Monday, August 15, 2011
Stop hitting yourself
So, this is apparently more than a year old, and comes from Married to the Sea. It comes here via Boing Boing, where Rob Beschizza calls it "spiffing." I would have gone with "rocktacular."
Observations from the road
So, I have now completed the three-day, 2100-mile road trip from Santa Fe, NM to Montclair, NJ with my father and four dogs (thanks Dad!), which means that our move is nearly complete. Today we will have the internet turned on in our home, and all that will be left is to unpack all those boxes full of things that make you ask, "Why did we bring this?"
Every time I drive across the country, I'm struck by just how beautiful so much of it is. And every time, I say to myself that I need to come back and drive it in a leisurely way, stopping to see all the stuff like the world's largest rocking chair. Of course, I never actually do this. I suspect that's a good metaphor for something, probably life.
A few observations along the way:
The first night, we stayed at a hotel in Shamrock, TX (very slow start the first day). Interestingly, the place was hopping. The hotels were filled with people who were there working in the oil fields. I've made many trips to and through West Texas in my life, and all of my memories for the past thirty years are of sleepy, dried-up oil towns. One of the silver linings of the high gas prices we've been seeing is that they've created a whole bunch of jobs. (Of course, the other silver lining is that it helps to drive investment into alternative energy sources and more efficient technologies.)
Driving through Oklahoma, you see a ton of windmills. You know, those huge white ones for generating wind power. In many of these wind farms, a significant fraction of the windmills were not spinning. What's up with that? Are those ones broken? Do they shut some of them down when demand is low in order to reduce wear? Anybody know the answer?
The Mississippi river is freaking huge.
The second night we stayed in Vandalia, IL.
There's a town in Illinois called Vandalia.
There's also a town in Ohio called Vandalia.
No sign of elevated crime rates in either of those places.
There are a lot of trucks. This makes sense when you think about it, since trucks are how stuff gets places, and no matter where you go in the country, if there's one thing you'll find, it's stuff. Still, the sheer volume is impressive.
You can easily find multiple country stations on the radio along the entire route, until you get to within about 50 miles of New York City. I assume that's because New Yorkers all listen to their country music on their satellite radios.
As we drove into New Jersey on Saturday night, it was raining. And when I say it was raining, I mean that in the way that one might say that Glenn Beck was lying. At times, it felt as if we were actually underwater, scampering between air pockets. Now, I've never lived in New Jersey before, so I was relieved when I turned on the radio this morning and all of the DJs were talking about record-breaking rains over the weekend. Because, for all I knew, that might have been normal.
As of now, I have lived in 50% of the states that contain the word "New."
I have lived in 100% of the states that contain the word "Ass."
Every time I drive across the country, I'm struck by just how beautiful so much of it is. And every time, I say to myself that I need to come back and drive it in a leisurely way, stopping to see all the stuff like the world's largest rocking chair. Of course, I never actually do this. I suspect that's a good metaphor for something, probably life.
A few observations along the way:
The first night, we stayed at a hotel in Shamrock, TX (very slow start the first day). Interestingly, the place was hopping. The hotels were filled with people who were there working in the oil fields. I've made many trips to and through West Texas in my life, and all of my memories for the past thirty years are of sleepy, dried-up oil towns. One of the silver linings of the high gas prices we've been seeing is that they've created a whole bunch of jobs. (Of course, the other silver lining is that it helps to drive investment into alternative energy sources and more efficient technologies.)
Driving through Oklahoma, you see a ton of windmills. You know, those huge white ones for generating wind power. In many of these wind farms, a significant fraction of the windmills were not spinning. What's up with that? Are those ones broken? Do they shut some of them down when demand is low in order to reduce wear? Anybody know the answer?
The Mississippi river is freaking huge.
The second night we stayed in Vandalia, IL.
There's a town in Illinois called Vandalia.
There's also a town in Ohio called Vandalia.
No sign of elevated crime rates in either of those places.
