I got 9/12, but then, I never did take biology after 7th grade.
via Pharyngula (whom I am compelled to cite, despite his snarky comment)
Category Archives: Other science
I Feeeel Good
[T]he placebo theory of suffering is one window through which to view blogging. As social creatures, humans have a range of pain-related behaviors, such as complaining, which acts as a “placebo for getting satisfied,” Flaherty says. Blogging about stressful experiences might work similarly.
[…]
Located mainly in the midbrain, the limbic system controls our drives, whether they are related to food, sex, appetite, or problem solving. “You know that drives are involved [in blogging] because a lot of people do it compulsively,” Flaherty notes. Also, blogging might trigger dopamine release, similar to stimulants like music, running and looking at art.
Hmmm. Blogging = bitching = placebo
And what of those who blog while listening to music, looking at art and running, all at the same time? Bring on that dopamine!
Heh. So much for blogging being bad
via EvolutionBlog
It's a Guy Thing
Only the males sing, which has led many scientists to theorize that they croon to attract females. The hole in this argument, though, is that no one has ever seen a female whale show any interest in a male’s song.
Just because women show no interest doesn’t mean a guy isn’t doing it in the hopes of getting laid*. We just assume they’re playing hard-to-get.
*according to the Michael-from-The-Big-Chill hypothesis
Still Better Than "A Burns for All Seasons"
More video that doesn’t have George C. Scott saying, “My Groin!” The Science Of Ball To Groin at glumbert. (Some annoying ads — and nothing else — tend to pop up on the video) This time, tennis balls (the projectile, not the target), while last time it was a baseball, but with a cup. Very different goals (though the same target), very different results.
There's a Party in My Pipette!
. . . and everyone’s invited. Chemistry can be fun, at Creative Review.
The video is funny, and Chlorine has some very nice orbitals, though I’m sorry they stopped before Potassium ripped the water molecule apart.
(And, of course, funny chemistry videos demand a physics rebuttal, which will be forthcoming)
Random Nonphysics Link
Splendid Elles: My Thoughts on Creationism (aka the artist post formerly known as Creationists are Pure Evil)
As the Blue Collar Scientist notes, it’s very well done, and though I understand the reasoning behind noting that it’s done by a fifteen year-old, I think that’s a bit of a distraction. I’m reminded of the quote by Samuel Johnson about seeing a dog walking on its hind legs: “The wonder of the matter is not whether it does it well, but that it does it at all.” This isn’t a good post for a fifteen year-old. It’s a good post, period.
I, For One, Welcome Our New Insane Ant Overlords
Ants swarm over Houston area, fouling electronics
Maybe it’s in protest for being called “crazy”
The hairy, reddish-brown creatures are known as “crazy rasberry ants” – crazy, because they wander erratically instead of marching in regimented lines, and “rasberry” after Tom Rasberry, an exterminator who did battle against them early on
[…]
[T]heir cousins, commonly called crazy ants, are found in the Southeast and the Caribbean.
A lawyer for the ant anti-defamation league is considering a class-action lawsuit.
What Goes Around, Comes Around
Make Ethanol in Your Own Backyard
A Silicon Valley start-up called E-Fuel is showing exactly how ethanol can live up to its name as “the people´s fuel.” The company recently announced that it will soon start selling a home ethanol system, the E-Fuel 100 MicoFueler, which will allow anyone to make ethanol from sugar, water, yeast, and electricity in their own backyard.
Still, they didn’t claim this was a new idea.
“What, you can run a car on that, too?”
(Reminds me of the story about someone who sold bricks of dehydrated grapes during prohibition, which included step-by-step of instructions of what not to do, lest you end up making some illegal alcohol)
Scary Nonphysics Geek Stuff: Animal Robo-Porn
Mechanical squirrels, robot lizards jump into research
In Indiana, for instance, a fake lizard shows off its machismo as researchers assess which actions intimidate and which attract real lizards. Pheromone-soaked cockroach counterfeits in Brussels, meanwhile, exert peer pressure on real roaches to move out of protective darkness. In California, a tiny video camera inside a fake female sage grouse records close-up details as it’s wooed – and more – by the breed’s unusually promiscuous males.
And here’s a short video of said sage grouse, deemed the fembot (oh, behave!). It’s a preview that’s G-rated (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) though check out the soundtrack. I fully expected Mrs. Krabappel to pop up and proclaim, “She’s faking it.”
Top Ten Redux
The Top ten greatest experiments, with brief descriptions. More detail that the book review to which I previously linked.