All posts by Ryan

Michal’s Czech Pronunciation Challenge!

Listener Michal sent in an e-mail containing his iTunes review. Problem is the review is only visible on iTunes if you’re in the Czech Republic. It’s also written in Czech. Now apparently I said I’d try reading German reviews if they were sent in and Michal thinks that maybe I could handle Czech too. I disagree, because this looks really hard to pronounce. Germanic languages I have a clue about, Slavic languages remain a mystery.

So on Episode 91, which also came out today, I fumble through a word or two before giving up entirely. Yet I still want to know how praise for the show would sound in Czech, thus, this post. I’m going to post Michal’s review and the pronunciation guide he sent. If you can handle it with your mouth, then call us at 312-Paleopals (312-725-3672) and read it for us! Fun times will be had by all…

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REVIEW: Welcome to the Greenhouse

It’s summertime and it’s hot out! That means academics get to read for fun. I think that’s true for most jobs too, so I figured I’d talk about the book I finally managed to finish now that classes are done.

I mentioned Welcome to the Greenhouse in a previous post, so I guess in some ways this is a follow up but I couldn’t say much about the product before other than that it had a cool concept. By way of a reminder, the book is an anthology of short fiction by sci-fi scribes centered around the idea of global climate change.

Continue reading REVIEW: Welcome to the Greenhouse

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BEER REVIEW: GUBNA Imperial IPA

Per my previous post, I’m not gonna put beer reviews up on the blog for a while. If you’re curious why, click-through the link. If you just wanna read my thoughts concerning an old favorite beer, continue on. As in my last post about beer, I’ll be using the rating system devised by Beer Advocate, where this review was originally posted.

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Science… sort of Florida Meetup of 2011!

Hey Paleoposse,

Jacob was feeling lonely and said we should do some sort of meetup down south so he can make friends and leave the house for something other than work. I said sure and offered to drive all way down to Florida so provide double the incentive for all the Paleoposse to come out for a night of drinks, science, and burgeoning friendships. Would you like some details? You can have them!

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Reposting Rowe

Our guest on the show this week (Episode 80) was Dr. Christie Rowe who had a contentious interaction with Simon Winchester about a fear-mongering seismology article he’d written. She gave us permission to repost her letters and his responses for your enjoyment. So do just that, enjoy.

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Someone at io9 must be listening…

As mentioned in Episode 74 I mentioned that one of the sites I frequent for potential show topics and my own amusement is i09. I encourage listeners to scope it out as long as they still come back here for their science podcasting fix. My reason for mentioning this at all is that recently I mentioned that scientists rarely experiment on themselves and that animal testing is a necessary fact of life for certain types of biologist. Well the good folks at io9 have compiled top 10 lists related to each subject. Enjoy perusing them as I did then go leave us an iTunes review or something else productive.

Top 10 Scientists Who Experimented On Themselves

Top 10 Animals That Made Significant Contributions to Research

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PaleoPOEM

Paleoposse member Chris sent in a wonderful poem which Ryan read on air in Episode 76 – Alien Ant Farm, but in the interests of preservation we figured it best if we posted it here as well. Enjoy, and thanks again to Chris!

There once was a science podcast
that I came upon at long last.
They talk about booze
and primordial ooze
and listening to them is a blast!

They fill my ears with their words
’bout good movie trailers (and turds)
and naked mole rats
and guano from bats
and how dinosaurs are now birds

Zombie hordes they taught me how
to survive quite well for now:
Shoot for the head,
Avoid the undead.
And that gets a PaleoPOW!

Paleopals, carry on!
And bandoliers you must don
when zombies come near
stock your whiskey and beer
’cause the breweries will be all gone

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QUIZ: Which evolved first, grass or flowers?

New idea for a post, hopefully it’ll be short, sweet and subversive. It’s kind of a two-parter. Part 1 is a quiz, multiple choice, and Part 2 is the explanation of the quiz. Below is the quiz. Take a moment to complete it, then come back tomorrow to find out why I put you through all this!

Feel free to leave comments that expand upon your answer, but give spoiler warnings for folks who might still want to guess blind.

Continue reading QUIZ: Which evolved first, grass or flowers?

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