August 26, 2016
A quick note about the current Atlantic hurricane season. With resect to just the US, we've had a fairly low level season, and it is easy to become complacent about this time, but in fact, the risks from Atlantic hurricanes rise about this time of year, so pay attention. Watch for Hermine. More on…
August 25, 2016
Have you ever wondered how "Dick" became short for "Rick"?
Probably not. But it turns out that the reason, if the following video is accurate, is interesting.
I have two questions for the historical linguists in the room. First, is there a name for this rhymification effect? Is is common? Is it…
August 25, 2016
The ePaper Kindle is back in my life. I started out with one (the original model), then moved on to using tablets and phones and computers and stuff to read ebooks. Then, I got a Kindle Fire (see this discussion), and that was nice.
But I wanted an ePaper reading surface for all the reasons…
August 25, 2016
Kiribati Support
Since 2005, we have worked with colleagues in the Republic of Kiribati to understand the effects of climate change and to build local research capacity.
Monitoring the coral reefs of the Gilbert Islands, the main island chain, is vital to helping the Kiribati people respond to the…
August 24, 2016
This explains a lot of things:
Boy, do we ever need campaign finance reform.
August 24, 2016
Michael Mann has a specialty or two. Climate simulation modeling, analysis of proxy data, the study of global teleconnections, Northern Hemisphere surface temperatures over historic time scales, etc. A while back, Mann's research interests and activities converged, I assume by some combination of…
August 24, 2016
The star that is nearest our own has a planet that could be habitable by Earthlings.
This is very important news.
The news comes to us from this research paper in Nature: A terrestrial planet candidate in a temperate orbit around Proxima Centauri by Guillem Anglada-Escudé, Pedro J. Amado, John…
August 24, 2016
Want to make your own robot? You can do this the easy way, or you can do this the hard way. Or, both, if you like.
The basic home made robot is a robot because it moves around, and the way that is usually achieved is with two independently powered wheels, a third wheel (or something) to balance…
August 11, 2016
When the sea levels rose following the last major glaciation, most rapidly between around 18,000 and 10,000 years ago, somewhat less rapidly until about 6,000 years ago, a lot of interesting things happened.
I used to live, and do archaeology in, New England (the one in the US). It was always fun…
August 10, 2016
Several dozen nonpartisan organizations have joined together to ask for a Science Debate in the current campaign. The debate would address major issues in science, engineering, health and the environment
This is part of an effort that has been going on for several election cycles, with a certain…
August 8, 2016
If so, I have a recommendation for you.
We recently sold our old house and bought a new one, and moved.
The main reason we did this: to get closer to Amanda’s place of work. We managed to turn a commute that ran from 35 minutes to 1.5 hours (on really bad winter days) each way to one short enough…
August 8, 2016
Just passing this along. Let me know if you see or hear anything suspicious.
In Prominent global warming doubter says there was a “hit list” apparently targeting climate scientists, Tom Yulsman writes:
In a comment on an August 3rd post at the Wattsupwiththat website, Patrick J. Michaels of the…
August 6, 2016
I had been utterly unengaged with with TV about the time that I met this particular cute girl, and she told me that she love the West Wing and watched it every week. There was, if I recall correctly, one more episode showing in the penultimate season, and we watched it together. I liked it.
We…
August 4, 2016
It is the time of year that we talk about drowning. I’m focusing here on the US, and for the most part, recreational drowning, as opposed to being drowned in a flood. Also, I'm using mainly information from Minnesota as an exemplar. It turns out that analyzing drowning data, and social behavior…
August 3, 2016
This is a blog rant. But first, a bit of blog appreciation to the select number of individuals who suggested to us that the Shark was the best vacuum cleaner for us, in a recent Facebook Discussion.
I have to say, that when I saw S.H. suggest the Shark, I figured that the chances were pretty high…
August 2, 2016
This is one of those "what I had for lunch web log entries." Old fashioned style, and I'm not talking about the drink. Probably.
