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Greg Laden's Blog
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" media="screen" href="/~d/styles/rss2full.xsl"?><?xml-stylesheet type="text/css" media="screen" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~d/styles/itemcontent.css"?><rss xmlns:feedburner="http://rssnamespace.org/feedburner/ext/1.0" version="2.0"> <channel> <title>Greg Laden's Blog</title> <link>http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/</link> <description>Evolution, Life Sciences, Science Education, Human Evolution, and Stuff</description> <language>en</language> <copyright>Copyright 2012</copyright> <lastBuildDate>Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:03:39 -0500</lastBuildDate> <generator>http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=4.32-en</generator> <docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs> <atom10:link xmlns:atom10="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/GregLadensBlog" /><feedburner:info uri="gregladensblog" /><atom10:link xmlns:atom10="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" rel="hub" href="http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/" /><feedburner:emailServiceId>GregLadensBlog</feedburner:emailServiceId><feedburner:feedburnerHostname>http://feedburner.google.com</feedburner:feedburnerHostname><item> <title>Google to Address Ad Heavy Web Sites</title> <description><p><img alt="220px-Googlelogo.png" src="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/220px-Googlelogo.png" width="220" height="78" class="mt-image-right" style="float: right; margin: 0 0 20px 20px;" />People look at Fox News and wonder how the heck it manages to be taken seriously. Most of what is done on that station is not news, and it isn't even commentary by any reasonable journalistic standards. Fox News is much of the time a mouthpiece for the Right Wing and the Republican Party. The rest of the timt, Fox News, astonishingly, seems to be giving the Right Wing and the Republican Party its marching orders. It seems to me that we can have news agencies that range across the liberal-conservative spectrum that also carry out their activities in a professional manner. In the old days, the FCC and various other agencies and organizations seemed to have some influence, even control, in these manners. Years ago I was the editor of a newspaper, and I remember learning that newspapers were classified into different categories based on percentage of advertising vs. content. In order to have credentials (i.e., your reporters get press passes, etc.) you had to be for real. If you were a rag with all ads, or a real estate handout or the pennysaver (or the newspaper I edited!) you were not for real, and you could not get press passes, or other things real journalistic enterprises get. </p> <p>But that does not seem to be true any more. You can be Fox News and have a chair in the White House press room. This is preposterous. </p> <p>Google has made an announcement that bears on this in an interesting way. According to Google's Webmaster Central Blog, web sites will not be penalized in the Google Search Algorithm if they have too many ads. </p> <blockquote>If you click on a website and the part of the website you see first either doesn't have a lot of visible content above-the-fold or dedicates a large fraction of the site's initial screen real estate to ads, that's not a very good user experience. Such sites may not rank as highly going forward. <p>We understand that placing ads above-the-fold is quite common for many websites; these ads often perform well and help publishers monetize online content. This algorithmic change does not affect sites who place ads above-the-fold to a normal degree, but affects sites that go much further to load the top of the page with ads to an excessive degree or that make it hard to find the actual original content on the page. This new algorithmic improvement tends to impact sites where there is only a small amount of visible content above-the-fold or relevant content is persistently pushed down by large blocks of ads. </p> <p>This algorithmic change noticeably affects less than 1% of searches globally. </blockquote></p> <p>The entire memo to the webmasters is <a href="http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2012/01/page-layout-algorithm-improvement.html">here</a>.</p> <p>Now, if only we could get Google to not count Fox outlets in the "News" category in searches. Perhaps they can add a new category for entities like fox. "Clown" would work. </p> <p>What do you think? <br /> </p> <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/google_address_ad_heavy_web_si.php#commentsArea">Read the comments on this post...