Freethought & Rationalism Archive

scigirl · 01-17-2002, 06:50 PM

Hello,

I had an idea today when browsing through the lab's latest Science and Nature issues. Every time I read one, I see an article that would be helpful here--for the debates, or to provide discussion topics for us "evolutionists."

Would it be helpful to have "Scigirl's weekly update" for evolution news of the week? If this sounds like a good idea, I'd be willing to write little summaries and provide links to the abstracts.

Here's an example:
<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=116919 91&dopt=Abstract" target="_blank">The origin and evolution of the woolly mammoth.</a> Lister AM, Sher AV. Science 2001 Nov 2;294(5544):1094-7

Then I could summarize why the work is important, and explain it in more layman's terms. (the first few pages of science and nature have little summaries of the articles explaining why the research is cool enough to be in science or nature). For instance, "Before this study, scientists predicted X, now we know X exists."

Think this would be useful?

scigirl

[ January 17, 2002: Message edited by: scigirl ]

Megatron · 01-17-2002, 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by scigirl:

Think this would be useful?

Absolutely, to me - I'm a complete retard when it comes to advanced science. I can study and retain things, but, as an example, I don't have the attention span to sit on Talk Origins for hours at a time.

I'd love to see some of the things in segments, in layman's terms especially.

01-17-2002, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by scigirl:
Hello,
=Then I could summarize why the work is important, and explain it in more layman's terms. (the first few pages of science and nature have little summaries of the articles explaining why the research is cool enough to be in science or nature). For instance, "Before this study, scientists predicted X, now we know X exists."

Think this would be useful?

scigirl

[ January 17, 2002: Message edited by: scigirl ]

It would sure be illuminating for cave dwellers and if you think science is exhilarating just think what omniscience would be like!

scigirl · 01-17-2002, 08:57 PM

Omniscience would be very boring indeed. What would you do all day? "Let's see, should I read this mystery novel? Nope, already know the end. Should I do this crossword puzzle? Nah, it will be too easy"

If there is an omniscient being, well, I sure feel sorry for him (her?) indeed!

but anyway. . . thanks for bumping this up for me!

Scigirl

CodeMason · 01-17-2002, 10:02 PM

Yes, this would be extremely helpful.

And, there are also a few journals that offer free online versions of articles, many of these are related to evolution. For example:

<a href="http://www.pnas.org/" target="_blank">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>
<a href="http://www.molbiolevol.org" target="_blank">Molecular Biology and Evolution</a>

I'm sure there are more, but those are just the ones I remember off the top of my head.

sentinel00 · 01-17-2002, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by scigirl:
Omniscience would be very boring indeed. What would you do all day? "Let's see, should I read this mystery novel? Nope, already know the end. Should I do this crossword puzzle? Nah, it will be too easy"

If there is an omniscient being, well, I sure feel sorry for him (her?) indeed!

Scigirl

Screw you! I'd be at the track! Or Vegas!

Seriously, though... what your are proposing to do would be incredibly helpful. You should put together a website, do all the work there, and just link to it here. That way, you can garner more credit for the work! Is <a href="http://www.scigirl.com" target="_blank">www.scigirl.com</a> taken?

[Edited to add:] Apparantly it is taken! Darn it! I hope there isn't any porn there. My apologies to the Moderators if there is.

[ January 17, 2002: Message edited by: sentinel00 ]

CodeMason · 01-17-2002, 10:27 PM

Yep, it's taken, registered by <a href="http://www.scientainment.com/" target="_blank">http://www.scientainment.com/</a> - it's not porn or anything, just... really odd...

01-18-2002, 08:54 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by scigirl:

Scigirl

You're welcome and your ambition is to be admired! There must be a vivid Eve in you someplace.

Coragyps · 01-18-2002, 09:15 AM

Scigirl - That would be fantastic. A pretty fair resource along that line is <a href="http://www.eurekalert.org" target="_blank">Eurekalert</a>, sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. It is really designed to give the press leads on scientific topics, so it leans fairly heavily toward medical stuff, but there's a lot of straight biology/astronomy/geology there too. A more focused digest of evolution-related from you would be most welcome. (But keep after that damn thesis -

)

three4jump · 01-18-2002, 09:19 AM

It's a good idea, scigirl. As a suggestion for one of your topics, I would be interested in what you think of <a href="http://www.nature.com/nsu/020114/020114-7.html" target="_blank">this article</a>about Archaea and life on other planets. It seems to me that if evolution played out on other planets with similar mechanisms but along different trees and branches then it would be extremely hard for anyone to continue to deny the validity of Darwin's ideas.

01-17-2002, 06:50 PM	#1
scigirl Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Seattle Posts: 4,261	Scigirl has an idea! Hello, I had an idea today when browsing through the lab's latest Science and Nature issues. Every time I read one, I see an article that would be helpful here--for the debates, or to provide discussion topics for us "evolutionists." Would it be helpful to have "Scigirl's weekly update" for evolution news of the week? If this sounds like a good idea, I'd be willing to write little summaries and provide links to the abstracts. Here's an example: <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=116919 91&dopt=Abstract" target="_blank">The origin and evolution of the woolly mammoth.</a> Lister AM, Sher AV. Science 2001 Nov 2;294(5544):1094-7 Then I could summarize why the work is important, and explain it in more layman's terms. (the first few pages of science and nature have little summaries of the articles explaining why the research is cool enough to be in science or nature). For instance, "Before this study, scientists predicted X, now we know X exists." Think this would be useful? scigirl [ January 17, 2002: Message edited by: scigirl ]</p>

01-17-2002, 10:02 PM	#5
CodeMason Regular Member Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Australia Posts: 226	Yes, this would be extremely helpful. And, there are also a few journals that offer free online versions of articles, many of these are related to evolution. For example: <a href="http://www.pnas.org/" target="_blank">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a> <a href="http://www.molbiolevol.org" target="_blank">Molecular Biology and Evolution</a> I'm sure there are more, but those are just the ones I remember off the top of my head.

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01-17-2002, 08:57 PM	#4
scigirl Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Seattle Posts: 4,261	Omniscience would be very boring indeed. What would you do all day? "Let's see, should I read this mystery novel? Nope, already know the end. Should I do this crossword puzzle? Nah, it will be too easy" If there is an omniscient being, well, I sure feel sorry for him (her?) indeed! but anyway. . . thanks for bumping this up for me! Scigirl

01-17-2002, 10:27 PM	#7
CodeMason Regular Member Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Australia Posts: 226	Yep, it's taken, registered by <a href="http://www.scientainment.com/" target="_blank">http://www.scientainment.com/</a> - it's not porn or anything, just... really odd...

01-18-2002, 09:15 AM	#9
Coragyps Veteran Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Snyder,Texas,USA Posts: 4,411	Scigirl - That would be fantastic. A pretty fair resource along that line is <a href="http://www.eurekalert.org" target="_blank">Eurekalert</a>, sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. It is really designed to give the press leads on scientific topics, so it leans fairly heavily toward medical stuff, but there's a lot of straight biology/astronomy/geology there too. A more focused digest of evolution-related from you would be most welcome. (But keep after that damn thesis - )

01-18-2002, 09:19 AM	#10
three4jump Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Useless Bay Posts: 1,434	It's a good idea, scigirl. As a suggestion for one of your topics, I would be interested in what you think of <a href="http://www.nature.com/nsu/020114/020114-7.html" target="_blank">this article</a>about Archaea and life on other planets. It seems to me that if evolution played out on other planets with similar mechanisms but along different trees and branches then it would be extremely hard for anyone to continue to deny the validity of Darwin's ideas.

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