ashkenazi founder event

The Matrilineal Ancestry of Ashkenazi Jewry: Portrait of a Recent Founder Event Behar, D. M.; Metspalu, E.; Kivisild, T.; Achilli, A.; Hadid, Y.; Tzur, S.; Pereira, L.; Amorim, A.; Quintana-Murci, L.; Majamaa, K. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN GENETICS VOL 78; NUMB 3 (2006) pp. 487-497  Both the extent and location of the maternal ancestral deme … Read more

astronomy

The wacky kids at the University of Manchester present the Jodcast, a podcast from Jodrell Bank Observatory. Stars! Space! Stuff! In case you've been living under a rock, the Astronomy Picture of the Day is still one of the coolest things ever.  Am still bitter about Pluto. 

encyclopaedia britannica V nature: ultimate showdown

(Everything is funnier when you reference the Ultimate Showdown) The Guardian technology blog links to EB’s response to the claims by that journal that EB was no more accurate than Wikipedia. The 20-page EB response is an exercise in the most miffed sort of quibbling, especially the appendix where they address the reviewers point by … Read more

pasifika styles

Courtesy of Sheyne Tuffery, whose art I’ve recently discovered (and love), heads-up that the University of Cambridge Museum of Anthropology & Archaeology is holding an exhibition called Pasifika Styles from May, with artists, craftspeople, performing artists, and displays of the Museums collections. I may have to revise my assertion that Oceanic cultural events are few … Read more

virtual anthropological exhibitions

The UPenn Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology has a set of online exhibitions at World Cultures: Ancient and Modern. The celebrities choosing a favourite artifact was a bit gimmicky, but I really enjoyed: Sailing the ocean without map or compass: Traditional navigation in the western Pacific. Navigation training and technique in the Caroline Islands. I’d … Read more

when drug trials go wrong

The Beeb continues to report on the condition of the six young men who participated in a drug trial and are in intensive care. There’s an accompanying article interviewing a bloke who was due to take part, where he speaks about the motivations and incentives that are behind why men take part in these trials. … Read more

scientific presentations

Garr Reynolds, at Presentation Zen (a moment for fangirling, please), has a post linking to resources for scientific presentations. Often presentation advice is geared towards commercial or creative models, and while it’s helpful to extract what works/what sucks from those sorts of domains, a Zen-approach to scientific/academic presentation couldn’t come soon enough. From the editorial … Read more

wear it, do it, teach it

Grrlscientist links to Yellow Ibis, which have the coolest science t-shirts. The Darwin phylogeny sketch ones are my favourite, but I’m also fond of “this is what a scientist looks like”. Inside HigherEd offer columns and articles, including Academic AWOL by Mary McKinney, which I found to be a good kick-in-the-pants about Just Getting On … Read more

commonwealth day

The Cuming Museum in Southwark is holding an exhibition entitled Mana: Ornament and Adornment From the Pacific. Polynesian decorative arts like tattooing and jewellery, which is like the confluence of all the things I love. Today is Commonwealth Day, and I’m off to Westminster Abbey to partake of the observance in the presence of Chuck … Read more