NPR: Free MIT Biology Course Online

Here and Now is exactly appropriate for this topic. It addresses the most up-to-date state of biology and genetics, although from one man's perspective. This stuff gets me excited. If you do a bit of searching, I'm sure there is a way to listen to the interview given today (2/20/2013) with guest Eric Lander, professor of biology at MIT and science advisor to the president. http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2013/02/20/eric-lander-biology

The FREE course, presented by EdX.org, is March 5th, 2013. Following the link may not work unless you search the main website)

I have never yet used edX, but this looks exciting. 6 to 8 hours a week isn't too hard to committ to, and I am releived, because I was imaging a "live" streaming lecture that I would have to be available for. Also, I worried I might have to buy an expensive textbook.

The materials for study, along with the class, seem to be all freely online, including the main "supplemental" textbook, Molecular Biology of the Cell, 4th edition.

EdX.org also seems to have courses available in quantum mechanics, greek history, justice, and environmental science. I can't find information on how many "students" can take the class. It appears I might receive a "Certificate of Completion" if I pass the class, but I can't find information whether the certificate is free or not.

NPR Broadcast: "Hidden Life of Wolves"

I am going to try to make more posts about natural history and ecology. I have been very, very remiss, and the last post I recall that was truly natural history may have been another NPR radio broadcast about Pre-Columbian ecology. Anyway, I heard this this morning on the Diane Rehm Show http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2013-02-07/jim-and-jamie-dutcher-hidden-life-wolves It wasn't anything unusually amazing, just good and compelling, although limited in scope to (more or less) one species. The comments made of the down-grade from national Endangered Species List to state-by-state regulated hunting, and the swift decimation of formerly protected wolves, and especially that the wolves may have to return to Endangered status in short order because of this, is worthy of note. It's important to keep this situation in mind when other animal populations recover from a vulnerable status. Perhaps a Limited-Recovery-with-Ongoing-Monitoring status should be created, and I see no reason hunting licences couldn't be "taxed" to pay for this monitoring. Another factor that suprised me a bit was how very little respect these guests had for the wild dangerous character of their charges. I consider it careless and overconfident. I suppose I applaud their bravery in the search for scientific advance, but I wouldn't have done it. The lady guest spoke how she crawled into the tight, narrow den of a savagely protective mother wolf to examine her pups. True, the mother wolf DID apparently seem to be okay with this, but I myself wouldn't feel too confident with knowing the intentions of a wild animal when in such a literally tight spot. Also, I was uncomfortable with the authors' anthropamorphised treatment of the wolves, despite all their assurances to the contrary. Their use of pet names bothered me, but that is a matter of taste if abandoned in the feild. I'm not convined the pet sentimentality did not carry over into their study. While it is very true that wild animals can have personality and even "friendships" in a sense, the humans' level of trust and familiarity was a decidedly unnatural situation. Which brings us to Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, again I'm afraid.

JHW: Stuck in our Part-Time Workers Economy

To continue my ongoing Job Hunt Woes series... Please listen to this radio show if you can. It really is a great discussion. http://onpoint.wbur.org/2012/11/15/part-time It calls this a crisis. I agree completely. They also mention that this appears to be a "Chicken or the Egg?" sort of problem. Some people blame the employment scheme in the U.S. for the economy, while some blame the economy for this whole situation. I, myself, blame the ethics in modern America, whether they be business ethics, the ethics of the shoppers, and personal ethics. (I myself sail smoothly above these things ;-) I love their term: "the involuntary part-time workers". This show says less than 25% of Americans have a "normal" job, full-time, M thru Fri, 9-5 More specifically, I blame the prominance of corporations. I have had a theory for a while that corporations are the most unethical of businesses because they do not have accountability for moral decisions. No conscience. A traditional business has an owner who accepts responsibility for ethical decisions, whether the business choices are ethical or not. Imagine the CEO: he or she is responsible to the sharehlders, not their own conscience. On the other side, the shareholders do not consider themselves accountable, because they aren't involved directly in decisions. Irnoically, this broadcast came along soon after a (very good!) Climate Change discussion on NPR about that worldwide looming crisis, and saying how our day-to-day focus prevents us seeing the big picture of how dire the situation is. http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2012/11/15/wen-stephenson-climate I am very lucky. I have a respite from this madness for myself, while I draw unemployment (which is another blog in itself: most people seem to be misinformed about it; they are giving you YOUR money back that they extracted from your employer)

Congrats Reykjavík!

