Science online, poisonous misinformation edition

Bird - Duck - Mallard Quack. Photo by blmiers2.
  • The first Carnival of Evolution for 2013! Now online at Genome Engineering
  • Sure, why the hell not? Did “restless genes” help humans conquer the planet? (Seriously, this is a good piece.)
  • If it quacks like a quack … The science-free advice of Dr. Oz.
  • Diversity of sampling for the win. How hormonal birth control might mess with mate choice—for both straight and gay women.
  • I mean, really, who doesn’t know to smell their tea for bitter almonds? Thank the gods for dumb poisoners.
  • Very, very, effective cows. Are leafcutter ants farmers, or cows?
  • Don’t be the third reviewer. Unless you have to. Advice on how to peer-review a paper.
  • Smarter isn’t always better. Selecting guppies for bigger brains demonstrates that big brains are expensive.
  • Yow. Pioneering anti-GMO activist apologizes, says genetic engineering can be environmentally beneficial.

State of the blog, 2012

Daily visits to www.denimandtweed.com, 2012 (blue) vs 2011 (orange). Image and data from Google Analytics.

In all of 2012:

  • 222 new posts
  • 45,636 visits, up 20% from 2011
  • 32,385 “unique” visitors, up 35%
  • 122,363 pageviews, up 66%

Top-viewed posts, in descending order:

Miscellaneous landmarks:

It’s been a busy year, but a great one! If you’re still reading at this point, you must be one of my tens of loyal readers—instead of filling out a formal survey this year, why not say hello in the comments, and tell me why on Earth you’re still hanging around this unfashionable end of the outer eastern spiral arm of the Internet.◼