on August 8, 2013 by mikethemadbiologist

Relative to biologists anyway. There has been a lot of discussion about who the next Federal Reserve Chairman should be, Larry Summers or Janet Yellen (the two presumed front-runners). Leaving aside their policy views (I’m not sure that they’re all … Continue reading →

Posted in Bidness | Comments Off on The Apparent Incorruptability of Economists (Or, the Ethical Lightness of Being Larry Summers)

Links 8/7/13

Posted on August 7, 2013 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science: The milk revolution: When a single genetic mutation first let ancient Europeans drink milk, it set the stage for a continental upheaval. Methods for taxonomic assignment of shotgun whole-genome metagenomics reads GM crops don’t kill kids. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Links 8/7/13

A Humongous Fungus Among Us in the Public Garden

Posted on August 7, 2013 by mikethemadbiologist

Well, it’s really a lichen, an algal-fungal symbiont, but you try making stupid rhymes with “algal-fungal symbiont.” At a distance, I first thought this was bird crap that hadn’t been cleaned off, but when I got closer…lichens: Kudos to Boston … Continue reading →

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It’s Not Fascism When They Do It

Posted on August 7, 2013 by mikethemadbiologist

So is Anthony Weiner’s, erm, gravitas still a thing? Because that, unlike armed vigilante groups, is really important. But I digress. A couple of days ago, I wrote about the authoritarian streak within the conservative movement and gingerly stepped around … Continue reading →

Posted in Authoritarianism, Civil Liberties, Conservatives | 2 Comments

Links 8/6/13

Posted on August 6, 2013 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science: Bacterial genomes – 2nd and 3rd generation costs Public Health Impact of Genome-Wide Association Studies: Glass Half Full or Half Empty? Alarm Bells Are Ringing: Creationists Get Influential Positions in Texas Science Textbook Review Healthcare reform … Continue reading →

Posted in Lotsa Links | 4 Comments

Glory, Like Beauty, Is in the Eye of the Beholder

Posted on August 6, 2013 by mikethemadbiologist

Observed in Piers Park, East Boston:

Posted in Boston | Comments Off on Glory, Like Beauty, Is in the Eye of the Beholder

Boston Solidarity

Posted on August 6, 2013 by mikethemadbiologist

(from here) Despite its faults, Boston, compared to some places I’ve lived, seems to do the occasional decent thing for the least among us: For the first time Friday, the School Department sent a truck stocked with about 600 lunches … Continue reading →

Posted in Basic Human Decency, Boston | Comments Off on Boston Solidarity

Links 8/5/13

Posted on August 5, 2013 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science: 50 shades of gray: A research story Survey of Earliest Human Settlements Undermines Claim That War Has Deep Evolutionary Roots Goodbye to All That (Water): Field notes from a drying west. Aphid attacks should be reported … Continue reading →

Posted in Lotsa Links | Comments Off on Links 8/5/13

Sometimes You Catch a Break

Posted on August 5, 2013 by mikethemadbiologist

It’s a small one, but I’ll take it:

Posted in Jury Duty | 1 Comment