In the past year, I've had multiple social scientists tell me that people are the hardest thing to study. Sure, you don't need a Large Hadron Collider. And the chances of suddenly requiring a HAZMAT suit are pretty slim. But people almost never give you the kind of solidly reliable data you can get out of subatomic particles or viruses. The hard part isn't doing the research. The hard part is getting trustworthy, universal answers for anything. If you want to see a good example of those problems in action, check out this great piece on drinking during pregnancy, written by Melinda Moyer.
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8:30 am Tue
Jan 8, 2013
Moms, booze, and why social science is so damn hard
1000fps video reveals the underlying action of a stinging ant's venom injection for the very first time
Ant Lab's Adrian Smith (previously) writes, "No one had ever filmed how ants inject venom when they sting something. I study ants and I make videos, so I went to work on getting that footage. It involved filming something smaller than a human hair moving faster than the blink of an eye. But, I got […]
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Animated comparison of tree sizes
Just for your information, there are some very teeny and some quite enormous trees. keshitsubo grass, wheat sunflower, Apple tree Rocky Mountain Juniper, Socotra Dragon tree olive, Salix Babylonica Common Hawthorn, Southern Live oak Mediterranean cypress, Stone Pine Limber Pine, Palm tree Baldcypress, Sycamore Araucaria Araucana, Common Oak Brazil Nut, Kauri Eucalyptus, Patagonian cypress Noble […]
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Find awe in the biology of these incredible leaping maggots
Above is a three-millimeter long maggot launching itself into the air for a distance of up to 36 times its body length. Researchers from Duke University and their colleagues studied how these larvae of gall midges leap between plants with the greatest of ease, even rivaling some jumping insects with legs. Their research could have […]
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Take your music production to the next level with this synth & sound bundle
Want to make a hit? The right software is out there for anyone, but any music producer will tell you that finding the right sound can still take time and talent. Still, the right tools are a great shortcut, which makes this Synth & Sound Pack Bundle absolutely priceless. And now that it’s on sale […]
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Save over 60% on these PowerBeats Pro alternatives
Let’s face it: People at the gym aren’t bragging about their headphones. If they were that great, they’d be listening to them instead of talking about them. So while we’re sure those new PowerBeats Pro earbuds are something special, why would you shell out $250 for a tiny pair of speakers when comparable ones are […]
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Learn project management skills from top to bottom with this training
Big companies take on big projects. When they do that, they need a project manager to lay out a roadmap for the entire team – and they’re typically willing to pay a big paycheck to the person who can fill those shoes. So what does it take to become a project manager? If you don’t […]