There are a lot of trucks. This makes sense when you think about it, since trucks are how stuff gets places, and no matter where you go in the country, if there's one thing you'll find, it's stuff. Still, the sheer volume is impressive.
You can easily find multiple country stations on the radio along the entire route, until you get to within about 50 miles of New York City. I assume that's because New Yorkers all listen to their country music on their satellite radios.
As we drove into New Jersey on Saturday night, it was raining. And when I say it was raining, I mean that in the way that one might say that Glenn Beck was lying. At times, it felt as if we were actually underwater, scampering between air pockets. Now, I've never lived in New Jersey before, so I was relieved when I turned on the radio this morning and all of the DJs were talking about record-breaking rains over the weekend. Because, for all I knew, that might have been normal.
As of now, I have lived in 50% of the states that contain the word "New."
I have lived in 100% of the states that contain the word "Ass."
Thursday, August 11, 2011
On ronin and the future
So, for the past six years, I have been on the resident faculty at the Santa Fe Institute. As I am writing this, I am sitting at a laundromat in Santa Fe, preparing for a cross-country road trip to Montclair, New Jersey, where I am going to be founding my own research institute.
What does that mean? Well, technically speaking, I will be forming a non-profit dedicated to research. At least to start with, the non-profit will consist of me, so, practically speaking, it's like I'm becoming a freelance scholar.
My new outfit will be called the Ronin Institute. Ronin refers to a masterless samurai. It may be familiar to you from this:
Since this is a career path that is a bit different from the one that most academics follow, I thought it might be interesting to write about it here. I'll share some of the details of what is involved in establishing a non-profit, and the process of becoming an independent scholar. This is a new venture for me, one that is going to involve some trial and error. As I go along, I'll let you know what's working and what isn't. Most of you are probably not going to start your own institutes (although I hope a few of you will), but many of you may be interested in thinking about alternatives to the archetypal academic career trajectory. I'm hoping that my experience will be helpful in thinking about your own plans.
Or maybe it will at least be comforting and entertaining to you in a schadenfreude kind of way.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
How people in science see each other
So, I'm having a hard time thinking anywhere that 25 things this true have been said in one place.
This piece of genius was created by @matushiq:
This piece of genius was created by @matushiq:
On the nocturnal penile tumescence
So, here's the latest Darwin Eats Cake. Once again, Guillaume is gracing us with his adaptationist explanations. This time, he is answering a question from Bastian Greshake (@gedankenstuecke), champion of evolution, creative commons, and all sorts of other good stuff.
If you're not familiar with Creative Commons, it is an alternative to traditional copyrights. It's a great option if you're committed to an open culture, where creations can be shared, but want to protect yourself against having your creations exploited.
For instance, all of the Darwin Eats Cake strips are published under a creative commons license explicitly stating that you are free to share them. You can e-mail them, copy them into your own blog, print them out, pretty much anything you want, just so long as you provide attribution. The only thing you can't do is sell them.
If you're not familiar with Creative Commons, it is an alternative to traditional copyrights. It's a great option if you're committed to an open culture, where creations can be shared, but want to protect yourself against having your creations exploited.
For instance, all of the Darwin Eats Cake strips are published under a creative commons license explicitly stating that you are free to share them. You can e-mail them, copy them into your own blog, print them out, pretty much anything you want, just so long as you provide attribution. The only thing you can't do is sell them.
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| Best URL for sharing: http://www.darwineatscake.com/?id=47 Permanent image URL for hotlinking or embedding: http://www.darwineatscake.com/img/comic/47.jpg |
Friday, August 5, 2011
SMBC on extrapolation
So, here's the latest strip from Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, presented without further comment:
This and other awesomeness available at http://www.smbc-comics.com.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Why do we make odd faces when we orgasm? A romance in three parts
So, Guillaume's Mailbag has continued on its mission to provide an adaptive explanation for every existing trait. The most recent trait Guillaume has been tackling was submitted by John Wilkins, who asked, "Why do we make odd faces when we orgasm?"
