We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.
— Carl Sagan (via crookedindifference)
Rep. Charlie Rangel Found Guilty of 11 Ethics Violations →
This man just cruised to reelection in his Harlem, NY district.
Cell Life and Art →
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/16/science/16animate.html?_r=1&hpAn interesting look at animation and modeling colliding with science.
Scientists Witness the Birth of a Black Hole →
The initial 1979 observation of the exploding star was made by an amateur astronomer from Western Maryland, but the profession's top scientists have studied it intently with increasingly sophisticated orbiting X-ray telescopes.Go amateur scientists!
The GOP Takeover in the States →
Republicans control 26 state legislatures and 29 gubernatorial seats, and have outright control of 21 states (both legislature and governor).
Each party tries to proves that the other party is unfit to rule. Both commonly succeed and are right.
— HL. Mencken
Pew Forum Religious Knowledge Quiz →
I suppose I should be proud of myself, but I'm generally just embarrassed by our society.
Rachel Maddow interviewed Jon Stewart last night
You don't have to agree with the guy's politics to acknowledge that he makes some great points in this interview.
New York's Hundred Million Calls to 311 →
The city's popular NYC311 call center was set up to field complaints and provide information on school closings and the like, but is now aggregating data to help provide prioritization to solutions.
Game Theory Explains Some Viral Content →
The authors of this paper conclude that the qualities which make things like diseases into epidemics are actually the opposite of the qualities that make social and peer-related ideas into phenomena. An epidemic spreads widely if people travel long distances and infect new people, in essence, if they have a high number of interactions and contact with others. An idea can actually spread better with fewer interactions and contacts; the more friends you have, the less likely any one idea will become popular among all of them, thus influencing your opinions strongly.