Monthly Archives: April 2016

Grants: Load, Deadlines, And Gamesmanship

Posted on April 18, 2016 by mikethemadbiologist

The NSF conducted a very interesting experiment which halved the number of grant proposals (boldface mine): Annual or semiannual grant deadlines lead to enormous spikes in submissions, which in turn cause headaches for the program managers who have to organize … Continue reading →

Posted in Funding, NIH, NSF | Comments Off on Grants: Load, Deadlines, And Gamesmanship

Links 4/17/16

Posted on April 17, 2016 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science: Malcolm Gladwell got us wrong: Our research was key to the 10,000-hour rule, but here’s what got oversimplified (inconceivable!) Replicates and repeats People Who Avoided Illness Could Be Key in Treating Those Who Didn’t Evaluating the … Continue reading →

Posted in Lotsa Links | 1 Comment

D.C. Statehood And The Tennessee Option

Posted on April 17, 2016 by mikethemadbiologist

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is pushing hard for D.C. statehood, and she seems to have hit on an interesting strategy, the “Tennessee Strategy” (boldface mine): Aides to Bowser said a broader push for statehood would follow a process known as … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Liberties, DC | Comments Off on D.C. Statehood And The Tennessee Option

Links 4/16/16

Posted on April 16, 2016 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science: Mounting data suggest antibacterial soaps do more harm than good This Low-Tech Trap For Killing Mosquito Eggs Is Brilliant What bacterial genome assemblers are people using? The new astrology: By fetishising mathematical models, economists turned economics … Continue reading →

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A Model Employee Executive Order

Posted on April 16, 2016 by mikethemadbiologist

The Congressional Progress Caucus must be reading my blog (boldface mine): We write to request your support for raising the wages and living standards of Americans by committing to build upon President Obama’s legacy of bold executive action on behalf … Continue reading →

Posted in Democrats, Economics | 1 Comment

Links 4/15/16

Posted on April 15, 2016 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science: Food should be labelled with the exercise needed to expend its calories We Finally Know Why the North Pole Is Moving East Italy’s Olive Trees Didn’t Have to Die Intuitive Ethics and Political Orientations: Testing Moral … Continue reading →

Posted in Lotsa Links | 1 Comment

Car Carnage

Posted on April 15, 2016 by mikethemadbiologist

Last week, New Yorker cartoonist William Hamilton died in a car crash. According to reports, he lost control of his car and killed himself*. As I noted when mathematician John Nash and his wife Alicia were killed, once you get … Continue reading →

Posted in Automobiles, Fucking Morons, Transportation, Urban Planning | 2 Comments

Links 4/14/16

Posted on April 14, 2016 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science: No ‘science for science sake’: emails show CSIRO plans to cut climate research Is Addiction a Learning Disorder? This huge region of Brazil is even more deforested — and less protected — than the Amazon ‘If … Continue reading →

Posted in Lotsa Links | 4 Comments

Spider-Man!

Posted on April 14, 2016 by mikethemadbiologist

Observed at the Library of Congress, D.C.:

Posted in DC | Comments Off on Spider-Man!

Will Microbial Genomics Become ‘Politicized’?

Posted on April 14, 2016 by mikethemadbiologist

I hope not, but this response to a case where microbial genomics was used to determine the source of a Listeria monocytogenes outbreak isn’t encouraging (boldface mine): Last month, when health officials reported they discovered a pathogenic connection between raw … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment