Monthly Archives: March 2012

Weekend Wag the Dog: 3/30/12

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Adam Van Arsdale

This week’s edition of Weekend Wag the Dog brings us, and Clifford, to the water’s edge.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Comments Off on Weekend Wag the Dog: 3/30/12

More on the Burtele foot…

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Adam Van Arsdale

…from people more knowledgable than me. Holly Dunsworth, at The Mermaid’s Tale, has a long post that touches on a number of questions raised by the new fossils. One point I like that she highlights is the variation seen within … Continue reading →

Posted in Fossils | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on More on the Burtele foot…

Fossil data, access and technology, part 2

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Adam Van Arsdale

This is the follow-up to a piece I posted earlier on what exactly do we mean by fossil data. In that piece, I suggested that at a primary level, fossil data is the fossil itself together with its associated context. … Continue reading →

Posted in Fossils | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Public distrust of science

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Adam Van Arsdale

According to a recent paper by Gordon Gauchat, nobody has much confidence in science. The paper sets itself up to test whether self-identified political conservatives have gotten more distrustful of science over time (it says they have), but as the … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Public distrust of science

NOVA – Cracking your genetic code

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Adam Van Arsdale

I was only able to watch the final 10 minutes of this program on PBS tonight (I recorded it and will watch the full program later). Any thoughts from people on its merit? Is it worth showing my human genetics … Continue reading →

Posted in Genetics, Teaching | Tagged , | Comments Off on NOVA – Cracking your genetic code

“Graduate School Is a Means to a Job”

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Adam Van Arsdale

Karen Kelsky has a must-read piece for prospective or current graduate students in the Chronicle: Never forget this primary rule: Graduate school is not your job; graduate school is a means to the job you want. Do not settle in … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology | Tagged | Comments Off on “Graduate School Is a Means to a Job”

New fossil of the day, the Burtele foot

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Adam Van Arsdale

The New York Times, Science News and a multitude of other publications all have stories out on a just released paper from Nature on a new fossil foot specimen from Ethiopia. From the Nature News writeup on the paper: The … Continue reading →

Posted in Fossils | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on New fossil of the day, the Burtele foot

Fossil data, access and technology, part 1

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Adam Van Arsdale

One of the issues I find myself thinking about in the murkier moments of paleoanthropological reflection is the nature of the data available to us. I don’t mean by this the question of “how complete is the fossil record,” but … Continue reading →

Posted in Fossils | Tagged , | Comments Off on Fossil data, access and technology, part 1

School of Rock

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Adam Van Arsdale

I spent the morning getting training for my daughter’s fourth-grade school geology field trip. It turns out discussions of “Roxbury puddingstone” (seen below) just make me hungry.

Posted in Geology | Tagged | Comments Off on School of Rock

Neandertal demographic collapse

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Adam Van Arsdale

Love Dalén, Anders Götherström and colleagues have an interesting short article available in advance view in Molecular Biology and Evolution. The article argues, on the basis of Neandertal mtDNA data, for a distinction between Western and Eastern Neandertals, with the … Continue reading →

Posted in Demography, Fossils | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Neandertal demographic collapse