Some Reading for your Easter Weekend

I can't seem to find any interesting science stories today. (Maybe everybody's taking an extended weekend off?) So instead, I decided that it was time to round up some of the blogs that I read, but don't cite here so often.

FemaleScienceProfessor

Reading FSP makes me wish that I'd had somebody like her as a lecturer in my undergraduate years, rather than a series of boring white guys. (Not you Dr. S! Nor you Professor W!) She clearly cares about her students and loves her job, always a winning combination. Plus, I find her stories about careless misogyny in academia endlessly fascinating (in a horrifying, hope-I-never-act-like-that way).

Bioinformatics Zen

Not updated very often (kind of like this blog, huh?), but when it is, the articles are always worth reading if you're interested in the nitty-gritty of bioinformatics. Anything related to the field can come up here, whether it's the intricacies of programming, tips on how to get a PhD or humorous characterisations of stereotypical bioinformatics people.

Minor Revisions

This blog is a more recent addition to my reading schedule, but a charming one. Katie gives us a glimpse into the life of a biomedical engineering postgrad, and a very personal glimpse at that. I'm always impressed with people who are willing to share their ups and downs on their blog; it's a (skill? trait? strength?) I don't seem to possess. Katie likes having lots of subscribers to her feed, so go subscribe!

And Now For Something Completely Silly

For his inaugural post at the new Of Two Minds blog, Steve Higgins chose one the most important scientific issues of our times: Could Superman's x-ray vision really exist?

There are three basic conditions that a superman x-ray system must meet to be plausible.

1. Transparency:

The rays must be such that all objects but lead are entirely or almost entirely transparent to them. Lead is always entirely opaque to the rays.

2. Color:

The rays and processor must result in Superman perceiving the same colors as would an Earthling viewing the scene in ordinary sunlight.

3. Exclusivity:

The rays must permit Superman, but not Earthling standing in line with the reflected rays, to see through normally opaque surfaces.

Steve wrote his article tongue-in-cheek, of course, but he bases it on a very real article that appeared in 1985 (!) in the journal Perception: "On the plausibility of superman's x-ray vision" by J.B. Pittenger.

And they wonder why everybody thinks scientists are a bunch of nerds...

Do WHAT for the Forest?

This doesn't have anything to do with machine learning, but I just couldn't pass it up. Fuck for Forest* is a porn site for and by environmentalists. Yep, there really is porn for every niche on the internet. Here's how they describe themselves:

FFF are concerned humans, exploring the power of sexuality, to save nature and liberate life. We know a lot of people are interested in sexuality, including us. We want to have fun with sex, show natural people and collect money for saving nature! We think it is time to pay respect to nature, and give back with love!

I guess the end justifies the, er, porn?

* If you believe that this is safe for work, you probably don't deserve your job anyway.

Cooking for Engineers

Ever been frustrated with imprecise recipes? A pinch of salt. What exactly is a pinch of salt? And does "whisk" mean whisking until solid, or until combined? Well, Cooking for Engineers promises to change all that with recipes made for engineers, by engineers.

Of course, we'd better hope they're not software engineers, otherwise we'd have to start cooking before we get the recipe, change ingredients after putting them in, and finish up by testing the meal on the dog.