Women in Science

There has been a continuing discussion over the last few years of why so few women remain in science. While I’m not going to dive into that topic here, you can find great discussions here, here, here and here. I don’t however think anyone argues about why women don’t enter science in the first place, . . . → Read More: Women in Science

NABA Turns Fish and Wildlife into Brainless Zombies

Fresh off the presses, the Miami Blue Butterfly (MBB) is now listed as federally endangered by act of an emergency provision. Huzzah! (right?)

Miami Blue Butterfly from Butterflies of America

My first thought was “wait, wasn’t this already endangered?”. Yes, turns out the MBB has been state-endangered since 2002 after a previous emergency . . . → Read More: NABA Turns Fish and Wildlife into Brainless Zombies

Jesus, aisle 4

What would Jesus do if he had some free time – maybe cure a disease, end a war, or feed the starving – but nah, everyone sees that coming. Why not shock them to the core – burn your face on a Walmart receipt! At least, that’s what a couple in South Carolina believe to . . . → Read More: Jesus, aisle 4

All New, Attack Moths!

It seems like there is a preponderance of urban legends that involve insects crawling into our faces while we sleep. The most famous myth is something along the lines of “you eat 8 spiders a year while sleeping“. Actually when you google that the number ranges from 4 to 8… up to . . . → Read More: All New, Attack Moths!

Genius of the Press XVIII

 

Who can tell me what’s wrong below? Not only is it the obvious photo problem, but the author of the article takes some logical leaps to support his premise. Who can tell me what his logical fallacies are? I won’t link to the entire article quite yet because a well known Lepidopterist has already . . . → Read More: Genius of the Press XVIII

1984

Better be careful of what you do while out in the countryside. Farms can be dangerous places, especially if you’re a photographer. Proposed legislation in Florida, titled simply “farms”, is attempting to make photography or drawings in, on or of a farm without explicit written consent a first degree FELONY (up to 30 years in . . . → Read More: 1984

A Year in Review

Oops, looks like I missed my first ‘blogoversary’! Monday the 21st was the one year turning point for my blog; and I’m incredibly happy to have spent the last year sharing some of my ramblings with all of you. I’ve somewhat lost track of how many hits I’ve had since I moved everything . . . → Read More: A Year in Review

Check your horoscope today?

I did, and it sounds like it was written by Sarah Palin. Actually, I came across this meta analysis of over 22,000 horoscopes over on Information is Beautiful. It’s spectacular – but I’ll run down a few points here:

From these 22,000 horoscopes came a chart of the most common words (bottom), 90% of which . . . → Read More: Check your horoscope today?

Leave it to the Mythbusters

 

Not too long ago I posted about the device above – a cool looking glass bulb which supposedly uses light to scare away flights. That claim hit my skeptical nerve, and I discussed it in my previous post. Over the past weeks I’ve been researching reasonable methods . . . → Read More: Leave it to the Mythbusters

Call me skeptical…

I came across this interesting device and had an instant gut reaction.. “Of course a stupid water bulb doesn’t repel flies, this is a scam!”…

deep breath…

OK that is terrible skepticism. Actually, it’s cynical and it’s just what skeptics hate being called. It’s also something that happens much too easily – . . . → Read More: Call me skeptical…