A couple who felt a UC Berkeley site on the relationship between evolutionary theory and religion violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment had their case thrown out by a federal appeals court. Oh snap! Score one for science.
It seems the controversial statements were read more »
After getting all excited for the Atheon, the Clog decided to check it out in person. (Woah, a follow-up review? Unthinkable!) Here are our thoughts in a word: disappointing.
To be honest, we’re not sure what we expected—some sort of (pseudo)scientific epiphany, maybe the answers to next week’s philosophy midterm, perhaps a better understanding of dark matter—but what we didn’t expect was read more »
A Berkeley researcher, working with a University of Michigan psychologist, has discovered the secret to feeling better when you’re down. His suggestion? Think of thermometers: “When negative emotions become overwhelming, simply dial the emotional temperature down a bit in order to think about the problem rationally and clearly.”
For those who didn’t understand the scientastic technobabbular doowackness, analyzing one’s emotions from a “distant,” detached perspective has shown to be effective in studies. Apparently some eastern philosophical schools have known this for, like, ever, so props if you’re a practicing meditator.
If you’re interested, the study itself involved participants recalling an emotionally devastating experience with varying degrees of detachedness, from reliving the experience to having their thought process interrupted by unrelated facts like “Sherlock Holmes doesn’t exist, but he wears a hat.” It’s science!
Image Source: Camera Capers under Creative Commons
Step back to move forward emotionally, study suggests [Science Centric]
Earlier: How To: Prevent Pesky Food Thieves
Berkeley teachers, that is. PZ Meyers and the Daily Planet tell us an elementary school teacher at the Berkeley Unified School District, to the shock and awe of many students, told her class that neither Harry Potter, Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny are real. But God is. read more »
A survey led by a pair of Berkeley researchers found that a terror alert probably wouldn’t be beneficial to the McCain/Palin presidential campaign.
The survey first asked around 1300 respondents to read three articles—one of which dealt with a possible terrorist attack on the US in the near future—then asked the respondents who they supported in this year’s election.
According to one of the study’s authors, conservatives and liberals (SURPRISE SURPRISE) weren’t swayed in what they thought of the candidates, but there was an 11 percent drop in moderates supporting McCain.
The results are in opposition to what some people inferred from similar studies done during President Bush’s first term, which showed that his approval ratings generally increased the week after a terror alert was issued.
Check out the Daily Cal on Monday for more info.
Image Source: mac steve under Creative Commons
Cal Study: Terror Warnings Would Hurt McCain/Palin, Not Help [NBC11]
Yep, it’s that special time of year that’s like every other special time of year—Homecoming is back! (Though we could have gone with midterm season.) Berkeley has a Homecoming you can take pride in: Unlike other campus festivities like Caltopia, you can get lots of free things during Homecoming.
And unlike Cal Day, there will be tons of lectures by Berkeley professors that will make even the most balanced jack of all trades feel inadequate. And unlike the Big Game, read more »
Fun fact: During a home football game, one of the safest places to be in Memorial Stadium while an earthquake shakes the game up is the student section, while one of the least safe is the alumni section. But all that might change if a team of San Francisco engineers is correct about their plastic plan to retrofit the stadium.
In short, the plan calls for Memorial Stadium to be partitioned into blocks that will rest on plastic sheets, hopefully preserving the structural integrity (for the most part) of the stadium after the quake—even if that means the people on the blocks might be seated a little differently, according to the project’s lead engineer.
What’s the price tag? Around $160 million, give or take a few million. But it’s worth it to protect what is “widely considered the most beautiful college football venue in the country,” yeah?
Image Source: Hitchster under Creative Commons
Retrofit plan to ride out quake at Cal stadium [Chron]
Normally we wouldn’t have two Mailbags in two consecutive weeks, but we couldn’t resist this time around. We just love you guys that much!
First off, I think we need to make something clear: read more »
The 2008 Berkeley Video and Film Festival kicked off last night at Shattuck Cinemas, but worry not—the festival goes all weekend.
The Clog is particularly interested in “Stop the Presses,” an 80 minute documentary (playing at 7:40 p.m. tonight) about the financial crisis print journalism is facing and the lack of an industry-wide solution. read more »
This Sunday will be the UC Botanical Garden’s 2008 Fall Plant Sale, and we know what you’re thinking. You probably won’t be able to buy Odora, the odorific corpse flower, but you can buy something even better: meat-eating plants.
Oh sure, you can get bulbs, ferns, succulents and all manner of other boring non carnivorous flora, but that’s not as fun as something that can—theoretically—eat you and be eaten by you.
So if you’re tired of your roommate keeping the window open while you study, only to see a huge insect thing fly or crawl or skitter across your textbook every few minutes, consider becoming a member—you’ll get first pick at any type of oversized, singing man-eater plant.
Image Source: blmurch under Creative Commons
UC Botanical Garden [Site]
Feed Me (Git It) [YouTube]
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