Category Archives: General Science
Pity Eric Holthaus
He’s having a climate meltdown. Which reminds me: Did he ever get that vasectomy?
You'd have to have a heart of neutronium to read these tweets from bed wetter @EricHolthaus and not laugh out loud. https://t.co/lLpNEq3rIG
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) January 11, 2017
[Update mid morning]
He and Holthaus should just curl up in a fetal position together. https://t.co/jZ7SBSMoqf
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) January 11, 2017
The Appendix
…may have an important function.
I’m always amazed at the hubris of people who think that, just because they can’t figure it out, something evolved in humans has no purpose.
A New Little Ice Age
Has it already started?
Earth’s new climate will affect much more than the energy sector. Abdussamatov leaves us with a dire warning.
“The world must start preparing for the new Little Ice Age right now. Politicians and business leaders must make full economic calculations of the impact of the new Little Ice Age on everything — industry, agriculture, living conditions, development. The most reasonable way to fight against the new Little Ice Age is a complex of special steps aimed at support of economic growth and energy-saving production to adapt mankind to the forthcoming period of deep cooling.”
An overheated planet has never been a threat, say climate skeptics, not today, not ever in human history. An underheated planet, in contrast, is a threat humans have repeatedly faced over the last millennium, and now we’re due again.
To me, the evidence is quite a bit more compelling than it is for warming. He’s relying on history and empirical data, not computer models.
The Origin Of Life
A new theory.
Rings, Geysers, and Plumes
Some thoughts on Enceladus, from Carolyn Porco.
Anti-Matter
Unlocking its secrets with lasers. Sure would be nice if we could figure out how to a) manufacture in quantity and b) use it for propulsion.
The Great Lakes
As someone who grew up an hour away from one, I’m aware of the power of the waves in late fall and winter (the Edmund Fitzgerald went down in November), but these are pretty spectacular images of Lake Erie.
“Space Exploration”
A list of reasons we do it that have nothing to do with, you know, space. It gets back to my theme that “exploration” is not an end in itself; it’s a means. But we have to decide what we’re trying to accomplish, and kumbaya isn’t sufficient.
The First Americans
How did they get here? Apparently not across the Bering land bridge.
It’s interesting to see how much “science” has been overturned since I was kid, about things like dinosaurs, space and human migration. I suspect that the same will occur in nutrition and climate.