We all know people like that

Translation:
Waiter: Beer?
Nerd: No.
Girl: Are you driving?
Nerd: No, I'm just the obnoxious type who drinks nothing but water.

If You Open Your Mind Too Much...

One more jackass

Now I know who I was missing from Skepchick's list: Your Holiness (not mine, for sure), Pope Benedict XVI. Check out these remarks just before Christmas. Too bad there is no hell...

Skepchick's top ten jackasses of 2008

From a skeptic point of view. Great list.

If I were a driver...

... and you were a passenger. Plus, it's eletric.

Lucky dude

What a place to be!

A new hope

TMS for depression is finally beyond clicical trials. Still expensive (6k for a course of 20-30 sessions) though, but not prohibitively so.

Who is your daddy?

You can call him LUCA.

What is the harm?

This sentence (and variations) are a common comment of people who think pseudoscience, alternative medicine, religion and woo in general can not harm. Some reality to them: all these things can harm and kill. Luckily we also have people who actually quantify the harm, going beyond anedotic evidence. Go there, check it out and recommend to all your friends who still think misinformation is not that bad. It is and science is WAY better than all this mystical nonsense. It is actually the only way.

What is the Harm?

How to lose your job because of Santa Claus

Primary school teacher who told children: 'Santa does not exist' is fired

By Daily Mail Reporter

A primary school teacher who left a class of 25 pupils in tears after she told told them Santa Claus did not exist has been fired..

When excited youngsters became rowdy as they talked about Santa, the supply teacher blurted out: 'It's your parents who leave out presents on Christmas Day.'
[...]

Not our fault this time

Dogs Understand Fairness, Get Jealous, Study Finds

Dogs have an intuitive understanding of fair play and become resentful if they feel that another dog is getting a better deal, a new study has found.

The study, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, looked at how dogs react when a buddy is rewarded for the same trick in an unequal way.
[...]

I'm an environmentalist now

Guantanamero, by RMS

Barack Obama has promised to shut down Guantanamo prison. Until there, listen to Richard M. Stallman's protest song.

Pretty cool

Interview with Rebecca Watson, the skepchick

Spoilers

This could have saved me a lot of money I spent on watching crappy movies.

What a great place to give an interview

Congrats, Sarah Palin, you are back to the news.

Impressive, indeed.

Obama's Use of Complete Sentences Stirs Controversy

by Andy Borowitz

In the first two weeks since the election, President-elect Barack Obama has broken with a tradition established over the past eight years through his controversial use of complete sentences, political observers say.

Millions of Americans who watched Mr. Obama's appearance on CBS's 60 Minutes on Sunday witnessed the president-elect's unorthodox verbal tick, which had Mr. Obama employing grammatically correct sentences virtually every time he opened his mouth.

[...]

O RLY?

Unhappy people watch TV, happy people read/socialize, says study

Channeling unhappiness, in good and bad economic times

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – A new study by sociologists at the University of Maryland concludes that unhappy people watch more TV, while people who describe themselves as very happy spend more time reading and socializing. The study appears in the December issue of the journal Social Indicators Research.

Analyzing 30-years worth of national data from time-use studies and a continuing series of social attitude surveys, the Maryland researchers report that spending time watching television may contribute to viewers' happiness in the moment, with less positive effects in the long run.
[...]

Now the obvious question: what about the Internet? I'll google that later...

Miriam Makeba: 4 March 1932 - 10 November 2008

This dude can speak really fast!

And he is a nice rapper too.

Because today is an important day

This one is said to be Obama's best speech so far. Watch it.

Stop Sylvia Browne

Know more about Sylvia Browne. Help spread the word.

Homer every day

Homer Every Day from Noah K. on Vimeo.