</a><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~4/95MSU029ysA" height="1" width="1"/></description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~3/95MSU029ysA/google_address_ad_heavy_web_si.php</link> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/google_address_ad_heavy_web_si.php</guid> <category /> <pubDate>Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:03:39 -0500</pubDate> <feedburner:origLink>http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/google_address_ad_heavy_web_si.php</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>More Than Men</title> <description><p>The More than Men Project is an effort initiated by the Women Thinking Free Foundation to develop a space where men, often white and/or straight and/or Of Priv, could spend a little time and energy telling their fellow Hetero-occidentaloid-Y-chromosomists something useful or interesting about diversity, and to encourage the promotion of said diversity.</p> <p>When I was asked to contribute to this project (which was being cooked up last July) I had some concerns. I wasn't sure if I needed a space to do this, since I have a widely read blog in which I am constantly telling my fellow Hetero-occidentaloid-Y-chromosomists how to behave, and they pretty much do whatever I tell them to do. Hetero-occidentaloid-Y-chromosomists are so compliant and all. Since then, I've gotten Yet Another Blog where I can do even more of this behavioral mentoring, so, I thought, why should I bother with another effort like this. Just let the other guys have a space.</p> <p>But then I decided to take advantage of the offer to try something entirely different. The project is self-explanatory, but since you may need some encouragement to pay attention to it, here are the opening sentences in the first of three videos I made for More than Men:</p> <blockquote>The More Than Men Project is a campaign by the Women Thinking Free Foundation. This is for white men (usually straight , often privileged, etc.) to take an active role in diversity advocacy. This is my chance to tell my fellow white guys what <em>I</em> think about what <em>they</em> should be thinking. <p>But I get to do that all the time. So, I thought I'd ignore the instructions and try something a little different. </p> <p>A short memo .... with attachments. It is the attachments that matter. </p> <p>Dear Straight White Male with Privilege:</p> <p>This is not hard.</p> <p>You just need to pay attention to the voices in your head. You supply the head. Attached, please find the voices, in three parts, which I call <a href="http://www.morethanmen.org/2012/01/18/greg-laden-and-friends-more-than-men-part-1/">Part I</a>, <a href="http://www.morethanmen.org/2012/01/19/greg-laden-and-friends-more-than-men-part-2/">Part II</a>, and Part III. </p> <p><a href="http://www.morethanmen.org/2012/01/18/greg-laden-and-friends-more-than-men-part-1/">Part I</a>: <a href="http://sherilkirshenbaum.com/">Sheril Kirshenbaum</a>, <a href="http://www.skeptic.com/i-am-a-skeptic/Desiree-Schell.html">Desiree Schell</a>, and <a href="http://www.jafsica.com/">Jafsica</a>. </p> <p><a href="http://www.morethanmen.org/2012/01/19/greg-laden-and-friends-more-than-men-part-2/">Part II</a>: <a href="http://ashashoffner.blogspot.com/">Asha</a>.</p> <p>Part III: C. Anderson, <a href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/almostdiamonds">Stephanie Zvan</a>, Natalie Wagner, Serena<br /> </blockquote></p> <p>I would appreciate it if you'all would consider self censoring your comments, and trying to put encouraging or positive comments on the More than Men site posts, the YouTube videos, or below, and if you have criticisms or can't stop yourself from being a dick, put those comments on the X Blog version of this post <a href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/xblog/2012/01/20/the-more-than-men-project/">(which you will find here)</a>. Thank you in advance for that. </p> <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/more_than_men.php#commentsArea">Read the comments on this post...</a><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~4/doTKI5KJvY4" height="1" width="1"/></description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~3/doTKI5KJvY4/more_than_men.php</link> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/more_than_men.php</guid> <category>feminism</category> <pubDate>Fri, 20 Jan 2012 06:01:16 -0500</pubDate> <feedburner:origLink>http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/more_than_men.php</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Dolphin Ecolocation</title> <description><p><iframe width="500" height="284" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VhsPmsQ7CVQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/dolphin_ecolocation.php#commentsArea">Read the comments on this post...</a><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~4/LlGouV6Zu2M" height="1" width="1"/></description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~3/LlGouV6Zu2M/dolphin_ecolocation.php</link> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/dolphin_ecolocation.php</guid> <category /> <pubDate>Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:27:13 -0500</pubDate> <feedburner:origLink>http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/dolphin_ecolocation.php</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>ON STRIKE</title> <description><p><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HGEUhCfQ464" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/on_strike.php#commentsArea">Read the comments on this post...