Everyone go congratulate Chris Rodda. She’s been battling that dishonest dirtbag David Barton for a long time, and now he’s getting his comeuppance (although without acknowledgment of her contribution): NPR slammed him hard, and now his publisher has yanked his latest book off the shelves for it’s crappy scholarship.
Here’s a taste of his sloppy knowledge of history. Did you know the founding fathers already had the creation/evolution debate? And decided in favor of creationism?
This is the lounge. You can discuss anything you want, but you will do it kindly. Today we’re contemplating adorable little ratlets.
Status: Heavily Moderated; Previous thread
I’m getting a bit peeved at all this new technology. Why, back in the day when I was doing electron microscopy work, I’d spend days slicing up tiny fragments of zebrafish embedded in epon-araldite with an ultramicrotome, and I’d end up with hundreds of itty-bitty copper grids that I’d put in the EM one by one, pumping the chamber down to a good vacuum and scanning and focusing and taking pictures. On a film cartridge! That I had to take into a darkroom and process myself! Both ways, uphill, in the snow!
And now look at this. These guys can make a single thin section slice of the whole larva, throw it in a machine, and step back while it automatically scans everything, and then throws it all onto a digital image. Of course, in this case it took their machine 4½ days to shoot over 26,000 images and then stitch them all together, but that’s still far faster than I ever was. I’d slave away to get just one good picture of a chunk of synaptic neuropil maybe 20 micrometers on a side.
Damn. Now I know how John Henry felt.
So here’s a transmission electron micrograph of a zebrafish at low resolution, just to help orient yourself. Ah, this is all familiar stuff; I spent most of my time hanging out in the nervous system, but those blocks of muscle (pink) on the left are always beautiful to look at. That big hole in the middle is the swim bladder, and the guts are slung underneath that. This is a parasaggital section — just off the midline — so it slices nicely through the eye (the big dark circle on the right) and also catches one nostril, above (that’s right, not where you might expect it*) and to the right of the eye. The scattered fragmentary stuff at the bottom, in front of the swim bladder, are sections through the pharyngeal arches. Take a look at the pretty cartilaginous rods sliced through in there.
This is at high enough resolution that you can browse around the brain and find synapses and vesicles. Oh, you can’t see that? Go to the visual browser, and you’ll be able to zoom in and in and in. Easily. With no effort. Just glide on in there and find what you want.
Unlike my old experience with EM. Hey, if any of you have a time machine handy, could you grab one of these gadgets and drop it off for me in Eugene, Oregon, about 1982? Thanks.
*In case you’re wondering how nostrils can be above the eye, visualize a bulldog. Now grab it by the snout, and lift upward, stretching the face up so that a forward view is just a shot of the jaws with eyes on either side. Or, better than a bulldog, start with Admiral Ackbar.
Frank G.A. Faas, M. Cristina Avramut, Bernard M. van den Berg, A. Mieke Mommaas, Abraham J. Koster, Raimond B.G. Ravelli (2012) Virtual nanoscopy: Generation of ultra-large high resolution electron microscopy maps. Journal of Cell Biology 198:457-469 DOI: 10.1083/jcb.201201140.
Because there are some other burdens I don’t have to bear.
Really, I’m a tremendously privileged person. I just wish everyone in the world could have it as easy as I do.
As a child, I was brought up in a vaguely Christian way – my mother was raised Lutheran and my father Methodist, but neither held too closely to tradition. They read me Bible stories, the non-threatening ones meant for children, and prayed with me at night; I learned to think of God as a benign watcher who would save me from bad dreams. The only times we entered a church were weddings and funerals.I grew older, and made friends with girls who went to VBS and AWANA at the Baptist church, so I of course wanted to go too. This was allowed, and I excelled at AWANA because of my great skill at memorizing Biblical verses (I am good at memorizing in general, it’s my one talent). The father of one of my close friends became more deeply involved in the church, and by the time he went to seminary school she was all covered up even in the summer and her mother listened to Christian radio all day. She had to grow her hair and it wasn’t long before I wasn’t allowed to be her friend anymore. Nobody put it that starkly, but there was a serious sense of disapproval from her parents and I got to see her less and less. It was confusing, since I was only 11 and didn’t think I had done anything wrong. It was years before I understood that I actually hadn’t.
…that love is unconditional. There’s nothing you can do that would make me write a letter like this.
“James: This is a difficult but necessary letter to write. I hope your telephone call was not to receive my blessing for the degrading of your lifestyle. I have fond memories of our times together, but that is all in the past.
Don’t expect any further conversations with me. No communications at all. I will not come to visit, nor do I want you in my house.
You’ve made your choice though wrong it may be. God did not intend for this unnatural lifestyle.
If you choose not to attend my funeral, my friends and family will understand.
Have a good birthday and good life. No present exchanges will be accepted.
Goodbye, Dad.”
They could even become a sanctimonious, life-hating Christian, and while it would break my heart, I wouldn’t write a letter like that.
This is an actual letter to the Calgary Herald from an American tourist.
I recently visited Calgary from Michigan. As a police officer for 20 years, it feels strange not to carry my off-duty hand-gun. Many would say I have no need to carry one in Canada.
Yet the police cannot protect everyone all the time. A man should be al-lowed to protect himself if the need arises. The need arose in a theatre in Aurora, Colo., as well as a college campus in Canada.
Recently, while out for a walk in Nose Hill Park, in broad daylight on a paved trail, two young men approached my wife and me. The men stepped in front of us, then said in a very aggressive tone: “Been to the Stampede yet?”
We ignored them. The two moved closer, repeating: “Hey, you been to the Stampede yet?”
I quickly moved between these two and my wife, replying, “Gentle-men, I have no need to talk with you, goodbye.” They looked bewildered, and we then walked past them.
I speculate they did not have good intentions when they approached in such an aggressive, disrespectful and menacing manner. I thank the Lord Jesus Christ they did not pull a weapon of some sort, but rather concluded it was in their best interest to leave us alone.
Would we not expect a uniformed officer to pull his or her weapon to intercede in a life-or-death encounter to protect self, or another? Why then should the expectation be lower for a citizen of Canada or a visitor? Wait, I know – it’s because in Canada, only the criminals and the police carry handguns.
Walt Wawra, Kalamazoo, Mich.
The letter has been confirmed as genuine by the newspaper.
I’ve been to Calgary several times. I never knew I should have shot those pushy Canadians who tried to say hello to me.
Next time!
I think I might have second thoughts about visiting Kalamazoo, though.
All the cool kids are going to Skepticon, so if you’re not, you’re not cool. If you’re waffling, the organizers are having an IAmA on Reddit right now, for a few hours. Go pester them with questions, requests, and demands.
They’ve already answered a question about whether they’re wearing pants with photographic evidence. I think it’s safe to say you really can ask them anything.
Because there are some burdens I don’t have to bear.
