tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15706760203873445232024-03-05T17:53:21.660+01:00Science, Culture & Knowledge"If I have seen further it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants"
(Isaac Newton)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07053727110507947198noreply@blogger.comBlogger77125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570676020387344523.post-75606255191649843032013-05-14T20:23:00.001+02:002013-05-14T20:25:19.962+02:00Life is Impossible (BBC Documentary)<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<b>T</b>his documentary will possibly not only <b>NOT</b> answer the questions you may have concerning the origin of life on Earth, but will probably also raise questions that never occurred to you. The main reason why I decided to post it here is that it is an excellent demonstration of how science works on the search for the truth. It is an exciting exercise of critical thinking! I hope you enjoy it.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8KfOBgrfkp4" width="520"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07053727110507947198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570676020387344523.post-30732379583720454512013-04-28T10:06:00.004+02:002013-04-28T10:07:54.238+02:00Invasive Species<b><span style="font-size: large;">S</span></b>ee the catastrophic economic, public health and ecological impacts of the spread of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasive_species" target="_blank">invasive species</a> worldwide.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07053727110507947198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570676020387344523.post-34440883826477589892013-04-20T13:09:00.000+02:002013-04-20T13:09:05.557+02:00When Does Your Baby Become Conscious? - ScienceNOW<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="sn-baby.jpg" class="sci-inline-feature-image" height="400" src="http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/assets_c/2013/04/sn-baby-thumb-200xauto-16879.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="336" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">credit: <span>Sofie Gelskov</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>T</b></span>ake a look at this interesting article from Science regarding when the first signs of consciousness can be found in babies:<br />
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<a href="http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2013/04/when-does-your-baby-become-consc.html?ref=hp#.UXJ09qdmgpc.blogger">When Does Your Baby Become Conscious? - ScienceNOW</a><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07053727110507947198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570676020387344523.post-10416846121767595352013-03-30T08:46:00.001+01:002013-03-30T09:11:18.301+01:00Science Under Attack (BBC Horizon Documentary)<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">T</span></b>his is a very interesting BBC documentary that shows how, all over the world, science appears to be facing not scrutiny, but what can really be defined as attack. The public are increasingly skeptical not only about scientific views on complex (and seemingly controversial) issues like climate change, but also about long established certainties like the safety of vaccines or the fact that HIV causes AIDS.<br />
The documentary also shows what is behind such attacks and sheds light on the actual scientific knowledge concerning the matters in question.<br />
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<div><a class="addthis_button" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=xa-4a9a344726ed5766"><img width="125" alt="Bookmark and Share" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" height="16" style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; " /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07053727110507947198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570676020387344523.post-19814936622104736952012-04-06T11:35:00.001+02:002013-03-30T09:12:25.525+01:00The Burden of Freedom<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">C</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">ommon sense tells us that the way to maximize freedom is to maximize choice. American psychologist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Schwartz_(psychologist)" target="_blank">Barry Schwartz</a> argues, however, that having too much choices is actually a bad thing. Watch this interesting video and learn why.</span></span><br />
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<div><a class="addthis_button" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=xa-4a9a344726ed5766"><img width="125" alt="Bookmark and Share" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" height="16" style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; " /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07053727110507947198noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570676020387344523.post-39953178318610112552011-05-28T10:20:00.001+02:002013-03-30T09:13:03.730+01:00Science and Morality: Two Different Worlds?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">C</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">an science give us a foundation for morality and human values? Or is ethics definitely beyond its reach? <a href="http://www.samharris.org/">Sam Harris</a> argues that the separation between science and human values is an illusion, and a rather dangerous one. He sees values as a certain kind of facts, namely, “facts about the well-being of conscious creatures”, both personal and collective. And notions of human morality are, according to him, “at some point reducible to a concern about conscious experience and its possible changes.” That is why we have no ethical obligations towards inanimate objects or inferior animals such as insects, for instance. He doesn't claim that science could give us the answers to every conceivable moral question, neither that we are able to access all the states of conscious creatures' well-being. He says that, even if we are not capable of finding all the answers, the simple fact of admitting that there are right and wrong answers to such questions could change the way we talk about morality. In his excellent <a href="http://www.ted.com/">TED talk</a> (see the video below) he provides very good (and well-humored) arguments in favor of these allegations. Very enlightening in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmodernism">post-modern</a> times!</span><br />
