Archives for October, 2011
Thinking about Global Warming (Denialism)
Posted by Greg Laden on October 13, 2011 …I’d like to talk about an observation I made while writing for a now defunct monthly rag about global warming back in the early 1990s, and have always wanted to pursue formally, as a research project. Since I’ve not gotten to it yet, I thought it might be fun to outline the idea more informally,…
Japan Nuclear Disaster Update # 38: Decontamination Edition
Posted by Analiese Miller and Greg Laden on October 13, 2011 The latest update on the crisis in Fukushima. The hot spots are everywhere. Be careful where you step! But first, we’d like to introduce the handy-dandy Fukushima Post and Ana’s Feed search engine. This search engine will return results from this series of posts we’ve done. This is a good place to start if you…
Is this true?
Posted by Greg Laden on October 13, 2011 It is said that this happened: “When engineers working on the very first iPod completed the prototype, they presented their work to Steve Jobs for his approval. Jobs played with the device, scrutinized it, weighed it in his hands, and promptly rejected it. It was too big. The engineers explained that they had to reinvent…
Dennis Ritchie has died;
Posted by Greg Laden on October 13, 2011 You may not know Dennis Ritichie but you are using his work right now. He was instrumental in developing Unix (which is ultimately related to developing Linux, which you are using right now because this web site is delivered via a Linux server) but he’s more well known, probably, for his work developing the C…
The Influence of Late Quaternary Climate-Change Velocity on Species Endemism
Posted by Greg Laden on October 12, 2011 Rapid climate change can cause species extinction. But if a species is highly mobile or wide-ranging, then that effect may be attenuated. And, more rapid climate change would be more serious a problem than less rapid climate change. Therefore, there should be a relationship between species mobility (migration) and the rate, or velocity, of climate…
GoDaddy = Piles of Spam!!!
Posted by Greg Laden on October 12, 2011 A spammer using a domain provided free by GoDaddy, which sends people to a domain hosting service (which in turn advertises GoDaddy) has been putting spam on this site at a very high rate over the last few hours (many have gotten through). Does this mean that GoDaddy, the internet service provider, is spamming mysite,…
Sea Level Rise Coffee Mug
Posted by Greg Laden on October 12, 2011 I’ve shown you this before but I thought you might like to see it again. Click Here to Buy your Sea Level Rise due to Global Warming Mug!
This just in: A cute bat, Acute danger
Posted by Greg Laden on October 12, 2011 Hat tip Sheril, where you will find more important details.
How to not cure cancer
Posted by Greg Laden on October 11, 2011 Skeptics and atheists and freethinking folk are supposed to be smart, and they are supposed to be inquiring and, well, skeptical and freethinking and stuff. But they very very often are not. Between skeptics being politically conservative (mainly with respect to social issues) and often not as inquiring and smart as they are fond of…
Support EPA’s Water Infrastructure Project
Posted by Greg Laden on October 11, 2011 By signing this petition: A new report from Green For All found that we could create nearly 1.9 million jobs and inject over a quarter of a trillion dollars into the economy by fully upgrading America’s aging water and stormwater infrastructure. Every year, 860 billion gallons of raw sewage spill into our waterways – enough…
German Semi-Wild Child = Fake? And other matters
Posted by Greg Laden on October 11, 2011 L’enfant sauvage, the 1970 movie by Truffaut, depicted a plausible case of a “wild child” … a person left at very young age in the wild, who then grew up in the absence of human culture. Such wild children are rare, and most of them are not real, or at least, not as wild as…
Geology in Action
Posted by Greg Laden on October 10, 2011 This is why you should always back up to cliffs that you want to stand on top of, so you can run away faster!
Qu8k Amateur Rocket
Posted by Greg Laden on October 10, 2011 Pronounced Quake. (click for source) No, NOT your granddady’s model rocket club. The following video documents one of the more amazing model rocket launches ever. BE WARNED: There are VERY LOUD AND OBNOXIOUS SOUNDS on this video. apparently, you can hear the screams in space! Enjoy:
Amaze your friends with science
Posted by Greg Laden on October 10, 2011 Netflix unchanges Netflix
Posted by Greg Laden on October 10, 2011 I know a lot of you will be interested in this and may want to comment on it. It is obvious to me that Netflix pays close attention to this blog, so your comments will matter a great deal. It is almost like you were on the board of directors or something:
Gobal Warming is Melting the Ice Caps
Posted by Greg Laden on October 10, 2011 My first job as an archaeologist in Boston (having moved there from New York) had to do with Deer Island, the northern of two islands that separate Boston’s Inner and Outer Harbors. The actual archaeology was uninteresting but the historical research was fascinating. Among the things I learned is that Boston’s Inner Harbor regularly froze…
Nobel for Economics: Sargent and Sims
Posted by Greg Laden on October 10, 2011 Thomas Sargent and Christopher Sims have won the Nobel Prize for economics for their work on cause and effect in the macroeconomy. Sample their work here.
