Science and (culture, politics, policy, media)
Kevin Vranes has a phud in Physical Ocean- ography and Cli- matology. He now studies sci- ence policy and politics at the CSTPR. (More in the about.)
email: kevin {/at/} nosenada.org
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(listed in semi-random order)
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June 29, 2006
Category: Weather
This crazy pic comes via EUMETSAT and I found out about it via J. Heming of the UK Met Office. It's a severe thunderstorm that developed a circulation and briefly developed an eye-like structure (generally only hurricane-size storms have true...
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 11:23 PM • 9 Comments
June 28, 2006
Category: Congress
A long time ago, John Fleck asked me a question about bill-writing in Congress. Just like I do with most of the questions I get asked in comments and emails that require long answers, I sat on it and forgot...
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 11:39 AM • 1 Comments
Category: Sports+science
I guess you had to know that Viagra Found to Help High-Altitude Athletes. Me, I play between 5000 and 8000 feet so I'm not sure it'll do me any good, since they were testing at 12K and above....
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 9:45 AM • 1 Comments
June 27, 2006
Category: Bare politics • Energy • Geology • Science+Congress
Word on the street is that Senator Domenici is moving toward a real solution on nuclear waste storage. CQ.com just told me that Domenici is putting a provision in the 2007 Energy-Water Appropriations bill (hey kids, it's approps markup season!!...
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 3:46 PM • 2 Comments
Category: Earth Science (general)
If you're a geo-nerd you might be interested in.... Koppes and Hallet, Erosion rates during rapid deglaciation in Icy Bay, Alaska, J. Geophysical Research. Proof that former Congressional Science Fellows can go back after their year on the Hill and still be productive scientists....
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 9:23 AM • 0 Comments
June 26, 2006
Category: Sports+science
I can't remember the passage, but one of those books raised an interesting specter of scientist vs. athlete. Now that studying the physics of sports is all the rage, scientists have begun using science to debunk "myths" held by athletes....
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 7:55 PM • 8 Comments
Category: Academia
Urgent campus memos were sent out today from Interim U. Colorado Chancellor Philip DiStefano. It's all public here. After conducting the due diligence I felt was necessary, I have issued a notice of intent to dismiss for cause to Professor...
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 4:53 PM • 1 Comments
Category: Climate change • SCOTUS
In the end, as a politics and policy matter, I'm not comfortable with the EPA regulating GHGs for climate's sake. That decision is so momentous, carrying such high potential consequences for winners and losers, that I think it should only be made by the elected. So in a way I'm glad that SCOTUS will rule against the motion. But I do wish their ruling were not so entirely predictable.
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 4:14 PM • 3 Comments
June 22, 2006
Category: Sports
Sorry y'all, but this is what I can't stand about soccer as a spectator. I like to play (mostly to stay in shape for ultimate), but it's things like this that turn me completely off of soccer players (oh, and...
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 6:17 PM • 3 Comments
Category: Blogs
All - SB has been having major comment issues. I finally decided to bite the bullet and wade through the overstuffed junk comment box for NSN and whaddaya know, I found 5-10 legit comments buried in there. What does this...
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 5:26 PM • 2 Comments
Category: Motorcycles • Natural hazards/disasters • Weather
We often define natural hazard as natural disaster and vice versa even though they are of clearly different character. Natural hazard defines the potential for a destructive confluence between society and nature, whereas natural disaster describes the outcome. There is...
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 12:28 PM • 5 Comments
June 21, 2006
Category: Geology • Journalism • Natural hazards/disasters • Science coverage
It's not often that geologists get featured on NPR, but when you publish a paper in Nature that discusses the destruction of Los Angeles via fire and brimstone, you're going to be called upon to give interviews. Here's the exchange...
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 9:36 PM • 3 Comments
Category: Culture
I don't love the sentiment behind it, but I do love the push. As described on All Things Considered tonight, the hyper- conservative (socially) group Focus on the Family has been pushing the FDA to require labels on condom packages...
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 8:17 PM • 2 Comments
Category: Bare politics • Energy
I wrote about Cape Wind here and here, and in this post I discussed a major legislative obstacle to letting the project move forward. Namely, a provision in the Coast Guard reauthorization conference report (HR 109-413) that allows the guv...
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 4:51 PM • 0 Comments
June 20, 2006
Category: Sports+science
The first post in this series (it wasn't a series then but it is now) was a flashback on Chapter 5 of the fabulous Moneyball by Michael Lewis. In this post I'm mopping up the rest of the book, tracking...
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 12:54 AM • 0 Comments
June 19, 2006
I'll try to get into some analysis on this later, but for now the news: The Supreme Court today issued a complicated ruling limiting the scope of the Clean Water Act, sending lawmakers and environmentalists scrambling on how to respond...
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 2:33 PM • 0 Comments
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