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<div><a class="addthis_button" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=xa-4a9a344726ed5766"><img width="125" alt="Bookmark and Share" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" height="16" style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; " /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07053727110507947198noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570676020387344523.post-90856391699066160202011-05-28T09:54:00.001+02:002013-03-30T09:13:27.451+01:00Can Animals be Gay?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGXklWMSVuvuAXfAACQf5679iDgTlz4pjzwzIGpwmbEn21TCGH_UauLzLyPh4bAvNmjuSIjhDH6QyleCNBcEdSi3aMBBGV920XeoJ-QFabkU7D_5cE5glcu9s6CxYEiq8EIzmgsNwR0Fgb/s1600/Blacksheep_onhill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGXklWMSVuvuAXfAACQf5679iDgTlz4pjzwzIGpwmbEn21TCGH_UauLzLyPh4bAvNmjuSIjhDH6QyleCNBcEdSi3aMBBGV920XeoJ-QFabkU7D_5cE5glcu9s6CxYEiq8EIzmgsNwR0Fgb/s1600/Blacksheep_onhill.jpg" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">O</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">ne must be very careful when making parallels between the behavior of human beings and that of other animals, since it is very easy to engage in the fallacy of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropomorphism">anthropomorphism</a>. Attributing to animals the capacity of perceiving the world in the same ways we do, or of having feelings or emotions similar to ours, is a big mistake. Nevertheless, many people fall into the anthropomorphism trap. It is not rare, for example, to hear animal rights activists comparing the “suffering” experienced by cattle in the imminence of slaughter to the anguish that a death- penalty convict faces shortly before execution. Now, a cow is most likely not aware of its own existence, neither is it tormented by metaphysical questions, to mention just a few obvious fundamental differences that undoubtedly make the human suffering under such circumstances incomparably more intense.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Various forms of same-sex sexual activities have been observed in more than 450 animal species. Although this does not necessarily mean that there is such a thing as gay animals (beware the anthropomorphism!), it raises many interesting questions. <b><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/magazine/04animals-t.html?scp=2&sq=Can+Animals+be+Gay&st=nyt">This link</a></b> gives access to an excellent <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Times_Magazine">New York Times Magazine</a> article named “Can Animals be Gay?” In addition to the interesting scientific information, the article shows how unwise it can be to make moral judgements about nature as well as the dangers of anthropomorphism</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">.</span></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
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<div><a class="addthis_button" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=xa-4a9a344726ed5766"><img width="125" alt="Bookmark and Share" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" height="16" style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; " /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07053727110507947198noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570676020387344523.post-64966432314836962942011-01-23T13:38:00.001+01:002013-03-30T09:13:49.510+01:00Smoking Can Damage the Body in Minutes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga2iGLz1d-u9toF9B6aDqVC30E4diBFCAUmHYdr36x25ln5W5bf5LUiO0ws1X4UZTB0MyErOV8amlAaMCfwbZ0qvIDyjosuAPten0HiQbNsoEvEA7L7cO3yAFpxxf613-bgulXuYFZ2ct_/s1600/cigarrette.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga2iGLz1d-u9toF9B6aDqVC30E4diBFCAUmHYdr36x25ln5W5bf5LUiO0ws1X4UZTB0MyErOV8amlAaMCfwbZ0qvIDyjosuAPten0HiQbNsoEvEA7L7cO3yAFpxxf613-bgulXuYFZ2ct_/s400/cigarrette.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></span></div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: TrebuchetMS, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: TrebuchetMS, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: TrebuchetMS, sans-serif;"><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">A</span></b>ccording to a research in the USA, smoking can damage the body in minutes rather than years. The research, funded by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Cancer_Institute">US National Cancer Institute</a>, showed that the formation of the chemicals which cause cancer occurs 15−30 min after smoking a cigarette. These chemicals “react with DNA to produce adducts that can cause mutations and initiate the carcinogenic process.”</span></span></div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> </div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Read more:</span></span></div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"></div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/tx100345x?journalCode=crtoec"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Immediate Consequences of Cigarette Smoking: Rapid Formation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Diol Epoxide</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12193602"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Smoking 'causes damage in minutes', US experts claim.</span></a></span></li>
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<div><a class="addthis_button" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=xa-4a9a344726ed5766"><img width="125" alt="Bookmark and Share" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" height="16" style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; " /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07053727110507947198noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570676020387344523.post-24121100350551070742011-01-15T17:32:00.004+01:002011-01-16T12:52:54.704+01:00Looking for Another Earth<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">O</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">n March 7, 2009, NASA launched the <a href="http://kepler.nasa.gov/">Kepler Mission</a>, a space observatory designed to discover <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrestrial_planet">Earth-like planets</a> outside the Solar System. The search for such planets is everything but simple. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Since 1992, astronomers have announced the confirmed detection of 518 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Extrasolar_Planets_Encyclopaedia">extrasolar planets</a>. However, most of them are massive giants, like Jupiter, which are less difficult to detect. The problem is that it is not yet possible to observe distant planets through direct imaging. Their existence can be only indirectly inferred. Watch the video below and find out how it works.</span><br />
