Category: science

Monday Links: Patrick Stewart, How to Use a Semicolon, and Being Wrong in Science

Anyone alive who needs convincing that Patrick Stewart is an amazing man is beyond hope. Anyone who doesn’t understand that men also have an obligation to stand up for the safety of women after watching Patrick Stewart say as much needs to watch more Star Trek: The Next Generation and make it so. It’s not …

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Monday Links: Informal Segregation in Georgia, The Devil’s Kimchee, and Star Trek Set Gags

This article on a high school in Macon, Georgia shocked me. Apparently, Wilcox County High School still has a “whites-only” prom, in addition to an integrated prom. They can get away with this, apparently, because the prom nights are arranged by the community and not the school itself. Nonetheless, it’s frightening to see the vestiges …

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Monday Link: More Herman and Chomsky, the Fermi Paradox, and a Timeline of Food

In researching some of last week’s posts, I happened upon this article reprinted on Noam Chomsky’s website. I have yet to read the report in its entirety, but it is an interesting look at both criticisms and defenses of the Herman-Chomsky propaganda model of mass media. The author (who is not Chomsky or Herman) also …

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This Week On Runicfire: March 25 – March 31

Monday sees two posts: a Space Edition of the usual links, and the piece on the effects of the Internet versus television as a medium originally scheduled for last Friday. Wednesday continues the media focus as I delve into the unusual face of propaganda in the United States. Dinner is served with a side of Noam Chomsky …

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Monday Links: Mannequins, Higgs, Meteors and Martian Water

A clothing store in Sweden now features mannequins which represent the curvier (and more common) spectrum of the female figure. The reception of their decision is overwhelmingly positive. While I must comment on how the picture in the article appears to obscure the largest of the three mannequins in its photograph, I do believe this …

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Monday Links: WiFi Paranoia, Positive Pessimism, and Ebert’s Social Catholicism

Tinfoil hats, long life and prosperity, and cardinal contemplations feature on this Monday’s links. Wi-Fi signals are harmless to the human body, so far as we know. But they can make you ill—if you think they can make you ill. The whole story is on Neuroskeptic’s blog at Discover Magazine. A National Post article features research …

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This Week On Runicfire: March 11 – 17

This Monday’s round of links talk about how thinking harmless things are harmful makes you sick, the upside of pessimism and one man’s experience of growing up Catholic. Wednesday’s post will be partly about how culture affects sense of time, but mostly about how any one culture’s understanding of being human is woefully incomplete. And Friday I unleash …

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Science Tidbits: Moon Colonies, Genetic Circuits, and Throwing Rocks at Earth

On Bad Astronomy, I found this video featuring Phil Plait and Dr. Karin Bondar. In the video, Phil speaks briefly on the possibility of applying 3-D printing technology to building settlements on the moon—an option actually under development by NASA. Karin follows up with an equally fascinating development: biologists are manipulating DNA in a manner …

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This Week on Runicfire: Feb 18 – 24

Runicfire is entering its second week, and we have another roster of posts. Here’s what to expect: Today, Monday the 18th, I reflect on the San Francisco Writer’s Conference and the possibility of a second Renaissance. This Wednesday, the 20th, a brief post on recent developments in science. And for Friday the 22nd I explore the …

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