Biweekly links for 02/09/2009

  • RealClimate: On Replication
  • Creationism Slips Into a Peer-Reviewed Journal | NCSE
    • “A strange thing happened in the scientific literature recently. A pair of creationists, who have seemingly legitimate scientific credentials, attempted to publish some creationist assertions in a peer-reviewed journal. Their effort was nearly successful, mostly because they hid their pseudoscience in the middle of the article, surrounded by legitimate scientific discussion of unrelated topics. Luckily, they were caught just in time, and it turned out that they were pretty clumsy. In fact, if they had been just a bit more clever, they might have gotten away with it.”
  • RealClimate: Antarctic warming is robust
    • Fascinating back-and-forth discussion in the comments of the need for reproducible research, and how much disclosure of methods, code, data should be considered full disclosure. You need to skip over a lot of comments (the usual bickering), but it’s worth it.
  • Inside Google Book Search: 1.5 million books in your pocket
  • Uncertain Principles: Two Cultures in Beginnings and Endings
    • “In the humanities, the whole point of the class is to discuss the books. Nothing useful can be done until and unless the students have had the chance to do the reading. This is why humanities classes tend to let out early on the first day of the term, and have a full class on the last day of the term: the important reading has to be done before class.

      In the sciences, on the other hand, the whole point of class is to give the students enough information to be able to read the textbook and do the problems. The essential step in the learning process is when the students try to apply what they’ve learned to solving problems. This is why science classes tend to have a full class on the first day of the term, and let out early on the last day of the term: the important reading is done after class.”

  • Twins escape hanging over ID confusion – ABC News
    • What DNA testing can’t quite resolve: “A pair of identical twins escaped being convicted and hanged on drugs charges in Malaysia, due to confusion over which one of them was the culprit, reports said Saturday.”

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