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<object height="311" width="510"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_HO_MSAxSQU?fs=1&hl=de_DE"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_HO_MSAxSQU?fs=1&hl=de_DE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="510" height="311"></embed></object>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07053727110507947198noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570676020387344523.post-13209600237122198742010-12-19T00:39:00.001+01:002010-12-19T14:35:37.889+01:00The Australian Flying Saucer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6PZ18ZDQm2eDJtgbTY4KEoiK7mux2xlCvE8yNZBaAqDggHyB4vhMyEbXhWNfY6FTN9JMePndUgAzd1Zn_QtRjxRGmbO6sE9zv6Qqg_UOT1e4DbNhyphenhyphen5Pi0K5o3_ckzcFtFL3py6gVr3jnj/s1600/skyliftergn_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6PZ18ZDQm2eDJtgbTY4KEoiK7mux2xlCvE8yNZBaAqDggHyB4vhMyEbXhWNfY6FTN9JMePndUgAzd1Zn_QtRjxRGmbO6sE9zv6Qqg_UOT1e4DbNhyphenhyphen5Pi0K5o3_ckzcFtFL3py6gVr3jnj/s400/skyliftergn_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture Credit: Skylifter</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">A</span></b>n Australian company named “</span></span><a href="http://skylifter.com.au/index.php"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Skylifter</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">” is developing an aircraft that promises to revolutionize heavy air cargo transportation. According to the manufacturer, the aircraft will be capable of transporting loads that no current airplane or helicopter can carry. The new aircraft, a piloted dirigible, will be able to carry loads of up to 150 tones, of “any shape, [to] any location, [for] any distance”; all that with a minimal environmental footprint and great precision. Just as a comparison, </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-64_Skycrane"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Sikorsky's S-64 Skycrane</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> has a maximum payload of 20,000 lb (9,072 kg), and the Russian </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mi-26"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Mi-26</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">, the most powerful helicopter ever to have gone into production, can carry no more than 44,090 lb (20,000 kg) cargo. Besides, these helicopters have another disadvantage: the powerful downdraft created by their enormous rotor blades makes it difficult to handle their loads with precision. Some airplanes can carry much more weight. </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_An-225"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Antonov's An-225</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> has an incredible payload of 550,000 lb (250,000 kg). Airplanes, however, cannot land everywhere, not to mention the limitations of size and shape of the cargo they are capable of transporting.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">PS: In case you are wondering why the Skylifter is discus-shaped, the reason resides in the aerodynamics. Unlike cigar-shaped dirigibles, it is oblivious to the wind direction.</span></span><br />
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<object height="317" width="520"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hPy-RnjIK54?fs=1&hl=de_DE"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/hPy-RnjIK54?fs=1&hl=de_DE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="520" height="317"></embed></object>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07053727110507947198noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570676020387344523.post-58549408096795538912010-12-11T17:37:00.000+01:002010-12-11T17:37:26.998+01:00Personal Flight: Something New in the Air<div><br />
</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The videos below show two aircraft concepts that may change the way people fly.</span></span><br />
<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></span></div><br />
<object height="317" width="520"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/NlAO4gAidZ8?fs=1&hl=de_DE"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/NlAO4gAidZ8?fs=1&hl=de_DE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="520" height="317"></embed></object><br />
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<object height="317" width="520"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gLbayBxbNII?fs=1&hl=de_DE"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gLbayBxbNII?fs=1&hl=de_DE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="520" height="317"></embed></object>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07053727110507947198noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570676020387344523.post-66922700280333457402010-11-13T11:23:00.005+01:002010-11-13T12:16:39.565+01:00Edward O. Wilson, the Father of Sociobiology<div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">N</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">owadays we know that our genes and the environment we live in, in constant interaction, are what make us what we are. Along history, however, much harm has been caused in the name of science by well-meaning ignorants and pseudoscientists who either didn't know or chose to ignore this fact. </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Eugenics</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Darwinism"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Social Darwinism</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"> and even </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Communism</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"> (which resulted in the most monstrous social experiments ever conducted) are some examples of the possible consequences of attributing human behavior either to genes or to environment alone. Unfortunately, pseudoscience and ignorance still abound and help sustaining myths, prejudices, racism, homophobia, among many other evils.</span></span></div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Outside the realm of science too, there have always been those who try to attribute much of what we do/are to supernatural causes (temptation, demon possession, witchcraft, etc). Witch-hunts, discrimination, obscurantism and religious extremism are good examples of the possible consequences.</span></span></div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Fighting ignorance and established prejudices is never easy. When </span><a href="http://www.unl.edu/museum/research/entomology/workers/EWilson.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Edward O. Wilson</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">, after two decades observing animal behavior in the wild, published a book called “</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sociobiology-New-Synthesis-Twenty-fifth-Anniversary/dp/0674002350/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1289643634&sr=8-1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Sociobiology</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">”, in which he tried to explain the origins of </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_behavior"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">social behavior</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">, he didn't imagine the furious reaction he was going to provoke. The problem was that the human species was also object of his analysis.</span></span></div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">The video below is about Mr. Wilson and his work, which includes </span><a href="http://www.eowilson.org/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">environmental activism</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">. It is a little bit long, but it is worth taking the time to watch it.</span></span></div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><br />
