Miscellaneous links

1.  Bill Easterly:   Nobody wants your old shoes: How not to help in Haiti

2.  New York Times: Big Benefits Are Seen From Eating Less Salt

3.  Tyler Cowen and The Economist / Free Exchange: The end of Haiti?

Why opposites attract

This is remarkable:

In 1995, a Swiss researcher showed why pheromones are so important in humans, too.  He had women sniff t-shirts worn by men, and asked which smelled best.  The results were startling: the women did not choose randomly, which was discovered by comparing the DNA of the women and men.  Instead, women overwhelmingly picked [...]

Follow me on Twitter

You may now follow me on Twitter.

Methane, a greenhouse gas

Why isn’t anyone talking about this?  From the article:

Sometimes called the “other greenhouse gas,” methane is responsible for 75% as much warming as carbon dioxide measured over any given 20 years. Unlike carbon dioxide, which remains in the atmosphere for hundreds of years, methane lasts only a decade but packs a powerful punch while it’s [...]

Liberty vs. Statism: How Quickly People Forget

From the Wall Street Journal, evidence that the struggle to win over people’s hearts and minds in favor of liberty may be never-ending:

Near a Lutheran church that was at the center of the 1989 protests, campaign supporters recently rallied for the Left. One particularly loud theme: The excesses that triggered today’s financial crisis wouldn’t have [...]

Beethoven's Ninth on Wine Glasses

Normally, I don’t like any version aside from the true original, but this guy is pretty amazing, especially when he starts adding harmony.

It’s still Putin’s show

According to The Economist, Putin may run in 2012.  Any surprise?

(Hat tip: Stephanie)

Why you should go to Budapest now

David Byrne has a short post on Budapest.  While a lot of the attractive features of the city will remain for years to come, Byrne’s post implicitly makes the case for visiting now.

Graduate Student vs. Unemployed

Hehe.  Maybe this is why PhD programs have difficulty attracting American students, but are able to attract students from abroad.  Incentives matter…

Links

Sleep may be an evolutionary adaptation to improve time management: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/health/01mind.html?em.

Progress on understanding protein folding?: http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2009/08/lifes-proteins-related-by-seven-degrees-of-separation.ars.

Texting while driving increases accident rates by 23 times.  I agree that it should be banned: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2009/08/highway-safety-group-gets-behind-texting-and-driving-ban.ars.

Wikipedia will “fail” by 2010: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/09/despite-changes-wikipedia-will-still-fail-within-5-years.ars.

Europeans use less Internet than Americans do in the evenings: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/09/does-less-evening-internet-mean-europeans-lead-better-lives.ars.