From TED: John Hodgman: A brief digression on matters of lost

Check out my neurons getting connected

Seeing a brain as it learns to see

DURHAM, N.C. -- A brain isn't born fully organized. It builds its abilities through experience, making physical connections between neurons and organizing circuits to store and retrieve information in milliseconds for years afterwards.
Now that process has been caught in the act for the first time by a Duke University research team that watched a naïve brain organize itself to interpret images of motion.
"This is the first time that anyone has been able to watch as visual experience selectively shapes the functional properties of individual neurons," said David Fitzpatrick, professor of neurobiology and director of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences. "These results emphasize just how important experience is for the early development of brain circuits." The group's findings appear online Oct. 22 in the journal Nature.
[...]

Great web tool: Easy abs

If you ever want to organize a conference, the whole submission/review process can de done online and for free. There are several website which offer such services and now Linguistlist.org also lauched one: Easy Abs. Nice to see that LinguistList keeps going strong and providing useful services for linguists worldwide. If you are not a subscriber (again, free), become one now. I recommend the digest mode, but you can receive individual e-mails too.

A nerd goes to a nightclub

If you like good music

Staying alive

Why 'Stayin' Alive' could literally save your life: Disco song has perfect rhythm to jump-start a heart, says doctor

By Daily Mail Reporter

'Stayin' Alive' might be more true to its name than the Bee Gees ever could have guessed: At 103 beats per minute, the old disco song has almost the perfect rhythm to help jump-start a stopped heart.
[...]

Funny shit of the day

Yet another example of what is done in the name of religion

Hanged for being a Christian in Iran

Eighteen years ago, Rashin Soodmand's father was hanged in Iran for converting to Christianity. Now her brother is in a Mashad jail, and expects to be executed under new religious laws brought in this summer. Alasdair Palmer reports.
[...]

Think about what they would do to someone who became an atheist. No fucking way I will ever visit such a place. At least while crazy religious zealots are in command.

Pure Gold

Sarah Palin Sex Doll Now On Sale

Funny shit from the past

And that's why I don't miss the 80's.

Gross and whacky!

Mama's milk ice cream cone, anyone?

By JOHN CURRAN – Sep 25, 2008

WATERBURY, Vt. (AP) — Mooove over, Holsteins. PETA wants world-famous Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream to tap nursing moms, rather than cows, for the milk used in its ice cream.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is asking the ice cream maker to begin using breast milk in its products instead of cow's milk, saying it would reduce the suffering of cows and calves and give ice cream lovers a healthier product.

[...]

On Blogging

Do you know who Norman Borlaug is?

If you don't, you really should. Really. The guy is responsible for saving probably over 1 billion lives by leading the green revolution of the 60s and 70s in developing countries. Way more lives than any religion, especially if you discount those taken in the name of religion and by organized church.

I must confess that a year or so ago I had never heard about the guy (ok, he is an old man today and his Nobel peace prize is from 1970). Or maybe my memory failed yet again, but I doubt I ever saw his name on my high school textbooks. My point: it is really fucked up that most people never heard about him and his work. Get informed and think twice next time you buy the supposedly environmentally friendly overpriced organic produce.

An old bad boy

Tissue sample suggests HIV has been infecting humans for a century

48-year-old lymph node biopsy reveals the history of the deadly virus.

Heidi Ledford

A biopsy taken from an African woman nearly 50 years ago contains traces of the HIV genome, researchers have found. Analysis of sequences from the newly discovered sample suggests that the virus has been plaguing humans for almost a century.

[...]

The revolution is right around the corner

Letting go

Step back to move forward emotionally, study suggests

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---When you're upset or depressed, should you analyze your feelings to figure out what's wrong? Or should you just forget about it and move on?

New research suggests a solution to these questions and to a related psychological paradox: Pocessing emotions is supposed to facilitate coping, but attempts to understand painful feelings often backfire and perpetuate or strengthen negative moods and emotions.

The solution is not denial or distraction. According to University of Michigan psychologist Ethan Kross, the best way to move ahead emotionally is to analyze one's feelings from a psychologically distanced perspective.

[...]

I outnerded you all

Very entertaining! Watch the other battles too.

Not that surprising, but still fucked up

Sexism pays: Study finds men who hold traditional views of women earn more than men who don't

When it comes to sex roles in society, what you think may affect what you earn. A new study has found that men who believe in traditional roles for women earn more money than men who don't, and women with more egalitarian views don't make much more than women with a more traditional outlook.

