Rotundus.com

How Coffee Can Galvanize Your Workout

"Caffeine has been proven to increase the number of fatty acids circulating in the bloodstream, which enables people to run or pedal longer (since their muscles can absorb and burn that fat for fuel and save the body’s limited stores of carbohydrates until later in the workout)." Does this explain why my usual habit of just-coffee for breakfast seems to work out without really leaving me hungry? Of course this article is more focused on the athletic effects of caffeine.

Scientist creates lifelike cells out of metal

My favourite episode of the original Star Trek was the one with the silicon-based lifeform (primarily due to the horrible special effects there). Still quite skeptical of this sort of thing unless the materials are able to bind to other molecules in the same way as carbon can.

Teachers Don’t Like Creative Students

"One of the most consistent findings in educational studies of creativity has been that teachers dislike personality traits associated with creativity. Research has indicated that teachers prefer traits that seem to run counter to creativity, such as conformity and unquestioning acceptance of authority."

If "all men are pigs," why is a pig's life worth more than a man's?

"It's interesting that a woman is facing 50 years in prison for decapitating her boyfriend's piglet but if she killed him, she would probably face a lot less"

Slate recently had an article entitled Does Inequality Matter? How “expenditure cascades” are squeezing the American middle class which advanced the thesis that "rising inequality has driven many of the 99 percent into a financial ditch". After noting the massive increase in the cost of weddings, and the climbing size of housing they conclude:

Many social critics wag their fingers at what they perceive to be frivolous luxury spending. But that misses the point that all consumption norms are local. It’s not just the rich who spend more when they get more money. Everyone else does, too. The mansions of the rich may seem over the top to people in the middle, but the same could be said of American middle-class houses as seen by most of the planet’s 7 billion people.

Rather than the OWS talk of the 1%, why shouldn't I simply view the US as the 4%? Perhaps a lot of this could also be adjusted simply by turning off the tube - cutting back on the amount of advertising seen? Why should "keeping up with the Joneses" be seem as something that, like mindless automatons, Americans are simply required to do rather than being an example of irresponsible financial behaviour?

Trapped by $50,000 Degree in Low-Paying Job Is Increasing Lament

This article is focused on the woes of those who've gotten Masters degrees, not the whole spectrum of higher education. "More people are losing the same gamble as a 33 percent jump in U.S. graduate school enrollment in the past decade, coupled with an 80 percent surge in tuition and required fees, runs headlong into a weaker job market." Fortunately for me the article notes that "Advanced degrees in computers, engineering, business and nursing lead to the highest salaries. Master’s degrees in education, fine arts, teaching and liberal arts fare the worst."

When the Zoning Board Closes Your Church

"the Fromms were fined $300 for violating a city ordinance that prohibits groups of three or more people from gathering without a permit. ... the ordinance language explaining who needs a conditional use permit is so broad it could apply to a group of friends who meet to watch football on Sundays. And to gain such a permit, an applicant could need a site planner, a public hearing and an entitlement planner, which could cost up to $150,000" - a permit needed for 3 or more people would probably already effectively ban most dinner parties.

Turn Left and Follow the Money

Some interesting numbers to back their assertions up that despite the talk of "sinister right-wing capitalist think tanks’ poisonous cash injections that have forever corrupted the political process—perverting democracy, subverting equality, and hurting feelings from coast to coast" donations actually lean the other way. One example: "a 2006 study of Fortune 500 companies that showed America’s wealthiest 100 corporations donated $59 million to leftist causes and a paltry $4 million to the political right." Not sure how left-wing their "left-wing" think tanks actually are

What’s Marriage Got to Do with the Economy?

Marriage and the economy as the title suggests - but also a few comments on population aging and the political impact of that.

The Future of Light Is the LED

An assessment of light bulbs. Maybe the note that "CFLs burn out rapidly when they’re not allowed to rest at least 15 minutes between being cycled off and on" explains why I've had some fluorescent lights burn out more quickly than I'd expect.

The New York Times had an article today that seems to fairly well illustrate the sort of twisting of numbers that takes place when sexual assault is examined. On the one hand it mentions

Nearly every woman I know can recall one or more instances in which she was sexually assaulted, harassed, threatened, inappropriately touched or even raped.

On the other hand you have the comment in the same article that

Last year, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, 272,350 Americans were victims of sexual violence

It's a big number but divided by the female population of the US that would suggest less than 2 in 1000 being victims of such each year.

Less than 1 in 500 per year is quite a different conclusion from "nearly every woman".

(Frankly in any trial the reliability of the witnesses is an issue - 'women never lie about this sort of thing' doesn't seem to me to be a reasonable position nor one supported by the evidence).