The gas vs milk comparison is somewhat interesting -- given that biofuels are aiming to produce gasoline-like hydrocarbons with a quick biological process.
"This study actually just proves how bad doctors are at running control experiments." What evidence do you have for that slam? I don't see any, and that comment seems to me to miss the entire point of the study.
From the article:
"People just assumed it was that belief was important, and that was never tested, and I don’t know why," said Kaptchuk, the lead author, in a telephone interview. "A lot of what we think we know about placebo was conjecture that got firmed up as truth."
My comment is based on that statement... that the placebo effect has existed since the 1950s... and only NOW doctors are running this kind of control experiment? Perhaps I should be more forgiving and simply say that "people" (not just doctors) are bad at running control experiments....
It's not just an internet rumor that borosilicate glass is more resistant to breakage... borosilicate glass is still used in lab glassware because it performs better.
Even in the Snopes article you link to -- Snopes notes that borosilicate glass is more resistant to thermal shock breakage than heat-treated soda lime glass. The part that is undetermined is when the switch to soda lime glass happened.
I wonder how effective the Energizer ads were anyway... I assume most people just got confused and didn't remember which battery company was sponsoring the bunny.
I use the bitly links to get a better idea for what our readers like -- because bitly links provides free/public clickthrough data. (Just add a "+" to the end of any bitly link, and you'll see.)
Perhaps you can provide me with more InfoSec info on why bitly links make Techdirt less trustworthy, Pegr? Is there any solution for maintaining trustworthiness and still tracking which links are popular? I'd like to know...
FYI, the only reason why we're using bitly urls is to get some clickthru feedback for these links. Bitly provides free and public traffic data -- just add a "+" to the end of any of its shortened links, and you'll see.
Re: bad link --- and PLEASE fix you web site - - it really sucks,, big time..
Wow. Darryl, sorry our website performance is that bad for you. Can you give us a bit more information about the system/browser you're using? That would help us de-bug things.
As for the "insect pain" link... the link is not about insects that feel no pain... it's about larger mammals (like cows) that are engineered to feel no pain. So I think the link is correct, but maybe my description of it is misleading. Apologies!
Re: Cement is a component and the building material called concrete
Sorry, Darryl... didn't mean to offend your building material sensibilities. I *did* say that this isn't a new idea -- I knew CO2 absorbing concrete has been around for a while. (And as the link points out, nature has been creating coral -- and for much longer than people have been using concrete.) Using it to try to significantly reduce carbon emissions, though, would be some feat if that actually became practical.
Thanks for pointing out my mistake! I'll get that fixed...
The possibility of mining an asteroid has a huge upside, but I doubt it'll happen in our lifetimes.
It would be pretty interesting to see some technology -- developed to prevent large asteroids from colliding with the Earth -- used to steer small mineral-rich asteroids /towards/ us....
On the post: DailyDirt: Cool Robot Videos
Re: Big Dog
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXJZVZFRFJc
On the post: DailyDirt: Renewable Energy Sources Might Need Some Resuscitation
Re: gas vs milk
On the post: DailyDirt: Mysteries Of The Universe -- And Shooting Stuff
Re: Writing right, amirite?
On the post: DailyDirt: Playing Tricks With The Mind
Re: Confused by the placebo comment
From the article:
My comment is based on that statement... that the placebo effect has existed since the 1950s... and only NOW doctors are running this kind of control experiment? Perhaps I should be more forgiving and simply say that "people" (not just doctors) are bad at running control experiments....
On the post: DailyDirt: Many Hands Make Light Work... Prove It For $1M?
Re: Owning oil cleanup ideas
Maybe the patents will have expired by then (or not).
On the post: DailyDirt: Materials That Make You Go Hmmm
Re: Pyrex rumors
But apparently the environmental impact of manufacturing borosilicate glass is prohibitive for general use bakeware:
http://thestatsblog.wordpress.com/2008/02/29/pyrex-soda-lime-borosilicate-and-the-environ ment/
On the post: DailyDirt: Materials That Make You Go Hmmm
Re: Pyrex rumors
On the post: DailyDirt: The Biggest Shipping Days Of The Year
Re: big fake drawing
On the post: DailyDirt: Peak Coal And Other Energy-Related Stories
Re: Duracell had a bunny first....
On the post: DailyDirt: Attack Of The Bioengineered Organisms And Clones
Re: Hilarity...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Two_Dads
On the post: DailyDirt: Better Living Via Chemistry... Just Got A Bit More Complicated
Re: OK, this is the last time
I use the bitly links to get a better idea for what our readers like -- because bitly links provides free/public clickthrough data. (Just add a "+" to the end of any bitly link, and you'll see.)
FYI, there's also a Firefox extension that lets you preview the bitly links before clicking through:
http://blog.bit.ly/post/68979274/expand-urls-and-get-traffic-summaries-before
Perhaps you can provide me with more InfoSec info on why bitly links make Techdirt less trustworthy, Pegr? Is there any solution for maintaining trustworthiness and still tracking which links are popular? I'd like to know...
Thanks!
On the post: DailyDirt: Better Living Via Chemistry... Just Got A Bit More Complicated
Re: Only Dishwasher Detergents?
On the post: DailyDirt: Better Living Via Chemistry... Just Got A Bit More Complicated
Re: Atomic weight of composites !! not what the periodic table is for..
I think you need to look up what the definition of an "isotope" is... Just saying.
Mike
On the post: DailyDirt: Better Living Via Chemistry... Just Got A Bit More Complicated
Re: You're Very Welcome
Glad you're enjoying these posts... we'll keep 'em coming.
Mike
On the post: DailyDirt: Strange Foods
Re: Re: Re: Sucks? I'll tell you what sucks!
The original URLs are included at the end of each blurb, so you can click on the [url] link if you don't want to use the bitly links. There's also a Firefox extension that lets you preview the links before clicking through:
http://blog.bit.ly/post/68979274/expand-urls-and-get-traffic-summaries-before
FYI, the only reason why we're using bitly urls is to get some clickthru feedback for these links. Bitly provides free and public traffic data -- just add a "+" to the end of any of its shortened links, and you'll see.
On the post: DailyDirt: Strange Foods
Re: bad link --- and PLEASE fix you web site - - it really sucks,, big time..
As for the "insect pain" link... the link is not about insects that feel no pain... it's about larger mammals (like cows) that are engineered to feel no pain. So I think the link is correct, but maybe my description of it is misleading. Apologies!
On the post: DailyDirt: Materials That Make You Go Hmmm
Re: Cement is a component and the building material called concrete
Thanks for pointing out my mistake! I'll get that fixed...
On the post: DailyDirt: Bring Out Your Dead... With CGI
Re: Pretty dark...
Nice find... Yogi Bear just shouldn't go out like that. not like that. He's supposed to be smarter than the average bear.
On the post: DailyDirt: Launching Rockets And Satellites
Re: Mining asteroids...
It would be pretty interesting to see some technology -- developed to prevent large asteroids from colliding with the Earth -- used to steer small mineral-rich asteroids /towards/ us....
On the post: DailyDirt: Measuring Every Moment Of Our Lives
Re:
If you'd like to submit a DailyDirt... just go to:
http://www.techdirt.com/submitstory.php
Although, just a note: the DailyDirts are usually non-copyright topics... to get a bit of variety on Techdirt.
Thanks!
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