Why aren’t there equal number enough women in hard science and engineering? Larry Summers, the President of Harvard and ex-Treasury Secretary, got in trouble when he tried to suggest an answer. So the controversy hasn’t exactly died yet.
But could the reasons be because women simply choose differently? Here’s an article in Boston Globe that quotes two researchers.
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.
From Bruce Schneier, the security expert himself, in the Guardian:
“Last month a US court ruled that border agents can search your laptop, or any other electronic device, when you’re entering the country. They can take your computer and download its entire contents, or keep it for several days. Customs and Border Patrol has not published any rules regarding this practice, and I and others have written a letter to Congress urging it to investigate and regulate this practice.
But the US is not alone. British customs agents search laptops for pornography. And there are reports on the internet of this sort of thing happening at other borders, too. You might not like it, but it’s a fact. So how do you protect yourself?”
United States court ruled [PDF] that border agents have the right, without cause, to search your data devices as you enter the country. If your device is encrypted, you have to hand over your encryption key.
Which countries are ‘responsible’ for the food crisis and the sharp increase in food prices? US blames India and China for the increasing demand and standards of living. See this for the hilarious battle of words between diplomats.
Many folks have already seen this video of the singing lyrebird (more than 844,000 times).
The lyrebird imitates the calls of atleast 20 different species. He copies the kookaburra. “It’s a very convincing impersonation. Even the original is fooled”, says David. He even copies other, man-made sounds he’s heard in the jungle. The camera shutter (*ka-chick*). The camera shutter with a motor drive. And even the jungle raiders’ chainsaw.
I wonder if it is amazing or just plain heartbreaking to see bird copy camera sounds, the car alarm or the chainsaw… in an attempt to find mates.
Does anyone else see the irony here? What are we — the so-called intelligent species — leaving behind for the animal kingdom?
“People do things on airplanes that they would never do in other public settings. They pluck eyebrows, polish nails and pick noses. They stick chewed gum in places only other passengers will discover. They blow noses into blankets that get folded up for the next weary traveler. They prop bare feet up on bulkheads and seats. Sometimes they even engage in sex acts.”
Ugh! I’ve seen lot worse. People sticking half-eatn food down the seat fronts, including fries, fruits and fluids.
Could it be that passengers are retaliating for what they is is shoddy service from airlines themselves?
One reason frequent fliers and flight attendants perceive an increase in offensive behavior may be the decline in air service — customers seek retaliation for late flights, snippy workers, lost baggage and unavailable upgrades.
It’s quite possible that people’s behavior in “anonymous” circumstances changes when they know they aren’t being watched.
As the Beeb reports, some of the ‘Free Tibet’ flags were being made in Guangdong by unsuspecting workers.. until some spotted the flag on TV and reported it to authorities.
Ultimate Luxury: A $300,000 Watch That Doesn't Tell Time
What’s the ultimate luxury? How about a $300,000 watch that does not tell time?
Romain Jerome has introduced a watch that does just that. It shows only the day and night: “a new way of measuring time splitting the universe of time into two fundamentally opposing day and night”.
Hmm.. didn’t think about that.
And for a watch that does not show time, it has two exquisite, expensive tourbillons operating sequentially - one for day and another for night.
“An avant garde approach that is different and even disturbing”, it says. Disturbing, indeed.
But come to think of it, even a $10 watch tells time (fairly) accurately. But who’d buy a watch that does nothing or tells something totally obvious, like show the day and night. Only a discerning collector would splurge $300,000 on something like that. And indeed, it is pure marketing genius. The watch sold out in 48 hours, according to WSJ.
“IOWA CITY, IA—University of Iowa neuroscientists studying spatial learning and the effects of stress on memory announced Tuesday that a little son-of-a-bitch mouse ruined an experiment on cognitive performance by effortlessly navigating a maze that researchers spent nearly a year designing and constructing.
The test subject, a common house mouse, briskly traversed the complicated wooden maze in under 30 seconds or, according to the study’s final report, roughly 1/8,789,258 as long as it took the lab to secure funding for the experiment.”
Another classic piece from The Onion, of course. Sheds more light on scientific inquiry…
“Had we obtained any usable data, perhaps that information would have led to the development of a cure for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s,” said Dr. William Eng, who led the team responsible for creating the maze…
“It is regrettable to spend such a tremendous amount of money studying mammalian neuropathways, only to have some hotshot mouse ruin everything,” Eng said. “However, we have compiled substantial data on this species’s ability to breeze right in and destroy an entire postdoctoral legacy.”
This is classic! Keep it comin’! More research of this type, and I’m sure we’ll find cure for Alzheimer’s and a dozen other diseases.