I was listening to NPR breifly this morning, I think to a re-broadcast of BBC, and they had the current president of Iceland talking to them about the (suprisingly successful) financial recovery in his country following the collapse of the banks.

Congrats is two-fold:

The Icelanders didn't succumb to international pressure (or international folly) in bailing out the banks with government funds and the "too big to fail" concept. Just because everyone else jumped off a cliff like panicked antelope, they didn't need to.

Icelanders did put their former president on trial for the lead-up to the financial collapse. Or rather are in the process. Whether he is actually even a little at fault or not, I have no idea. But I wish America took that kind of resolve, and also I wish our government knew some accountability rather than all their formal bribes and self-interest-over-short-sightedness nonsense. In my opinion, every congressman involved in the bail outs should be forced to resign.

I read recently that Edgar Allen Poe was decidedly against the idea of democracies. He appears to have favored a constitutional monarchy more than anything. I found that fascinating.

Rush Limbaugh insults by calling 'slut' and 'prostitute'

I find it intersting to hear multiple sides of this issue.

Rush Limbaugh actually first broadcast on this, saying: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODI-NALkI4c

He apparently followed up with about 3 days of name-calling.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=148288590

Glenn Back says: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnnMcLHjueI&feature=related
(with some clips from Ms. Fluke's original testimony)

The Young Turks say: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEl9p1tN8BI
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgPQgZH89Kg

An independant critical comment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEiOY2SUSs4

Science and Religion are Compatible, book says

Where the Conflict Really Lies : Science, Religion, and Naturalism
http://www.amazon.com/Where-Conflict-Really-Lies-ebook/dp/B005X3SAHY

I heard about this book on NPR. I invite you to listen here.

From what I understand, the book seems to have a very simple point, but one that really needed to be said and it so very basic and yet overlooked. The incompatability of religion and science just simply doesn't exist. They might not agree, but they aren't opposed to each other the way most people seem to think.

The mutual disagreement arises between religion and naturalism (often seen as atheism). Now, many scientific thinkers are indeed beleivers in naturalism, but athiem cannot be "proved" any more than theism can. Specifically, both cannot be observed, and are merely an assumption. Admittedly, certain elements of religion are implausible notions, at best, and are the ones most often thought of, such as fundamentalist creationism. But even there, room for thinking allows plausability.

Your thoughts?

As a book, I have no basis for real recommendation, one way or the other. At first blush, it sounds like the book could have made its case as an article rather than a book, or as an entry in a compilation, perhaps.

wow, what a cool NPR show

This past Sunday, I listened to an especially captivating Bob Edwards Weekend. It blew me away, but I was also really caffienated. I am trying to find a podcast or other manner of listening online, but coming up short. Apparently, it is unavailable.
Anyway, the show had two amazing interviews: a supporter of the Occupy Wall Street protests, and some freethinking medical experts (from the People's Pharmacy, also NPR). Hour 2 was had less of an immediate impact, being about art.

December 17 - 18, 2011
http://www.bobedwardsradio.com/bob-edwards-weekend/
HOUR ONE:

Last year, the conservative talk show host Glenn Beck regularly singled out an obscure academic calling her an enemy of the Constitution. Frances Fox Piven, Beck warned, was after a progressive take-down of America and was responsible for a plan to “intentionally collapse our economic system.” The newfound attention from Beck sent Piven’s books to bestseller lists, but she also received hundreds of death threats from Beck listeners. The interest in Piven was rooted in an article she wrote with her husband, Richard Cloward, in 1966, “The Weight of the Poor: A Strategy to End Poverty.” Now her research and writings have been collected in an updated book, Who’s Afraid of Frances Fox Piven? The Essential Writings of the Professor Glenn Beck Loves to Hate.

Husband and wife public radio hosts and syndicated columnists Joe and Terry Graedon are back with a new book called Top Screwups Doctors Make and How to Avoid Them. Each year, more than six million people are harmed by doctor errors, prescription mistakes and diagnostic disasters – and about a hundred thousand hospital patients die every year from preventable medical errors – including Joe Graedon’s own mother.

In this week’s installment of our series This I Believe, we hear the essay of Susan Hall. (omitted for brevity)

HOUR TWO:

World-renowned ceramicist Edmund de Waal inherited a collection of 264 Japanese wood and ivory carvings called netsuke. (omitted for brevity)

It’s time for our annual visit with Rolling Stone contributing editor Anthony DeCurtis. He’ll share his list of the best CDs of 2011, just in time to include on your holiday shopping list.