<object height="317" width="520"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wKbj3ZDmvdU?fs=1&hl=de_DE"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wKbj3ZDmvdU?fs=1&hl=de_DE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="520" height="317"></embed></object>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07053727110507947198noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570676020387344523.post-4269454655372943502010-10-30T11:45:00.002+02:002010-11-13T09:00:16.803+01:00Geniuses, Dying Sheep and Depression<div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsI2VTOTXn9ceeAJV77zORuA1cACvVUIRVLD5a2ini7iYiepCJ4DEc-glHhVkIoFn3KDOzPmtYkYPXc5GDu9HWjps-Fr82MiJGsj7JQDXDiFYceuEMZuuKAW10VhRWlmEyNeE8rVqkyp07/s1600/IMG_0044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsI2VTOTXn9ceeAJV77zORuA1cACvVUIRVLD5a2ini7iYiepCJ4DEc-glHhVkIoFn3KDOzPmtYkYPXc5GDu9HWjps-Fr82MiJGsj7JQDXDiFYceuEMZuuKAW10VhRWlmEyNeE8rVqkyp07/s400/IMG_0044.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
</div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I</b>t is since long known that there is a strong correlation between the human immune system and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mood_disorder#Depressive_disorders">depression</a>. Depressed people seem to be more susceptible to medical ailments. However, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statistical_correlation">statistical correlations</a> are often misleading. How is it possible to know which one is the cause and which one is the effect, if there is any causal relationship at all? Recent studies have shown that the correlation may also work the other way around, i.e., physical illness may cause depression. The good news is that treating the physical illness may alleviate depressive symptoms in otherwise difficult to treat cases. <a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=some-depression-might-have-roots-in-2010-10-28">Click here to read more</a>.</span></span></div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span> </div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Talking about the immune system, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/02/science/02obsheep.html">a recent study</a> found that a weak immune system may, oddly enough, confer evolutionary advantages. Sheep with a strong immune system where found to produce less lambs than their more fragile and short-lived counterparts. This might help explain why debilitating characteristics are able to withstand the evolutionary process.</span></span></div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span> </div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By the way, did you know that there really seems to be a link between depression and creativity?</span></span></div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/12/science/an-old-idea-about-genius-wins-new-scientific-support.html">Click here and read more!</a></span></span></div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07053727110507947198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570676020387344523.post-52806557981979436232010-10-26T20:18:00.001+02:002010-10-26T20:24:36.306+02:00Using Nanobots to Kill Cancer Cells<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">B</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">ecause there are many types of cancer, it is difficult to find one treatment that fits every case. Nowadays </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemotherapy"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">chemotherapy</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"> is the most effective way of killing all kinds of cancerous cells. The problem is that it has severe adverse effects.</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Depending on the types of medication used, chemotherapy can cause depression of the immune system, nausea, diarrhea, hair loss, fatigue, or damage to the heart, liver or kidneys.</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">If the technology shown in the video below ever comes to fruition, cancer patients will be spared</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">the toxicity and inconvenience associated with chemotherapy.</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Watch the video and learn how it works.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<object height="317" width="520"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7wuujmiqD-w?fs=1&hl=de_DE"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7wuujmiqD-w?fs=1&hl=de_DE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="520" height="317"></embed></object>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07053727110507947198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570676020387344523.post-10364997308257359532010-10-21T20:22:00.008+02:002010-10-23T10:34:50.085+02:00Why Machines Will not Take Over the World<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>by Alexandre Couto de Andrade </i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><br />
</span></b></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Y</span></b>esterday I watched an interesting documentary on the </span><a href="http://www.history.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">History Channel</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">. It showed how robots are increasingly taking part in warfare. In the future, the ever more intelligent military robots will probably be capable of deciding whether or not to kill. They will also probably be able to repair or make copies of themselves. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">In the documentary, the movie “</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Terminator"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">The Terminator</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">” was often mentioned to illustrate how things could go terribly wrong. What if the machines became conscious and turned against us?</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><br />
</span> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">We should really be concerned about the ethical implications of such technologies. But this is all we should be worried about. Although such scenarios may provide inspiration for great science fiction, it is extremely unlikely that anything like that will happen in a not distant future. First of all, we are light-years away from being able to create machines that are complex enough to sustain </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consciousness"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">consciousness</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">. Secondly, there are gigantic </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logistical"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">logistical</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"> and material limitations that renegade robots would have to overcome in order to successfully take over the world. Complex machines are generally made of thousands of components, manufactured all over the world. The raw materials of which such components are made also come from several different sources (not to mention that some of them are very rare). Each raw material must not only be extracted, but also transported and industrially processed.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><br />