In case you missed when I've plugged him before, JoHn Wilkins (no recent relation) is a philosopher of science in Australia. His most recent book is Species: A History of the Idea, and he runs an excellent blog called Evolving Thoughts. He recently concluded an excellent series of posts on "Atheism, agnosticism and theism" in which he discusses, among other things, what it means to have a belief. You can find the start of that series here.
But back to the face of orgasm. Guillaume took three full strips to answer this one, so I've waited until he was done to post them here. I think I've finally figured out how to make these full-page versions more readable on the blog, but it involved lowering the resolution of the JPEG, so, for higher-res versions of these three comics, head on over to Darwin Eats Cake. The first of the series of three can be found here.
Ross HE, Cole CD, Smith Y, Neumann ID, Landgraf R, Murphy AZ, & Young LJ (2009). Characterization of the oxytocin system regulating affiliative behavior in female prairie voles. Neuroscience, 162 (4), 892-903 PMID: 19482070
Carmichael MS, Warburton VL, Dixen J, & Davidson JM (1994). Relationships among cardiovascular, muscular, and oxytocin responses during human sexual activity. Archives of sexual behavior, 23 (1), 59-79 PMID: 8135652
Although at least one study suggests that, in men, prolactin is actually more strongly correlated with orgasm than oxytocin is:
Krüger TH, Haake P, Chereath D, Knapp W, Janssen OE, Exton MS, Schedlowski M, & Hartmann U (2003). Specificity of the neuroendocrine response to orgasm during sexual arousal in men. The Journal of endocrinology, 177 (1), 57-64 PMID: 12697037
In case you missed when I've plugged him before, JoHn Wilkins (no recent relation) is a philosopher of science in Australia. His most recent book is Species: A History of the Idea, and he runs an excellent blog called Evolving Thoughts. He recently concluded an excellent series of posts on "Atheism, agnosticism and theism" in which he discusses, among other things, what it means to have a belief. You can find the start of that series here.
But back to the face of orgasm. Guillaume took three full strips to answer this one, so I've waited until he was done to post them here. I think I've finally figured out how to make these full-page versions more readable on the blog, but it involved lowering the resolution of the JPEG, so, for higher-res versions of these three comics, head on over to Darwin Eats Cake. The first of the series of three can be found here.
 |
| Best URL for sharing: http://www.darwineatscake.com/?id=44 Permanent image URL for hotlinking or embedding: http://www.darwineatscake.com/img/comic/44.jpg |
 |
| Best URL for sharing: http://www.darwineatscake.com/?id=45 Permanent image URL for hotlinking or embedding: http://www.darwineatscake.com/img/comic/45.jpg |
 |
| Best URL for sharing: http://www.darwineatscake.com/?id=46 Permanent image URL for hotlinking or embedding: http://www.darwineatscake.com/img/comic/46.jpg |
For those who are interested, a couple of vole and oxytocin citations are provided below to get you started. The vole literature is actually quite extensive and all interesting. I've included a relatively recent paper, which will contain citations to a lot of the other work. No peer-reviewed publications are yet available on the eating and mating habits of Ursus philorgasmii.
Ross HE, Cole CD, Smith Y, Neumann ID, Landgraf R, Murphy AZ, & Young LJ (2009). Characterization of the oxytocin system regulating affiliative behavior in female prairie voles. Neuroscience, 162 (4), 892-903 PMID: 19482070
Carmichael MS, Warburton VL, Dixen J, & Davidson JM (1994). Relationships among cardiovascular, muscular, and oxytocin responses during human sexual activity. Archives of sexual behavior, 23 (1), 59-79 PMID: 8135652
Although at least one study suggests that, in men, prolactin is actually more strongly correlated with orgasm than oxytocin is:
Krüger TH, Haake P, Chereath D, Knapp W, Janssen OE, Exton MS, Schedlowski M, & Hartmann U (2003). Specificity of the neuroendocrine response to orgasm during sexual arousal in men. The Journal of endocrinology, 177 (1), 57-64 PMID: 12697037
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