</a><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~4/AzNhzqT0Ccs" height="1" width="1"/></description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~3/AzNhzqT0Ccs/on_strike.php</link> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/on_strike.php</guid> <category /> <pubDate>Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:01 -0500</pubDate> <feedburner:origLink>http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/on_strike.php</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Tonsils: To ectomy or not to ectomy? </title> <description><p>When my daughter was little, she had a series of ear and throat infections that were frequent enough that the pediatrician finally said "One more in the next two months and Imma recommend we consider taking out her tonsils" or words to that effect. Interestingly, Julia stopped getting the sore throats and ear infections just then. (Kids do stop getting the sore throats and ear infections eventually, and I guess it was time!) Had she continued to suffer these infections and the question of tonsillectomy come up, I'm sure I would have researched it and made a scientifically informed decision about what to do, in consultation with the pediatrician, who was in my opinion quite good. </p> <p>But that didn't happen, so it was with great interest that now, several years later, I find these blog posts about tonsillectomy:</p> <p>Seth Roberts writes: <a href="http://boingboing.net/2012/01/10/tonsillectomy-confidential-do.html">Tonsillectomy Confidential: doctors ignore polio epidemics and high school biology</a> in which he argues that tonsillectomies are overused and should be avoided, based on his reading of the evidence.</p> <p>Maggie Koerth -Baker, an editor at Boing Boing (where Roberts' post was published) writes: <a href="http://boingboing.net/2012/01/17/a-doctor-responds-to-seth-robe.html">A doctor responds to Seth Roberts' guest post about tonsillectomy</a> in which she contextualizes Roberts' post and points readers to ... </p> <p>Steve Novella's <a href="http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/tonsillectomy-indications-and-complications/">Tonsillectomy Indications and Complications</a>. Novella does not exactly come to the opposite conclusion from Roberts, but he points out some very important flaws in Roberts methodology of research and presentation, which should give pause to anyone basing a decision on Roberts' essay. </p> <p>This sequence of posts is a must read for anyone interested in Science Based Medicine, Skepticism, or my favorite subject, Skeptical Skepticism. </p> <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/tonsils_to_ectomy_or_not_to_ec.php#commentsArea">Read the comments on this post...</a><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~4/RYPyLGEpLOc" height="1" width="1"/></description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~3/RYPyLGEpLOc/tonsils_to_ectomy_or_not_to_ec.php</link> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/tonsils_to_ectomy_or_not_to_ec.php</guid> <category /> <pubDate>Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:27:22 -0500</pubDate> <feedburner:origLink>http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/tonsils_to_ectomy_or_not_to_ec.php</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Peter Gleick: Climate change is happening</title> <description><p><iframe width="500" height="284" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HKIPL-ksU3k" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> <p>Gleick is the <a href="http://ncse.com/climate-change/leading-climate-change-expert-joins-ncse-board">new board member</a> of the National Center for Science Education. </p> <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/peter_gleick_climate_change_is.php#commentsArea">Read the comments on this post...</a><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~4/k8d-Vs7NktM" height="1" width="1"/></description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~3/k8d-Vs7NktM/peter_gleick_climate_change_is.php</link> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/peter_gleick_climate_change_is.php</guid> <category>Climate Change</category> <pubDate>Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:34:11 -0500</pubDate> <feedburner:origLink>http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/peter_gleick_climate_change_is.php</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Should We Try Thorium Reactors? </title> <description><p><iframe width="500" height="284" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/N2vzotsvvkw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/should_we_try_thorium_reactors.php#commentsArea">Read the comments on this post...