Bio-bigotry

[Jon Newman]

I was just discussing cowbirds (http://www.audubon.org/bird/research/) with my wife while hanging laundry over the weekend and today I find an essay titled Noble Eagles, Nasty Pigeons, Biased Humans (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/29/science/29angi.html?_r=2&th&emc=th&oref=slogin&oref=slogin) by Natalie Angier. (http://www.natalieangier.com/) It's pretty good stuff.

[Jon Newman]

Speaking of Natlie Angier (no relation to Rupert Angier) I highly recommend The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science (http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Whirligig-Beautiful-Basics-Science/dp/0547053460/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213663038&sr=8-1). I can state that it is because of this book that I figured out what was going on right away in The System starring Derren Brown (see part 1 embedded below). You should be able to find the rest of the parts by following this link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lX94fV4TWbc&feature=related).

While I was able to figure out the horse race and coin flip, I didn't figure out how he did the people picking pictures bit. That part remains magical.

lX94fV4TWbc&feature=related

Hat tip: Evolving Thoughts (http://scienceblogs.com/evolvingthoughts/)