</span> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">If robots were ever to reproduce themselves without human assistance, they would have to somehow control overwhelmingly complex production and </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply_chain"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">supply chains</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">. Unless absolutely everything is automated and controlled by machines, we will never see “Terminators” taking over the world.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><br />
</span> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07053727110507947198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570676020387344523.post-24571848171041339432010-10-16T08:11:00.019+02:002010-10-16T09:23:55.633+02:00Gender Differences and the Psychology of Sex<div><br />
</div><div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><br />
</span></b></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">W</span></b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">hy are males generally bigger and more aggressive than females? What makes someone sexually attractive? Why are females more sexually choosy? What are the differences between what men and women expect from a sexual partner? Why are men far more fond of prostitutes and pornography than women?</span></span></span></div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">In the video below you will find answers to these questions and a lot more</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">.</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><b><br />
</b></span><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Psychology, Sex, and Evolution</span></span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">By Paul Bloom</span></div></div></div><br />
<div><embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="311" src="http://blip.tv/play/Ad6aagI" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="500"></embed><br />
<div style="font-family: tahoma,arial; font-size: 11px;">Watch it on <a href="http://www.academicearth.org/lectures/what-motivates-us-sex/" style="text-decoration: underline;">Academic Earth</a></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07053727110507947198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570676020387344523.post-42364280158146754782010-10-02T09:00:00.000+02:002010-10-02T09:00:00.160+02:00Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Genetic Roots Found<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-large;">A</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">ttention-deficit hyperactive children can be exasperating. They have trouble concentrating and therefore have a short attention span; they are impulsive, seem incapable of remaining quiet, fail to finish what they start, intrude into conversations or activities, and have trouble following instructions, even when they intend to do so. It is easy to blame the parents or the children for such behavior. However, things are not that simple.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">For many years it has been known that there is a strong genetic contribution to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADHD">ADHD</a>. However, for the first time, direct genetic evidence has been found. Watch the video below to learn more about it.</span></span></div></span></span><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><object height="317" width="520"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3NlaekvCZ48?fs=1&hl=de_DE"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3NlaekvCZ48?fs=1&hl=de_DE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="520" height="317"></embed></object>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07053727110507947198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570676020387344523.post-16162367941255043762010-09-25T11:18:00.007+02:002010-10-02T09:04:22.479+02:00Climate Change: Being Skeptical about Skeptics<div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br />
</i></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUT13ve3X7keIwafltfp1MTJb00JBpzsCDGrxvYU3R91bgHrreAWXmOysp0Nvl4s5AG-VMcbObwC8oVcXYiiLgKD2dMQ3VVX_1YNvDYIST0g3_qOcyQhBb0yovmosPqX2FbVDU68BzdUWW/s1600/BlueMarble-2001-2002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUT13ve3X7keIwafltfp1MTJb00JBpzsCDGrxvYU3R91bgHrreAWXmOysp0Nvl4s5AG-VMcbObwC8oVcXYiiLgKD2dMQ3VVX_1YNvDYIST0g3_qOcyQhBb0yovmosPqX2FbVDU68BzdUWW/s400/BlueMarble-2001-2002.jpg" width="520" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">photo: NASA</span></td></tr>
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</i></span></div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>by Alexandre Couto de Andrade</i></span></div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></span></span></span></div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><b>A</b></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">group of researchers from the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_University"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Columbia University</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"> (New York) has recently published a </span><a href="http://www.banking-on-green.com/docs/DBCCAColumbiaSkepticPaper090710.pdf"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">paper</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"> titled “Climate Change: Addressing the Major Skeptic Arguments” in which they examine many claims and counter-claims being made in the public debate about climate change. The paper's unequivocal conclusion is that “the primary claims of the skeptics do not undermine the assertion that human- made climate change is already happening and is a serious long term threat”. Nevertheless, in spite of the results drawn from meta-studies like this, the skeptics' arguments continue to find appeal among people all over the world.</span></span></span></span></div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><br />