This is really fucked up

Comedian Sabina Guzzanti 'insulted Pope' in 'poofter devils' gag

An Italian comedienne who said that Pope Benedict XVI would go to Hell and be tormented by homosexual demons is facing a prison term of up to five years.

Way to go, Italian prosecutors! Next on their list: Dante. Unfuckingbelievable.

Everybody can relate to this poor guy

You know Google would not miss it

The LHC can even help you getting laid

So cool

I hope it won't take long for machines like this to put an end to one the most tedious jobs ever created: the photocopy operator.

Weird album covers I happen to have

Just don't ask...

Rap for nerds

On catch phrases and meaningless terms

Check out the first part of this George Carlin HBO special (2005). The mofo was talented. Watch the first five minutes.

It might kill a cat...

From the fabulous blog Indexed, by Jessica Hagy. Add it to your daily reads.

For the ladies...

Great acoustic cover

Always think of the animals

This one is for a dear friend.

Were you that obnoxious as a child?

Recreating lyrics

Do athletes age gracefully?

Very interesting slideshow. What is your favorite?

I knew it...

'Beer goggles' are real - it's official

THE next time you hear someone blaming "beer goggles" for their behaviour, you may have to believe them. People really do appear more attractive when our perceptions are changed by drinking alcohol.

Now the really creepy part:

Both men and women who had consumed alcohol rated the faces as being more attractive than did the controls (Alcohol and Alcoholism, DOI: 10.1093/alcalc/agn065). Surprisingly, the effect was not limited to the opposite sex - volunteers who had drunk alcohol also rated people from their own sex as more attractive.

Think about it next time you go over your limit.

Sofisticação no nonsense

Não espanta ninguém que a imprensa dita séria, no caso o UOL, publique bobagens esotéricas como astrologia, numerologia, tarô e todas essas coisas feel good. Há público para isso, atrai audiência e anunciantes. Não há pretensão de jornalismo baseado apenas no mundo real ou qualquer compromisso com fatos científicos. Se supostamente contrariar o conhecimento científico atual, melhor ainda. Parece mais surpreendente e atrai mais leitores.

Mas dessa vez algo me chamou a atenção. A manchete: "Mudar o nome ou uma letra resolve alguma coisa?" Com a resposta insinuada não, mas estando na seção "Esotérico", conseguiu chamar minha atenção. Trechos selecionados:

[...]
Talvez preferisse possuir alguns números cinco para lhe ajudar a diminuir a rigidez do quatro. E se tivesse mais números três, não seria mais fácil se expressar e conseguir expor suas idéias?
[...]
Não, isso não resolveria nada!

Tirando as primeiras linhas, poderia até parecer um artigo sensato, talvez de um ponto de vista cético. Not so fast...

Devemos lembrar que antes de assumirmos uma nova existência, é traçado um plano que deverá ser cumprido em nossa jornada terrestre. Parece que de alguma forma, é intuído àquele que escolhe nosso nome a vibração numérica que corresponde às características que foram traçadas. Isso pode ser verificado facilmente quando analisamos o nome de um bebê que está por nascer. Na maioria das vezes diversos nomes nos são dados a analisar e, "coincidentemente" todos apresentam os mesmos números, em geral alguns chamados cármicos ou de atrito, embora pareçam nomes diferente à primeira vista. Tal fato se deve ao que já foi planejado.

E aí voltamos ao nonsense típico do assunto. Lembrei de minha amiga chinesa que adotou um nome mais acidental para facilitar a vida nos EUA. Atéia e nada esotérica, seriam seus nomes compatíveis? Melhor, seriam compatíveis se o numerólogo não soubesse que se tratava da mesma pessoa? Meu nome, por exemplo, é tão longo que provvelmente se encontram todas as combinações possíveis. Isso me tornaria alguém extremamente complexo ou simplesmente contraditório? A única coisa que pode salvar desse nonsense todo é o conselho de não mudar legalmente de nome. Mas será que tanta gente faz isso no final das contas?

