Seed’s Daily Zeitgeist: 4/1/2008

• Credit where credit's due
  Respect the man who made the science metaphor. Plus, watch a video about David Miller's Higgs analogy.
• The Illusion of Streaks
  He's not on fire. Nope.
• Men misperceive sexual interest in women
  A new study may indicate why.
• Edison...Wasn't He the Guy Who Invented Everything?
  Behind every great inventor is a great rival...who probably invented the same machine.
• Covariation and causality
  This cartoon gets to the heart of the difference. (via boing boing)

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Seed’s Daily Zeitgeist: 3/24/2008

• Orbiter Endeavor Launch
  Watch the March 11 launch from a dashboard-mounted computer. This is how astronauts act as they go into space. (via BA)
• Discussion on PZ Myers being expelled from Expelled
  Dawkins and PZ chat about the incident.
• Distinguishing Artificial From Natural Is Possible, for Now
  Our mimicry may get better, yet.
• The odds of dying from...
  Sure it's morbid, but it's also pretty interesting. (via Freakonomics)
• ITSNONAME
  How much would you spend for some fashionable chem-bling?

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Seed’s Daily Zeitgeist: 3/21/2008

• Enablers
  Chris Mooney argues that scientists shouldn't publicize anti-science groups by arguing with them. Brian, ERV, PZ, and Mark H respond.
• 20 Things You Didn't Know About Sex
  It's always good to know more.
• Jesus Speaks to a Geneticist
  How Good Friday-appropriate.
• The Racial Tipping Point
  African-American cab drivers get tipped substantially less than white cab drivers? That's disturbing.
• Schweppes Burst slow motion balloons Ad
  Ooh...bursting balloons at 10,000 frames per second.
  

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Seed’s Daily Zeitgeist: 3/19/2008

• Where does "Blue" end and "Red" begin?
  Based on the World Color Survey, this piece culls color names from tons and tons of people and maps them. Pretty cool stuff. (via boing boing)
• Ninja geckos (with video!)
  Woah, check out those geckos. They sure can flip.
• Freud meets cognitive psychology
  Freud may have been on to something with that whole "transference" thing.
• In Most Species, Faithfulness Is a Fantasy
  But expecting your partner to put up with your philandering is a fantasy, too.
• Hofstadter Docudrama: "Victim of the Brain"
  Let's hear it for deep philosophical questions and the weirdest decade in recent memory.

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Seed’s Daily Zeitgeist: 3/14/2008

• The Theory of Interstellar Trade
  This 30-year-old economics paper by Paul Krugman is just as brilliant, hilarious, and relevant (very, very, and not very, respectively) as it was when it was written. (via Jake)
• Felice Frankel on Seeing Science
  The much-loved science photographer talks about her work.
• Why Can't a Woman Be More Like a Man?
  Christina Hoff Sommers argues against a Title IX approach to science. This piece is sure to spark spirited discussion... (via 3QD)
• Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo
  Diagram everyone's favorite sentence.
• Oh, the places you'll find dead people!
  Hopefully not any of these places.

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Seed’s Daily Zeitgeist: 3/4/2008

• Interview: Dr. Justin Schmidt, of the Schmidt Pain Index
  The much-anticipated blog Of Two Minds has debuted! Here, learn about some of the most painfully venomous insects from the man who knows them best.
• Top 10 Amazing Chemistry Videos
  Some of these are pretty incredible. The PCR Song is...well, just watch.
• Titan Island Group - Cassini Image PIA 100008 (1-1,000,000)
  Check out those stunning methane lakes.
• Please Call Earth. We Still Haven't Found You.
  How many other civilizations are out there? Will we ever detect them?
• All bow before the might of the placebo effect, it is the coolest strangest thing in medicine
  It's gotten stronger over time! It works even when you know you're taking a placebo! It's just amazing.

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Seed’s Daily Zeitgeist: 3/3/2008

• Edge: Social Networks are Like the Eye Nicholas Christakis talks about the expansion of research on social networks. (via 3QD)
• WolframTones: Generate a Composition Futz with Wolfram's algorithms to create your own music. (hat tip to Paul K)
• Race and DNA This paper's not about what genes we have; it's about how we express them.
• Global Warming Paradox? Apparently people who know more about global warming also feel less responsible and less worried.
• Can a Man Become a Magnet? Hey, Jack Black does it in Be Kind Rewind.

Microsoft To Announce WorldWide Telescope On January 27

A source close to Microsoft says the company will launch new desktop software called WorldWide Telescope on January 27 at the TED Conference in Monterey, California. Our guess is that this is what Robert Scoble was talking about last week when he said he saw a new Microsoft project that brought him to tears.

The service will be accessed through a downloadable application - Windows only for now is what we hear. Users will be able to pan around the nighttime sky and zoom as far in to any one area as the data will allow. Microsoft is said to be tapping the Hubble telescope as well as ten or so earth bound telescopes around the world for data. When you find an area you like, you can switch to a number of different views, such as infrared and non-visible light.

University of Michigan creates most intense laser in the universe