[In case it needs to be said: I don't agree with every word of everything I link to. --L.]
- Ancient Egyptian settlement found in Kharga Oasis
- [ABlogAboutHistory]
A substantial Egyptian settlement has been found in Kharga Oasis, Egypt.
- D.I.Y. stone tools: A how-to video of a technology that helped our species succeed
- [Scientific American]
- Space Photos This Week: Sun Spikes, Odd Magnetar, More
- [National Geographic News]
The sun gets prickly, planets are ground to dust, Saturn shines darkly, and more in our selection of the week’s best space pictures.
- Hurricane Katrina Pictures: Then & Now, Ruin & Rebirth
- [National Geographic News]
Houses wiped off the map, submerged islands, and flooded cemeteries—see how sites hit by Hurricane Katrina five years ago are faring in 2010.
- New drug fights metastatic melanoma
- [Science News]
Compound offers hope for about half of patients with advanced form of the skin cancer
[This looks like a big deal to me, since metastasis, as I understand it, is the stage where the cancer blows up and you get your affairs in order. -L]
- Darwin wrong—again??
- [Why Evolution Is True]
You may have seen a small flurry of reports this week about a science paper showing that “Darwin was wrong.” The paper wasn’t a creationist or ID screed, however—it was a paper in a good science journal (Biology Letters) by a crack team of paleontologists from the UK and Canada (Sarda Sahney, Michael Benton, and Paul Ferry). What did the paper say? Did it really show that Darwin was wrong? I’m here to answer your questions.
[What the paper actually said, with charts and graphs. -L]
Where did the “Darwin was wrong” stuff come from? It comes from the notion that Darwin saw competition as a major cause of ecological diversity. [Whereas the paper argues that diversity is caused by unfilled niches. -L]
So did the paper show that Darwin was wrong? Hardly. [Y]ou could almost construe the data as supporting Darwin…
But of course Darwin was wrong about many things. Nobody pretends that the man was a god, or omniscient… We know a lot more about biology now than we did in Darwin’s time, and we can see that his ideas were often incomplete or incorrect. So it’s bizarre to see every modern discovery through a lens of either supporting or refuting his ideas… We’ve moved on.
[Some of us have, anyway. -L]
- Alan Simpson Apologizes
- [Shakesville - Melissa McEwan]
Setting aside the obvious fuckery of the White House standing behind Simpson, the White House accepting an apology ON BEHALF OF THE PERSON TO WHOM IT WAS DIRECTED is an audacious display of arrogance.
- Women’s shoes: an under-discussed feminist issue
- [Pandagon - Amanda Marcotte]
- Typography Coffee Mug
- [swissmiss]
[pic]
- Post-Katrina Green Homeowners Barred From Recycling Water
- [National Geographic News]
Innovative water re-use systems in many of New Orleans’ new green homes are outlawed by the state.
- Simpson: Why him?
- [Hullabaloo - digby]
The problem with Alan Simpson’s comments is bigger than the fact that he said “tits” and insulted women. Not that it wasn’t crude and sexist of him, mind you. But the real problem is that he seems to believe that social security is some kind of welfare program for lazy old bastards who should either be rich or set out on an ice flow. Here’s what he said: [redacted]
…he’s also tragically uninformed about the way the program works.
- Eight Clever Ways to Take Advantage of Free Calling in Gmail
- [Lifehacker - Adam Pash]
You already know Gmail integrated with Google Voice for free phone calls (and cheap international calls) from your inbox. But apart from using it to a friend, Gmail’s new phone calling capabilities introduce a lot of cool capabilities to your inbox.
- Bush Aide Mehlman: I’m Gay | News | Advocate.com
- Ken Mehlman, President Bush’s 2004 campaign manager and the former Republican National Committee chairman, has come out in an interview with The Atlantic…
“It’s taken me 43 years to get comfortable with this part of my life,” Mehlman told Ambinder. “Everybody has their own path to travel, their own journey, and for me, over the past few months, I’ve told my family, friends, former colleagues, and current colleagues, and they’ve been wonderful and supportive. The process has been something that’s made me a happier and better person. It’s something I wish I had done years ago.”
- 800,000 Pakistanis Cut Off From Road – NYTimes.com
- The Pakistan Meteorological Department forecast thundershowers and occasional heavy rain into Friday in Punjab Province, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province and Kashmir.
On Tuesday, the United Nations said 800,000 people could be reached only by air, and it called for 40 more helicopters from the international community to help deliver aid.
- Officials: Schoolgirls, teachers sick from poison gas – Afghanistan Crossroads – CNN.com Blogs
- The latest incident, this one at a high school, is the ninth such case involving the poisoning of schoolgirls, said Asif Nang, spokesman for the nation’s education ministry.
The Link(s): Thu, Aug 26th, 7am by Lee Salazar, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Terms and conditions beyond the scope of this license may be available at leesalazar.com.