Pavlov's Stepson
Kiss someone nice, or lick a rock, or both
“It’s called ‘reading’. It’s how people install new software into their brains.”
—Randy Glasbergen
(Source: theslowest)
courierpress.com - An Indiana Senate panel has approved a bill that would allow creationism to be taught in Indiana’s public schools.
The Times of Munster reports (http://bit.ly/yKZdgN) the Republican-controlled Senate Education Committee voted 8-2 Wednesday to send the legislation to the…
Next week’s issue featuring The Power of Shyness will be on newsstands Friday.
![thedailywhat:
Say No To Understanding Terrorism of the Day: When MidAmerica Nazarene University student Sophia Stockton received her textbook on understanding terrorism from Amazon, she flipped through it to find that it came with an unwelcome study aid: A bag of cocaine.
Stockton says she took the substance to the Gardner police station, where it was identified by an officer.
“He put some gloves on and put it in a plastic bag, he took it back to test it and like 10 minutes later he came back and said, ‘Did you happen to order some cocaine with your textbook?” Stockton told KWCH.
Though the book, Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues, was used, Stockton claims she received it directly from Amazon “entirely wrapped up.”
He (the person who previously had the book) did not know it was in there,” she said. “I am sure the guy was mad he left it in there, but I am kind of glad it is off the streets.”
Amazon has not yet commented on the case.
[kwch / kctv / tnw.]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lygvgf5HMh1qzpwi0o1_1280.jpg)
Say No To Understanding Terrorism of the Day: When MidAmerica Nazarene University student Sophia Stockton received her textbook on understanding terrorism from Amazon, she flipped through it to find that it came with an unwelcome study aid: A bag of cocaine.
Stockton says she took the substance to the Gardner police station, where it was identified by an officer.
“He put some gloves on and put it in a plastic bag, he took it back to test it and like 10 minutes later he came back and said, ‘Did you happen to order some cocaine with your textbook?” Stockton told KWCH.
Though the book, Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues, was used, Stockton claims she received it directly from Amazon “entirely wrapped up.”
He (the person who previously had the book) did not know it was in there,” she said. “I am sure the guy was mad he left it in there, but I am kind of glad it is off the streets.”
Amazon has not yet commented on the case.
Mind-Melter of the Day
It turns out that if you divide 1 by 998,001 you get all three-digit numbers from 000 to 999 in order.
Except for 998.
(via Futility Closet)
Truth.
Neil Degrasse Tyson - Scientific Literacy (How do you look at the world?)
Stand With Science
A Call to Congress to Protect Science Funding
To: The United States Congress Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction
Dear Member:
America’s science and engineering graduate students need your help. Our country is on the precipice: with US finances in a desperate position, upcoming decisions will determine the shape of our nation for decades to come. We urge you to seek common ground in Congress to preserve the indispensable investments in science and engineering research that will drive our nation’s prosperity for generations. We urge you to avoid any cuts in federally funded research.
We could reiterate that scientific progress and technological innovation have kept the US at the head of the global economy for over half a century. We could remind you that rapid changes in health technology, information security, globalization, communications, artificial intelligence, and advanced materials make scientific and technological progress more critical than ever. We could warn you that our global competitors are ramping up investments in research and development, inspired by our own rise to economic superpower. But all this is well established[1][2][3][4][5][6]. Instead, we’d like to discuss a crucial element of research funding that is often overlooked: human capital.
Over half a million graduate students and postdoctoral associates study science and engineering in the US[7]. These researchers form the bedrock labor force of the world’s best university R&D community. The value of these graduate students is not limited to the experiments they run and the papers they publish. Researchers in science and engineering learn to develop and implement long-term strategies, monitor progress, adapt to unexpected findings, evaluate their work and others’, collaborate across disciplines, acquire new skills, and communicate to a wide audience. Scientists and engineers don’t just get good jobs; they create good jobs, enabling their employers to produce the innovative products and services that drive our economic growth. Every science and engineering graduate represents a high-return investment in human capital, one impossible without federal support.
Federal research funding is essential to graduate education because research is our education. Over 60% of university research is federally funded; private industry, although it dominates the development stage, accounts for only 6% of university research[8]. America must remain competitive in the global economy, and we cannot hope to do that by paying the lowest wages. We will never win a race to the bottom. Instead, we must innovate, and train the next generation of innovators. Innovation drives 60% of US growth[9]. Economists estimate that if our economy grew just half a percent faster than forecast for 20 years, the country would face half the deficit cutting it faces today[10].
Does federal research funding promote innovative technology and groundbreaking scientific progress? Absolutely. It also provides our economy with the most versatile, skilled, motivated, and creative workers in the world. We graduate students understand the severity of the fiscal crisis facing our country. Our sleeves are rolled up; we’re ready to be part of the solution. But we need your help. Congress’s goal in controlling our deficit is to protect America’s future prosperity; healthy federal research funding is essential to that prosperity. In the difficult months ahead, we ask you to look to the future and protect our crucial investments in R&D.
Sincerely,
America’s Science and Engineering Graduate Students”
LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman and former Facebook executive Matt Cohler drop $15 million into education startup Edmodo. Can creating an education graph transform how schools do their job?
cwnl:
Lunar Eclipse Over an Indian Peace Pagoda
Our Moon turned red last week. The reason was that during December 10, a total lunar eclipse occurred. The above digitally superimposed image mosaic captured the Moon many times during the eclipse, from before the Moon entered Earth’s shadow until after the Moon exited.
The image sequence was recorded over a Shanti Stupa Peace Pagota near the center of New Delhi, India, where the eclipse of the Moon was nearly, but not completely, total.
The red tint of the eclipsed Moon was created by sunlight first passing through the Earth’s atmosphere, which preferentially scatters blue light (making the sky blue) but passes and refracts red light, before reflecting back off the Moon. Differing amounts of clouds and volcanic dust in the Earth’s atmosphere make each lunar eclipse appear differently. The next total lunar eclipse will occur only in 2014.
Image Credit & Copyright: Chander Devgun (SPACE)
(Source: ikenbot)
let’s share the blame
Why I Am Proudly, Strongly, and Happily in Favor of Adverbs
Writing isn’t math. It has no Pythagorean theorem, but it’s simple to ban adverbs. In many cases, doing so can improve the work in question, as it encourages writers—children, adults, newbies, veterans—to think about structure and diction. The no-adverbs rule only becomes problematic when students don’t learn—just like how there are many words where “e” comes before “i”—that there are times when the rule is meant to be broken.
Even those most famous rulebooks couch their points in qualifiers. Dig past the section headings, and Strunk and White aren’t always against an adverb. It’s in the rush to get it right that those who rely on those rules replace Zinsser’s “most” with “all.” We forget that there are exceptions, that an adverb can go a long way.
Lily Rothman comes to the defense of a much-maligned part of speech. Read more.
Are you prepared for finals?
