A confab of cultured meat enthusiasts gathered in Gothenburg, Sweden last week to discuss the puzzling lack of interest in synthetic sirloin research. The meat-up was arranged by Chalmers University of Technology and the European Science Foundation. We do not know if it featured a cultured cutlet cook-out.
The White House Soup of the Day for September 9, 2011 via MSNBC and FishbowlDC:
Short link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-b5p
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.
Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine
iParadigms LLC is known for its anti-plagiarism software, but it has cribbed its business model from arms dealers. In the war against classroom plagiarism, iParadigms sells ammunition to both sides, teachers and students.
The firm sells educational institutions TurnItIn plagiarism-detection software, a product which checks college and high school essays and term papers against a vast database of student papers to find suspicious duplication. iParadigms also sells college students WriteCheck software to help them disguise their plagiarised pages. WriteCheck keeps the names of its student customers confidential. Profits, perfected.
Read more:
“Plagiarism Betrayal?” Elizabeth Murphy, InsideHigherEd.com
Short link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-b53
Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.
Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine
Texas Governor Rick Perry used the occasion of the Republican Presidential Debate & Quiz Show to announce his running mate:
“The idea that we would put Americans’ economy at . . . jeopardy based on scientific theory that’s not settled yet, to me, is just nonsense I mean . . . and I tell somebody, I said, just because you have a group of scientists that have stood up and said here is the fact, Galileo got outvoted for a spell.”
– Rick Perry, via ABC News.
This is a controversial position for a Tea Party Republican in these sceptical times. It might even be taken to mean that Mr. Perry actually believes that the Earth revolves around the Sun, when anyone can plainly can see it’s the other way ’round. The Perry campaign has not responded to questions about those provocative implications.
Beauty isn’t just in the eye of the beholder, it’s in the wallets of good-looking folks. Over the course of their work lives, conventionally attractive people make $230,000 more than less prepossessing employees and get better jobs and mortgages. Economist Daniel S. Hamermesh calls the difference in pay the “ugliness penalty” and believes unattractive people can sue to collect the balance under equal opportunity laws. Job discrimination on the basis of looks is already illegal in District of Columbia and some jurisdictions in California.
Dr. Hamermesh has written about this field of research in a book, Beauty Pays: Why Attractive People Are More Successful (2011, Princeton University Press). Although we personally find such comparisons odious, if you must know what the author looks like, click here.
Short link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-b4d
Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.
Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine
Now that September is upon us, remember:
1. The NFL season starts Thursday.
2. Air out woolens.
3. Buy leaf bags.
4. Don’t wear white shoes.
A reminder: If you’re driving home after the Labor Day Weekend, safe driving begins with seatbelts.
Short link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-b3B
Video: Sussex Safer Roads Partnership. Writer & Director: Daniel Cox, Alexander Commercials.
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length. Drive carefully — put down that cell phone, too.
Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine
This is Labor Day Weekend, ceremonial End of Summer in the USA. During this three-day holiday adult American men are obliged to offer up sacrifices to their gods, incinerating animal flesh outdoors near their homes. Families and neighbors consume the charred remains, washing them down with libations of fermented grain or carbonated sugar-water.
This custom is said to bridge cultural differences and promote family and community cohesion, but the ceremony has a grave, unstated purpose. If American men do not burn meat for them on Labor Day, the angry gods will not end summer, preventing the start of the new pro football season.
The National Pinball Museum is being bounced from its Georgetown Park location, but it’s flipping up to Baltimore. Look for an official announcement soon and a Charm City museum opening in November.
What it means for you: Free Game! More accurately, free museum admission today through Monday.
National Pinball Museum
The Shops at Georgetown Park
3222 M St NW
(corner of M St NW and Wisconsin Ave NW)
Washington D.C.
Saturday 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM
Sunday & Monday (Labor Day) 12:00 Noon to 6:00 PM
Short link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-b34
Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has released the jobless numbers for August 2011.
The official unemployment rate, the one in the headlines, is 9.1%. The real unemployment rate: 16.2% (includes people who no longer get unemployment benefits, need work but have stopped looking because it’s futile, or have only found part-time work). The official rate hasn’t changed from last month, the real rate has grown by a tenth of a percent. Learn more here.
45,000 jobs were temporarily lost in the Verizon strike, and those workers are back on the payroll this month, but the 17,000 government jobs eliminated last month are permanently gone. While 62,000 private sector jobs were added in August, this is no comfort to America’s 14 million unemployed. More that 6 million of them have been out of work for over six months.