Screw this sexism
Posted by Greg Laden on October 10, 2011 The following photograph is a Facebook Peme (Pic Meme, sometimes spelled “peem”). In its original form it had a caption that was sexist and offensive, feeding the idea that girls can’t do math (innately) and also suggesting that a good backup plan for a middle schooler frustrated with academics is sexual self-objectivictoin. I’ve blogged about…
Donald Prothero Radio Interview
Posted by Greg Laden on October 9, 2011 My interview with Donald Prothero is up and running as a podcast. Click here to listen.
The Scientist is Dead
Posted by Greg Laden on October 8, 2011 The magazine: Biomedical researchers have lost a respected source of information–and science journalists have lost yet another publication for which they can write–with the news that The Scientist will stop publishing immediately. The news comes just after the magazine celebrated its 25th anniversary with a special issue. Wow, that was unexpected. In a totally expected…
Genie Scott on The Pseudo Scientists Podcast
Posted by Greg Laden on October 8, 2011 And other things…. Episode 31: INTRO: Belinda, Jason, Jack and James. New panelist, James Cooper, TAM 9, Belinda’s Masters studies. ON THE STREET: Martin Pribble at Think Inc. 2011. INTERVIEW: Eugenie Scott. NEWS: Faster-than-light neutrinos, Blackmores’ pharmacy deal, secularism in the Israel/Palestine conflict.
Are you Mars-curious?
Posted by Greg Laden on October 8, 2011 Curiosity is a new Mars Rover that looks like a UFO when it’s all folded up in its space-pod, but looks like a Transformer when it is deployed. The space travelling robot has been folded up and sealed into its anti-germ container (to avoid letting germs out into the Martian ecosystem, the rover is sterilized…
Make your donation and relieve your guilt!
Posted by Greg Laden on October 8, 2011 You know you want to! This is just one of the many project you can help out: My Students: Kids love to find out what’s happening inside them! From their blood to their bones, we study the human body. Our health book is a good resource for students, but having a model for them to…
The Carnival of Evolution
Posted by Greg Laden on October 8, 2011 is … here, at Kevin Zelnio’s blog at Scientific American. Go read it, click on stuff, and pass it around!
Evolution and Global Warming Denialism: How the Public is Misled
Posted by Greg Laden on October 7, 2011 “My little Minnesotans deserve the best and need your help!”
Posted by Greg Laden on October 7, 2011 Sunday, May 22nd, 2011: That is a day people around here will never forget. I remember standing in the maw of my open garage holding an iPad with the weather radar running on it. The weather map showed that a tornado was on top of me. Amanda, Julia and Huxley were in the basement preparing…
An Open Letter to Climate Change Deniers
Posted by Greg Laden on October 7, 2011 Check it out: OK, you have fought hard to deny or challenge the realities of climate change, perhaps because you are afraid of the policies that might have to be put in place; or are afraid of the possibilities of increased government intervention; or you don’t think it will be that bad; or you think…
Largest Shark Sanctuary Declared
Posted by Greg Laden on October 7, 2011 The Republic of the Marshall Islands is now home to the world’s largest shark sanctuary. The Nitijela, the Marshallese parliament, unanimously passed legislation this week that ends commercial fishing of sharks in all 1,990,530 square kilometers (768,547 square miles) of the central Pacific country’s waters, an ocean area four times the landmass of California. Details…
NASA’s Moon Twins Going Their Own Way
Posted by Greg Laden on October 7, 2011 Remember the gravity mapping project on the moon? NASA’s Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL)-B spacecraft successfully executed its first flight path correction maneuver Wednesday, Oct. 5. The rocket burn helped refine the spacecraft’s trajectory as it travels from Earth to the moon and provides separation between itself and its mirror twin, GRAIL-A. The first…
Nobel Peace Prize: Sirleaf, Gbowee, Karman
Posted by Greg Laden on October 7, 2011 Three women who have worked for peace and women’s rights in Liberia and Yemen have been awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, it was just announced at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo. Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian peace activist Leymah Roberta Gbowee and Yemeni protest leader Tawakkul Karman are being honored. source
, which is now available for the 
