Rotundus.com

As Asians Flock to Northern Virginia, Laws and Palates Collide

The Asian-focused supermarkets - at least around where I live - do seem to stock a much greater variety of tasty animals than the more generic grocery stores. Not sure if those in Canada face the same obstacles as those mentioned in this New York Times piece: "The bullfrogs, turtles and eels that Northern Virginia’s booming Asian population used to buy at the counter and take home to cook are nowhere to be found, seized last year by state agents who leveled criminal charges against two managers of the store accusing them of illegally selling wildlife."

CMAP #5: Why books are the length they are

"[Science Fiction] novels from the period 1923 to roughly 1952 ... are typically very short — 45,000 to 60,000 words. .... A typical SF novel of the 1960s was 70,000 words long. By the 1980s, 80,000 words was the norm; by the 1990s it had bloated to 100-120,000 words. Why?"

Creative Dad Takes Crazy Photos Of Daughters

An alternative to boring family photos...

Hypothesis, not a fact

Dean Maki of Barclays Capital: "Our analysis indicates that the single biggest factor dragging the labour force participation rate down has been the retirements of the baby-boomers" - not everyone seems to agree though

Some interesting info on this in a piece from Physics Today entitled Too many authors, too few creators. How could you tell if more collaboration is truly needed? This piece uses patents as a baseline for comparison. Under the patent system apparently listing someone as an inventor on a patent will invalidate the patent if it's found that they didn't make some substantial contribution - this doesn't apply to academic publications.

What does an analysis of the changes in the number of authors per patent versus the number of authors per paper between 1965 and 2011 show? There's an increase in authors per patent but not as pronounced as for academic publications. Do different academic journals differ much in this regard?

Both Science and Cell, for example, do ask that all authors of an accepted paper “state their contribution to the paper,” but they do not list any criteria for actual authorship, nor whether specific types of contributors should be relegated to an acknowledgement section.

Of the publication venues noted, the number of authors per paper in Science fairly closely follows the number of authors per patent. (Cell isn't broken out in their table). The trend in authors per paper might be attributable in part to the publish-or-perish paradigm, but perhaps something like the approach taken by Science would help curb this somewhat.

Attention Problems May Be Sleep-Related

"Many children are given a diagnosis of A.D.H.D., researchers say, when in fact they have another problem: a sleep disorder, like sleep apnea. The confusion may account for a significant number of A.D.H.D. cases in children, and the drugs used to treat them may only be exacerbating the problem."

Why taking a water bottle to an exam could turn your B into an A

"Recent laboratory work has shown people perform poorly when dehydrated. Two U.K. researchers tested the theory in the real world, observing 447 psychology students taking exams at the University of East London. ... With water, students scored 4.8 per cent higher on exams" Could bringing water be an indication that the student has put more thought into being prepared for the exam? i.e. are they more likely to have studied as well?

Debtor’s Prison for Failure to Pay for Your Own Trial

"Debtor’s prisons are supposed to be illegal in the United States but today poor people who fail to pay even small criminal justice fees are routinely being imprisoned. The problem has gotten worse recently because strapped states have dramatically increased the number of criminal justice fees. In Pennsylvania, for example, the criminal court charges for police transport, sheriff costs, state court costs, postage, and “judgment.” Many of these charges are not for any direct costs imposed by the criminal but have been added as revenue enhancers. ... Interest builds unpaid fees larger and larger. In Washington state unpaid legal debt accrues at an interest rate of 12%. As a result, the median person convicted in WA sees their criminal justice debt grow larger over time."

Reusable and disposable cups: An energy-based evaluation

If this study is accurate, reusable cups have to be used 500+ times to have an energy footprint than polystyrene cups, and paper cups even though likely used only once consume the least fossil fuel energy."

That's what a recent Salon piece about Hilary Rosen's comments about Ann Romney asserted:

... at this point staying home full time with your children is not only a choice but pretty much a luxury of the elite

Compare to what was stated on Salon just a couple of years prior:

Despite the popular notion that most mothers who don’t work outside the home are mostly wealthy elites, stay-at-home moms actually tend to be less educated and poorer than the rest of mothers, as we learned from recent census numbers.

Add to it the British version:

Ministers have redoubled efforts to persuade mothers to take jobs in the face of evidence that a big majority of the poorest families are two-parent families in which only the father works.

I'd guess that it's not all that unlikely that Canada would be similar. Things may have changed a bit in the last couple of years although, given the talk of a "she-cession" I doubt that it'd be marked by an increase in the percentage of working women.

(Edit: I should note that when comparing family structures, being "poorer" than families in which both parents are employed outside the home may not be particularly handicapping. No need to fork out for expensive daycare, perhaps reduced needs for things like an additional vehicle, business clothing, etc. Add in lower cost and most likely healthier eating as well - fewer restaurant bills, more fresh food).