http://www.survivalmachine.org Science Science Revolution! Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:59:45 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Here we go - the debate party has started at my house; there's about 15 or so Obama supporters gathered at my apartment and squeezed into my living room watching PBS and waiting for the debate to start. Beer is plentiful, the mood is excited and hopeful, and we're having ... http://www.survivalmachine.org/2008/09/26/the-first-presidential-debate-barack-obama-v-john-mccain-live-blog/ I realize I've been missing in action for a while, and I have reasons (some good, some lame) for that. I'll cover what's been happening in science in the next few days. But first, tonight is the first presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain. I realize it may ... http://www.survivalmachine.org/2008/09/26/live-blogging-the-presidential-debate-tonight/ For the moment, I'm sitting next to Celeste on a dust-covered couch - one of many in this covered pavilion at the center of Black Rock City, Nevada. Lots of whimsy,  nonsense, dust storms, and the American Dream are alive and well here in this god-forsaken desert. Somehow I found ... http://www.survivalmachine.org/2008/08/29/as-the-world-burns/ I found myself in a hotel bed in Reno this morning, only slightly hung over, and a mere $50 in the red.  That included $20 dropped on black for one spin of the roulette wheel - it landed on red. Today is the day we run around the city gathering ... http://www.survivalmachine.org/2008/08/24/live-in-reno-nevada/ The Perseid meteor shower is near its maximum right now, and stargazers with a good view of the night sky and low light pollution may see meteors as frequently as once per minute! Really, the maximum was a couple days ago, but there should still be activity from this shower ... http://www.survivalmachine.org/2008/08/15/the-perseid-meteor-shower/ I know there are still, and probably always will be, fuddy-duddies out there.  But I couldn't help wondering whether the Washington Post was joking when they recently posted the op-ed Ink-Stained Wretchedness by Colonel Sanders-impersonator¹ Richard Cohen.  This is just a quick 'WTF?' entry... thanks to Aaron for pointing it ... http://www.survivalmachine.org/2008/07/30/the-icons-of-economic-recession-tattoos/ I haven't given you much lately, Survival Machine readers.  I'm up to my monkey-like ears in work at my job, preparing for my biannual desert sojourn, and keeping my finger on the pulse of this mad, mad, mad, mad, mad world.  Currently, I'm in Jackson, Tennessee, setting up a new ... http://www.survivalmachine.org/2008/07/29/hiatus-no-just-tenacity-i-mean-tennessee/ Hey, I know some of my readers are not too shabby when it comes to graphic design.  Is anyone out there is willing to design me a banner logo to display at the top of Survival Machine?  I'd like it to suit the violet colors of my WordPress theme, and ... http://www.survivalmachine.org/2008/07/10/request-for-site-logo/ Please read PZ Myers' entry on what I like to call The Great Catholic Cracker Crack-Up at Pharyngula.  It's comedy gold. http://www.survivalmachine.org/2008/07/09/the-great-catholic-cracker-crack-up/ This April, The New York Times reported the case of U.S. Army Specialist Jeremy Hall, a soldier who started a chapter of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers and subsequently had to be removed from Iraq due to numerous threats from his fellow soldiers.  Now, I'm not exactly surprised ... http://www.survivalmachine.org/2008/07/08/atheist-soldier-sues-the-dod-and-the-evolution-of-compassion/ I have to admit, I never really got evolution in any sophisticated way before I read Richard Dawkins' seminal 1976 book, The Selfish Gene.  Dawkins illustrated the foundation of a paradigm shift in evolutionary biology away from group selection or kin selection and toward the gene as the unit of ... http://www.survivalmachine.org/2008/06/25/conclusive-evidence-for-selfish-gene-theory-found/ I know I haven't posted recently, and thus have really not kept up with my new years resolution to post at least once a week. But, I probably cursed this blog with that resolution. So, in an attempt to humble my high-and-mighty scientific ambitions and set the bar lower to ... http://www.survivalmachine.org/2008/06/25/ninja-bears/ So I was (again) reading over Barack Obama's campaign press release about his plans to promote scientific research and education, and there's a lot to like in there. Obama is aggressively in support of expanding federally funded embryonic stem cell research. So much has been said about that ... http://www.survivalmachine.org/2008/06/09/what-would-a-barack-obama-administration-do-for-science/ Well, after about 5 months of primary elections, the Democratic Party of the United States of America has nominated Senator Barack Obama of Illinois to be their candidate for President. Congratulations, B! You're going to the White House. Now please, please, please don't pick Hillary Clinton for V.P.  What about Bill ... http://www.survivalmachine.org/2008/06/04/senator-barack-obama-wins-the-democratic-party-nomination-for-president/ I just watched the space shuttle Discovery launch from Kennedy Space Center on tv a few minutes ago. It was pretty. Sorry I didn't let you know about it in advance, I wasn't keeping track of the launch schedule very well. It's a nice, cool day in Baltimore after some ... http://www.survivalmachine.org/2008/05/31/space-shuttle-discovery-launches/ I'm a bit disappointed in myself for not posting anything on this earlier. Most of you already know by now that on Sunday, NASA's Phoenix probe successfully performed a rocket-assisted landing on Mars' northern arctic plains.  It was the sixth successful attempted (of twelve total, worldwide) Mars landing.  Phoenix is ... http://www.survivalmachine.org/2008/05/29/phoenix-lands-undamaged-on-mars/ Deep sea exploration is one of the last and most exciting scientific frontiers on our planet. The 10-year long Census of Marine Life project has already made some pretty cool discoveries. Last month, scientists aboard the Research Vessel Tangaroa of New Zealand's National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research (NIWA) ... http://www.survivalmachine.org/2008/05/22/dense-brittlestar-colony-discovered-on-macquarie-ridge-seamount/ If the trend of the last few weeks continues, this weekend will be here before I know it. I'm looking forward to it especially, because for the first time this year I'll be going camping! My brother, some of his friends, my friend Don, and I (and others are welcome ... http://www.survivalmachine.org/2008/05/14/an-adventure-to-the-great-outdoors/ No disrespect intended to the late Aubrey Williams by following up with this post, but I just had to share. Anyway, I'm sure he'd have appreciated the humor in it.  My lady-friend C shared this medical journal article¹ with me that another friend had sent her. You needn't ... http://www.survivalmachine.org/2008/05/13/alien-hand-syndrome-or-autoerotic-degenerative-disease-the-other-add/ I checked the website of my former college's anthropology department today, and I was saddened to learn that one of my favorite professors, Aubrey Williams, died a couple months ago. The story was in the Washington Post, and I feel like shit for having taken so long to find out ... http://www.survivalmachine.org/2008/05/12/a-life-well-spent-aubrey-williams/