Paper, rock, scissors. Your move.

I got into a conversation online a little while ago about alternative energy.  The conversation eventually polarized into two camps, one of which insisted that the oil companies and auto manufacturers were preventing us from having electric cars to make huge profits.  Big giant conspiracy theory.  The other camp insisted that no-one would ever be [...]

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Makes a great headline, but…

Pill Users Choose ‘Wrong’ Sex Partners
And it’s not just the awful headline, folks.  It’s the whole article.  Yes, this is the worst of so-called science reporting by the mainstream media, none other than CBS News this time.  This study has been going around the feminist and sex-positive webs for a little while now.
It’s a small [...]

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Following up on Girls=Boys @ Math

The Economic Woman writes up an excellent post bringing up some important points in the recent University of Wisconsin study about the vanishing difference between women and men in math.
I’m not sure, personally, what to make of the difference at the 99th percentile, where the marginal effect in variance between men and women plays a [...]

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Greenspun and Feministe talk in different directions about the Ivory Ceiling

Phillip Greenspun has an interesting perspective.  The article’s old, but I’ve seen worse arguments. He’s not trying to make an argument per se, but put forth a hypothesis he’s not got the time to test. I think there’s been a lot of research recently that has said that there’s more to it than the mere [...]

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Following up on Feministe: Gender Inequity in Science

Gender Inequity In Science: Why Legal Remedies Are Grossly Inadequate
And well, let’s also not forget the other apologist argument that womens’ interests are simply different from men’s, and that’s why there are more men in the sciences than women.  I’ve seen this one argued in peer-reviewed publications, I’ve heard it argued in bars, and I’ve [...]

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Really? No one ever thought to check before?

Trees maintain a constant temperature in their leaves
Such a short blurb of an article, and I have to wait for the Nature article to be available before I can read the full one, but when I do, I’ll share my thoughts.  I’d known this about certain species, notably “Skunk Cabbage,” but I didn’t realize that [...]

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About damn time we acknowledged it.

They’ve finally given some significant evidence that the math gap between men and women isn’t biologically based.
Since it’s taken this long, wouldn’t you know that the gap between women and men in positions in the engineering fields is just as big as it ever was? My own company has a couple hundred people, 30% [...]

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HNT = HeterogeNous Thursday

It’s the Thursday random link post! Stuff before the cut. Sex after the cut.

Of course, the big news in science this week was Phoenix discovering what might be ice on Mars.

Also, though, it turns out nautili have long and short term memories (and speaking of cephalapods, I love this cute little octopus and its tool using goodness).

And finally in science, the world’s first self-replicating 3D printer. I for one welcome our new robot overlords.

Okay, now In feminism. This still angers me. (K-Mart sells True Love Waits gear for girls).

And linguistics! Newly coined word of the week: Nerdgassing

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Quick linky thing

A quick article from Making Light about a lost woman of science, Lise Meitner. Thought it was interesting and that it deserved a link…

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New uses for new batteries

Better batteries
MIT Technology Review is raving about a battery that’s ultra-light, non-toxic, provides quick charge and high-output, and can survive daily charges for 15 years. They talk about putting it in the Chevy Volt. It’s currently in use in some newer black and decker power tools. Provides better power than the wall [...]

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