It's Probably Just Better to Lie

If election season teaches our children anything, it's that it's better to lie or shut your mouth than to say anything that is remotely offensive, thought provoking, or threatens the status-quo.

Case in point: Barack Obama. Now making news headlines is his recent comment that people in small towns 'cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.' Big surprise, a new poll has revealed that most people "disagree" with that statement.
While it was a very poor choice of words - how could he not know the second he finished speaking that this would come back to haunt him - I find it incredibly discouraging that no one is even considering the truth of the statement. All that matters here is that a candidate spoke a few brazen words, regardless of what words they were.

As someone who grew up in a small town/rural setting, I can say that Obama's comments were spot on accurate for a pretty damn big percent of the population (mostly male, but mentioning that would have only made things worse). It is not at all uncommon for any kind of economic strife to be blamed entirely upon immigrants (particularly those of Mexican and Somalian descent).

Most people in rural areas and small towns are in fact more racist, homophobic, and xenophobic than their city counterparts (let's just be honest here). However, said rural and small town persons would really prefer not to be confronted with the truth for fear of change. Perhaps "Are you an embittered antipathic xenophobe?" should have been a follow-up question in the poll. Let's count that as a lesson learned, kids.

Some People Never Change...

From the great state of PA:

"A former Norwin homecoming queen accused of attacking her sister with a prosthetic leg and threatening to burn down a neighbor's trailer was ordered on Wednesday to go to rehab."

Indeed, every state has its trashy element, but I've gotta say that this one gets Pennsylvania the "American Trash at its Trashiest" award until the next Great Story comes along.

From one of the photo captions that accompanies the story:

"She had two DUI convictions in Allegheny County in 1991. One was in Rankin, where police said she was so drunk she smeared feces in the back of a police car."

No doubt her high school senior yearbook was signed with quotes like "Never change!" and "Stay sweet!"

Biofuels: Now Substantially More Lame Than Petro

I've always wondered what all the hubub regarding biofuels is about. They are constantly lumped into discussions about climate change, as if the prefix "bio" means that the fuel does not burn and release carbon dioxide. Sorry to say it, but if you burn anything using the traditional fuel+ignition=combustion method, carbon dioxide will be among the products. There's no way around it. Economically, it's certainly a nice way to lower dependence on old fashioned petroleum from overseas and keep money flowing within the American economy, but environmentally it amounts to a slightly more friendly replacement that will just scratch the surface of the problem. Until now, that is. Previous studies showing the benefit of crop-based biofuels have apparently neglected to take into account the actual production of the fuels in their estimates of environmental impact. According to the recent study, the clearing of current cropland, grassland, and forest to grow the fuel necessary will actually produce MORE carbon dioxide that if plain old gasoline was used. Even worse:

"We should be focusing on our use of biofuels from waste products" such as garbage, which would not result in changes in agricultural land use, Searchinger [lead author of the study] said in an interview. "And you have to be careful how much you require. Use the right biofuels, but don't require too much too fast. Right now we're making almost exclusively the wrong biofuels."

Pretty cool. I think I'm going to start buying up future coastline in central Arkansas to fund my retirement.

Behold: I Suck!

I have a great plethora of excuses. For example:
"This one time, I was walking to school, and this deer came out of the woods, and this unicorn, like, started fighting it, and the unicorn won, but accidentally implaled my good blog-writing hand with its horn."
Anyone who has taught children knows the appropriate mental voice in which to read that statement.

Anyway, my primary excuse for neglecting said blog are my future plans for beginning a new blog (in collaboration with the BF), which will cover a much larger scope of topics and may actually involve purchasing a domain. Crazy sciency shenanigans will of course be included, but other stuff shalt be stirred in for those who care to read it and don't think that culture sucks.
My secondary excuse, quite honestly, is that I forgot I had a blog. Just 20 minutes ago, while reading the GLBT Soccer blog (link located in the sidebar to your right -->), I saw the name of my blog in a list of links and remembered, "Shit, I have that blog thing!"

So for the time being, I have a peace offering. I bring you crazy sciency shenanigans in the form of: TOYGERS.
Yes, a woman in California is attempting to breed a housecat that mimics the markings and shape of a miniature tiger. But more importantly, the story of the toyger brings valuable insight into the bizarre mind of the cat-obsessed. You see, creating a toyger isn't just about breeding an extremely valuable designer pet:

Toygers are about saving something rarer—the essence of tigerness. “Wild animals are disappearing in front of our eyes,” she says. “We can’t keep big cats where we have people in massive numbers.”

