Thanks to technology, we’re not going to run out of it.
Nope. “Peak oil” was always a myth. We’ll replace it with something else long before we run out, just as we did with whale oil.
Category Archives: Technology and Society
The Science Is Settled
I don’t believe that science is done by “consensus,” but if you are sufficiently unfamiliar with how science works that you do, the consensus seems to be that CAGW is a crock:
Only 36 percent of geoscientists and engineers believe that humans are creating a global warming crisis, according to a survey reported in the peer-reviewed Organization Studies. By contrast, a strong majority of the 1,077 respondents believe that nature is the primary cause of recent global warming and/or that future global warming will not be a very serious problem.
It’s also worth noting that the BS 97% number is not about CAGW.
Everyone Talks About Space Weather
…but no one does anything about it.
Well, OK, hardly anyone talks about it, either.
The Lifeboat Foundation
They’re having a year-end fundraiser, with a generous offer to triple donations. It’s a good cause, I think.
The Space Age
We’re still not there.
But we are (finally, no thanks to Congress) getting closer.
Star Wars
…and the age of the fake nerd.
I suppose that’s still better than taking pride in your ignorance of math, as some do. As I noted on Twitter yesterday, it’s OK to like Star Wars, as long as you don’t delude yourself that it’s science fiction.
[Wednesday-morning update]
Star Wars TFA has a perfection problem. Note (FWIW) that Megan is married to SF film critic Peter Suderman.
[Bumped]
The Space Mess In Russia
Bob Zimmerman has some thoughts:
Overall, Rogozin’s comments suggest that there is a great deal of confusion within Putin’s government on what to do in space. On one hand he says they want to do it cheaper. On the other he says they want to build a very expensive rocket. Then with his third hand he adds that they still plan to go to the Moon, but also took out his fourth hand to note that their goal is not the Moon or Mars, but doing things cheaper.
I’m encouraged that they want to copy us in our folly of building a giant rocket. It will hold them back just as it does us.
An Unnatural Consensus
Judith Curry says we can’t understand climate without understanding the underlying natural cycle. And we don’t.
It’s insane to be making policy decisions on the basis of our current state of knowledge.
[Update a while later]
“Science journalists are not science advocates, and scientists are not science.”
Yes, scientists are not science. Corollary: There is no such thing as a "science denier." https://t.co/WCPG64bmNu
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) December 30, 2015
The New Moon Race
There’s apparently not going to be one with Russia.
Women And Gaming
Lauren Southern explains capitalism to a moron.
My theory is that the guys like the shooters because it’s like hunting, and the women like Pacman because it’s gathering. With many exceptions, of course.