From the Scientists and Engineers for America commercial contest, two great reminders to vote for science: If you are interested in a little Election Day reflection on the state of voting in this fair democracy, I'd recommend checking out this HBO documentory on hacking the vote. By the way, this won't work for tomorrow if you don't know already, but if you are in California, you may be interested to know that you can now become a permanent absentee voter. Makes life easier for those of us who travel all the time, and even better news, it avoids whatever newfangled vote-eating computer game your precinct might have cooked up for you. And from SEED magazine, a bit of election-day science on what entices us to vote:
In a study conducted online the night before the 2004 election, 146 Ohio State University undergraduates were told to imagine themselves voting from one of two perspectives. Some saw themselves as a third party wouldâ€"as if they were watching a movie of themselves going to the polls. Others were told to use a first-person perspectiveâ€"as if they were experiencing voting through their own eyes...The study found that 90 percent of those who had visualized themselves from an outsider's perspective reported voting, while only 72 percent of those who imagined voting from a first-person perspective did.
Anyways, Happy Election Day! Via Pharynglia, a bit of extra motivation to cast your ballot. If you've got a few more minutes, watch Keith Olberman's special comment -- "This country was founded to prevent anybody from making it up as they went along." And then get yourself to a ballot box. Here's hoping for a real balance of power change this week.
