catching up

I’m back in the saddle, and will be unburdening my mind in the next few days.  Here’s just some stuff I would have blogged about or linked to if I’d been home the last couple weeks…

• The Google bomb of “Intelligent Design“, explained at Skeptico. Basically, the idea is that you use the term “Intelligent Design” in a blog post, but the link goes over to a National Center for Science Education article so that eventually, a Google search for the term will lead people to an accurate description of this pseudo-science.  NCSE is a great organization I’ve suported for years.
• A thought-provoking if not controversial article in Nature on the wealth of endangered species on military lands, due in part, according to the study’s authors, on the combination of uncultivated and disturbed habitats. I’m not ready to run a tank through some nice primary forest, but I will note that in Central America, cleaning out all the unexploded ordnance in some former military lands is too expensive, so these valuable areas are left to nature. Land mines for wildlife: an interesting and effective concept
• An encouraging word on Subaru’s zero-waste automobile plant, via Gristmill.
• Two new lemur species discovered in Madagascar.  Cool!