Is there a shortage of good science writers, or are they just not getting hired by places like IO9?

Trained science journalists cost more than general interest journalists, so they're not really getting hired anywhere anymore outside of science-specific publications.

Moreover, epi-marks are usually produced from scratch with each generation

I haven't read the original paper, but I'm fairly sure this is simply false. I remember listening to a biology lecture series years ago which talked about how epigenetic information ripples down through generations (and how trying to distinguish between genetic and environmental causes to explain biological characteristics is in almost all cases a false dichotomy to begin with).

Woot! Thanks.

and now I have a new act of kindness in my ledger

Everybody wins!

Except for science writers.

The new research about epigenetic effects is seriously blowing my mind: it really does a job on the whole nurture/nature debate.

In other news, have a Hobbit Dwarf cheat-sheet: [link]

I remember listening to a biology lecture series years ago which talked about how epigenetic information ripples down through generations (and how trying to distinguish between genetic and environmental causes to explain biological characteristics is in almost all cases a false dichotomy to begin with).

This is akin to what I had explained to me, but that was a few years ago, and epigenetics seems to move faster than this layman can keep track of. However, if that author said it, it's probably wrong.

Denton has said that one of the Gawker employees (Neetzan something) is employed to write the inflammatory click bait articles, and that way everyone else can go about their more detailed (yet still muckraking, so whatevs) way. I suspect that the author of that article is similar--he's cheap, because they didn't hold out for someone who knows what difference a number being a percentage makes, or who has the patience to read past the first three google hits. They could have gotten away with merely a critical thinker with a basic grounding in, oh, MATH and done better than this evo-psych non-citing bullshitter.

I gave a dollar to a panhandler at the grocery store a couple of weeks ago. I don't normally give anything to them, but it was early in the morning, I had the dollar in my pocket, and for once I got a twinge of "Give it to him" instead of the usual "Oh, gosh, there's another one." I don't know what he did with it, maybe it went to booze and cigarettes, but if it made his life a little easier, I'm good with it.

I bought an Air Force guy dinner a few days back. Oh, and I gave my maintenance guy some cookies.

Today sucks eggs. Rotten stinky eggs.

Today sucks eggs. Rotten stinky eggs.

Sing it.

I, umm.

Damn. I've got nuthin'!

Do you have any TJ cookies left, Suzi? Would they help?

eta: and I am sorry about the sucky day, of course.