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?
The Science of Kissing by Sheril Kirshenbaum
272 pages / $19.99 / Grand Central Publishing
I have been kissing other people for literally years. I knew the basics behind the science; we have big sensitive lips that get engorged with blood when we’re aroused and it fun to press them on other people’s lips (and if that was more than you knew about the subject this book will be all the more enlightening!). I have been doing kissing longer than I’ve been doing science; but now, through a truly heinous turn of events, I spend all day doing science with very little time kissing! To fill this hole I life I read BONK, and it horrified me. Literally too much information. I wanted something with a little more romance and tenderness; and a little less anatomical detail and uncomfortable imagery. So with all due deference to Mrs. Roach from both myself and Mrs. Kirshenbaum, I began The Science of Kissing.
Continue reading REVIEW: The Science of Kissing
A new science-fiction anthology from OR Books is now available for purchase and since we sometimes neglect the less than scientific in our show and blog I wanted to take a moment to highlight it.
It’s called Welcome to the Greenhouse and as the title implies it is a series of stories about the end-game effects of global climate change. I’ve already got my copy on my e-reader and plan on reviewing it as soon as I can but if you need no further prodding from me I suggest getting it right away.
To me the concept sounds like a zombie book if undead hoards were the very climate we rely on. What say you, Paleoposse? Sound like your kinda book? Already feeling scared of the air? Let us know in the comments.
The Rite hits theaters today and if you listened to episode 68 – Math of God you’ll remember our discussion was mostly about the possible endings the movie my take. We generally decided it would opt for the less than skeptical approach (to be a diplomatic as possible).
Turns out Sir Anthony Hopkins also had his doubts (yuk yuk). He’s a self-described agnostic, which was news to me. So he wrote a line into the movie that explains his own feelings towards skeptics and doubters. The clip and explanation is available at i09 but they don’t provide an embed code so you’ll have to click through to watch the video there and read his thoughts a little more in depth.
I will say that towards the end of this thoughts he gets a bit close to the “how can we know anything at all?” camp, but he was also speaking off the cuff so I’m all for giving him the benefit of the doubt.
Sometimes I really love my life. This book was kind of a perfect convergence of the things that make comics and evolution awesome. I hope you dig my thoughts. Feel free to comment here or click-through the link and comment on iFanboy.
Written by Jay Hosler
Illustrated by Kevin Cannon and Zander Cannon
$18.95 / 150 Pages / Black & White
Continue reading REVIEW – Evolution: The Story of Life on Earth via iFanboy
So it’s not evolutionarily speaking a bird… yet. BUT I COULDN’T RESIST! If you listen to the show you know I have a dream of being given the finger by a bird (see hoatzin) and not we’re one step closer with this little dinosaur named Linhenykus monodactylus, which is a theropod just like the pesky Eodromaeus from Episode 70 this week. I think it’s safe to safe after discovering practically two dinosaurs in one week we’ve found all that there is to find. That’s it folks, lets pack it in and go home!
Oh yeah, ecology, my job. Why only one finger? That certainly is curious. The one finger had a claw which may have been useful for digging up food or into insect nests like a warthog’s tusks.
I personally love convergent evolution like digit lose in tetrapods. Early tetrapods had 8-10 fingers per hand! There’s been a steady decrease in most groups since, and not really any great examples of increasing digits. It has something to do with hox genes and selective pressure. I keep asking Patrick to explain it but I’m not sure he gets it either. GENETICS!
Originally spotted on the Palaeoblog.
Ok, so that title is a little misleading but I couldn’t resist the mental imagery. Here’s the skinny. Don McLeroy is a creationist dentist from Texas. He’s also the former chair of the State Board of Education. Texas has a huge school system so the SBOE has a lot of influence about what makes it into textbooks which are then distributed to the entire nation. So it’s kind of a big deal that Don McLeroy wielded the power he did.
To shine a spotlight on the problem a team is trying to make a film, but now they need a good editor (I can relate). So they started a Kickstarter campaign to get the funds. Here’s a clip from the site, if you like it, maybe you throw in a few shekels? Donate enough and you get a special thanks in the credit. Be sure to include a shout out to Science… sort of if that happens!
Originally spotted at the Pharyngula blog.
Figured most people didn’t see this originally but I enjoyed writing it a lot so I wanted to share it again over on the Paleocave. If it seems a bit dumbed down that’s because it’s written for the comic fan who may or may not be a science fan. Enjoy it for what it is!
Here’s a link if you’d like to see what comments happened on iFanboy, apparently it got heated but I wasn’t online to follow up.
SCIENCE: Weather Powers and Global Climate Change
I’ve got climate on the brain. I’ve been studying it and reading up on a lot of the nitty gritty about just how it works. Right now we’re experiencing a period of anthropogenic (mad-made) induced global climate change. (If you’ve not a fan of climate change or just plain don’t understand keep reading but also feel free to e-mail me.) I think it’s fair to assume our favorite superheoric worlds also underwent the Industrial Revolution and outside of the Watchmen, where Dr. Manhattan actually changed the course of technological history, I’d argue that they’re all getting ready to deal with some global warming too. So I got to thinking: Could any of the people with the power to control weather fix the problem?
Continue reading iFanboy REPOST: Weather Powers and Global Climate Change
When something biological happens somewhere I usually get a few friends asking me about it. I’m happy to get the questions from the curious but it’s kind of like asking a doctor about a rash your friend has. Especially if that doctor was a neurosurgeon. The dude has the training to theoretically figure out what the rash is, but he hasn’t seen your friend and it’s really not his specialty. So I had to look into this a bit deeper before getting back to everyone.
Continue reading Birds are Dying! (Pretty much all the time)
Hello out there in Paleoland!
I got kinda bored over the break, so I decided upon the encouragement of Ryan Penagos to give this tumblr blog thing a try. I’ve been having fun with it, it’s kind of like Twitter plus. All of my personal posts from this blog and the main Science… sort of site will be found over there along with the occasional less polished ramblings, photos, and other funny links I find throughout the day. If you’re looking for mini-posts every day that hopefully make you smile I say check it out. Furthermore, I say start your own! Tumblr makes it pretty easy to sign up, pick a theme and get going. If anyone does start one, or already had one, feel free to give me a follow and let me know about your own project here in the comments. The more the merrier in the melting pot of the Internet!