A brainy post 20 Jun 2009 AK’s Rambling Thoughts has an absolutely wonderful post on the role of glial cells in brain function. The money quote (for me) is this: In the traditional view, the brain was made up neurons, which processed data, and glial cells, which performed support functions, including “surround neurons and hold them in place, to supply nutrients and oxygen to neurons, to insulate one neuron from another, and to destroy pathogens and remove dead neurons.” (Wiki). In recent years, this picture has been breaking down. General Science
General Science Rodney Stark’s idiotic history 6 Sep 200818 Sep 2017 Thony Christie, a regular commenter on this blog, is also a historian of science, and he sent the following guest post that I thought well worth publishing. Commentator “Adam” asked John’s opinion on a book he is reading, The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western… Read More
General Science Ah, look at all the lonely planets 19 May 2011 Epsilon Cygni Picked up a spin from a passing hot Jove Expelled from its star Wanders the galaxy Cooling its surface to 273 below Floats very far All the lonely planets Where do they all come from? All the lonely planets Where do they all belong? Ahhh, look at all… Read More
Education The commodification of learning 16 Dec 2008 The Bradley Report [Here] is proposing, among other things, that [Australian] students have vouchers to attend the university they want to, rather than making the university the funding recipient directly. Two things stand out to me. One is that this makes higher learning a marketable commodity, in which the desires… Read More
Nah, it’s a WordPress thing, and it’s in every theme. Apparently, displaying a special image of some sort is necessary for obtaining visitor statistics. Reference.