But perhaps my cynicism is unwarranted. In another 15 years, we will all look back upon this moment and laugh as I gently cradle my designer panda bear dog.

Long Time, No Post

It is indeed work to find interesting, specifically scientific information to post on a regular basis. In order to keep things rolling, I reckon I might begin posting a little more cultural commentary whenever the mood strikes me. This should eliminate large, 2 month-long gaps between posts. I will, however, strive to keep the tone focused on awkward (and pointless, whenever possible) science.

On that note, would y'all like to read a fun article about GUM?!

Yet Another Thing You Can Do With a Stick and a Camera

It's been a while (almost a month), so why not a new post?

A new study released in the journal Science outlines an experiment that managed to successfully produce out-of-body experiences in test subjects.

In one variation of the experiment, the subject wore virtual reality goggles linked to a camera pointed at a mannequin dressed as the subject. The mannequin would then be stroked with a stick while another stick simultaneously stroked the subject in the same spot. Subjects at this point described the sensation of being out-of-body. Later, with a camera feed from the position of the mannequin's eyes, they introduce the hammer (this is where things get just a little creepy):

While people were experiencing the illusion, he pretended to smash the virtual
body by waving the hammer just below the cameras. Immediately, the subjects
registered a threat response as measured by sensors on their skin. They sweated,
and their pulses raced. They also reacted emotionally, as if they were watching
themselves get hurt.

...which was followed by the scientists laughing maniacally and giving each other high fives. Or so I imagine happened, but was strategically excluded from the article.

Nursing Home Cat Foresees Death

There's a very interesting story from Rhode Island about a cat named Oscar who apparently is quite successful at predicting the death of nursing home patients several hours in advance. Oscar, who is normally leery of humans, has begun curling up near patients in their last hours, correctly forecasting death in 25 consecutive instances.

A doctor who treats patients at the home said she believed there was probably a biochemical explanation, rather than the cat being psychic.

Let me say outright that I refuse to allow what some "doctor" of "medicine" says about psychic cats to cloud my judgement. Oscar clearly is psychic, or perhaps an alien-housecat hybrid who has developed clairvoyance as a gift from his extra-terrestrial predecessors.

Wait...is this from an X-Files episode?

Scotland Company Debuts i-Limb Artificial Hand

A company based out of Edinburgh, Scotland, has announced the release of an articulating artificial hand called the "i-Limb." The sophisticated appendage involves numerous electrodes that sense muscle tension and manipulates individual bionic digits appropriately. Capable of detecting grip, the fingers can use a firm grasp for holding heavy objects, or a lighter grip for delicate objects like a styrofoam cup. C-Net has a nifty photo gallery showing the device off - the artificial skin covering is especially impressive. Surely school-aged children will be slicing hands off left and right to get their stubs on this high-tech gadget.

Climate Change Clarifications

Scientific American has a very concise article clarifing some global warming details. Whether one agrees or disagrees with the evidence, it's always helpful to know what the facts are in having a discussion that is actually informed.

Gay Gait a Choice?

Posted at Towleroad, I followed a link to a CNN article regarding a study intended to determine if there was such a thing as a "gay walk" (seems like an obvious question and a case of misplaced if you ask me - the answer is definitely YES for part of the gay population). More interesting, however, were the comments by Dr. Douglas Abbott, a professor of child and family studies at the University of Nebraska.
He states:

I think the primary causes of same-sex behavior are environmental and personal choice and free agency. Can someone change their orientation? The definitive answer to that is, "yes.'

While this might indicate that the U of Nebraska is a little behind the times, this guy is entitled to his opinion, right? Frustratingly, CNN opts to include this caption underneath the photo accompanying the article (said photo containing a male couple holding hands, heads cropped out, of course):

A growing number of psychologists and geneticists are trying to answer the question of whether sexual orientation is inborn or a choice.

They are? Because that would seem to be an awful waste of time. As far as I know, Dr. Abbott is among a VERY small minority, and it aggravates me to see that this is being played up as a "debate," such as the "debate" among scientists regarding whether or not the theory of evolution is true. This kind of thing creates a mistaken impression among the public that even the experts are split on such issues, when these theories are in actuality so thoroughly tested that they can be considered scientific fact. CNN and many other news outlets, in other words, are validating the stupidity of many millions of Americans. They should probably stop.

So, in case you missed it:

Homosexuality is NOT a choice

and

Evolution did occur.