Blog Topics 4

(1) How large is the sun (what is the diameter)? Why is it hard to determine? How was it first determined? How is it measured now?


(2) I heard a story that in Britain, in 2001 there was a pediatrician (spelled paediatrician) whose house was stoned by people who thought that it meant she was a pedophile (paedophile). As usual, evaluate. Does the story seem feasible? Is the story true? Is the story basically true, but some of the facts are off? Where did you find the information to back it up or debunk it. 10/10 scale. All that.


(3) Astronomers think the Earth-Moon system is pretty strange. Why is that? What is the current theory about the formation of the Earth-Moon system? What are the observations and experiments that are used to back that idea up?

Blog Topics 3

due Wednesday, 22 February 2006

Fact check the first two claims. Do the usual 10/10 scale analysis, initial impression and final impressions.

Research the third claim, tell me what you find out.

The Gentle Tasaday Tribe:

I heard a story about a hidden, previously unknown stone age tribe that lives in the jungles of the Philippines. Away from the complications of modern life, they live in complete harmony and don't even have a word for “war” or “weapon”.

Baby Gender Switch:

I heard a story that, after a badly botched circumcision, a baby boy was given a sex-change operation, and raised successfully as a girl. With the help of hormone replacements, she now lives a happy, successful life, demonstrating what they already knew, that gender is more cultural construction than biological imperative.

The size of the Earth:

How big is the Earth? How did they first find out? How do they measure the size now?

Class Blog Grading

You might be wondering how the blogs are being graded. I'll announce it in class, but here it is.

Doing the bare minimum gets an 8 or 9 out of 10 depending how bare that minimum is.

To get a 10 out of 10, you must do something a little bit extra.

If you find a source that you have some doubt about, check on it. Wikipedia does a great job, but for some things you will need to do some digging and make sure the source of the information is credible.

If the source of information is a university that you've never heard of, look it up. It takes very little effort to look up universities on Wikipedia and the information is pretty reliable.

A big point of these exercises is to know when you know something reliably.

Blog list is up

This list of blogs I've currently (as of Monday night) received are posted here, on the right hand column.

4 people have yet to email me their blog addresses. I sent them email to the addresses listed on the Fresno State database.

Blogs 1 and 2 are due this coming Wednesday, 15 February 2006.

The Blog topics are:

Blog Topics (Week 1)

Construct your blog at :

http://www.blogspot.com

Once constructed, email me the web address (URL).

My email is:

dme10@csufresno.edu

Evaluate all of the following topics:

Pudding cup guy: My brother told me a story that there was an offer for airline miles based off of UPC codes. There was a guy that figured out that since pudding cups had their own individual UPC code that this would come out to a great deal. He ended up taking his family to Europe with a minimum of investment.

Super Bowl Domestic Violence: I heard a story on the news that on the day of the Super Bowl, that in the town of the losing team, domestic violence skyrockets.

Synaesthesia (Synesthesia): I recently read that there are certain people that when they look at letters or number that they see an brightly colored aura surrounding the symbols.

1. State where on the 10/10 scale what your original assessment of the claim is. State whether you had heard of this topic before and if so, where.

2. Put links to the online sources of information you gathered.

3. Based on the information, what is your assessment of the claim now? Why? Make sure you mention the credibility or lack thereof of your source.

Blog Topics 2

orginally due 13 February 2006, now due 15 February 2006

Evaluate all of the following claims:

(1) Parrot communication: There are two research groups that are attempting to teach African Grey Parrots to use English intelligently. One group has a parrot named N'kisi. The other has three parrots, one named Alex. Be sure to dig extra deep on this one.

(2) Messianic Triplet Phobia: I read that the North Korean President, Kim Jon-il is afraid that a set of triplets (the article says that triplets are considered to be lucky in Korea) will one day overthrow him. As a result he tracks down and abducts any triplets born in N. Korea.

(3) Alien Hand syndrome: I read that some people have a neurological condition where one of their hands seems to act on it's own accord. It kind of reminds me of a scene from the movie “Evil Dead”.

As before, state where on the 10/10 scale your initial evaluation is and why. Include links to the web sites you used for research. After your research, state where on the 10/10 scale your evaluation is and state your reasons for why. What where the main things that changed (or failed to change) your mind. If, during the course of your research your mind was changed multiple times, say so and for what reason(s).

Spring 2006

Welcome to Spring 2006 NS 4 class.

I will be using the blog, on occasion to make announcements for the class.

Every post below this one is for the previous NS 4 class (Fall 2005).