For all the movement it was making, it was very silent. For all the movement around it, it was still very silent. At six stories tall, it is, like most New Yorkers, very slender. No longer green, one immediately knows this one has been around the block for many years. When my mother met my father, across the seas, it was here. When the Empire State Building was the tallest of its kind, it was here. When I had my coffee this morning, it was here still. When the jackhammers were rattling earth in the pre-dawn hours today, it shed…
The Science Creative Quarterly
From November, 2005
WHAT’S NEW IN SCANTRON TECHNOLOGIES
The Scantron 8950 (A.K.A. “Lil’ Helper”). Attention, teachers! How many times have you arrived at the scantron machine with your stack of answer sheets and realized that you forgot to fill out the answer key? And where is your pencil? Hang on, because help is on the way. The 8900 may not help you remember to fill out your answer keys, but with its elegant pencil holder and built in pencil sharpener, you’ll be able to remedy that in no time. The Scantron 9000 (A.K.A. “The Compassionate One.”). Attention, teachers! How many times have you looked out at your tired,…
PLANET EARTH
(In which, we are proud to announce the launch of “Terry.”) It has to be spread out, the skin of this planet, has to be ironed, the sea in its whiteness; and the hands keep moving, smoothing the holy surfaces. In Praise of Ironing, PABLO NERUDA * * * It has to be loved the way a laundress loves her linens, the way she moves her hands caressing the fine muslins knowing their warp and woof, like a lover coaxing, or a mother praising. It has to be loved as if it were embroidered with flowers and birds and two…
HEY BABY! I THINK OUR INTERACTION FUNCTIONS WOULD MESH WELL. LET’S DATE
A review of research by Dr. John Gottman at the University of Washington: “A General Systems Theory of Marriage: Nonlinear Different Equation Modeling of Marital Interaction”. J. Gottman, C. Swanson, K. Swanson. Personality and Social Psychology Review: 6(4), 326-340, 2002. ABSTRACT: This article describes a new mathematical approach for modeling the prediction of divorce or marital stability from marital interaction using nonlinear difference equations. The approach is quite general for modeling social interaction, and can be applied to any time series data generated over time for two individuals. We pursued a balance model in selecting the dependent variables of this…
WHITE LADY
The animal I’ve been working with in my class lately is the beautiful beastie, Drosophila melanogaster. While I was cleaning out some stocks, I found this lovely example, a pale lady. She is a white mutant, and so lacks the normal red pigment in her eyes. In addition, she had just recently eclosed from her pupal case, and although her wings looked neat and pressed, her cuticle hadn’t yet fully tanned. She looked even more ghostly when I first spotted her, and was visibly darkening as I put her under the camera. Here’s a close-up. It’s amazing how every hair…
SHAFTED AGAIN BY NOBEL
I didn’t win the Nobel Prize in Physics again this year. What’s a guy got to do to win that thing? I was made to win that prize, but for like the umpteenth time in a row I’ve been given the shaft. Annoying! Who cares if I’m not a physixcist or however you spell it? I’ve been doing lots of cool physics-type stuff forever and deserve some recognition and money. Since a teenager I’ve done this kick-ass trick where I put a quarter in each of the palms of my hands and then I quickly slam my hands down against…
JOURNAL CLUB FIND: SCIENCE AND ARACHNOPHOBIA
REFERENCE: Fear of Spiders Questionnaire. (1995) Jeff Szymanski and William O’Donohue. J. Behav. Ther. & Exp. Psychiat. 26(1):31–34. ABSTRACT: The Fear of Spiders Questionnaire (FSQ), an 18-item self-report questionnaire assessing spider phobia, was developed in an attempt to complement the information provided by the Spider Phobia Questionnaire (SPQ). Data obtained from 338 undergraduates revealed that the FSQ was able to discriminate phobics from nonphobics, and indicated decrements in phobic responding from pretest to posttest following cognitive therapy. Test-retest data, obtained from no-treatment control groups, indicated that scores on the FSQ are stable over a one month period. The FSQ also…
JOURNAL CLUB FIND: SCIENCE AND ARACHNOPHOBIA
REFERENCE: Fear of Spiders Questionnaire. (1995) Jeff Szymanski and William O’Donohue. J. Behav. Ther. & Exp. Psychiat. 26(1):31–34. ABSTRACT: The Fear of Spiders Questionnaire (FSQ), an 18-item self-report questionnaire assessing spider phobia, was developed in an attempt to complement the information provided by the Spider Phobia Questionnaire (SPQ). Data obtained from 338 undergraduates revealed that the FSQ was able to discriminate phobics from nonphobics, and indicated decrements in phobic responding from pretest to posttest following cognitive therapy. Test-retest data, obtained from no-treatment control groups, indicated that scores on the FSQ are stable over a one month period. The FSQ also…
TRANSGENE ESCAPE: ARE TRADITIONAL CORN VARIETIES IN MEXICO THREATENED BY TRANSGENIC CORN CROPS?
The people of Oaxaca, Mexico have been cultivating corn for nearly 10,000 years. During that time, corn varieties have developed through traditional breeding methods to both enhance nutrition and provide insurance against an unpredictable environment. The success of these varieties has established corn as the centerpiece of the Mexican landscape, diet, and culture. Many of the corn varieties we use today can be traced back to this region. In recent decades, recombinant DNA technologies have facilitated a radical transformation of the way corn is bred and cultivated. These changes may lead to a profound impact on the way of life…