Bill Bryson Has a Good Job

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book reads a bit like a TV documentary series on science. Thirty chapters that start with the big bang, move to the formation of the solar system, the Earth, the appearance of life and so on up to our species in the present day. The actual contents of each chapter are driven by accessibility and interest, though--what makes an entertaining twenty pages as opposed how best to explain some specific topic. So you could get the science, the history of the ideas, anecdotes about quirky scientists, or why it's possible that Wyoming could explode (yes, the whole state.)

Bill Bryson has a knack for entertaining explanations, so the book is wonderfully enjoyable. And I don't mean to imply I didn't learn anything--I learned a ton, even about areas I felt I was reasonably well informed about. I am a bit jealous, as "reading about science, interviewing scientists and writing an essay" sounds like a great job description that would suit me just fine, if you ignore that I'm missing the required research and writing skills. Instead, I settle for cocktail party anecodtes about Huxley asphyxiating himself (for science!) or Lavoisier's income as a tax collector (mind-bogglingly large.)

Endless Forms Most Beautiful

Endless Forms Most Beautiful: The New Science of Evo Devo and the Making of the Animal Kingdom by Sean B. Carroll
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I don't know how many articles I've read in the last 10+ years that have tried to explain some of the discoveries about how a cell "knows" it should become a liver cell or a skin cell and why we don't end up with shoulder blades in our kidneys. These articles got my level of understanding from "I bet it's complicated" to "It's complicated and has something to do with HOX genes."

Reading this book is the first time I feel I "got it"*, at least somewhat, but based on my own reading history I won't pretend I can explain in a couple sentences (or without embarrassing myself in some way or another with various factual errors--it's still complicated.) I will say it's amazing that scientists have figured out so much of how nature's evolutionary toolkit, used to fiddle with morphology over the eons. Those HOX genes are indeed at the center of it, and the discovery that humans and fruit flies share almost exactly identical core sequences is like discovering that the Egyptian hieroglyphics describing how to use an Ikea wrench to build the pyramids.



*Mutants, which I read last year, helped a bit too. A lot of the same science with a different approach.

Statistical Significance of Healtcare Studies

A post mostly to park this image so I don't have to hunt for it again:

Oregon gave a subset of people access to healthcare by lottery, so you essentially got a randomized population there with and without access.  Massachusetts implemented Romneycare.  Both are obvious things for researchers to study.  Massachusetts study found an effect on outcomes with improved insurance, the Oregon one did not.

So different conclusions from two conflicting studies?  Not at all.  The visualization is a simple illustration show that the studies do not conflict--in fact, they happen to agree embarrassingly well.  However, the Oregon study was at lower power so could not be reported as finding an effect.

The Only TED Talk You'll Ever Need

Except maybe for the Reggie Watts one:

DIY Climate Models

According to this American Scientist piece by Brian Hayes, there are a wealth of climate models available as public code, with different levels of complexity.  Some are designed to be pedagogical, others are professional scale.  Compiling one seems like it would be fun and probably cheaper than setting up a new aquarium.

See also http://bit-player.org/extras/climate/

The simple simulator above, with greenhouse effect halved.  The cold temperatures
are due to not just that change but the increased albedo caused by the year round
snow cover.

Things to Do: Sodium Triacetate

Take a supersaturated solution of sodium triacetate.  Add fingers.  Watch crystals of the trihydrate form around your fingers.

The Jet Sex

The Jet Sex

Per LGM, an excellent account of flight attendants and labor & gender issues around their employment.  The quote that adds it to my "to read" list is:

The supervisor handbook for American Airlines stated, “The first fundamental is appearance. A stewardess must be attractive. We can sometimes pretend a person is attractive, if we admire them for some other reason. This should be avoided."