science

Linkposts, 8/29/12

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File under “things you didn’t know were true”:

Ice Hockey is a safer activity than Baseball. The information is via the National Shooting Sports Foundation, and is a PDF.
Al Qaeda was working with Iraq. Click on the link, note the date of the indictment, and then do a “find” for “Iraq”. Via the Federation of American Scientists.

And now, a juxtaposition:

Pay special attention to the red, yellow, and green groups described in the second link. “Free Speech Zones” appear to be an attempt to separate the green groups from the yellow and red ones. If they work, they keep the law-abiding citizens from getting mistaken for the Black Bloc bad guys.

Linkpost, 8/27/12

Aug 27th, 2012

by Mark.

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Linkpost 6/15/11

Jun 15th, 2011

by Mark.

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So it ain’t Global Warming we’re facing: it’s a new ice age.

Astronomers Forecast Spotless Sun – A New Little Ice Age to Come?

The Decline Effect

Jan 4th, 2011

by Mark.

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Over at the New Yorker, our buddy Jonah Lehrer has written an article called The Truth Wears Off. I give its own entry because it’s deeply disturbing, and worth reading. An excerpt to give you an idea:

[â€¦] all sorts of well-established, multiply confirmed findings have started to look increasingly uncertain. Itâ€™s as if our facts were losing their truth: claims that have been enshrined in textbooks are suddenly unprovable. This phenomenon doesnâ€™t yet have an official name, but itâ€™s occurring across a wide range of fields, from psychology to ecology.

It’s worth the time it takes to read, because it gives you an insight into why good science should seem especially messy. About the only thing the article doesn’t cover is the possibility that our understanding of statistics isn’t as good as we think.

Linkpost, 10/29/10 to 11/3/10

Dec 14th, 2010

by Mark.

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Fermilab is Building a ‘Holometer’ to Determine Once and For All Whether Reality Is Just an Illusion.
A cure for the common cold may finally be achieved as a result of a remarkable discovery in a Cambridge laboratory. For those of you who don’t pay attention to the source, that’s Cambridge, England.
Rushdie on Jon Stewart. A bit of old news, sure, but just more confirmation that Stewart is a tool.
The Economic Misconceptions of College Students. Joe Carter rightly points out that college students probably shouldn’t be singled out. Click the link and see if you fare better. (I did OK on 3 of the 4. The increase in median salary surprised me.)
Breakthrough: Microchip Implant Restores Partial Sight.

And I’m caught up! It only took a cold-induced bout of insomnia to do it.

Linkpost, 11/4/10

Dec 14th, 2010

by Mark.

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New Report Reveals Ozzy Osbourne is a Genetic Mutant. I quote: “The biggest differences in Osbourne’s genes compared to other people is how he processes drugs and booze.” I can’t say I’m surprised.
San Diego religious leader among those charged with aiding Somali terrorists. The dude’s name is “Mohamed Mohamed Mohamud”. If I were profiling people, that would be +3 on my terrorists detection system. (+1 for each instance of a variant of Mohammad in your name.) It’s not necessarily sufficient by itself â€” that’s reserved for people who name their kids “Osama” â€” but you probably wanted to watch that guy.
Hayek and Keynes Battle at The Economistâ€™s Buttonwood Gathering. Not as cool as the first video. But then, what is?
The Limit of Tax Revenues. A great look at “Hauser’s Law” which posits that the revenue of the federal government is limited to around 19% of GDP. While the data supports that theory, Dan Mitchell over at the Cato Institute points out that other nations get around that limitation. The rub is that they don’t do it by taxing the rich (who can avoid the taxes through relocation and other dodges) â€” they do it by taxing the middle class, which Mitchell doesn’t think is politically feasible in the United States.

Linkpost, 11/5/10

Dec 14th, 2010

by Mark.

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World celebs. In case you missed it, a Canadian couple donated an $11 million lottery jackpot to various charities.
Americans Less Healthy Than English, but Live as Long or Longer, Study Finds.
Deep Impact: The Website. I linked to this one just so I could quote it:

I am a proponent of the Strong Gaia hypothesis. The Gaia hypothesis views the Earth as a single organism that regulates conditions to sustain life on the planet. The Strong Gaia hypothesis accepts this notion, but further hypothesizes that Gaia finally got so pissed off at being whacked by roving asteroids that She evolved big brained primates as an immune system to fend off asteroids using nuclear bombs.

Linkpost, 11/16/10 to 11/19/10

Dec 14th, 2010

by Mark.

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Airports Can Opt-Out of TSA Screening in Favor of Private Companies.
Surfaces that Keep the Ice Away. Or, de-icing through nanotechnology.
Sea Life Flourishes in the Gulf.
A Techno-Agrarian Manifesto. Or, what the heck are we going to do with all that empty space in Detroit?
Surprise Link Between Weird Quantum Phenomena: Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle Sets Limits on Einstein’s ‘Spooky Action at a Distance’. Yeah, this one’s as brain-melty as the title implies. It’s worth a read just for the mind-expanding experience.

Linkpost, 11/23/10

Dec 14th, 2010

by Mark.

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Was the Big Bang Preceded by Another Universe (Which Was Preceded by Another Universe)? This is a link to the Popular Science article, which includes a link to the actual paper. (The Kotaku article didn’t.)
Is the Ben Bernank Stupid Like a Fox? Apparently there’s some question whether the Fed is actually printing money, or just claiming to.
Adam Savage Mythbusting Security. Now, I don’t think an Isreali-style profiling system would bother with Adam Savage, but this just goes to show how useless the “find the bomb” strategy really is.
The Well-Pilfered Clavier. Tim Cavanaugh ponders the actual effectiveness of our current Intellectual Property approach.

Linkpost, 10/28/2010

Nov 16th, 2010

by Mark.

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I’m still clearing the backlog …

Plastic Water Bottles Won’t Hurt You. Or: Laboratory Research Shows that Laboratory Research Causes Cancer in Rats.
Brutality with religious overtones, including some things about Mexican narco-cartels that might surprise you.
Why do communists only drink herbal tea?

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