Now on ScienceBlogs: Oxytocin: Starting with the basics
Jake Young is a MD/PhD student at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in NYC getting a PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience. He holds a BS and MS in Biological Sciences from Stanford University. If a volcano were to erupt Pompei-style in Central Park, his body would be preserved in a scoliotic posture over his lab desk. Archeaologists would later conclude that he spent most of his day training rats to perform tricks, until he went blind building electrical equipment by hand using a dissecting microscope. But, still, he died happy...because science is cool.
Pure Pedantry is a blog about science -- social sciences and otherwise -- as well as academic and scientific culture. No one can live on science alone, so I also like to dwell on pop culture, periodically explore the humanities, and indulge in other types of geeky goodness.
DISCLAIMERS: 1) Jake Young is not a licensed physician (yet). He is merely a medical student. The information published on this site is not intended for use in medical decision-making. Please seek advice from a licensed, medical professional before making any health decisions. 2) The opinions expressed are my own. They do not represent the views of SEED magazine or the educational establishments I currently attend or attended in the past.
Category: Energy Policy
One of the impediments to the adoption of a solar alternative to fossil fuels is that solar panels are relatively expensive to make. A big benchmark to making them competitive is to get their cost of production per Watt produced...
Posted by NotoriousLTP at 1:55 PM • 12 Comments •
Category: Energy Policy
An article by Evan Mills, a staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, points out that scientific buildings use a lot more energy than average: Improving energy productivity is a doubly worthy challenge, given that those making the biggest contributions...
Posted by NotoriousLTP at 1:05 PM • 4 Comments •
Category: Energy Policy
Two great articles on energy policy. 1) One of the major points of resistance to carbon taxes or caps is that developing countries won't have similar quotas giving them a comparative advantage in the production of goods. However, some economists...
Posted by NotoriousLTP at 10:56 AM • 0 Comments •
Category: Energy Policy
Sales of Vespas are up -- largely because of high oil prices. Vespas and other motorcycles have significantly greater fuel economy than your average car. Part of me is happy about this because it illustrates that people are making more...
Posted by NotoriousLTP at 10:02 AM • 18 Comments •
Category: Energy Policy
Haha! The Law of Demand works. Price goes up. Driving goes down. Figure: NYTimes I repeat: if you want to lower demand for and hence consumption of gasoline, this is the best thing that has ever happened for you. Prices...
Posted by NotoriousLTP at 11:36 AM • 4 Comments •
Category: Energy Policy
Bryan Caplan writing in the NYTimes suggests that in spite of making no economic sense whatsoever the gas tax holiday might be a good idea as a symbolic gesture: The first is that the tax holiday is a relatively cheap...
Posted by NotoriousLTP at 10:59 AM • 4 Comments •
Category: Energy Policy
(Keeping with our trend towards a week of economics -- see here and here -- I have another post where I attempt to talk above my pay grade.) I am as unhappy as anybody about high oil prices making everything...
Posted by NotoriousLTP at 5:14 PM • 26 Comments •
Category: Energy Policy
Now that's thinking outside the box: Two graduate students at MIT's School of Architecture and Planning want to harvest the energy of human movement in urban settings, like commuters in a train station or fans at a concert. The so-called...
Posted by NotoriousLTP at 9:59 AM • 6 Comments •
Category: Energy Policy
C. Ford Runge and Benjamin Senauer, writing in Foriegn Affairs, summarize the likely effects of corn-based biofuels on the world food supply. Take home message: the biofuel craze has led to skyrocketing food prices which -- along with government subsidies...
Posted by NotoriousLTP at 12:23 PM • 13 Comments •
Category: Energy Policy
Lots of stuff has been written lately over the relative merits of carbon taxes vs. carbon trading markets. Just to summarize the policies, a carbon tax would apply an across the board premium on all users of carbon depending upon...
Posted by NotoriousLTP at 11:20 AM • 0 Comments •
