Falconer, author, blogger, and Team Red proprietor Rebecca O’Connor has had her essay “Mercy” published in the South Dakota Review. Congratulations Rebecca!
Author: Reid Farmer
Packrat Middens
Earlier this week, the New York Times had an article on the use of packrat middens as sources of proxy data for climatic reconstruction. These middens have been an important source of data in the western US for decades, but I can’t remember seeing another piece on this in the popular press. From the article: …
White Rats
Patrick Burns tells us the story of how British Victorian terriermen and ratcatchers paved the way for advances in modern medicine.
More Neanderthal News
As I mentioned in a post last week, news accounts have been hinting that more reports on Neanderthal DNA research were due out shortly. Nicholas Wade of the New York Times breaks one of these today, with a progress report on the Neanderthal genome mapping project that I posted on in July. From the article: …
Asteroid and Comet Strikes
The NY Times has a great piece on an ongoing project that is reviewing the world’s shorelines for “chevron” deposits. The article decsribes some found in Madagascar like this: “On close inspection, the chevron deposits contain deep ocean microfossils that are fused with a medley of metals typically formed by cosmic impacts. And all of …
Latrine Practices and Health Risks
I really enjoyed this article from the LA Times that discusses research from the archaeological site of Qumran in Israel, thought by many to be the home of the religious community that produced the Dead Sea Scrolls. Apparently contemporary writings describe elaborate cleansing rituals involved with using their latrines and these have been confirmed through …
Contra “Peak Oil”
MSN also carries a Reuters release of a study from Cambridge Energy Research Associates attacking the simplistic application of the peak oil concept. From the release: “Cambridge Energy Research Associates said in a report that the world has some 3.74 trillion barrels of oil left — enough to last 122 years at current consumption rates …
Dirty Jobs
MSN Careers has an interesting piece up on the 10 Dirtiest Jobs in Science. In no particular order they are: Manure InspectorOrangutan Pee CollectorHot-zone SuperintendentExtremophile ExcavatorDysentery Stool Sample AnalyzerSemen WasherVolcanologistCarcass CleanerFistula FeederCorpse-Flower Grower I would say Hot-zone Superintendent is maybe the most dangerous, but for dirtiest, I vote Carcass Cleaner. What is your vote?
Surf Fishing
Most of us tend to think of Great Blue Herons as large, freshwater wading birds. Around here, they’re almost as likely to try their luck on the salt as this fellow is doing at Goleta Beach.
Lunch with the Blowhards
Last Tuesday I had lunch with Michael Blowhard and his wife at the Beachside Cafe at Goleta Beach. They were in town on vacation and we were able to meet up. Michael is the principal contributor to the group blog 2blowhards, a daily must-read for its take on culture, the arts, history, fashion, architecture, literature …