Monthly Archives: March 2015

Roots

Posted on March 28, 2015 by mikethemadbiologist

One thing about plants that’s easy to forget is that much of the plant–the biomass–is underground. An exhibit at the U.S. Botanic Gardens highlights the importance and size of roots. Here are some grasses, with their root systems intact: Those … Continue reading →

Posted in Museums etc., Plants | 2 Comments

Links 3/27/15

Posted on March 27, 2015 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science: Hopeful results in antibiotics reduction: The annual report on antibiotic resistance 
and the use of antibiotics in livestock shows encouraging results: resistance is decreasing. But we need to stay alert, says Dik Mevius. Battle Over Science … Continue reading →

Posted in Lotsa Links | Comments Off on Links 3/27/15

Metrics Matter: The Road Congestion Edition

Posted on March 27, 2015 by mikethemadbiologist

From the Commonwealth of Virginia, we read the following (boldface mine): But the Virginia General Assembly requires NVTA to prioritize projects that reduce road congestion. Before NVTA can fund any projects, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has to run … Continue reading →

Posted in Transportation | 1 Comment

Links 3/26/15

Posted on March 26, 2015 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science: It’s time to reboot bioinformatics education Why Don’t Animals Get Schizophrenia (and How Come We do)? Rethinking the brain: Critics of the European Human Brain Project were justified, says an independent report on the project. Both … Continue reading →

Posted in Lotsa Links | 2 Comments

They Really Don’t Like the Rest of Us

Posted on March 26, 2015 by mikethemadbiologist

By now, you might have heard that Nazghul, Wisconsin governor, and presidential hopeful Scott Walker appears to have received $1.5 million from businessman John Menard Jr. While this raises all sorts of campaign finance related issues, what I find fascinating–in … Continue reading →

Posted in Basic Human Decency, Bidness, Conservatives | 7 Comments

Campbell’s Law Hits the Big Time

Posted on March 26, 2015 by mikethemadbiologist

Campbell‘s Law, which economists refer to as Goodhart’s Law, seems to have hit the big time, and is applied by NY Times columinst Eduardo Porter to education (boldface mine): In this heated debate, however, it is important not to lose … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | 2 Comments

Links 3/25/15

Posted on March 25, 2015 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science: Why Are So Many People Nearsighted? Researchers may have found the answer that could keep glasses off one-third of the world’s population Close Proximity Interaction and S. aureus Spread in Long-Term Care In Republicans’ ‘War On … Continue reading →

Posted in Lotsa Links | 4 Comments

King Richard the 150th

Posted on March 25, 2015 by mikethemadbiologist

Our mainstream corporate media is very stupid:

Posted in Fucking Morons | 1 Comment

Throwing Buckets of Money At the Wrong Schools

Posted on March 25, 2015 by mikethemadbiologist

One of the dumber things I’ve ever heard is the aphorism “You can’t solve problems by throwing buckets of money at them.” This is idiotic: there are plenty of problems that can be solved with buckets of money. Usually when … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Uncategorized | Comments Off on Throwing Buckets of Money At the Wrong Schools

Links 3/24/15

Posted on March 24, 2015 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science: Pet Peeves (excellent, and every science journalist must read this) In which the postdoc sell-by date continues to shrivel: The MRC comes to its senses Scientists Seek Ban on Method of Editing the Human Genome (it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Lotsa Links | 4 Comments