From the consistently wonderful SMBC:Hilarious, but it’s also real research. Read more about how robots evolve to lie here. And if you want some biological examples, I’ve discussed dishonest signaling in deer and fiddler crabs in a previous post. This is post 16 of 49 of Blogathon. Pledge a donation to the Secular Student Alliance …
Category Archive: nerdy
Jul 07 2010
I have my first scientific publication!
My first scientific paper has been published! “Allelic recharge in populations recovering from bottleneck events” by Joseph D Busch, Jennifer McCreight, and Peter M Waser. It’s included in the new book developed by the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources at Purdue University, Molecular Approaches in Natural Resource Conservation and Management:The book was actually released …
May 29 2010
Thoughts on grad school
“What are you most looking forward to about grad school? What are you hoping to achieve? And, what will you actually be studying? I mean, is there really more to know about copulatory plugs?” I’m most looking forward to finally be studying what I’ve always wanted to research: human genetics and evolution. I don’t know …
May 11 2010
Your personal opinion does not trump scientific studies
As a scientist, one of my big pet peeves is when someone tries to use a personal anecdote to disprove a scientific study. “Cigarette are bad for you?! But my grandpa chain smoked until he was 96, and he was healthy as an ox!” Great for your grandpa! …But that’s irrelevant. The whole purpose of …
May 02 2010
A new hypothesis on how sexual reproduction evolved
Man, to think I took a class that spent the whole semester talking about the evolution of sexual reproduction. It looked a lot like panel one, but I was never exposed to this brilliant hypothesis:Pfffft, take that, Muller’s ratchet! Now, the real question is if I’m brave enough to email this to my professor. Maybe …
Apr 29 2010
My article on the science of Boobquake at The Guardian
Just wanted to let everyone know that I have an article up at The Guardian on the skeptical goal of Boobquake. I present my “scientific” results from the “experiment” there, but I also touch on my motivation and response to critics. And I’m super excited to be a part of such a huge, respectable newspaper …
Apr 27 2010
And the Boobquake results are in!
Boobquake is finally over across the world. It’s time to crunch some numbers – did women dressing immodestly really increase earthquakes? Can we find any data that supports Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi’s hypothesis? (click here for larger image) Photo by David Collins. Yes, that’s the biological hazard symbol. Yes, I found that funny. In case you …
Apr 19 2010
Why people won’t watch CSI with me
From here:Because finding a contaminated sample of cells, extracting the DNA, successfully amplifying a clean PCR, genotyping or sequencing it, and editing your perfectly clear and uncontaminated results always takes about ten minutes. And nothing ever fails. Ever. They must pray to the PCR Gods more than I do. Oh, and not to mention they …
Apr 19 2010
Why people won't watch CSI with me
From here:Because finding a contaminated sample of cells, extracting the DNA, successfully amplifying a clean PCR, genotyping or sequencing it, and editing your perfectly clear and uncontaminated results always takes about ten minutes. And nothing ever fails. Ever. They must pray to the PCR Gods more than I do. Oh, and not to mention they …
Mar 31 2010
Seattle, here I come!
While I alluded to it in a previous post, I still wasn’t 100% sure. But now it’s official – I’ll be going to the University of Washington to get my PhD in the Department of Genome Sciences in the fall! That still sounds crazy when I say it. I’m going to go get a freaking …
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