</span> </div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Skepticism regarding climate science is particularly harmful due to the obvious relevance and urgency of the subject. </span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">The stakes are so high that we cannot afford to do nothing. Even if the worst case scenarios are unlikely to occur, we cannot wait until we are completely sure about what is going on. We must do something now! I am not talking about </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoengineering"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">geoengineering</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"> or any other controversial “solution” that would probably make things even worse. I am talking about </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainability"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">sustainability</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"> and rationality. And contrary to what many skeptics apparently want us to believe, sustainable development is not economically harmful, unless you consider dilapidating the planet a good long term investment. If we stop consuming natural resources at a rate that is far beyond that of their renewal (when they are renewable at all), what harm can we possibly cause to the planet? What harm will we cause to the planet if we reduce pollution and deforestation? What if we stop procreating like cockroaches? What harm will that cause?</span></span></span></span></div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><br />
</span> </div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">The advancement of scientific knowledge would be nearly impossible without skepticism. For some scientists, however, skepticism seems to be an end in itself. They will simply never give up. When proven wrong, they will immediately look for some other way of undermining the arguments of the majority*. When you take a closer look at them, you realize that behind their intransigence almost invariably lies an agenda, bias or an inflated ego. Sometimes, finding out who sponsors their research sheds some light on the matter. But, unfortunately, it is rarely that simple.</span></span></span></span></div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
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</span> </div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span">*<a href="http://www.skepticalscience.com/skeptic-contradictions.html">Click here</a> and read John Cook's article “<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">The contradictory nature of global warming skepticism</span>”</span></span></span></span></div><br />
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<div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07053727110507947198noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570676020387344523.post-91055465142885600292010-09-22T03:50:00.010+02:002010-10-02T09:04:46.919+02:00Mr. Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL6VH8XScfH8PODwVzKwEYsL8W2MjXZ7Mvgup2H5BwQ36kpYONkAyKSYQOJP7yh9Du-J8Iv5G2U7lUoIqNcApN85p9rswCnUNNQxj2r3Z69zaivarQNvOXtT1sI2WknDIOnDbpvZ8KfyiH/s1600/rally+to+restore+santity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL6VH8XScfH8PODwVzKwEYsL8W2MjXZ7Mvgup2H5BwQ36kpYONkAyKSYQOJP7yh9Du-J8Iv5G2U7lUoIqNcApN85p9rswCnUNNQxj2r3Z69zaivarQNvOXtT1sI2WknDIOnDbpvZ8KfyiH/s320/rally+to+restore+santity.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: LucidaGrande;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;"><br />
</span></span></b></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: LucidaGrande;"><span lang="en-US"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">A</span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">lthough America's hegemony is since long not the same anymore, most significant events that happen in the United States still have serious implications for the rest of us, who are not americans. Anyone who thinks otherwise must probably have been living on another planet during the last economic crisis or since 9/11 for that matter.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #262626;"><span lang="en-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">That is why when science gets banned from school books, </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sara_Palin"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Sarah Palin</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"> starts having real changes of becoming the next US President (wasn't Mr. Bush bad enough?), or some lunatic menaces to burn the Koran, the rest of us, who live elsewhere, should be as concerned as any mentally sane american citizen.</span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #262626;"><span lang="en-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">On these grounds, I decided to use this space to help publicizing Mr. </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Stewart"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Jon Stewart</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">'s </span></span><a href="http://www.rallytorestoresanity.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Rally to Restore Sanity</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">, an event programed to take place in Washington, D.C., on October 30. In addition to calling attention to the insanity that seems to have recently invaded America's public life, it will probably be very amusing.</span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #262626;"><span lang="en-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.rallytorestoresanity.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Click here</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"> and/or watch the video below to learn more about it.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<tr style="background-color: #e5e5e5;" valign="middle"><td style="padding: 2px 1px 0px 5px;"><a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/" style="color: #333333; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">The Daily Show With Jon Stewart</a></td><td style="font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 5px 0px 5px; text-align: right;">Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 14px;" valign="middle"><td colspan="2" style="padding: 2px 1px 0px 5px;"><a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-september-16-2010/rally-to-restore-sanity" style="color: #333333; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Rally to Restore Sanity</a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1570676020387344523"></a></td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #353535; height: 14px;" valign="middle"><td colspan="2" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 5px 0px 5px; text-align: right; width: 360px;"><a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/" style="color: #96deff; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.thedailyshow.com</a></td></tr>
<tr valign="middle"><td colspan="2" style="padding: 0px;"><embed allowfullscreen="true" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" bgcolor="#000000" flashvars="autoPlay=false" height="301" src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:359366" style="display: block;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="520" wmode="window"></embed></td></tr>