</a><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~4/eDHjGjRGz7E" height="1" width="1"/></description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~3/eDHjGjRGz7E/should_we_try_thorium_reactors.php</link> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/should_we_try_thorium_reactors.php</guid> <category /> <pubDate>Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:27:49 -0500</pubDate> <feedburner:origLink>http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/should_we_try_thorium_reactors.php</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>What about that ship that tipped over? </title> <description><p>There are animations! </p> <p>Florida couple escape from sinking Italian cruise ship:</p> <p><iframe width="500" height="284" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-7xlriXKXlE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> <p>Cruise ship Costa Concordia salvage options animated:</p> <p><iframe width="500" height="284" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/reGhBBcwBu0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/what_about_that_ship_that_tipp.php#commentsArea">Read the comments on this post...</a><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~4/X_qw8JAgH9g" height="1" width="1"/></description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~3/X_qw8JAgH9g/what_about_that_ship_that_tipp.php</link> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/what_about_that_ship_that_tipp.php</guid> <category /> <pubDate>Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:25:18 -0500</pubDate> <feedburner:origLink>http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/what_about_that_ship_that_tipp.php</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>NCSE tackles climate change denial: The Movie!</title> <description><p><iframe width="500" height="284" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hsMQkROVcmM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="http://ncse.com/climate-change/why-is-ncse-now-concerned-with-climate-change">Why is NCSE Now Concerned with Climate Change?</a></p> <p><a href="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/national_center_for_science_ed.php">Press Release</a></p> <p><a href="http://ncse.com/files/pub/evolution/Excerpt--merchants.pdf">Book excerpt: "The Denial of Global Warming" (from "Merchants of Doubt")</a></p> <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/ncse_tackles_climate_change_de.php#commentsArea">Read the comments on this post...</a><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~4/_inokUqM2SE" height="1" width="1"/></description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~3/_inokUqM2SE/ncse_tackles_climate_change_de.php</link> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/ncse_tackles_climate_change_de.php</guid> <category /> <pubDate>Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:41:33 -0500</pubDate> <feedburner:origLink>http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/ncse_tackles_climate_change_de.php</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>National Center for Science Education Announces Climate Change Initiative!!!!</title> <description><p>Here is a press release that will be distributed shortly:</p> <blockquote><strong> NCSE TACKLES CLIMATE CHANGE DENIAL</strong> <p><em>A new initiative in the struggle for quality science education</em></p> <p><em>OAKLAND, CA January 16, 2012</em></p> <p>Science education is under attack--again.</p> <p>This time it's under attack by climate change deniers, who ignore a mountain of evidence gathered over the last fifty years that the planet is warming and that humans are largely responsible. These deniers attempt to sabotage science education with fringe ideas, pseudoscience, and outright lies.</p> <p>But the National Center for Science Education won't let 'em get away with it.</p> <p>"We consider climate change a critical issue in our own mission to protect the integrity of science education," says Dr. Eugenie C. Scott, NCSE's executive director. Long a leader in the fight to defend the teaching of evolution in public schools, NCSE now sees creationist-like tactics being used in the attack on climate education.</p> <p>"Climate affects everyone, and the decisions we make today will affect generations to come," says Scott. "We need to teach kids now about the realities of global warming and climate change, so that they're prepared to make informed, intelligent decisions in the future."</p> <p>In this expansion of its core mission, NCSE will help parents, teachers, policymakers, the media, and others to distinguish the real science from the junk science that deniers are trying to push into the science classroom.