Hits of the week past
Category: Brains and minds
The week's best -- with new features!
Posted by David Dobbs at 2:14 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Neuron Culture
David Dobbs on science, nature, and culture.
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I write articles on science, medicine, nature, culture and other matters for the New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Slate, National Geographic, Scientific American Mind, and other publications, and am working on my fourth book, The Orchid and the Dandelion, which expands on my recent December 2009 Atlantic article. My previous books include Reef Madness: Charles Darwin, Alexander Agassiz, and the Meaning of Coral, which traces the strangest but most forgotten controversy in Darwin's career — an elemental dispute running some 75 years.
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Education:
Neuron Culture's Top Ten from September
Category: Brains and minds
That post reported the news (via FiercePharma) that Pfizer had tucked away in its financial disclosure forms a $2.3 billion charge to end the federal investigation into allegations of off-label promotions of its Cox-2 painkillers, including Bextra. ... Because my post was was one of the few things already on the interwebz before Justice held its news conference, the Google rush shot it toward the top of the search results.
Posted by David Dobbs at 3:19 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Dipstick: religious brains, more school, more meds, states rights, and dancing with the unwilling. Plus Ardi, free
This implies that religious beliefs and behavior emerged not as sui generis evolutionary adaptations, but as an extension (some would say "by product") of social cognition and behavior. May be something to that, Razib says — but it would be nice "get in on the game of normal human variation in religious orientation (as opposed to studies of mystical brain states which seem focused on outliers)."
Posted by David Dobbs at 6:51 AM • 1 Comments •
Morning dip: Obama on fascistic healthcare, Razib on religion, & other notables
Category: Brains and minds
As Obama explains, world leaders are puzzled that healthcare gets painted with a Hitler moustache. and other news.
Posted by David Dobbs at 6:27 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
What the Public Thinks of Public Schools
Category: Education
Six months ago I thought this country was ready to deal with the serious problems in our schools. This new survey would suggest that's the case. But having watched the healtcare reform debate/debacle, I now have my doubts.
Posted by David Dobbs at 10:00 AM • 16 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Morning dip: reading, writing, merit pay, musical spouses, swine flu, and fire towers
Category: Brains and minds
On citing papers you haven't read; writing better cuz U write more; the merits of merit pay; placebo effect versus placebo effect; and for fun, fire towers.
Posted by David Dobbs at 10:06 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Afternoon dip - Zombie fire ants, stereotype threat, bedtime routines, floating plastic, and tree-climbing bots
Category: Brains and minds
Speaking of pleasure: Having lived with fire ants, stepped in fire ants, laid down with fire ants, and been bit just about everywhere by fire ants, this pleases me immensely: Parasitic flies turn fire ants them into zombies. The fly maggots eat their brains.
Posted by David Dobbs at 3:12 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Overpaying for Educational Underachievement
Category: Education
As I've noted before, the U.S.'s health-care and education systems share some fundamental flaws: In both medical care and schooling we spend far more than other countries and get substandard results. Here's the latest data on the education end.
Posted by David Dobbs at 1:16 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Quick dip: Robots, Nobelists, sand, fake studies, preschool, metasurveillance
Category: Brains and minds
"If you stick a robot--I don't care if you're talking about grade school kids or high school students--if you put a robot in the middle of the room, there is something captivating about the technology."
Posted by David Dobbs at 9:50 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The Times jumps on the education reform bus
Category: Education
"The New York Times editorial board today calls on Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and the Obama administration to hold states to tougher accountability standards if they want to receive a piece of the $49 billion school stabilization fund included in the stimulus package."
Posted by David Dobbs at 3:14 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
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