Bob Edwards Weekend is heard on Sirius XM Public Radio (XM 121, Sirius 205) on Saturdays from 8-10 AM EST.

Visit Bob Edwards Weekend on PRI’s website to find local stations that air the program.

Curiosity is (in part) my Stress-Relief

http://www.radiolab.org/2007/apr/09/

The above RadioLab/ NPR broadcast was unusually good, and got me thinking.

It's a long show, but toward the end it spoke of how (in rat studies) certain factors improved a rat's stress levels, and consequently imroved health.

I think there were four clear atlernatives that had been tested and shown effection. One was taking out your distress on another creature (i.e. kicking the dog). Another was taking out your stress on an inanimate object. I forget the 3rd, but it's on the radio show, just listen. The 4th was acheiving a feeling of control.

In the case of the rat, well, maybe you'd rather not hear what horrible things were done to that poor animal.

But I got to thinking: It like a safety blanket, or a teddy bear, or carrying a gun around with a conceal license...

or curioisty. For me, knowing things learning things, is relaxing, and I suppose it might be, at least in part, kinda what they are talking about. A feeling of better control over my situation through knowledge. Maybe.

Bioengineering: The World Will Never Be the Same

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90014997
I listened to the above on NPR, and really enjoyed the show.
I've never really paid much attention to this show called RadioLabs, but after this and other broadcasts, I intend to catch it as much as I can.

This all sounds like science fiction of 30 years ago. Very frightening, I think, although the soothsayers on the program think GMOs will save the world facing our 7 billion population (another sci-fi dystopian horror) combined with climate change (and yet another one).

I have to wonder.

And oh, I am currently reading a sci-fi book from the 70s by Frederick Pohl, titled Gateway. This is the first book to introduce the fictional Heechee alien race. I am enjoying it, and spending far too much time in my apartment these past few days. Ha ha. I bought it, hardback and with the original cover, for really cheap at Goodwill. You have no assistance in your browsing, and no certainty of finding anything, but the price is right. Anyway, real quick, this book appeals to me a lot for a few reasons. The mode of space exploration reminds me of Stargate. The considerations of archeology (instead of tunnel-vision of the future) appeal to me. The description and exploration of human relationships, love, and sexuality is refreshing to some degree (especially among older sci-fi). Lastly, the realistic portrayal of a sparsely populated galaxy appeals to me, in part because it is something I don't see as often. Aliens are cool, and make a good story: I realize that.

Evil is Effective

People don't like to admit it, but evil is effective. I would need to research the matter more thuroughly (and it could take a lifetime) but it seems to me that Hitler was pretty damn effective in making Germany strong. I mean, yes, the Allies had a lot to do with the rise of a strong Germany, but is seems to me that Hitler was pretty effective.

What got me on this line of thought was today's broadcast of The Diane Rehm Show featuring guest villian and author, Pat Buchanan. Villian, as in "vile".
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-10-25/patrick-buchanan-suicide-superpower-will-america-survive-2025

I have to applaud NPR and Ms. Rehm for having this man on the program, as a balance to certain liberal-minded guest such as Johnathan Stewart. This was one of the most powerful broadcasts I have ever heard on her show, mainly because it made my blood curl and boil at alternate times.

And it is a frightening reality that his opinion represents a large swath of America.

I am using strong words, and perhaps unfairly. Maybe his heart is in the right place, as I am wont to forgive many wrongheaded types. However, I don't think so. And even if that's so, is villany maked by what is intended or what is done?

I thought about calling in, or e-mailing, but I didn't know the number, and managed to keep missing it each time it aired. I have written in down, now.

Also, in calling in, I would have had a hard time keeping my anger at bay. If the man had his way, America wouldn't be very far removed from Nazi Germany. There was at least one caller who disgraced themselves (and discredited their anger) by allowing their vemon to show through.

He did have a few good points, however. Mostly, a simple truism that a polite orderly community is easier to live in. Duh. That's one of the few points I would agree with. I agree with his in unity over diversity, but I do NOT agree that diversity is the antithesis to unity. Yes, diversity can bring disorder, but unity WITH diversity IS possible, and is an ideal worth striving for. It isn't an easy road, that's for sure.

What I found most startling was his fairly clear hypocrisy in advocating an extreme patriotism that reproached even loyal criticism, while his own book was as "unpatriotic" as it gets, in the sense of saying the America is in decline. I forget his examples; I need to relisten to this.
http://thedianerehmshow.org/audio-player?nid=14985