‘What Darwin Said’ is great reading
A post called “What Darwin said – and was he right?” was posted on GNXP.com a while back. I put it aside but finally got around to reading through it and have to say it is such a great read. Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in evolutionary ideas. The author breaks down Darwin’s ideas as judged from all his writings and then on each concept he gives an assessment of how well his ideas have stood up to modern scientific findings. I really like where he highlights the changes between editions of Darwin’s books, especially Origin of Species. One interesting example is with regards to the origin of life:
In the first edition of the Origin Darwin referred to a ‘primordial form, into which life was first breathed’. In the second and later editions he added the words ‘by the Creator’. He later regretted ‘truckling to public opinion’ in using such terminology, and said in a letter of 1863 ‘I really meant “appeared” by some wholly unknown process. It is mere rubbish, thinking at present of the origin of life; one might as well think of the origin of matter’ (Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, ed. Francis Darwin, vol.3, p.18)
Lots more good stuff.
Timelines make good map companions
I love looking at maps, old and current, and think they are the greatest thing to have around somewhere in your living space. We have a couple in our kitchen including a big political world map. The other day we were saying it would be great to have a better sense of when countries were established, which empires belonged to which empires, etc.
Well it turns out there is a great visual way to do that too and while there are lots of great ones around the net (wikipedia’s timeline page is a good place to start) but I like timelines.info
Timeline
* I like the beginning part of this TED talk by Parag Khanna where he sketches out how much the map of our world changed over the 20th century. Did you know that in 1945 there were only 100 countries? Now there are ~200 (the exact number is apparently debatable).
Primal eating explained in less than 3 mins
Always a tough one to explain concisely to the uninitiated. Mark does a decent job here:
Reusing ziploc bags
Thought to post a pic of our ziploc bag drying setup before we move apartments again. Just find a good twig/branch and you’re all set.
Hormones and Calorie Needs
I’m currently reading (and loving) Robert Sapolsky’s Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers.
In chapter six his discussion of “Dwarfism and the Importance of Mothers” gets really interesting, especially in the context of an ongoing debate about whether or not “a calorie is a calorie” with regards to weight gain/loss. The attention the debate has been given can be largely attributed to Gary Taubes’ book Good Calories, Bad Calories, in which he makes the point that the relative inputs of carbs vs. fats makes a big difference. I find myself wanting to believe Taubes’ side, which seems to be advocated as well by others that I respect such as Arthur De Vany.
On page 94 (2nd edition) there is an interesting citation of a study where a kid’s growth rate seemed to sway drastically independent of calories eaten, and implies that in this case it was actually dependent on stress hormones affected by one’s emotional state.
I haven’t read through all of Taubes’ book or much of the existing literature but this stands out as pretty good evidence that hormones do matter when it comes to the body’s energy balance. To borrow Sapolsky’s terminology, stress “liquidates” the body’s assets and this is an expensive process.
Using Google Calendar as a Journal
Seems like a pretty good idea if you already use Google Calendar and you have any inclination to keep a journal of some sort (ie. training log or work journal).
Using it as a journal
I’ve already begun using it as a personal journal – recording anything from how often I use the health club, to personal feelings or ideas that I wish to jot down somewhere.
It works by simply creating a new “event” as an individual journal entry. The events are automatically date and time stamped, so you always know when you wrote something. And, obviously, since it’s a calendar – the events are organized by “day,” keeping a chronological archive of all entries ever written.
The event name is the journal entry headline, and you can use the description part of the event as the body of the journal entry.
via Matt Thommes / Using Google Calendar for other purposes.
