Category Archives: Science And Society

The Reality-Based Community

“Liberals” are more likely than conservatives to believe in ET.

One of the annoying things about being a space policy and technology expert is that many assume that you are knowledgeable about, and have in interest it, this topic. If you’re doing a call-in show on space, it’s inevitable that someone will call in about it.

Don’t Like The Winter So Far?

You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Funny, he’s got a better track record than the warm mongers. Though, while I joke about firing up the SUVs, I don’t think that increasing the CO2 levels are a solution to a new glacial advance (I continue to be unconvinced that CO2 is a cause, and not a symptom, of climate change). We’ll have to think about serious geoengineering for that.

[Update a few minutes later]

When white isn’t right.

[Update a few more minutes later]

Here’s how you transcend ideological differences. It’s too hard for most people, though.

An Amusing Teeshirt

After all these decades, I was surprised to learn a couple of years ago in an eye exam that I’m somewhat color blind. It’s never affected my life, as far as I know — I see red lights on a green Christmas tree, and I’ve never had trouble distinguishing between red and green traffic signals. But apparently others must see the colors more vividly than I do. Or perhaps it was a late onset kind of thing. Anyway, though I can see many red spots, I can’t quite make out the message on this shirt. Which is probably a good thing.

The Potato Diet

A mystery. There’s still a lot we don’t understand about nutrition.

I think I’d go crazy on such a monotonous diet. It’s a shame if it really turns out that variety, while being the spice of life, may be an unhealthy way to eat. But it would work out well for space travel. Keeping food interesting is one of the major challenges for NASA and long-term astronaut health, both mental and physical.

The Next Gift To A Grateful Nation

…from the Obama administration — price controls:

Price controls cause shortages — that is Econ 101, but this is a White House that has declared a War on (Social) Science, at least when it comes to fundamentals such as supply and demand, which it apparently believes are the invention of a right-wing think tank somewhere in Arlington. I have spent part of the morning debating people who are very upset that George W. Bush may have entertained heterodox views about evolution (I do not know that he did), but, given a choice, I will take the government that has insufficient appreciation for advanced biology over the government that has insufficient appreciation for fundamental economics.

Me, too.

Earthquake Prediction?

Instapundit says that it could be very useful.

Well, maybe. But only if it’s reasonably reliable, in terms of time, location and intensity. For instance, if we can’t do any better with it than we do with hurricanes, I’d prefer not to know. I spent/wasted a lot of time and hassle getting ready for hurricanes in Florida that ended up not hitting us, or not being a big deal. I’m convinced that false hurricane prep is almost as economically damaging as the hurricanes themselves. I’ve never had to worry about that in earthquake country — it’s always “come as you are,” and you should always be ready.

[Update a few minutes later]

I should note that I am actually increasingly impressed with their ability to predict storm tracks, a capability that seems to have improved quite a bit over the past decade, and is likely to continue to do so. The biggest uncertainty now seems to be in intensity, and I hope that they get a lot better at that as well. The more confidence we can have where and when it will and won’t hit, and how strong it will be when it does, the better we’ll be able to fine tune the preparedness. My concern with earthquake prediction is that we’re about where we were with hurricanes in the nineteenth century, and early attempts may be worse than useless in needless societal disruption. Imagine the traffic jams out of LA or SF to avoid a predicted “big one” that ends up not happening.