Category Archives: Science

A THEORY OF SPONTANEOUS HUMAN COMBUSTION.

Posted on September 7, 2013 by Philip

A THEORY OF SPONTANEOUS HUMAN COMBUSTION. Charles Dickens had a character in BLEAK HOUSE die by spontaneous combustion. The possibility of this occurring has been debated—and fore the most part rejected—ever since. This wikipedia article says that there have been … Continue reading →

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COW TIPPING DENIERS.

Posted on September 5, 2013 by Philip

COW TIPPING DENIERS. I have on occasion seen references to cow tipping. This article by Jake Swearingen on cow tipping at the Modern Farmer website (link via Real Clear Science) describes it well. It refers to drunken young men tipping … Continue reading →

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A PLEA FOR PAYING MORE ATTENTION TO LYME DISEASE.

Posted on September 1, 2013 by Philip

A PLEA FOR PAYING MORE ATTENTION TO LYME DISEASE. Here in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Mary Jane and I know dozens of people who have had Lyme disease with serious consequences, a number of whom have had their lives severely damaged … Continue reading →

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THE VIEW THAT LYME DISEASE IS OVERDIAGNOSED.

Posted on August 31, 2013 by Philip

THE VIEW THAT LYME DISEASE IS OVERDIAGNOSED. Less than three months before the CDC announcement that the number of Lyme disease cases per year was ten times larger than had been reported, Beth Daley had an excellent article in the … Continue reading →

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LYME DISEASE—“A TREMENDOUS PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM IN THE UNITED STATES”.

Posted on August 30, 2013 by Philip

LYME DISEASE—“A TREMENDOUS PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM IN THE UNITED STATES”. As CBS reports here, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released new estimates that Lyme disease is about 300,000 cases a year in the United States—ten times … Continue reading →

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WHAT DUCT TAPE CAN’T DO.

Posted on August 29, 2013 by Philip

WHAT DUCT TAPE CAN’T DO. A friend of ours used to say that duct tape was the solution to most problems. This article by Ross Pomeroy at the Newton Blog (link via Real Clear Science) lists some of the problems … Continue reading →

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THE TRANSCENDENT “INTERMEDIARY” STATUS OF TWINS (COMMENT).

Posted on August 17, 2013 by Philip

THE TRANSCENDENT “INTERMEDIARY” STATUS OF TWINS (COMMENT). Dick Weisfelder asked in a comment on my August 15 post; “Can you comment on your personal experience of this transcendent “intermediary” status? I’ve always known there was something different about you two!” … Continue reading →

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TWINS AND SALMON; TWINS AND VEGETABLES.

Posted on August 16, 2013 by Philip

TWINS AND SALMON; TWINS AND VEGETABLES. On page 37 his article (“Toward the Intellect”), Levi-Strauss says that the particular relationships which the Nuer people establish between twins and birds are closely paralleled by the relationship which the Kwakuitl of British … Continue reading →

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THE “LOGICAL CONNECTION” BETWEEN TWINS AND BIRDS.

Posted on August 15, 2013 by Philip

THE “LOGICAL CONNECTION” BETWEEN TWINS AND BIRDS. I used Google to look up the sentence “Twins, like birds,…‘occupy an intermediary position between the supreme spirit and the merely human.’” The sentence comes from the essay by Claude Levi-Strauss entitled “Toward … Continue reading →

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BINARY OPPOSITIONS AND TWINS.

Posted on August 14, 2013 by Philip

BINARY OPPOSITIONS AND TWINS. Claude Levi-Strauss was an enormously influential thinker during my lifetime, but I have never understood what he was saying. My impression has been that he analyzed all societies in terms of certain fundamental oppositions, such as … Continue reading →

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