Tuesday, July 30, 2019

WOW!!

We Just Learned Baby Birds Communicate 

With Each Other From Inside Unhatched Eggs


Yellow-legged gull eggs. (Duarte Frade/iN                        ~ Yellow-legged Gull eggs by Duarte Frade/iNaturalist, CC-BY

https://www.sciencealert.com/baby-birds-can-communicate-with-each-other-from-inside-their-unhatched-eggs?fbclid=IwAR1bo3HVYQ-s2olGfUnvyX-lzxXoSnYQM-NRMlZV6b1V8ORrRzTy8qkapbk

20 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. The methodology is interesting; I think one would have to call it multivariate statistical analysis, like the techniques used to detect messages from little green space aliens. They do have more extensive data sets than the radio astronomers, and they will get better as more donors pass the $200 reporting threshold. Interesting indeed; thanks, listener.

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    2. They claim that their method of using so-called "Jewish names" and donations in multiples of $18 -- unless you gave $54 to Bernie Sanders -- is "good enough." I'd like more rigor myself. Except, of course, there is no possible way to be more rigorous.

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    3. As memory serves me (I may disremember other factors) they also consider employment at Jewish-affiliated organizations. And like any other method of reading the political tea leaves, it is premature. But if SETI could do half so well, I would be thrilled! Well, unless they picked up a Vogon constructor fleet headed our way...

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  2. How Mitch McConnell Persuaded a Senior House Democrat to Back Impeachment [Click]

    Black leaders boycott Trump visit over 'racist, xenophobic rhetoric' [Click]

    Boar wars: how wild hogs are trashing European cities [Click] How you gonna keep ‘em down on the farm, after they seen Pareeee?

    Subversive, queer and terrifyingly relevant: six reasons why Moby-Dick is the novel for our times [Click] Should I read it again? It has been nearly sixty years since read it, and there are bits that stick with me now. With the experiences and education of adulthood, might it not make even a greater impression on me? Probably so.

    Newsom Will Sign Trump Tax Return Bill [Click] He had reportedly been considering the possibility that it might bring the Republican Party back from the dead in California. The requirement to cough up tax returns only applies to the primary election, BTW.

    YouGov Survey: What the ideal president looks like to Democrats [Click] I’m not at all sure I care to watch the second debate(s). I expect that several of the candidates will be looking to take a piece of out Biden, and to do something to give them traction. I hope that Bernie and Warren don’t lay into each other. But I know I would have reason to doubt the day-after take of the punditocracy.

    McConnell Incensed with ‘Moscow Mitch’ Nickname [Click] Awwwww… poor little snowflake…

    When I joined my father on the building site, I saw a different side to him [Click]

    Oh, and it seems a bit cooler [OK, less hot] today. Just flirting with 100F for the next ten days.

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    1. Pleeeease do not associate Moscow Mitch with a snowflake
      (says the person living in the hometown of Snowflake Bentley)!

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    2. “ How you gonna keep ‘em down on the farm, after they seen Pareeee?”

      This made me belly laugh!! 🤣

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  3. Tuesday night's debate begins at 8 p.m. ET. It's slated to last at least two hours.

    Which candidates are onstage Tuesday night?

    In order of their placement onstage, left to right: Spiritualist and author Marianne Williamson; Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio; Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg; Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.; Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.; former Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas; former Gov. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo.; former Rep. John Delaney, D-Md.; and Gov. Steve Bullock, D-Mont.

    By luck of the draw, all the candidates onstage on Night 1 are white.

    And here's who will be up night two:

    Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Bill de Blasio, Michael Bennet, Tulsi Gabbard, Kirsten Gillibrand, Jay Inslee, Cory Booker, Andrew Yang, and Julián Castro.

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  4. I have tried watching the debate, but have only found a live stream that I can't "rewind" to the beginning. The snippets I have seen have largely been obnoxious.

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    1. Maybe I have to wait for it to be over, then watch the recording.

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  5. I found what looks like a decent blow-by-blow commentary
    here. [Click] Make sure you go the the oldest entry (page selection at the bottom)

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    1. Thanks, Alan. I didn't have time to listen, but this let me know in some detail what went on. It appears that Delaney, who hasn't qualified for the second round of debates, has appointed himself chief spokesperson for the Naysayers -- the people who say that progressive policies won't work and will lead to a Trump victory.

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    2. Thanks for the feedback, Bill; I shall peruse it myself shortly. I noticed some early discussion of a Bernie-Warren tag team, cooperating rather than being in conflict, which would be welcome. I also caught a couple snippets of Klobuchar; it could just be that I have a bad attitude, but she still strikes me as frankly obnoxious. It makes the stories about her mistreatment of staff members credible. Maybe first I will see if I can roll the video from the beginning. Off to the movies!

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    3. Near as I can make out, CNN wants to keep the video of the debate a big secret. It looks like it was uploaded to YouTube in two segments, then quickly taken down. So the Guardian blow-by-blow linked above seems like the best I can find. If anyone should find the actual video, do let us know.

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    4. I am satisfied with The Guardian Commentary too, Bill; all in all, I feel adequately educated about the debate now. All in all, pretty good, I thought. Bernie and Warren got in the best zingers, and they were indeed operating as a tag team. Buttigieg did all right; certainly didn't do himself any harm. The other seven I think we can safely ignore henceforth.

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    5. I think the field will effectively be no more than five or at most six by the time of the Iowa caucuses. That's quite manageable.

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  6. From The Atlantic: Elizabeth Warren’s Big Night [Click] “The senator’s plea that voters set aside their fears and back the candidate they believe in helped her stand out on a crowded stage.”

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  7. Wil and I watched the debate and some of the commentary.

    Sanders and Warren did well. Buttigieg held his own. Bernie’s memorable moment “I wrote the damn bill!” Is worth watching. The commentators seemed disappointed that Sanders and Warren didn’t duke it out. They consoled themselves by saying that the two would have to come to blows before it’s all over. I hope the two prove the commentators wrong. I wish one of them was from California or Ohio or Florida. Then they could run on the ticket together!

    I thought most everybody brought up good points. It was fairly civil. I will miss Delaney and Hickenlooper least.

    One funny aside is that Klobuchar and Warren were dressed almost exactly alike!

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    Replies
    1. Just to add that Buttigieg had a nice pep moment. Does he do his own writing?

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