Para aqueles que gostam de saber sobre nomes, há muitas coisas interessantes, nada reveladoras sobre ninguém, mas curiosas. Um exemplo é o site do Censo americano ou da Social Security Administration. O último com vídeos de bebês adoráveis

So wrong...

Not so far from reality...

Did we whack them all?

Yet another chapter in the Neanderthal extinction debate. It seems less likely that anatomically modern humans interbred with our Neanderthals, but we still don't know what did them after all? Did we drive them to extinction?

The technical cool part is the error free sequencing of mitonchondrial Neanderthal DNA. The DNA comparison to humans seems to indicate that we split around 660k years ago from Nearderthals. Some might say that maybe not all of us did.

Wanna get angry?

Check out the Conservapedia. Lots of nonsense, misrepresentations and the worst kind of intelectually dishonest BS. The article on evolution is especially absurd.

Stay away

Even Dawkins can be wrong

This is what happens when one gives an opinions about topics outside their expertise. Read on.

Not a good approach...

I helped it!

Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, Cocksucker, Motherfucker and Tits

Man, what a shitty day. George Carlin is dead. The motherfucker was THE best american stand-up comedian. Do yourself a favor and go to YouTube and watch some of his clips. You won't regret. One of my favorite quotes:

"Religion has convinced people that there’s an invisible man…living in the sky, who watches everything you do every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a list of ten specific things he doesn’t want you to do. And if you do any of these things, he will send you to a special place, of burning and fire and smoke and torture and anguish for you to live forever, and suffer and burn and scream until the end of time. But he loves you. He loves you and he needs money." -- George Carlin

Oh, the title? The famous seven dirty words unsuitable for radio or TV.

Sounds like a crackpot idea for sure...

Is the universe actually made of math?

But the guy is a solid scientist. Far fetched, for sure, but it is good that scientists still keep thinking outside the box.

Firefox download day

Finally! It's Firefox download day. Brazil has almost 100 thousando pledges to download the new version 3. Do your part, download it today and be part of a world record (the silly part, but that is ok). Long live Firefox.

It is out there...

You might not agree, but I don't care. This is the truth. Period.

I particularly like no. 4 on the list.

From my favorite webcomic

An insightful comment on Digg:

As a hedonist I say "Thank you sociologists for stereotyping my problems. thank you psychologists for classifying my problems, thank you biologists for rationalizing my problems, and thank you chemists for *causing* my problems. Also a quick shout out to physicists for coming up with new problems and Mathemeticians for not having anything relevant to say about my problems"

If one considers linguistics as a field of psychlogy, I am very impure but not as much as sociolinguists.

Kinda creepy...

The Human Speechome Project

The idea: to record 10 hours a day of audio and video of a single child from birth to age 3. The goal is to gather data on language acquisition in a more natural setting: the child's home. It's tough to be the child of a scientist huh?

The toughest part of the project will sure be the data analysis. Can you imagine how many hours will be spent to make the data meaningful? But the possibilities...

Aramaic going extinct? Say that again...

An article on the Brazilian history magazine called "História Viva", by Graziella Beting, states that Aramaic, the supposed language of Christ, is at risk of extinction. But, isn't it already extinct? Yes, old Aramaic sure is. The article says Aramaic, when one should read Western Neo-Aramaic. Western Neo-Aramaic sure descends from Aramaic, but they are not the same languages. Although it might be inspiring for some that Christ's language (although probably not the only one) is still spoken to this today, that is far from accurate.

The aricle also cites one of these vacuous statistics (my translation):

It is estimated that half of the seven thousand languages spoken around the world is at risk of extinction. That means that one language disappears every 15 days

Well, where did that come from? Of course, a person who is non-naive about statistics will notice that this is probably a rough mean, but it still doesn't say much. If we consider that this rate will remain constant (probably not an accurate assumption), it will take almost 144 years for half the world's languages to go extinct. Is it the way it's gonna go down? I don' think we have enough data to make such estimates. Languages, being mostly a social construct, depend on social interaction, politics, economics of each particular society. Any rate of language extinction is necessarily subject to revision.