Yes, autism again.

ThinkProgress said this better than any of us in the lab: "Palin did not specify what fruit fly research earmark she was referring to (presumably a grant for olive fruit fly research), but she is apparently unaware that scientific research with fruit flies has led to valuable discoveries that have boosted autism research...."

More about that specific research here, if you're more curious than certain candidates.

Or, if you'd like to help us MODIFY THE BRUNDLE CHAMBER into something a little more LIKE A RAY, WE HAVE OPENINGS IN THE LAB!!!

What separates "mad" scientists from the ordinary kind is an appreciation for irony:

CALEDONIA -- A campaign worker going door to door on behalf of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama was allegedly assaulted Saturday afternoon by a resident of a home where a campaign call was made. In a telephone interview broadcast Saturday night, WISN-TV (Channel 12) identified the worker as Nancy Takehara, 58, of Chicago. Sgt. Toby Schey of the Caledonia Police Department said Saturday night that there was no medical assistance requested by Takehara, who said the suspect hit her in the face and pulled her hair.

The following day, the assailant admitted he "regrets his actions", which included pulling the 58-year-old woman's hair.

No, even in anonymous letters, comparing Obama to Hitler is not a "joke".

And it's even less humorous when the comedian is the one who counts the votes.

The best part of this AP story is the headline as compared with the second-last paragraph.

It's not often "I'm an intellectual" appears in the same interview as the sentence "I've always liked the name 'Zamboni.'"

It seems unlikely -- seems -- that the recent reports from West Virginia's early voting describing electronic voting machines switching results from Obama to McCain are likely due to user error.

Since, of course, if a RATIONAL technologist was to switch a vote, he or she would do so OFF-SCREEN.

But one never knows....

We're sorry we didn't attempt to "live-blog" this debate (video forthcoming at the link) between Kurt E. Yeager _{(McCain California Energy Security Coalition)} and Daniel M. Kammen _{(Senior Advisor on Energy & Environmental Policy for Barack Obama)}.

Until the video comes out, we can content ourselves with the IHT's overview. This seems to sum up the differences:

But Obama looks to encourage basic research with infusions of federal cash. McCain says easing regulatory and tax burdens will encourage private spending on research. (Experts say industry now tends to focus on near-term applications, while government finances more basic research that has greater breakthrough potential.)

Obama has proposed doubling federal financing for basic research in physics, life sciences, mathematics and engineering over 10 years. He has promised to review export rules he calls outdated and sees as having "unduly hampered the competitiveness of the domestic aerospace industry."

By contrast, even before the current economic crisis, McCain proposed freezing, at least initially, almost all discretionary federal spending -- a budget category that includes federal research efforts.

And he makes hay on the stump by citing, as an example of wasted money, a study of the DNA of grizzly bears in Montana, wondering aloud why anyone would think bears were involved in paternity suits or criminal activity. (In fact, the project, undertaken by the United States Geological Survey, intended to find ways of estimating the region's population of grizzlies, endangered in the lower 48 states.)

Or, of course, one can spend time chuckling over the "Obama's Mother Had A Genesis Device" theory. An oldie but goodie.