</p> <p>"Polls show that Americans' understanding of climate change is very shallow. One study found that only 54% of teens realize that global warming is happening," says Mark McCaffrey, a climate and environmental education expert who has joined the NCSE as its new climate change programs and policy director. "Why? Because of a barrage of misinformation on climate change, coupled with a lack of accurate climate education. I'm excited to be part of NCSE's efforts to help to reverse these disturbing trends."</p> <p>The scientific community is applauding NCSE's new initiative. Said Alan I. Leshner, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS):</p> <p>"AAAS has long admired the NCSE's efforts to protect the integrity of science. We are delighted to see the Center expand its activities to ensure that climate science is appropriately taught in our nation's schools."</p> <p>"We applaud the NCSE for its efforts to promote the teaching of climate change in our nation's classrooms," said Dr. Francis Eberle, executive director of the<br /> National Science Teachers Association. "Teachers should not be subjected to ideological opposition to the teaching of climate change from parents, administrators, or members of the community."</p> <p>Added Scott Mandia, the meteorologist who cofounded the Climate Science Rapid Response Team:</p> <p>"The cavalry has arrived. NCSE, with its passion and experience defending science in our schools, will ensure that teachers can educate students about climate change without fear of reprisal."</p> <p>Tackling climate change denial head on</p> <p>In its initiative to defend climate change education, NCSE will:</p> <p>* Help parents, teachers, and others fight the introduction of climate change/global warming denial and pseudoscience in the classroom.</p> <p>* Act as a resource center to connect teachers, scientists, and policymakers with the best information available.</p> <p>* Provide tools and support to ensure that climate change is properly and effectively taught in public schools.</p> <p>* Aid those testifying before local and state boards of education, and before local, state, and federal legislative committees.</p> <p>* Connect local activists with one another, and with scientists and other relevant experts.</p> <p>New program, new faces</p> <p>As part of this new initiative, the NCSE has added two key members to its team:</p> <p>* Dr. Peter Gleick, president and co-founder of The Pacific Institute, joins NCSE's board of directors. Gleick is a noted hydroclimatologist, an internationally recognized water expert, and a MacArthur Fellow. Gleick's research and writing address the critical connections between water and human health, the hydrologic impacts of climate change, sustainable water use, privatization and globalization, and international conflicts over water resources.</p> <p>* Mark McCaffrey, a long-time climate literacy expert, joins NCSE as climate change programs and policy director. Previously at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), McCaffrey helped spearhead a number of climate and energy literacy programs, and the creation of the Climate Literacy & Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN), and testified before Congress about climate and environmental education.</blockquote><br /> </p> <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/national_center_for_science_ed.php#commentsArea">Read the comments on this post...</a><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~4/jIfh16QRUYs" height="1" width="1"/></description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~3/jIfh16QRUYs/national_center_for_science_ed.php</link> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/national_center_for_science_ed.php</guid> <category /> <pubDate>Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:56:28 -0500</pubDate> <feedburner:origLink>http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/national_center_for_science_ed.php</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Climate Change Denialism Spreading in US Public Education Related Proposals </title> <description><p>It is no longer the case that science teachers and concerned parents only need to worry about creationists invading US classrooms, via personal intrusion (by parents, <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2010/09/what_to_do_about_bible-thumpin.php">students</a>, or <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2010/09/parents_is_your_childs_teacher.php">creationist teachers</a>) or by <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/12/crazy_anti-evolution_bills_in.php">legislation</a> or regulation. Increasingly climate change denialism is being shoved into science classes by the usual nefarious forces.</p> <p>This is not really new. "<a href="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2008/04/academic_freedom_bills_on_talk.php">Academic Freedom</a>" bills in many states over the last decade or so were introduced to try to force college professors to shut up about climate change. In the college setting, I've had about the same level of resistance to global warming as to evolution, if not more. But as Neela Banerjee points out, we may be nearing a flash point in American science education: </p> <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/climate_change_denialism_sprea.php">Read the rest of this post...