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Quickies
Quickies: Taxing Drug Dealers, Trigger Warnings, and SciFi/Fantasy Book Lists
On March 10, 1977, astronomers discovered rings around Uranus. (Hush, you.) How To Pay Your Taxes As A Drug Kingpin – Interesting, I hadn’t given this much thought before. From Dan. The Real Polygamous, Feminist Wives of Salt Lake City – I might need to add this tv show to my roster. Feminists Talk Trigger Warnings: A Round-Up – Do…
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Quickies
Quickies: Science of Stuffy Noses, Getting Older, and Sexist Notes
It’s cold out and I want to stay home in bed, so in honor of that, here are a bunch of pics of Maru and Hana in a cozy cat pod. Why Does Your Nose Get Stuffy One Nostril at a Time? – I have spent many a night awake (with a stuffy nose) thinking about this one. Thanks, mental_floss!…
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Guest Bloggers
Guest Post: The Science Behind Three-Parent Babies (and Why the Name is a Little Misleading)
Ed’s note: The author of this post is Andrew, a Cell Biologist (more information at the bottom). ——————————— Every so often, a discovery is made, a technology is developed, or a news item comes out that seems to be tailor-made for misleading descriptions. From evolution’s “missing link” to the metamaterials “Harry Potter invisibility cloak,” some things just beg to be…
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Quickies
Quickies: Hezbollah Culture, New Nutrition Labels, Combating Native Stereotypes
On March 3, 1913, thousands of women marched in a suffrage parade. The parade included “ten bands, five mounted brigades, 26 floats, and around 8000 marchers.” And Helen Keller! (If I had a time machine, I would totally travel back to the time of the suffragettes, among other destinations.) What it is like to grow up in Hezbollah culture –…
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Quickies
Quickies: Civil War Revisionism, Whole Pseudoscience, and LGBT Heroes in Video Games
On February 26, 1920, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari premiered in Berlin, Germany. It’s considered to be one of the best horror films of the silent film era and credited with being the first film to have a twist ending. (The full movie is here.) The Daily Show Takedown of Civil War History Revisionists Is Fantastic – You really should watch…
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Quickies
Quickies: Mental Health Institute Abuse, Doxxing Random Women, and Check Out This Podcast
February 24, 2011, was the final launch of Space Shuttle Discovery. Nowadays, the only way to get to the International Space Station is via the Soyuz (which is covered in February’s book club pick.) NSF Report Flawed; Americans Do Not Believe Astrology is Scientific – The confusion lies with the test design and people who possibly have mixed up the…
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Book Club
Skepchick Book Club: An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth
Welcome back to the Skepchick Book Club! This month we read An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield, otherwise known as “that Canadian astronaut who made all those neat videos.” I wasn’t too sure what to expect from this book, but it was a quick read. The general consensus from our in-person meeting was that the best parts…
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Quickies
Skepchick Quickies: Vaccine Graphs, Sadistic Internet Trolls, and Homophobic Hoaxes
On February 19th, 1963, Betty Friedan published The Feminine Mystique, awakening the demon Misandor, who went on to fight Patriachzilla as he stomped through Tokyo. (Only one of those things actually happened.) Legend has it that if you read aloud from the sacred feminist text, you’ll summon the ancient Yogshetoth. (Muhaha!) Meet the Woman Who Straight-Up Rocks a Beard – Despite…
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