Monday's Science Links

This week's science:

• Chad at Uncertain Principles blogs on School Killings and The Problem With Relative Numbers: "So, the answer to the question 'Why is homicide the second-leading killer of children?' is 'Because there aren't that many things that kill children.' Something has to be the second-leading cause of death among the young, and murder is it. It's not that there are a lot of child murders-- the absolute number is quite low-- it's that there aren't many other things killing significant numbers of children."


• Dave at Cognitive Daily blogs on the difference between how little kids and adults describe things: "The house contained several large pieces of furniture, each accompanied by two small, nearly identical objects: hats, towels, bags, and so on. The objects differed only in color and in location: The hat with the blue ribbon was on the couch, while the hat with the red ribbon was next to the couch. If the mouse was hidden under the hat with the blue ribbon on the couch, how would young children explain where it was, and would their responses differ from adults?"


• Phli at Bad Astronomy videoblogs on Asteroid 2007 TU24 not causing catastrophes: "For those who haven’t been following this saga, some doomsayers have been claiming that an asteroid named 2007 TU24 poses a grave threat to Earth. These fearmongers are completely wrong, scaring lots of others, and are apparently unwilling to listen to reason. The videos still make outrageously bad claims and the websites still make utterly false statements. I decided to make my own video so that the truth can get out to as many people as possible."


• Emily at The Planetary Society blogs on the Martian "Bigfoot": "The story of a Sasquatch-shaped rock visible in a recent panorama from Spirit is getting a lot of play in the mainstream media, but fortunately, it's not being taken very seriously. (My favorite take on this picture is the lead from the Times Online story about it: "Is it a rock? A trick of Martian light on the eye? Or Osama Bin Laden waving from his barren hideout 300 million miles from planet Earth?") "
  


• Judith at Zenobia: Empress of the East blogs on Anahita, mighty goddess of the waters: "In an astonishing scene, Narseh receives the ribboned royal diadem from the hand of Anahita on the rock walls at Naqsh-e Rostam, near Persepolis. The goddess is wearing a mural crown with her hair arranged in a topknot. A young prince (probably the king's son and successor, Hormizd II) stands between them. It is extraordinary and, as far as I know, the only coronation scene in which the supreme god Hormizd is nowhere to be seen."

Enjoy!