Tomatoes, More Dangerous Than Ever!

You see!?!? I TOLD YOU TOMATOES ARE DANGEROUS!!!!

image source

“We have suffered a Code 9 containment breach,” said head biotechnologist Stewart Klein, explaining that he had used a dedicated emergency line to contact Monsanto headquarters in St. Louis, which immediately sent back a directive ordering all laboratory personnel to shelter in place until further notice. “As of now, we’ve sealed off all stairwells below subbasement 12, but this hardy, disease-resistant tomato appears to have overridden all of our fail-safe backup protocols. We have an asset on the loose, and nobody will be allowed in or out until this thing is stopped.”

Full details on this breaking story available at The Onion, America's Finest News Source.

Also, Bonus Points it you caught the Andromeda Strain reference.  :-)

Ken Ham and the AiG Follies

I have a several pages of notes from Ken Ham's recent presentation, and wrote about one example of the things he gets wrong. This could keep my busy blogging for a year if I so chose, but I think it's not worthwhile making a point-by-point rebuttal to everything he said. That don't mean I can't have some fun with it!

Therefore, for your amusement, I am going to simply list all the greatly wrong points I noted. In other words, pretty much everything. Quotes are approximate, everything else is my paraphrase, but I'll try to keep them as close to the original as my notes and recollection will allow. I won't bother with the rebuttals, as everyone probably knows them all anyway. Well, maybe a few ... I will decorate with a few quips and comments [in brackets] and irrelevant images along the way.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Ken Ham and the AiG Follies!

"The church is losing two-thirds of the coming generations." [Gosh, I wonder why?] "We need to teach apologetics ... I have a radical approach - teach Genesis 1:1 and give them a foundation to understand. ... We have lost Biblical authority!" [another mystery! AND a comic book!] "Come see the Ark!" [Instead of learning something.]

"Bill Nye the Pagan Guy, Bill Nye the Atheist Guy, whatever." [I don't think he likes Bill Nye, nor is he fond of Eugenie Scott]

"Radiometric error ..."
"Molecules to Man ..."

Experiment or observational science versus Origins or historical science: "Ask them, 'Were you there?'" [The guy sitting in front of me keeps nodding his head vigorously every time he this Ham makes a point.]
Science is brainwashing
Naturalism is atheism [yawn]
"Bill Nye says the Ark park will undermine science education."
Evolution is unnecessary, "Show me one example of evolution leading to technical advancements". [OK, how about all the emerging field of Evolutionary Medicine, gene therapies, and cures that are coming into use? Genetic algorithms too. Now show me one example of the Bible leading to a technical innovation.]

"Science says the Earth is round, and the Earth is millions of years old!" [Billions, actually.]
"The Bible says you are either for Christ or against." [False dichotomy, but whatever.]
I don't want to be too much like Bill Nye, but I call myself "Ken Ham the observational science ... um ... bloke. That's Australian for 'guy'."
"The Bible is God's observational science textbook." [His edition is rather out of date.]
"The seven day week comes from the Bible, proof the Bible is true." [Yes, he really did say pretty much that.]
"Watson and Crick, atheist scientists, discovered DNA." [Hey, we finally have a completely true statement!]
DNA is information. DNA is a language. [Noddy head guys is going to have a sore neck tomorrow.]
Werner Gitt says if there is no information, there is no matter. [Plugging some AiG book, I think.]
DNA proves God. Biochemistry confirms this. [I'd like the chemical formula for God, please.]

How many animals were needed on the Noah's Ark? All they needed were Kinds, or 'Min'. Horse kind, "We have a zorse and a zonkey at the Creation Museum petting zoo." [We still have the fossils!]
All the species we see today are the result of genetic recombination, loss of information, and sin! They are degenerate mutants. [Ham hates poodles too. Seriously hates them.] There are 10^2017 possible genetic combinations possible from just two perfect humans. Natural selection leads to all the kinds we see today. [Clearly some of us ended up in the shallow end of the gene pool.]
Every new mutation is a loss of information.
Every new species is a combination of existing genetic information.
It's all a loss of information! [Noddy head guy is bouncing like a bobblehead.]

