Clipmarks | reimers's 'science' clips

How Not To Be Poor

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 20:56:03 GMT

clipped by: reimers

Avoiding long-term poverty is not rocket science. First, graduate from high school. Second, get married before you have children, and stay married. Third, work at any kind of job, even one that starts out paying the minimum wage. And, finally, avoid engaging in criminal behavior.

Science vs. Religion: The Ultimate Smackdown

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 06:54:55 GMT

clipped by: reimers

Clip Source: www.wired.com

When you're looking to buy a car stereo -- a device beloved of religious folk and rationalists alike -- do you get into long musings on the nature of stereoness, or consider whether you'll be able to plug your iPod into it after you're dead? No, of course you do not. You turn to the most powerful epistemological tool available: the checklist.

Here, then, is a checklist to help you decide between the warm embrace of heartfelt faith or the cool reassurance of the scientific method.

Food

Religion has brought us the Easter ham and the Passover brisket.

Music

Religion gave us Bach, gospel and rock 'n' roll. (Hey, Satan is part of religion.)

Sex

Science, taken as a whole, is remarkably silent on the question of whom you should sleep with, when you should sleep with them and how guilty you should feel afterward.

Stuff

Clearly, if you like owning things other than dirt clods and intestinal parasites, science is ready to step up and give it to you

Giant Rat Discovered in 'Lost World'

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 22:45:01 GMT

clipped by: reimers

Clip Source: news.aol.com

JAKARTA, Indonesia (Dec. 17) - Researchers in a remote jungle in Indonesia have discovered a giant rat and a tiny possum that are apparently new to science, underscoring the stunning biodiversity of the Southeast Asian nation, scientists said Monday.

Unearthing new species of mammals in the 21st century is considered very rare. The discoveries by a team of American and Indonesian scientists are being studied further to confirm their status.

The animals were found in the Foja mountains rainforest in eastern Papua province in a June expedition, said U.S.-based Conservation International, which organized the trip along with the Indonesian Institute of Science.

"The giant rat is about five times the size of a typical city rat," said Kristofer Helgen, a scientist with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. "With no fear of humans, it apparently came into the camp several times during the trip."

The possum was described as "one of the worlds smallest marsupials."

Tags: science, nature