Washington DC

According to Paul Douglas (pers. com) there is some important news on what Jonas still has planned. There is likely to be major flooding along the coast of Cape May, and in some areas of New Jersey there may be coastal flooding nearly of the magnitude that happened with Superstorm Sandy. So far storm surges have exceeded the original predictions. The region from Washington DC to New York is likely to have another half foot or more of snow, and storm totals will be two to three feet with much larger drifts over that area. This snow will taper off this evening over much of the area. The map…
Friday AM Update: Overall the storm has shifted north. Washington DC is still on track to have something close to two feet of snow in the city, more to the west. The predicted snowfall for New York City, the city that eats meteorologists, is increasing, and The City may see a foot or more, with closer to two feet to the northwest. DC will have its most intensive snowfall during the night on Friday, while New York City will have most of its snow falling during the day on Saturday. With this northward shift, Boston is likely to get more snow too, possibly over a foot. Snow will start there…
It is difficult to grasp the magnitude of what was accomplished not only this past weekend, but also the entire two years leading up to the 3rd USA Science & Engineering Festival.  The official numbers from the Washington D.C. Convention Center reveal that over 325,000 attendees visited our Nation's Capital to partake in the largest celebration of STEM or as we have dubbed it- the Superbowl of STEM! In addition to our Expo Finale weekend, we reached over 180,000 students and teachers with our STEM initiative programs including our Nifty Fifty and X-STEM School Programs. Numbers of course…
By Larry Bock  Co-Founder of USA Science Science & Engineering Festival  No doubt, the influences that move individuals into their chosen field of science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) are often as different as night and day, but one thing seems constant: most STEM professionals, in remembering how they made their selection, can trace that ¨A-ha!¨ moment back to a pivotal experience in their lives that connected them on an emotional level for the first time with their chosen line of work. That moment for scientist James E. West, inventor of the foil electret microphone,…
By F. Mark Modzelewski The USA Science & Engineering Festival, supported by presenting host sponsor Lockheed Martin, is pleased to announce the launch of the 2013/14 school year “Nifty Fifty,” an innovative program that brings over 150 noted science and engineering professionals to schools across New York, California and the Washington, D.C. metro area to speak about their work, careers, and discoveries. Featuring some of the most inspiring role models in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), this signature program of the Festival presents students with the latest…
X-STEM - presented by Northrop Grumman Foundation and MedImmune - is an Extreme STEM symposium for elementary through high school students featuring interactive presentations by an exclusive group of visionaries who aim to empower and inspire kids about careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). These top STEM role models and industry leaders are sure to ignite your students’ curiosity through storytelling and live demonstrations. Our spotlight on our X-STEM Speakers continues with Titanic Explorer Dr. David Gallo! The world deep beneath the surface of the ocean is a…
Bill Nye -- scientist, engineer, comedian, author, and inventor -- is a man with a mission: to help foster a scientifically literate society, and to help people everywhere understand and appreciate the science that makes our world work. Making science understandable, entertaining, and accessible is something Bill has been doing much of his life, starting with his days as a math tutor in high school and later studying under Planetary Society co-founder Carl Sagan in college and working as a stand-up comedian. Following in Sagan's footsteps, Bill now serves as Chief Executive Officer of the…
By Dr. Ray O. Johnson, Lockheed Martin senior vice president and chief technology officer As the founding and presenting host of the third USA Science & Engineering Festival, Lockheed Martin returns to the 2014 Festival with inspiring, hands-on exhibits designed to drive excitement in our next generation of engineers, scientists, and technical professionals. The Lockheed Martin Experience promises to once again be a premier attraction at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, located in the nation’s capital. We will bring fresh exhibits that provide an innovative engineering and…
Well, we've finally got a mostly-complete ASPO Conference schedule. The problem is exactly the sort of problem you'd really like to have when running one of these - that there are just too many serious thinkers who need a spot. It is really tough to finalize the conference schedule when every day you are receiving calls that say things like "This is Bianca Jagger, Chair of the Human Rights Foundation, calling to say that I'd like to speak at your conference on the connection between Climate, Energy Depletion and Human Rights...here are the texts of my UN speeches if you'd like to see them…
Rokan the Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae), photographed at the National Zoo in Washington, DC.
Eight years ago today, a group of religion wingnuts flew American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon at 09:37, killing 125 people, only 55 of which were military personnel.
Jim Lindgren believes that a post by Carl Bogus on the DC handgun ban is uninformed. Bogus wrote: A careful study that compared the nine year period before the ban was enacted with the nine years following enactment, and then compared what happened in D.C. with the immediately surrounding areas in Maryland and Virginia, found that the handgun ban reduced gun-related homicides by 25% and gun-related suicides by 23 percent. Colin Loftin, Ph.D., et al., "Effects of Restrictive Licensing of Handguns of Homicide and Suicide in the District of Columbia," 325 New Eng. J. Med. 1615 (Dec. 5, 1991).…
Lott has an article in the National Review Online where he claims that the Washingtonian DC handgun ban caused crime increases: Crime rose significantly after the gun ban went into effect. In the five years before Washington's ban in 1976, the murder rate fell from 37 to 27 per 100,000. In the five years after it went into effect, the murder rate rose back up to 35. During this same time, robberies fell from 1,514 to 1,003 per 100,000 and then rose by over 63 percent, up to 1,635. I've graphed the homicide and robbery rates for the ten years on either…
Lott (along with Eli Lehrer) has an editorial in the Washington Times which claims that the 1976 gun ban caused crime to increase. D.C. residents need more protection: Crime has risen significantly since the gun ban went into effect. In the five years before Washington's ban in 1976, the murder rate fell from 37 to 27 per 100,000. In the five years after it went into effect, the murder rate rose back up to 35. In fact, the murder rate after 1976 has never fallen back to what it was in 1976. Robberies and overall violent crime changed just as dramatically.…
James B. Clark writes: Here's your table. You didn't include the data from 1967-1972, so I have no idea what it looks like. If you pick 1975, 1976, 1977, or 1978 I would bet that a decline in the homicide rates would be detected by the methods in the Loftin study. Probably. All this means however, is that because the data is noisy, statistics cannot tell us exactly when the drop occured. Charles Scripter writes: Curious. If the data is so noisy that one cannot determine exactly when the "drop" occurred, then Pim certainly cannot claim that the "drop" corresponds to the gun ban. He…
pim writes: Are you arguing that the increase in D.C.'s suicide and homicide rates is related to a law passed 12 years earlier ? Thomas Grant Edwards said: I don't see why this is difficult to imagine. It might have taken 12 years for most of the legal grandfathered guns in the hands of average citizens to filter into the hands of criminals, seeing as how it is impossible for a D.C. resident to legally sell his gun. Is it? Why can't they sell it outside DC? Are you saying that it takes 12 years to illegally sell a gun?? If you are saying that this supposed transfer happened gradually…
Joe B. Simpson said: The New England Journal of Medicine. 1991 Dec 5. 325 (23). pp 1615-1620. Special Article: Effects Of Restrictive Licensing Of Handguns On Homicide And Suicide In The District Of Columbia. Loftin-Colin. McDowall-David. Wiersema-Brian. Cottey-Talbert-J. Note that the study showed an immediate decline in homicide and suicide rates after enacting the ban. Which is a LIE, because the suicide RATE in DC was the same after the ban as it was before the ban, though the rate in surrounding areas not affected by the ban fell 10%. The GUN suicide rate in DC fell more than the…