I just posted about chimps, yawning, and empathy. Now I’m thinking about human kids. Toddlers don’t have empathy. And certainly infants don’t. Sometimes toddlers play empathic roles, pretending to really care, but when it doesn’t amuse them any more, they stop. There have been all kinds of studies about when kids really start to develop […]
Archive | Science and Such
Yawning and Empathy
I’ve posted before about Science Cafes (U.S. Version) (UK version) (The World): Meet scientists in a bar or cafe, and chat with them about the work they do. The one here in Atlanta meets once a month or so. You eat dinner and then listen to a scientist talk about his work. (You can subscribe […]
Yes, It's Penisology!
I’ve mentioned before that I listen to, and highly recommend, the entertaining and smart Science Weekly podcast from the Guardian [subscribe here]. This week’s broadcasts has plenty of explicit sexual language, so I know you’re interested: Penisology. By the way, Science Weekly is normally hosted by a guy named Alok Jha, and he does a […]
World’s Best Microscope Photography
From Wired Science, beautiful and fascinating images from the last 35 years. [Thanks to boingboing for the link.]
Zombie? Attack
Scientists have discovered that an attack by zombies would have serious implications on society. For real.
Homeopathy
Dara O’Briain and his feelings on homeopathy and pseudo-science. [link from boingboing.net] In a different clip, he argues against the idea that God created humans exactly as we currently are. His best argument against that idea is that we occasionally bite the insides of our own mouths. “I was so eager to eat that plate […]
Malaria Vaccine Delivery
The latest possible method to deliver a sort of vaccine? Mosquitoes.
More Flu
I’ve posted before about the latest swine flu and it’s similarities to the 1918 version that killed more people than all the wars of the 20th century combined. Over the weekend, I attended a talk given by Toby L. Merlin, the Deputy Director of the Influenza Coordination Unit at the CDC. It was fascinating and […]
H. pylori
Latest Wilson’s Quarterly (I can’t link to the specific article) tells me all about H. pylori, the microbe that causes ulcers. (For those of you who still think that ulcers are caused by stress or spicy food, try to catch up, for crying out loud. People have already won the Nobel prize for disproving that.) […]
Ants Own Everything
It’s been awhile since I posted about ants (here and here), but they keep being cool. BBC News has a headline called: Ant mega-colony takes over world In short, they believe that a huge colony has spread all over (probably hitching a ride with humans), and members won’t fight against each other.