</a> | <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/climate_change_denialism_sprea.php#commentsArea">Read the comments on this post...</a><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~4/i4lNDlyiRGw" height="1" width="1"/></description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~3/i4lNDlyiRGw/climate_change_denialism_sprea.php</link> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/climate_change_denialism_sprea.php</guid> <category /> <pubDate>Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:34:10 -0500</pubDate> <feedburner:origLink>http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/climate_change_denialism_sprea.php</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>SOPA Dead (for now) But PIPA is Not</title> <description><p><a href="http://www.examiner.com/computers-in-denver/house-kills-sopa">According to the examiner: </a><br /> <blockquote>In a surprise move today, Representative Eric Cantor(R-VA) announced that he will stop all action on SOPA, effectively killing the bill. This move was most likely due to several things. One of those things is that SOPA and PIPA met huge online protest against the bills. Another reason would be that the White House threatened to veto the bill if it had passed. .<br /> </blockquote></p> <p>PIPA, the Senate Version is still in play, however. </p> <p><br /> </p> <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/sopa_dead_for_now_but_pipa_is.php#commentsArea">Read the comments on this post...</a><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~4/s8u82N7kXOE" height="1" width="1"/></description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~3/s8u82N7kXOE/sopa_dead_for_now_but_pipa_is.php</link> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/sopa_dead_for_now_but_pipa_is.php</guid> <category /> <pubDate>Mon, 16 Jan 2012 10:46:44 -0500</pubDate> <feedburner:origLink>http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/sopa_dead_for_now_but_pipa_is.php</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>New Lab Rodent Recommendations Rile Researchers </title> <description><p>Research using lab rats or mice funded by the NIH is regulated by a set of guidelines that have very recently been upgraded. Mother rats and mice with litters are now recommended to have more room than current guidelines require. The new guidelines are not hard and fast rules, but researchers are concerned that not following these guidelines would jeopardize funding, and it appears from my reading of them that the new cage size guidelines are minimum requirements that must be met. </p> <p>The main difference that is causing some discussion about the new guidelines is that cages that hold females with litters would be larger, and thus potentially different from the other cages as well. In many labs, current rat cages that are all 140 square inches at the base would have to be replaced with larger cages that are 210 square inches at the base. This is not a huge difference in size, but since a large number of cages would no longer fit in whatever shelving or rackspace is set up, there would have to be a lot of changes. Also, researchers appear to be annoyed that while currently all the cages in a given facility may be the same size with variable number of rats or mice in them, the new standards would require either a lot of extra space for all cages or different size cages, which would be more difficult to manage. </p> <p>NPR, <a href="http://www.npr.org/2012/01/16/145172737/labs-size-up-new-guidelines-for-rodent-cages">reporting this story</a>, gives Johns Hopkins as an example. They have a rat and mouse facility about one football field in size, with about 40,000 shoe box size cages that fit in special racks and that integrate with a ventilation and water supply system. The facility is paid for with an internal rent of 62.5 cents per cage per day. It would cost about $300,000 to buy new cages, and more space would have to be found.</p> <p>The implementation of the regulations is somewhat negotiable, which is probably not a good thing for the researchers. It might be much better to have a required change implemented over a small number of years, and to have costs covered by future NIH funding, than to be uncertain as to whether or not one must change to retain funding, vs. this new rule simply going away. Also, in the long run, this is not as expensive as it sounds. Johns Hopkins <a href="http://www.medcitynews.com/2011/03/top-nih-grant-funding-by-institutions-states-for-2010/">received</a> almost 700 million dollars in NIH research funding in 2010. Throwing a million bucks into the overall research budget one time and a few hundred thousand increase which will be covered by grants over the long term is not insignificant, but it is certainly doable. </p> <p>Some "animal