[Ordinarily I would have a field day with all this misuse of Information, but I'm saving that for a special post.]

Ooh la la!

Atheists redefine terms to allow abortion, transgender men in women's bathrooms, gay marriage, our atheist President thinks Lucy was human.
Life begins at fertilization, not implantation [Ranting about abortion]

See? I told you!

Women can take their shirts off in public, because they ignore the Bible. [There could be worse things than women taking their shirts off.]

Millions of years is a problem for Christians [Billions is OK I guess.]
All creatures were vegetarians before the flood. [What about all those years between original sin and the flood?]
The world is decaying. "It's an ugly world, with a remnant of beauty." [This almost make me pity Ham. Almost.]

Erosion at Mt. St. Helens proves catastrophic floods can create all the geologic features we see.
"There is plenty of water for a global flood," because everything was nearly flat before the flood.
Grand Canyon lakes and surges deposits show the GC was made by The Flood.
The evidence is all there. [Noddy head shouts "Amen!"]

Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson fuel racism.
All people are the same color, just a different shade of brown.
Darwin is responsible for racism, because people do not acknowledge absolute Biblical authority.
Science causes evil [paraphrased]
We should be shocked by what the church believes [but not his church?]
The problem with the church is that too many accept evolution and science.
With no Biblical foundation, this leads to inconsistent beliefs.
Wrong foundation, therefore abortion!
"Run rings around the atheists with Answers!" [sales pitch for his tracts]
Get your Foundations education kit, for this special low low price, today only ...

"Now it's time to pay, err ... I mean pray." Be sure to buy my crap on the way out. [And then he ends his science lecture with a prayer.]

Ladies and Gentlemen, this concludes this evening's entertainment. You've been a great audience. Come back and see us next time!

And you know what they say in show biz - Always leave them laughing. That's not too hard when your subject is Ken Ham.

Rock Paper Scissors SPOCK Lizard

Sorry Sheldon, but it should be 

Rock Paper Scissors Spock Lizard,

NOT 

Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock.

Here is Sheldon Cooper explaining the game:

In the original Rochambeau we have the simple rules:

Rock crushes Scissors
Scissors cut Paper
Paper covers Rock

Which we can represent as:

Rock < Paper < Scissors < Rock

where greater-than "<" represents the win/lose relationship

loser < winner

and Rock is repeated to complete the circular relationship. 

If we call this game "Rock Paper Scissors Spock Lizard" then we can write the rules like this:

Rock < Paper < Scissors < Spock < Lizard < Rock < Paper

now with Rock and Paper repeated (or just understand that it "wraps around"), and the additional rule that any sequence of three (with wrapping) is also a rule.

Rock Paper Scissors
Paper Scissors Spock
Scissors Spock Lizard
Spock Lizard Rock
Lizard Rock Paper

And now the rules are the same as the name of the game.

Image source: Hollywood Nuts!

John Cleese Responds

Too much fun not to share:



Oops. Misspelled CleEse. Fixed.

Jiggle The Handle

Given the recent space toilet troubles, I am reminded of similar troubles aboard the space shuttle Challenger nearly 30 years ago (November, 1981), and comedian Robin Williams commentary on the solution to the problem. The relevant part starts at 2:35.



Thirty year ago, this put me in stitches. It's still a good one.

Skeptics on TV

Michael Shermer on The Colbert Report

The Awakening

Oh the horror!

from The Daily Show.

How to tell the difference between a theoretical statistician and an applied statistician

How to tell the difference between a theoretical statistician and an applied statistician?

A theoretical statistician knows all about measure theory but has never seen a measurement whereas the actual use of measure theory by the applied statistician is a set of measure zero.

--- Stephen Senn

Found on Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science

Science Fail #1

I'm borrowing the schtick of another blogger, who has not been actively lately. I hope he won't mind?
The idea of a "Science Fail" is to post a statement comment that fails in a completely self-explanitory way. Editing on my part is not allowed; each quote must fail on its own merits, or lack thereof. Go see Dirty Harry's Science Fail blog for many shining examples.

