Monthly Archives: May 2015

When Palinism Collides With Infrastructure

Posted on May 22, 2015 by mikethemadbiologist

I suppose collides isn’t the best choice of words. Anyway, Adam Gopnik has an excellent piece in the New Yorker that points out what drives much of the opposition to mass transit infrastructure, including trains (boldface mine): “The reason we … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservatives, Transportation | 6 Comments

Links 5/21/15

Posted on May 21, 2015 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science: U.S. Introduces New DNA Standard for Ensuring Accuracy of Genetic Tests London Calling Day 1: Highlights When Humans Declared War on Fish The Cro-Magnons Have No Descendants in Europe Today Did sexual equality fuel the evolution … Continue reading →

Posted in Lotsa Links | Comments Off on Links 5/21/15

Paradise Wet

Posted on May 21, 2015 by mikethemadbiologist

Strelitzia reginae observed on Corcoran Street, between 13th and 14th, Logan Circle, D.C.:

Posted in DC | 2 Comments

The Master of Humility Shifts the Iraq War Goalposts

Posted on May 21, 2015 by mikethemadbiologist

Very humbly, of course. Recently, David Brooks scribbled a mea culpa about his support for the Iraq War that was heavy on the mea and very light on the culpa. While many people have taken apart Brooks‘ column, there’s one … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservatives, Fucking Morons, Iraq | Comments Off on The Master of Humility Shifts the Iraq War Goalposts

Links 5/20/15

Posted on May 20, 2015 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science: Oxford Nanopore’s London Calling: Pre-meeting speculation (curious to see how this matched up with the meeting…) Bamboo Mathematicians An island in the Maldives is made of parrotfish poop Bacteria May Be Remaking Drugs in Sewage: Microbes … Continue reading →

Posted in Lotsa Links | 1 Comment

The Edes of May

Posted on May 20, 2015 by mikethemadbiologist

Observed at Oak Hill Cemetery, Georgetown, D.C.:

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Surprisingly, A GOP Bill Claims One Thing and Then Does the Opposite: The COMPETES Act Edition

Posted on May 20, 2015 by mikethemadbiologist

Consider the NSF is a government agency, this is pretty harsh language about the COMPETES Act (boldface mine; emphasis original): H.R. 1806 (Section 102) recognizes that “the Foundation has made major contributions for more than 60 years to strengthen and … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservatives, Fucking Morons, Funding, NSF, The War on Science | Comments Off on Surprisingly, A GOP Bill Claims One Thing and Then Does the Opposite: The COMPETES Act Edition

Links 5/19/15

Posted on May 19, 2015 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science: Troubling new research says global warming will cut wheat yields Brains, Schools and a Vicious Cycle of Poverty: Research spotlights the grim effect of poverty on education Swabs to genomes: a comprehensive workflow (excellent resource) Fear, … Continue reading →

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That’s A Lot of Office Space

Posted on May 19, 2015 by mikethemadbiologist

In an excellent article about the ongoing ginormousness of the ‘Defense Department’, we stumble across this little factoid: If you happen to peruse the latest Base Structure Report (on the off-chance you haven’t yet), you’ll read that the Department of … Continue reading →

Posted in Military | 1 Comment

Failure Is An Option: Antibiotic Resistance and Global Warming

Posted on May 19, 2015 by mikethemadbiologist

A while ago, I argued that many of our supposedly ‘scientific’ or technological problems aren’t anything of the sort: instead, they are largely political failures. Consider the problem of antibiotic resistance: There are a lot of things we could currently … Continue reading →

Posted in Antibiotics, Global Warming, We're Really Fucked | 8 Comments