rights" groups want the rodents to have even more room. Some scientists have pointed out that there is no evidence that increasing room changes anything for the rodents, which is probably not a helpful thing to say at this point in time because if it it seems to imply that there has been no research into enclose size requirements for rodents. The new guidelines explicitly state that "Space recommendations were nominally expanded based on ... professional and expert opinion and on current housing methods," and "substantial guidance" is provided in the document to achieve the objectives of the new goal. Also, the guide attempts to distinguish between things that researchers must, vs. should, vs may do. I would assume that "shoulds" and "mays" are guidelines that under some conditions could be seen as potential future "musts." If I was in charge of an animal research facility, I'd be meeting with member of the NIH committee now and then to assess their future directions along these lines, so that the next time I speced out rat cages, I'd consider the "should" requirements if there was an expectation that "should" would someday become "must." The cage size increases appear to be in the "must" category but with exceptions. It is actually rather complicated, which is why the people who run these facilities are experts! </p> <p><a href="http://grants.nih.gov/grants/olaw/Guide-for-the-Care-and-Use-of-Laboratory-Animals.pdf#page=83">Here's a copy of the guidelines. </a></p> <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/new_lab_rodent_recommendations.php#commentsArea">Read the comments on this post...</a><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~4/0Mq7Xo8Jx9g" height="1" width="1"/></description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~3/0Mq7Xo8Jx9g/new_lab_rodent_recommendations.php</link> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/new_lab_rodent_recommendations.php</guid> <category /> <pubDate>Mon, 16 Jan 2012 09:43:56 -0500</pubDate> <feedburner:origLink>http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/new_lab_rodent_recommendations.php</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Phobos-Grunt might be coming in now.</title> <description><p>Twitter is telling me that Phobos Grunt is going to do its mostly burning up in the Earth's Atmosphere thing RIGHT NOW. Or it just did. Or really really soon. </p> <p>#PhobosGrunt is the hashtag. </p> <p>If you have an aluminum foil hat, now would be a good time to put it on. </p> <p>That is all.</p> <p>---------------------------------------------------<br /> b0yle Alan Boyle <br /> MT @PhG_Reentry: RT @timmermansr: STRATCOM claiming #PhobosGrunt reentered, crashed in Pacific in last few minutes. Unconfirmed by Russians</p> <p>_VanillaBlues Alina Razzouk <br /> #PhobosGrunt may have crashed in the Pacific Ocean according to the US Strategic Command. Awaiting Russian validation</p> <p>AdirondackAstro Michael Rector <br /> USStratcom saying #PhobosGrunt crashed down in South Pacific off of Southern South America, but unconfirmed by Roscosmos.</p> <p><br /> monzitrek Luigi Morielli <br /> #PhobosGrunt pare che US STRATCOM abbia confermato il rientro della sonda sul Pacifico. Si attende conferma da Roscosmos.</p> <p>gregladen Greg Laden <br /> #PhobosGrunt re-entered? Pics or it didn't happen!</p> <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/phobos-grunt_might_be_coming_i.php#commentsArea">Read the comments on this post...</a><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~4/_JjqKxjPW3E" height="1" width="1"/></description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~3/_JjqKxjPW3E/phobos-grunt_might_be_coming_i.php</link> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/phobos-grunt_might_be_coming_i.php</guid> <category /> <pubDate>Sun, 15 Jan 2012 12:52:19 -0500</pubDate> <feedburner:origLink>http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/phobos-grunt_might_be_coming_i.php</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Rachel Maddow Admits Love Affair</title> <description><p>... with Science! And she also talks about fishing, the size of government, Republicans, Obama, government reform And lies, damn lies. </p> <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/rachel_maddow_admits_love_affa.php">Read the rest of this post...</a> | <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/rachel_maddow_admits_love_affa.php#commentsArea">Read the comments on this post...</a><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~4/oYhdGX1oVqc" height="1" width="1"/></description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~3/oYhdGX1oVqc/rachel_maddow_admits_love_affa.php</link> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/rachel_maddow_admits_love_affa.php</guid> <category /> <pubDate>Sun, 15 Jan 2012 09:44:16 -0500</pubDate> <feedburner:origLink>http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/rachel_maddow_admits_love_affa.php</feedburner:origLink></item> </channel> </rss>