bcohen | February 15, 2008Daniel Nocera, Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy at MIT and international spokesman on sustainable energy, is giving a talk here at U.Va. today. I thought I'd share some of the stats that he's pulled together in prior publications. Readers of this blog will already know that I question a commonly taken-for-granted assumption in energy predictions -- which is the steady and predictable rise in consumption patterns, a rise that is purported to be intractable and inevitable -- but nevertheless, those predictions are offered below the fold and summarized here: "Within our lifetimes, energy…
worldsfair | February 15, 2008
Image from the FILTER
Another Valentine's Day passed, which for me was pretty low key (I had to teach a class until 9pm). Anyway, it kind of made me wonder what the average romantic inclinations of the scientifically minded was like. I bring this up, from the point of view, that a career in science (particularly science academia) can be pretty intense sometimes - so I'm sure that there's all sorts of great stories are out there on how challenging it is to be a scientist and maintain a relationship.
This piece ("For those about to post-doc, we salute you" by Timon Buys) is quite good at…
worldsfair | February 15, 2008
A few days ago, I wrote about a neat little book ("Not what I was planning: Six Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure") coming out which revolves around the concept of trying to encapsulate your life in 6 words:
It stems from a great anecdote about Ernest Hemingway once writing a story with only six words, and coming up with an eloquent: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn."
It also occurred to me that for most of our readers, the thought of already writing a memoir is kind of a daunting task, especially in light of how young (relatively speaking) many of us are. But then again, here…
bcohen | February 13, 2008Watch to see if Cuke Skywalker joins (the genetically modified) Darth Tater to rule the grocery store. And don't blame us for the humor. Just the messengers, folks.
Be warned, spoiler below the fold...
Omigod-omigod-omigod...Darth Tater is Cuke's father!!
What? What? Too much?
worldsfair | February 13, 2008A new book just (or just about to be) released called "Not what I was planning: Six Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure" has been on the media blitz lately. It stems from a great anecdote about Ernest Hemingway once writing a story with only six words, and coming up with an eloquent: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn."
Anyway, this new book is a collection of such short short stories. Here's the nice trailer for it - you'll note some pretty well known names in the mix:
It also occurred to me that for most of our readers, the thought of already writing a memoir is kind of a…
bcohen | February 12, 2008As a follow-up to Dave's prior post, I add here reference to a discussion about the same topic in response to an Orion article last Fall. The essay by Janisse Ray, "Altar Call for True Believers: Are we being change, or are we just talking about change?," was followed by over 200 comments. It offers a good canvas of the matter of green academics and the meaning of a greened academia.
She confronts the same moral issue raised in the story Dave cites, along the way posing this scenario:
A global-warming speaker is invited to a village ten miles from Brattleboro to speak. She accepts. There…
worldsfair | February 11, 2008Just noticed an article in our local newspaper today that highlighted the irony of sustainability researchers inadvertently having a larger than average eco-footprint. This makes logical sense though, since folks doing research tend to need to publish their findings and this tends always to be a work intensive venture , which also requires the need to present data (at meetings, conferences, etc). They may have labs, so their workspace footprint is larger than most, and such space needs the usual amenities that require the use of energy (heating, air conditioning, lighting, etc).
A Montreal…
bcohen | February 11, 2008 I continually write my own biography by my actions, mixing involvement with knowledge, accountable to those moments when both drop away to reveal the act of mixing--something a priori recognizable. This process doe not differ measurably from the way I come to understand others, my time, or past times. Memory, then, is not only a backward retrieval of a vanished event, but also a posting forward, at the remembered instant, to all future moments of corresponding circumstance.
We remember forward; we telegraph ourselves to our future selves and to others: "Rescue this; recognize this, or…
bcohen | February 10, 2008Clearly there is now a growing need for a special section at the bookstore on Mountaintop Removal (MTR). We made a section at this blog for MTR posts when we started, since it is an issue of local immediacy (I'm close to the Appalachian mountains being blown up, at least regionally speaking), a clear case in need of more attention from environmental ethicists, one that has to be understood as part of a far deeper historical context, one that brings up the issue of energy consumption and use patterns, and one (because of all of those) that isn't as easily resolvable as we might like it to be…
bcohen | February 8, 2008So sue us. 18 months of blogging and one unbearably lowbrow entry. But my hand was forced -- not just because I laughed, but because the arrest was in my childhood hometown. Click below the fold for a screenshot of the headline.
Sigh.
With all due apologies to regular readers. That means you, Mercury.
As linked from The Morning News which linked fromthis site.
worldsfair | February 6, 2008Just wanted to pass on two pieces, the SCQ has been lucky enough to present. They are:
THE WIKI HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE IN 200 WORDS OR LESS
and
TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS EXPLAINED WITH SMURFS
The history piece in particular was done by none other than Eric Schulman, who was responsible for "A Briefer History of Time." Both are definitely worth checking out.
bcohen | February 6, 2008Preface | Pt. 1 | Pt. 2 | Pt. 3 | (Sidebar 1) | Pt. 4 | Pt. 5 | Pt. 6
Pt. 7 | (Sidebar 2a) | (Sidebar 2b) | Pt. 8 | Pt. 9 | Conclusion
As an understatement, I can say this: I've been overwhelmed of late. All of these questions Morris raises about Fenton and the cannonballs of Sebastopol and I'm not even halfway through discussing them. And to think that my interest in Morris really got going when it coincided with the discussion brought up by Daston and Galison in their Objectivity. In the meantime, and as briefly alluded to in Part 3, I picked up Richard Powers's first novel again, Three…
bcohen | February 5, 2008Here's a link to a question about ethics and science:
In reference to Craig Venter's road towards "the world's first artificial organism," Good Friend of The World's Fair and guest contributor Oronte Churm asks:
"has there [ever] been a greater gap between the capabilities of science to create new technologies and the public's understanding of that science"?
I'll leave the question open and solicit comments, especially since it comes up semesterly in my courses here in the engineering school and I wouldn't want my students to think I have a single read on this. For here, I offer a few…
bcohen | February 5, 2008This is a quiz. Can you best it? Will you ace it? Is your scientific knowledge sound? What about of 18th c. knowledge?
To what does this phrase, taken from a 1703 English diary, refer?
"Balsamic Panspermicall Panacea Juice of Heaven"
If ever there was a need for our sub-category, "where miscellany thrive," this might be it.
bcohen | February 4, 2008Why is it that showers and even storms seem to come by chance, so that many people think it quite natural to pray for rain or fine weather, though they would consider it ridiculous to ask for an eclipse by prayer?
Henri Poincare, Science and Method
(Sorry I missed the opportunity to run this quote when Georgia Gov. Perdue held that prayer ceremony last Fall to help the Southeast's drought.)
bcohen | February 4, 2008
One from the vault, this is by Jim Borgman, at the Cincinnati Enquirer (1990). Click on the image for a slightly larger version. All editorial comments on this editorial comment are welcome below.
worldsfair | February 1, 2008... although not without reason. Time has been really tight this semester so far, and the last couple weeks have seen a myriad of different things going on. In no particular order, they are:
1. This new global issues course. Talk about a new experience! Here, I was charged with talking about climate change science in a space of 4 and a half hours, to an audience where half the students were science majors and the other half were arts major. i.e. How to pick and choose the topics of most relevance for such a short timespan, and make it interesting and accessible to students from two very…