Cosmic Bombardment of the Earth ca 2.2 Million Years Ago?
Posted by Greg Laden on May 24, 2013 
There are bacteria that use Iron (and other elements) to make tiny magnets that they carry around so they don’t get lost. (I anthropomorphize slightly.) There are isotopes of Iron that are not of the Earth, but are found only elsewhere in the universe. Suppose an event happened elsewhere and spewed some of that cosmic…
The Need for Health and Biomedical Science Education Programs Aimed at Grades K–12 at the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Posted by Greg Laden on May 24, 2013 Recent reconfiguration of federal funding for STEM education has resulted in important programs at the NIH losing their funding. Below is information on Health and Biomedical Science Education Programs Aimed at Grades K–12 at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). _________________________________ In the proposed FY 2014 budget, President Obama has set a policy that all…
Boy Scouts Do The Right Thing, mostly.
Posted by Greg Laden on May 23, 2013 The Boy Scouts have ended their ban on openly gay members. Gay scout leader still have to pretend they are not gay.
Question for my readers.
Posted by Greg Laden on May 23, 2013 I think the accusation that I’ve “stalked” fellow blogger Abbie Smith have been made one too many times. But I’m not sure. Is this the point where I lay out the exact sequence of events of what happened between us? What do you think?
Who are the Illuminati?
Posted by Greg Laden on May 22, 2013 
From Wikipedia: “Illuminati” refers to various organizations … links to the original Bavarian Illuminati or similar secret societies, and often … conspire to control world affairs by masterminding events and planting agents in government and corporations to establish a New World Order and gain further political power and influence. … the Illuminati … lurk… in…
How can I get rid of foot fungus?
Posted by Greg Laden on May 22, 2013 You can’t! There’s a fungus among us—a hundred different species in fact—and nearly all take up residence on our feet, according to a study that appears in the journal Nature this week. Only a few fungi species were found on other body parts known to house fungi—such as behind the ears and on palms—according to…
Do mites really live on my face?
Posted by Greg Laden on May 22, 2013 This is the question everyone eventually asks themselves. The answer is no. They live all over your body in the follicles of your hair. But, the situation is much more complicated than that, and in fact there is a lot we don’t know about these mites. But, there is a scientist who may be willing…
Understanding Storms and Global Warming: A Quaint Parable
Posted by Greg Laden on May 21, 2013 
A quaint New England rocky creek Imagine standing next to Parable Creek, an imaginary rocky brook in New England. The water is rushing past you from left to right, around the rocks that emerge tall above the surface of the stream, mounding over the top of those that are lower down. The deepest parts of…
Are there more tornadoes because of global warming?
Posted by Greg Laden on May 21, 2013 
There are good reasons to believe that global warming leads to more storminess, but the exact nature of that transition is unclear and hard to measure. Part of the reason for this difficulty is that a given type of storm may become more likely under certain conditions caused by climate change, while a different kind…
Does parasite load really matter?
Posted by Greg Laden on May 21, 2013 
In behavioral biology there is a fair amount of attention to individual quality, which may be determined by genes or parasite load or energy balance, or some interaction among these (and other) factors. Individual quality is honestly indicated by some trait or behavior; a large bright thing hanging of your head, a long bout of…
Why Global Warming’s Effects Will Be Worse Than You Were Thinking
Posted by Greg Laden on May 20, 2013 
The story of climate change has always been more of worst-case, or at least, worser-case scenarios developing and less about good news showing up out of nowhere and making us unexpectedly happy. A few decades ago, it became clear that the release of fossil Carbon into the atmosphere primarily as CO2 was going to cause…
The Mad, Mad, Mad World of Climatism: Mankind and Climate Change Mania
Posted by Greg Laden on May 20, 2013 
There is a book called “The Mad, Mad, Mad World of Climatism: Mankind and Climate Change Mania” produced by the Heartland Institute. The Heartland Institute is famous for doing all that work to prove that smoking is not bad for you, and more recently, that climate change is not real or is not important or…
Correcting BBC’s Lousy Journalism
Posted by Greg Laden on May 18, 2013 Again and again. Do you have to take a stupid pill every day to be a reporter? Or are reporters like this one speaking down to their audience. Either way, it’s shocking.
Did the Keystone XL Environmental Contractor and the State Department Act Inappropriately or Illegally?
Posted by Greg Laden on May 18, 2013 
Several environmental advocacy groups are asking the US State Department to launch an investigation over the State Department’s handling of the Keystone XL review. This is a bit nuanced but important, and I want to make clear what is going on here. Normally, environmental impact assessments are done by private contractors ultimately hired by the…
They totally think we’re not smart …. (solar energy)
Posted by Greg Laden on May 17, 2013 Hahaha Ha. This is about solar energy being repressed by energy interests in Arizona.
