From Paris (AFP):

European and US scientists have proved for the first time that two bits of genetic coding, called nucleobases, contained in the meteor fragment, are truly extraterrestrial.

Ah, but who sent the meteorite? First we figured out that germs cause disease instead of demons, and now this. Soon the only room left for God will be before the Big Bang, which is where I think he belongs anyway.

My God. This reads like a f’ing Onion headline.

“Scientists Discover Women Aren’t in Science and Engineering Because They Don’t Want To Be“

Now two new studies by economists and social scientists have reached a perhaps startling conclusion: An important part of the explanation for the gender gap, they are finding, are the preferences of women themselves. When it comes to certain math- and science-related jobs, substantial numbers of women - highly qualified for the work - stay out of those careers because they would simply rather do something else.

Wow, that’s monumental. Massive studies to figure out what people instinctively knew but didn’t want to address. The answer has been right in front of us since the gap has been there. All you have to do is ask women.

The irony is that simply asking women, and having them tell you that they weren’t interested, wasn’t enough. Their responses were discounted as if their own desires couldn’t possibly be the primary factor.

“Sir, I asked 1,000 women and most of them said they just didn’t want to do Calculus.” So the people with the agenda say, “You asked them? What the hell do they know? Dammit, go find the real reason they’re not in science.”

Gee, that’s uplifting for women. Don’t trust them to tell you what they want for themselves just because the answers offend our pc-trained ears. Yay for objectiveness. Once again political correctness maligns science.

Here, try this — I know this isn’t scientific but you’ll get the idea. How many women do you know? How many girls about to be women do you know? Great, now how many of them want to be computer scientists? How about mathematicians? Yeah, me too. Now extrapolate. Brilliant!

More from the article:

Rosenbloom and his colleagues used a standard personality-inventory test to measure people’s preferences for different kinds of work. In general, Rosenbloom’s study found, men and women who enjoyed the explicit manipulation of tools or machines were more likely to choose IT careers - and it was mostly men who scored high in this area. Meanwhile, people who enjoyed working with others were less likely to choose IT careers. Women, on average, were more likely to score high in this arena.

Personal preference, Rosenbloom and his group concluded, was the single largest determinative factor in whether women went into IT. They calculated that preference accounted for about two-thirds of the gender imbalance in the field. The study was published in November in the Journal of Economic Psychology.

Let’s try a simple explanation. Men and women are different and hence have different interests. But when women have the desire and drive to be in IT and other engineering-type vocations, they can excel at it to the point of making most men look silly — just like in any other field. The difference is just that there are less women with this particular drive than men.

So what? They also have uteruses. Should we try and determine why? What malfunction caused men to be born without them?

Pretending we’re all the same isn’t going to make it so, no matter how much money we dump into that agenda. We’re different, and it’s a good thing. Accept that we’re all fundamentally equal according to the precepts of secular humanism and move on with life.:

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[ The Freedom to Say "No" ]

I love how Sam Harris approaches these arguments. Not as eloquent or entertaining as Christopher Hitchens, but more precise.

Kind of worried about getting that bugger next to my watch or phone, however…

Ok, I’m tired of being clueless about global warming. Tired.

I’ve been roughly 90% convinced of man-made global warming for years now, but I occasionally see information that convinces me there’s less to it than many would have us believe.

At one point last year I saw some data that made me say something like, “This data makes me question my belief in global warming.”

One reader showed up and scolded my ass. He was like, “If that was all that it took to convince you that global warming was false, then we can’t possibly respect your view in support of it either.”

That’s paraphrased, but the point is completely valid.

I don’t want to to rely on experts; I want to become one…even if just to a minor degree. I want to get to where I interpret the data itself and not rely on someone else’s interpretation.

I need to be able to build my OWN argument for man-made global warming rather than do the famous “appeal to authority” maneuver. Another goal of mine is to be able to do this with evolution as well.

These are two goals of mine: be able to explain, in my own words, why I believe (with evidence) that man-made global warming and evolution are real.

Do you agree? Have you done the same already? Do you have your own arguments for these topics or do you also appeal to an authority? Why or why not?

First off, happy pi day.

According to a physicist at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, the number Pi has been calculated out to over one trillion digits. But that’s not the interesting part.

As it turns out, it’s totally overkill to get that precise with it. Dividing 22 by 7 gives an estimate that works for most everyday needs, such as carpentry and construction (it’s roughly 99% accurate). And calculating pi out to only 39 places gives truly astronomical precision.

Using pi calculated out to only 39 decimal places would allow one to compute the circumference of the entire universe to the accuracy of less than the diameter of a hydrogen atom.

Holy crap. So, yeah…I guess 39 places will be “good enough” then…

Oh, and just for a bit of trivia, Albert Einstein’s birthday is today, and he was a big fan of pi. But that’s not it. His birthday, like pi day, also falls on March 14th — otherwise known as 3.14. Einstein’s birthday on 3.14. Coincidence? I don’t think so. We all know God doesn’t play dice.:

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[ Thanks to NPR's Science Friday for the excellent show today! ]