So what is this, Reality Show science? Leave to the Americans to get data by blowing something up or smashing something into something else. Keep this up and someday the Moon will be as livable as East Baghdad. (link to source)

If only Terraforming were that easy!

Found on Sciam.com

On the Rise of Science Comedy

I bring you Helen Pilcher of Nature.com on the rise of science comedy:

The comedic potential of particle accelerators or neurotransmission may not be obvious, but in the right hands they can be a recipe for mirth. And science has its own cast of wacky characters — from bongo-playing physicist Richard Feynman to gold-nosed astronomer and moose owner Tycho Brahe.

Moose owner? Now I'm, jealous! The full article also discusses the Ig Noble prizes, which are always a hoot.

And Shame! I haven't posted here for a month. What can I say, except that life is BUSY.

Biostatistics vs. Lab Research

I had this same conversation just this morning!



Somehow I doubt the full humor of the situation will be apparent to most people, but this conversation occurs at my job on an occasional basis. A sample size of N=3 is a barest minimum for even a t-test, and on that basis alone probably isn't enough, but I'm willing to set that aside for the bigger issue, because it depends on the question.

It is a matter of the question asked. Not all experiments are the same, nor are all samples the same. In my conversation this morning, there was a basic misunderstanding of the sample unit. There was a sample size of N=3 in one group (treatment), and another group of 3 serving as a control. The problem (well one of the problems) was that the controls were not used as an independent group, but rather as a way to normalize each of the first 3. Instead of having two groups of 3 each, that we really had was a single group of 3 pairs of subjects (matched pairs). This lead to a few hours of trying to untangle What had been done versus what needed to be done. Frustrating, but then education is an important part of my job too.

Coffee and Breast Size, the Saga Continues

 Improbable Research presents the latest in ongoing research on the link between Caffeine and Breast Shrikage. The real story is that in women that carry a certain allele (CYP1A2*1F, if i grok), caffeine plays a role in regulating a hormone associated with both breast size and cancer risk.

See Coffee and Breast Size at Improbable Research, or you can skip the fun and go straight the grounds of the matter (pdf).

[image from Improbable.com]

Space Elevator Oops

Tensile versus Shear Strength, from XKCD

Don't forget to click thru for the mouse-hover message!

Arthur Benjamin and Mathemagic!

Celebrity for the math-geek, and some good advice for students (quoting from memory):

Arthur Benjamin: "The number of math courses you take in college is the single best predictor of your future income."

Steven Colbert has an answer for that too, but he always has an answer*.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Arthur Benjamin
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Economy

* Always, except maybe for that time when Jane Fonda was on the show. ;-)

Why yes, that IS a severe side effect

Found via Improbable Research:

Medical attention for Tikosyn

Lord of the Hadrons

Three Particles for the Heisenbergs under the sky,
Seven for the von Neumanns in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Schrödinger on his dark throne
In the Land of Dirac where the Strange lie.
One Particle to rule them all, One Particle to find them,
One Particle to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
To give them Mass where the Charms lie.

[Hat Tip to Sir Al Dente -- Thanks Al! (What a Looney!), and of course JRR Tolkien]

PS: Anyone else remember the Superconducting Super Collider?

Earths Mightiest Superheroes Vs Global Warming!

Actually, it's how the Earth's Mightiest heroes would deal with the impending doom that is Galactus, but you get the idea. Click thru to read full size.

Matt Bors comics
Part 2
Part 3
[Hat Tip 2 Comics Alliance] 

Ancient Traditions: Poo Flinging

From The K Chronicles

[Hit-Tip-2-Phyrangula] 

This is fun ...

 I just discovered a nice blog tribute to ... oh ... but telling would spoil some of the fun. This series of posts at The Armchair Generalist is still fun, even if it is after Halloween.

Here, have some more fun:

How Superman Defeated the Ku Klux Klan

TV Shows Little Girls Watch

Monkey Business: Scientist Monkeys Around With The Economy

Internet Rules

Piano Stairs are fun too.

I Love the Internet

You're a Good Man, Charles Darwin

From the Dresden Codak webcomic, the work of the very talented Aaron Diaz.

There is more to see, and you can see it bigger, at Dresden Codak.