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<tr valign="middle"><td style="padding: 3px; width: 33%;"><a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/" style="color: #333333; font: 10px arial; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Daily Show Full Episodes</a></td><td style="padding: 3px; width: 33%;"><a href="http://www.indecisionforever.com/" style="color: #333333; font: 10px arial; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Political Humor</a></td><td style="padding: 3px; width: 33%;"><a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/videos/tag/Tea+Party" style="color: #333333; font: 10px arial; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Tea Party</a></td></tr>
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<div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07053727110507947198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570676020387344523.post-18554435292776501502010-09-18T11:46:00.004+02:002010-10-02T09:05:40.145+02:00WHAT THE INTERNET IS DOING TO OUR BRAINS<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Book Review</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>by Alexandre Couto de Andrade</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">T</span></b><span style="font-size: large;">he book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Shallows-What-Internet-Doing-Brains/dp/0393072223"><i>The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to our Brains</i></a>, written by <a href="http://www.nicholasgcarr.com/">Nicholas Carr</a>, is one of those books that everyone should read. It shows how the internet profoundly changes the way the human brain is wired and discusses the possible resulting cultural and social impacts.</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The human brain is an incredibly plastic organ. It can change to adapt to even small shifts in our circumstances and behavior. Particular brain circuits are strengthened through the repetition of mental or physical activities. The reverse of the medal is that <b>if you no longer use certain skills, you gradually forget them</b>. The brain map space dedicated to the activities in question is turned over to the skills you practice instead. The habit of reading, for example, operates profound changes in the brain. Experiments have shown that the brains of the illiterate are different from the brains of the literate. They understand language, process visual signals, reason and form memories in different ways.</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The changes that happen within the brain also vary according to the media one uses for reading. Reading a book is very different from reading internet content. The online environment favors cursory reading, superficial learning, as well as hurried and distracted thinking. Even worse, the net deliveries “precisely the kind of sensory and cognitive stimuli – repetitive, interactive, addictive – that have been show to result in strong and rapid alterations in brain circuits and functions.”<b> This prevents us from thinking either deeply or creatively</b>. The changes in brain circuitry are not only profound, but also swift. An experiment performed in 2008 “actually showed people's brains changing in response to internet use.” Using magnetic resonance imaging, scientists observed what happened inside the subjects' brains while they navigated Web pages. As little as five hours on the internet (one hour a day) was shown to be enough to significantly rewire their brains.</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The reason why one gradually has his/her abilities to concentrate and think deeply impaired has to do with the way the brain handles memories. There are two different kinds of memory: long-term and working memories. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-term_memory">long-term memory</a> is not some kind of warehouse of information. It is actually the seat of understanding. It not only stores facts and experiences, but also complex concepts (“<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schema_%28psychology%29">schemas</a>”). The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_memory">working memory</a> comprises the contents of one's conscientiousness at any given moment. Nothing is stored in the long-term memory without previously passing through the working memory. “<b>The depth of our intelligence hinges on our ability to transfer information from working memory to long-term memory and weave it into conceptual schemas</b>.”</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unlike the long-term memory, the working memory has a very limited capacity. It seems to be incapable of processing more than two to four elements at a time, “with the actual number probably being at the lower rather than the higher end of this scale.” It is a bottle neck. Give it too much cognitive load (links, pop-ups, animated banners, incoming e-mail message alerts, etc) and it will be overwhelmed, hindering your capacity to learn and retain information. As the author puts it:</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we read a book, the information faucet provides a steady drip, which we can control by the pace of our reading. Through our single-minded concentration on the text, we can transfer all or the most of the information (…) into the long-term memory and forge the rich associations essential to the creation of schemas. With the Net, we face many information faucets, all going full blast. Our little thimble overflows as we rush from one faucet to the next. We're able to transfer only a small portion of the information to long-term memory, and what we do transfer is a jumble of drops from different faucets, not a continuous, coherent stream from one source.</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Moreover:</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Experiments indicate that as we reach the limits of our working memory, it becomes harder to distinguish relevant information from irrelevant information, signal from noise. <b><i>We become mindless consumers of data</i></b> (the emphasis is mine).</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(…)</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The division of attention demanded by multimedia further strains our cognitive abilities, diminishing our learning and weakening our understanding.</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is much more to the book than what is summarized above. However, that pretty much gives an idea of the seriousness of the problem, showing why the book is a must read.</span></span><br />
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<div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07053727110507947198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570676020387344523.post-47846645312214505372010-09-04T08:06:00.003+02:002010-10-02T09:06:23.460+02:00Aging: What does the Future Hold for Us?<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>A</b></span>s we age, our bodies undergo a natural deterioration process. Our mental acuity diminishes, our organs function at a slower rate, we become weaker and fragile. This process, however, is probably not ineluctable. The first video below shows what happens to our bodies as we grow older. The second one is about what the future may hold for us when it comes to expanding human lifespan.</span></span><br />
