Christopher X J. Jensen
Associate Professor, Pratt Institute

Interesting piece on the role of belief in our perception of reality by Michael Shermer

Posted 23 Aug 2011 / Comments Off on Interesting piece on the role of belief in our perception of reality by Michael Shermer

I am particularly interested in his idea of “in-group bias”, a cognitive explanation of so-called “group-think”: Scientific American “The Believing Brain”

Re-wilding controversy continues following new tortoise study

Posted 23 Aug 2011 / Comments Off on Re-wilding controversy continues following new tortoise study

Scientific American “Tortoises to the Rescue”

SA editorial suggests that biofuels carry too much risk of destabilizing our food supply

Posted 23 Aug 2011 / Comments Off on SA editorial suggests that biofuels carry too much risk of destabilizing our food supply

Scientific American “A Quick Fix to the Food Crisis”

Scientific American infographic shows the effect of climate change on wildfires in the Western United States

Posted 23 Aug 2011 / Comments Off on Scientific American infographic shows the effect of climate change on wildfires in the Western United States

Scientific American infographic “Up in Flames” –  also consider these statistics.

Can we please talk about all the very clear astronomical/physical reasons why we are unlikely to be visited by space aliens (unfriendly or otherwise)?

Posted 23 Aug 2011 / Comments Off on Can we please talk about all the very clear astronomical/physical reasons why we are unlikely to be visited by space aliens (unfriendly or otherwise)?

Michael Shermer allows SETI lunatics to provoke him into making unfounded projections about the culture of potentially-visiting space aliens: Scientific American “The Myth of the Evil Aliens”

Do the behavioral habits of the Tasmanian Devil predispose it as a species to being a reservoir for contagious cancers?

Posted 23 Aug 2011 / Comments Off on Do the behavioral habits of the Tasmanian Devil predispose it as a species to being a reservoir for contagious cancers?

Many factors dictate whether a behavior is beneficial or detrimental, including the possibility of transmitting contagious cancers: Scientific American “The Devil’s Cancer”

In order to cooperate, soil bacteria need to have strong social skills

Posted 23 Aug 2011 / Comments Off on In order to cooperate, soil bacteria need to have strong social skills

Scientific American “The Smartest Bacteria on Earth”

Will synthetic meat that is both acceptable to the consumer and actually lower in impact be realized before people just decide that meat-eating is not a prudent path forward for the human species?

Posted 23 Aug 2011 / Comments Off on Will synthetic meat that is both acceptable to the consumer and actually lower in impact be realized before people just decide that meat-eating is not a prudent path forward for the human species?

Scientific American  “Inside the Meat Lab”

Nature is way too kind to humanity: microbes may consume much of our plastic garbage (eventually)

Posted 23 Aug 2011 / Comments Off on Nature is way too kind to humanity: microbes may consume much of our plastic garbage (eventually)

Scientific American “The Smallest Hitchhikers”

Lee Alan Dugatkin, well-known evolutionary biologist, has just published a book on the famous naturalist/anarchist Peter Kropotkin

Posted 23 Aug 2011 / Comments Off on Lee Alan Dugatkin, well-known evolutionary biologist, has just published a book on the famous naturalist/anarchist Peter Kropotkin

Press release for this book: http://www.mmdnewswire.com/lee-alan-dugatkin-prince-of-evolution-peter-kropotkin-adventures-in-science-and-politics-60275.html Amazon link for this book: http://www.amazon.com/Prince-Evolution-Kropotkins-Adventures-Politics/dp/1461180171/ref=lh_ni_t As far as I can tell, this book seems to be self-published. I have to believe that Lee Alan Dugatkin could easily have gotten this published on a mainstream press. Has he gone DIY?

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