You'll notice that I've not blogged for half a month. For the last three months, Amanda, Huxley, and I have been engaged in a very time consuming operation. We fixed…
July 17, 2016
I have no idea if this will be of interest to this community of science oriented and smart readers, but a group called The Republicans is having a big convention this week.
Here's the basic schedule:
Mon 18 July 1:00 PM EST: Convention Opens
Tue 19 July 5:30 PM EST: Resume convention
Wed 20 July…
July 16, 2016
I just came across this and realized it was essential to tell you about it. Or, maybe, I'm the last person to learn of it.
Exploding Kittens: A Card Game About Kittens and Explosions and Sometimes Goats.
Apparently ...
Exploding Kittens is a card game for people who are into kittens and…
July 15, 2016
You can read this book review, or you can just go HERE and listen to our interview with author Christie Wilcox. I promise you in advance that you will want to read her book!
But, if you want to read the book review, here it is...
Did you ever do anything that hurt, then you had to do it again…
July 14, 2016
It is sad that most sushi lovers will never have real wasabi. I had assumed that I had sampled real wasabi when I spent several days eating sushi morning noon and night in Actual Japan. But even then, there is a good chance I never tasted the stuff.
The reason that most "wasabi" is fake, and the…
July 13, 2016
Huxley and I like to make Arduino projects. If you know what that means, your geek cred is good. If not, I'll explain briefly.
Arduino is an Italian based project that produces circuit boards that are controllers.
A controller is a small highly specialized computer thingie that can be programmed…
July 13, 2016
Not yet.
As you know, JK Rowling is the author of the famous Harry Potter series of books (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, etc.), and more recently, of a series of really excellent crime novels (if you've not read them, you need to: The Cuckoo's Calling, The Silkworm, and Career of Evil,…
July 13, 2016
Manga is the Japanese sounding but not used so much in Japan term for a form of cartooning art that has its roots from before World War II but that emerged in its common form during the post war Occupation period. Early used in political cartooning, Manga style drawing is now used for a wide range…
July 11, 2016
Just got this media release:
Washington, DC – Today, Monday, from 4:45 p.m. to 6:45 p.m., tomorrow, Tuesday, from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., and throughout the week,* 19 Senators will take to the Senate floor to call out Koch brothers- and fossil fuel industry-funded groups that have fashioned a web of…
July 9, 2016
Police had cornered a murder suspect. There were negotiations and there was exchange of gunfire.
Normally this stand off would have been maintained as long as possible. The way these things end, usually, is that the suspect gives up, the suspect kills themselves, there is what the police would…
July 7, 2016
Philando Castile told his mother that he was reluctant to carry his legal, permitted, firearm because he was afraid that if he had a run in with the police, they would simply kill him.
Later that day, a Saint Anthony Village police officer pulled Castile over for a broken tail light, and then, at…
July 7, 2016
This is a huge hurricane/typhoon heading quickly, and imminently, towards taiwan.
The storm itself is roughly as wide as the island nation is long, so very little will be left unaffected.
The storm is at the very high end of the range of storms in size, strength, etc. It is currently equivalent…
June 29, 2016
Ikonokast interviews Don Prothero.
Don Prothero is the author of just over 30 books and a gazillion scientific papers covering a wide range of topics in paleontology and skepticism. Mike Haubrich and I spoke with Don about most of these topics, including the recent history of the skeptics movement…
June 28, 2016
Barack Obama, Justin Trudeau and Enrique Peña Nieto, have made a joint announcement. As reported by NPR:
President Obama and his counterparts from Canada and Mexico are preparing to unveil an ambitious new goal for generating carbon-free power when they meet this week in Ottawa.
The three leaders…
June 28, 2016
In the US, it is time to start blowing stuff up and setting stuff on fire, because we are so patriotic!
Here is the science of sparklers, to keep it interesting:
