Archives for October, 2011
(‘John ‘McCarthy)
Posted by Greg Laden on October 25, 2011 (‘born ’1927) (‘championed ‘ai) (‘created ‘lisp) (‘thought-up ‘space-elevator) (‘won ‘turing-award) (‘died ‘oct-23-2011)
Ooops… we left all the children behind
Posted by Greg Laden on October 25, 2011 “No Child Left Behind” was doomed to be a failure, because it was ill concieved, politically cynical, and underfunded. But like the War in Iraq, the Patriot Act and Tax Breaks for the Rich, and all the other initiatives of the Bush Administration that never should have happened, we have been saddled with this melt…
Is Findings any good?
Posted by Greg Laden on October 25, 2011 Looks interesting, but so far my “highlighting” in ebooks is fairly quirky and has to do with specific objectives I have that others may not know. In other words, sharing them would be potentially problematic considering how easy and common it is to take anyone’s words off the web and get all whingy about them.
My Blog Post on Global Warming Won an Award!!!
Posted by Greg Laden on October 25, 2011 w00t! My blog post on Urban Heat Islands has won the prestigious Editor’s Selection Award from ResearchBlogging.org News! See the awarding blog post here, and the awarded blog post here. Thank you Sarah Kendrew. Two other posts won the award as well: Ovarian Cancer at Microfluidic Future and In Praise of the Comet at the.soft.anonymous.…
“Copiale Cipher” Cracked
Posted by Greg Laden on October 25, 2011 It is a document linked to a secret society. Here is the translated text
NASA Telescopes Help Solve Ancient Supernova Mystery
Posted by Greg Laden on October 24, 2011 A mystery that began nearly 2,000 years ago, when Chinese astronomers witnessed what would turn out to be an exploding star in the sky, has been solved. New infrared observations from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, reveal how the first supernova ever recorded occurred and how its shattered remains…
All this video needs is a giant spider
Posted by Greg Laden on October 24, 2011 If anyone reading this knows the (Chinese?) dialects being spoken, feel free to throw in a translation! (Or must make stuff up if you like.) Below the fold. May not be work safe. Depending on where you work.
It’s fall. Time to start hoarding bird books.
Posted by Greg Laden on October 24, 2011 Here in the Northern Hemisphere, many of our birds fly away in the fall. Other, very cool birds from even farther north, depending on where you live then arrive. But just about now, where I live, we are at the tail end of the migration out and not quite at the migration in, so this…
Column Editing in Emacs (cua mode)
Posted by Greg Laden on October 24, 2011 This is very nice: hat tip: Got Emacs?
Birds and Climate Change
Posted by Greg Laden on October 24, 2011 When climate changes, causing habitats to move, birds can get up and fly away to a new habitat, so really, they’ll be fine. Right? Well, no. Read more.
Interesting sciencey items on the intertubes
Posted by Greg Laden on October 24, 2011 The Universe has been simulated more accurately than ever before. There’s a video. More whooping cranes have been shot to death, you can check on the details yourself but I suspect this problem is related to the fact that you can legally hunt some cranes (not whooping cranes) so you accidentally shoot the nearly extinct…
On the Ownership of Large Dangerous Wild Animals
Posted by Greg Laden on October 23, 2011 Years ago, I read an old newspaper account of chaos in 19th century New York City; A storm damaged many of the cages at the Central Zoo, and most of the wild animals got out. The next day or two was spent rounding up the animals, and even the mayor and the governor, who were…
Land Of Lisp Book Giveaway
Posted by Greg Laden on October 23, 2011 You will recall that I recently reviewed the book Land of Lisp. It turns out I’ve got two copies of it, and would like to give one away. To you. As a bounty.
What is our most pressing energy challenge?
Posted by Greg Laden on October 23, 2011 click image to vote in poll
XFactor: First Live Show is Tuesday
Posted by Greg Laden on October 23, 2011 As you know, my nephew LeRoy is a contestant on the X Factor. I expect you to go vote for him on Tuedsay, OK? Assuming there is voting. I’m not sure how it works, actually. Anyway, here’s LeRoy getting through the last round (and some other guy):
Floods: Don’t go in them.
Posted by Greg Laden on October 22, 2011 As an archaeologist, my expertise in the cognate field of geology includes fluvial processes, so I know something about floods. And I’ve experienced plenty of floods working in the Hudson and Mohawk river valleys … now that I think of it, I’ve got quite a few good flood stories. But the most significant experience I’ve…
What is scarier than Halloween?
Posted by Greg Laden on October 21, 2011 What is scarier than Halloween? 1804 Lewis and Clark struck out on their famous expedition. Alexander Hamilton was shot to death in a duel. Morphine is invented. Short distance transport is done on foot or horses, long distance on clipper ships or packets. The world population reaches 1 billion. 1927, over a century later Horses…
Van Gogh’s Cowboy Boys Shakespeare’s Pot
Posted by Greg Laden on October 21, 2011 Although one can not be certain, all the evidence points to the fact that William Shakespeare smoked pot. This is not a new story. My good friend and colleague, Dr. Francis Thackeray, who has never smoked pot in his life but who has acted in Shakespeare’s plays numerous times, led a research team that put…
Urban Heat Islands as Explanation for Hockey Stick Global Warming Curve
Posted by Greg Laden on October 20, 2011 Urban areas can be warmer than surrounding non-urban areas because there is a lot of combustion, pavement and other structure can collect solar heat and retain it for a while, and other factors. It is not uncommon to look at a weather map where conditions for precipitation are marginal, and everywhere but the urban zone,…
Science is always nonpartisan, but it is always political: Fool Me Twice
Posted by Greg Laden on October 19, 2011 Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Assault on Science in America” was officially released last night in Minneapolis with appropriate fanfare and celebration. Everyone who gets to know Shawn likes him from the start and quickly learns to respect him and eventually hold him with a certain amount of well-earned awe, and like any book, we’ve…
Quantum Levitation
Posted by Greg Laden on October 19, 2011 My sister won the science fair with a “frictionless puck” using CO2, two jars, and two hockey pucks. This is not that: More here.
How many people live near the ocean?
Posted by Greg Laden on October 18, 2011 The real question is, if sea levels rose due to melting glacial ice, what percentage of the word’s population would get their feet wet? There are several problems with addressing this question, including the fact that it depends on how high sea levels rose. Most studies or calculations are based on what most people consider…
Why isn’t there a malaria vaccine, and could there be one soon?
Posted by Greg Laden on October 18, 2011 There are several reasons why there is no vaccine for malaria, but the thing you might want to know is that malaria is not a virus, and it is not even a bacterium. It’s a protist. Generally speaking, there are not really vaccines for such organisms. One metastudy that looked specifically at Malaria had this…
Dr Who Regeneration … All of them.
Posted by Greg Laden on October 18, 2011 Below the fold, of course …
XFactor Update
Posted by Greg Laden on October 18, 2011 Tonight, Tuesday, October 18th, the Final 16 will be revealed. 7 central time. Here’s LeRoy’s performance, on which he’ll be judged:
LeRoy’s Journey, so far
Posted by Greg Laden on October 16, 2011 Below the fold (it starts automatically)
“I got this note from John Ritchie, Dennis’s brother”
Posted by Greg Laden on October 16, 2011 From Rob Pike Dear Rob– As Dennis’s siblings, Lynn, John, and Bill Ritchie–on behalf of the entire Ritchie family–we wanted to convey to all of you how deeply moved, astonished, and appreciative we are of the loving tributes to Dennis that we have been reading. We can confirm what we keep hearing again and again:…
How to Live Trap A Godzilla
Posted by Greg Laden on October 14, 2011 In the past, we’ve covered how to live trap a mouse. And, how to live trap a squirrel. For those, I’ve got considerable experience and was able to give you good advice. But for live trapping a Godzilla, it is best to seek professional advice.
I used to think National Geographic was a reputable institution
Posted by Greg Laden on October 13, 2011 But then, they came up with this, which simply CAN NOT BE TRUE:
, which is now available for the 