Skeptically Speaking on Star Stuff
Posted by Greg Laden on May 17, 2013 You might be interested in the latest Skeptically Speaking podcast: This week, Skeptically Speaking looks to the stars that light up the night sky, and fuse hydrogen and helium into the elements that make life possible. Science writer Jennifer Ouellette examines the possible evidence of ancient supernovae in bacterial fossils. Astrophysicist Ethan Siegel explains the…
Investing in fossil fuel free portfolios
Posted by Greg Laden on May 17, 2013 Apparently that is a thing: NEW YORK and COLORADO SPRINGS, May 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Over half of sustainable, responsible, impact (SRI) investment industry professionals say that retail investors (65 percent) and institutional investors (53 percent) are currently expressing interest in fossil fuel-free portfolios in the face of growing signs of climate change, according to…
Creationism du jour
Posted by Greg Laden on May 17, 2013 Genie Scott of the NCSE gives a talk on Creationism. Executive director Genie Scott talks about the history of creationist legislation, including bills that allow teachers to “critically analyze” evolution or present the “full range of scientific views of origins”. Strategies, tactics, and more. When: 12/1/2012. Where: Eschaton 2012, Ottawa. Video courtesy of www.youtube.com/user/AtheismTV (Don’t…
Will God Allow Us To Ruin Our Planet?
Posted by Greg Laden on May 16, 2013 It is being debated in the US Senate! (Unofficially.) Here’s Senator Sheldon Whitehouse on the issue: See also: Sen. Whitehouse destroys colleague who said God won’t allow climate change And this: Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Look at this tweet by Obama
Posted by Greg Laden on May 16, 2013 Ninety-seven percent of scientists agree: #climate change is real, man-made and dangerous. Read more: OFA.BO/gJsdFp — Barack Obama (@BarackObama) May 16, 2013
Global Warming Consensus: We can haz it!
Posted by Greg Laden on May 16, 2013 
An important study has just been published1 examining the level of consensus among scientists about climate change. The issue at hand is this: What is the level of agreement in the scientific community about the reality of climate change and about the human role in climate change? The new paper, Quantifying the consensus on anthropogenic…
When Are Nomads Not Really Nomads? (Efe Pygmy Ethnoarchaeology)
Posted by Greg Laden on May 16, 2013 “First, we’re going to collect our data,” Jack, the archaeologist, was telling me as we slogged down the narrow overgrown path. He seemed annoyed. “Then, we’ll leave. Until we leave, they won’t leave. They think it would be rude. After they leave, we’ll go back and map in the abandoned camp.” I had just arrived…
Dark Snow Project on The Weather Channel
Posted by Greg Laden on May 16, 2013 The melting of the Greenland ice sheet is a problem, and it seems to be happening faster than scientists had originally thought it might. This is probably because of soot darkening the snow, which collects solar heat and melts the ice. Some, perhaps much, of this soot may come from the extensive fires we are…
Can Obama’s Organizing For Action (OFA) help save the planet? The jury is out.
Posted by Greg Laden on May 15, 2013 You’ve gotta love South Minneapolis. My friend Sharon Sund passed me an email this morning about an Organizing for Action meeting in South Minneapolis to discuss climate change activism. Sharon and I had been talking about local climate change activism earlier in the week so she thought I’d liked to go to this meeting and…
Blockading A Coal Plant in Massachusetts (Breaking news)
Posted by Greg Laden on May 15, 2013 
Environmental activists have just taken up a position off shore of the Brayton Point coal plant, near Fall River Massachusetts, in an effort to block access by a ship attempting to deliver coal there. THIS is their web site, where there is a live Ustream. One of the activists, Jay O’Hara, is tweeting from here:…
Should you drink tap water or bottled water?
Posted by Greg Laden on May 14, 2013 
This is the time of year, spring, when a lot of people switch to drinking bottled water instead of tap water. They do this because in their particular area the tap water seems to “go bad” … usually it is a mild smell or a slightly icky taste. This makes people fear their tap water,…
Want to boycott stuff? There’s an app for that.
Posted by Greg Laden on May 14, 2013 
Vote with your wallet. Tired of the Koch Brothers ruining everything for everybody? Prefer to buy products from companies that contribute to Sandy relief? Do you just want to know which major megacorporation produced the item you are considering putting in your shopping cart? Wouldn’t it be nice to have an app that allowed you…
Who is the richest person in the world?
Posted by Greg Laden on May 14, 2013 This came up the other day, so I figured I’d note the answer(s) down and share it with you so we don’t have to look this up in the internet again until 2013 is over. The, I think they get new richest people. Most of these answers come from Forbes, which appears to be in…
Crowdfunding the Dark Snow Project
Posted by Greg Laden on May 14, 2013 New research indicates that the reflectivity of the surface of the Greenland Glacier is decreasing due to the deposition of dark particles from fires on the surface of the ice. This phenomenon is contributing to unprecedented melting of the ice sheet. This is a huge concern. One of the most significant outcomes of global warming…
Climate Scientist Mann on 400 ppm CO2
Posted by Greg Laden on May 13, 2013 Climate Scientists Michael Mann, author of The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines, interviewed on Democracy Now:
, which is now available for the 