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<div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07053727110507947198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570676020387344523.post-26237091191165349782010-08-18T17:48:00.009+02:002010-09-17T10:23:20.821+02:00Criminal Profiling: Do not Believe what you See on TV<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>I</b></span> <span style="font-size: large;">am currently reading a book called<i> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Criminal-Profiling-Third-Introduction-Behavioral/dp/0123741009/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1282144411&sr=8-1">Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis</a></i>. The book offers a multidisciplinary approach to the subject "criminal profiling", with a strong scientific basis. Due to the fact that I enjoy watching TV series like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSI:_Crime_Scene_Investigation">CSI</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_Minds">Criminal Minds</a>, I have so far assumed that I knew a little about criminal profiling (OK, that is naive). However, while reading the book, I found out that most of the methods employed by profilers in such TV series are completely flawed.</span> and </span><br />
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One of the flaws concerns the classification of murderers as “organized offenders” (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy">psychopathic</a>) or “disorganized offenders” (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychotic">psychotic</a>), according to the characteristics of the respective crime scenes. Psychopathic offenders are generally intelligent and organized. They plan their actions, have good control over the situation and do not leave much evidence behind. Unorganized offenders, on the other hand, are messy and not very intelligent. They act randomly and leave plenty of evidence.</span><br />
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However, according to the author, “the majority of crime scenes presents somewhere on a continuum between the two extreme classifications of organized and disorganized, not as simply one or the other”. In addition to that, “the amount of evidence left behind or not left behind must be viewed in the context of a dynamic series of events”. Only a well conducted forensic analysis can give insight into how and why a certain crime scene presents the way it does. It is also not always possible to know if the disorganized crime scene is a result of mental illness. It can be a result of rage or drugs/alcohol, for example. On the other hand, an organized crime scene is not necessarily the product of psychopathic behavior.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">The labeling also fails to take into account the evolution of the offender’s behavior. A messy murderer can become more skilled and competent over time. Other offenders can become less skilled due to mental health deterioration. Similar flaws can be found in geographic profiling and investigative psychology as well.</span><br />
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But why does it matter? It is only fiction, after all. Well, that can be a problem when not so qualified cops or scientifically uninformed judges and juries believe in what they see on TV.</span><br />
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<div><a class="addthis_button" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=xa-4a9a344726ed5766"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" height="16" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" style="border-width: 0px;" width="125" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07053727110507947198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570676020387344523.post-14288894767135499972010-07-17T08:38:00.001+02:002010-07-17T13:42:53.417+02:00A “Divine” Comedy<div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">A</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">fter some internet surfing I incidentally discovered an interesting YouTube channel called “Mr. Deity”. Some people might find it a little sacrilegious, since the protagonist of the short comedy films that can be found there is no one less than God himself.</span></span></div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">The videos, created by Brian Keith Dalton, are funny and intelligent. They are worth watching.</span></span></div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">The video below shows Mr. Deity in the process of deciding what kind of evils he will allow to exist in the universe he has just created.</span></span></div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><br />
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<div><a class="addthis_button" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=xa-4a9a344726ed5766"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" height="16" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" width="125" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07053727110507947198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570676020387344523.post-56732451100618149422010-07-03T07:27:00.002+02:002010-07-03T08:13:42.061+02:00Another Proof of Evolution: Watching Speciation Happen<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><b>T</b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">he <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genome">genome</a> and the overwhelming amount of evidence provided by the existing fossil record are not the only proofs of evolution. In some cases we can actually watch it happen. Watch the video below and learn more.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><br />
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<div><a class="addthis_button" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=xa-4a9a344726ed5766"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" height="16" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" width="125" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07053727110507947198noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570676020387344523.post-22454016546892690042010-07-02T07:18:00.001+02:002010-07-02T07:21:14.831+02:00A Proof of Evolution: How Common Ancestry is Written in the Genome<div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><b>E</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">volution is literally written in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genome">genomes</a> of all species. This video shows how the analysis of genomes can reveal <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_ancestry">common ancestry</a>.</span></span></div><br />
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<div><a class="addthis_button" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=xa-4a9a344726ed5766"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" height="16" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" width="125" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07053727110507947198noreply@blogger.com0