A Nation of Secrets

(Cross posted at Balloon Juice) So, Wikileaks tells us that Arab nations don’t like Iran very much.  That Qadhafi likes blondes. That Putin and Berlusconi don’t mind stacking up some green together.  There is more serious stuff there too, of course, (e.g. Red Crescent gun running; North Korea/Iran putting the ballistic missile evil in that [...]

Thanksgiving Day PSA: What to do when enforced gaiety don’t cut it no more, serious alchohol dept.

Cross posted at Balloon Juice It is a truth universally acknowledged that sometime today, many among us in possession of a full bellies will be in need of powerful psychic analgesics to counter the effects of overdoses of loved, liked, and despised ones.* __ I’ve been lucky on this score.  My late, and genuinely much [...]

Because You Can Never Know Enough About Your Turkey’s Genome

Cross posted at Balloon Juice For your pre-Thanksgiving edification, I give you this delightful photo-feature on the genetics of tomorrow’s feast. I’ll add just one note of unmerited self-satisfaction.  Emily Anthes, the writer of this piece, is an alumna of the MIT Graduate Program in Science Writing — which I have the honor of directing.  [...]

No More Sexy Time For Poor Ireland — or Ross Douthat Discovers His Inner De Valera

This is just a  (sort of) quick hit before returning to the Brooksalypse I’ve promised here more than once, but I thought today’s Douthat ejaculation deserved just a bit of slicing and dicing in its own right. For those of you with the good sense to save your neurons and avoid baby Bobo’s deep thoughts, [...]

On Veterans Day

Over at Balloon Juice, I wrote yesterday of war in the abstract, of the sorrow to be read in the numbing, enormous tallies of weapons bought and sold. Today, on Armistice Day/Veterans Day itself, it seems to me more appropriate to center on the individual experience of war that the day itself evokes. So, with [...]

You Can’t Win. You Can’t Break Even. You Can’t Leave the Game

Check this out:  one video to tell you about the 2nd law of thermodynamics (the “You can’t break even” of the title), and how to make a science video.  Fun.