tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-340894702011-12-14T18:49:37.652-08:00Most of the science you read about isn't science at all. It's evidence people like.Chief Scientistnoreply@blogger.comBlogger191100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34089470.post-72295634809360336082007-05-25T16:04:00.001-07:002007-05-25T16:04:31.324-07:00

There are lots and lots of science sites out there doing similar things - LiveScience.com, Scienceblog.com, Scienceblogs.com, Sciam.com,physorg.com,ScientificBlogging.com, ScienceDaily.com. Except for ScienceDaily ( though I love those guys), they all do some original content and which one you prefer to read really comes down to where you fall on the political spectrum as much as the tone of the

Chief Scientistnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34089470.post-1167895007458411982007-01-03T23:15:00.000-08:002007-01-03T23:16:47.480-08:00

Read about it here.

Chief Scientistnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34089470.post-1167188492093251912006-12-22T19:01:00.000-08:002006-12-26T19:01:32.106-08:00

Retailers are calling it the Coat Crisis of 2006, a fashion fiasco measured in racks of unsold fur-lined shearlings at Saks Fifth Avenue and down puffer jackets at Bloomingdale’s.Balmy temperatures on the East Coast, with average highs this holiday season 15 degrees warmer than last year, have been disastrous for sales of all kinds of cold-weather clothing, from cashmere caps to wool scarves.What

Chief Scientistnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34089470.post-1167188534624407952006-12-21T19:01:00.000-08:002006-12-26T19:02:14.626-08:00

Assume man-made global warming is a big, bad problem. Let's try some thought experiments concerning what, if anything, should be done about it.One "solution" might be recognizing, at least, that there is nothing to be done about it. One might argue that for the sake of lifting billions of poor people out of abject poverty humanity must continue to burn cheap oil and coal to fuel economic growth

Chief Scientistnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34089470.post-1167188565248968762006-12-20T19:02:00.000-08:002006-12-26T19:02:45.250-08:00

Back in the summer, we reported that Nature, perhaps the most prestigious scientific journal on the planet, was experimenting with open peer review (OPR). Instead of simply assigning manuscripts to a set of anonymous reviewers, Nature offered the authors the opportunity to also have their work posted on a publicly accessible site that provided a mechanism for making comments on the text. The

Chief Scientistnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34089470.post-1167188608707089152006-12-20T14:02:00.000-08:002006-12-26T19:03:28.706-08:00

Bears have stopped hibernating in the mountains of northern Spain, scientists revealed yesterday, in what may be one of the strongest signals yet of how much climate change is affecting the natural world. In a December in which bumblebees, butterflies and even swallows have been on the wing in Britain, European brown bears have been lumbering through the forests of Spain's Cantabrian mountains,

Chief Scientistnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34089470.post-1161722481163481132006-10-24T13:30:00.000-07:002006-10-24T13:46:33.423-07:00

In today's environmental news of the bizarre, Al Gore rushed to a rally in Berkeley, California.``I'm here to change peoples' minds on the climate crisis and to support Prop 87,'' Gore called to a group of reporters after he emerged from the ``100 miles per gallon'' Toyota Prius that brought him to a noontime rally in a sun-drenched park behind Berkeley's City Hall.What did he leave out of his

Chief Scientistnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34089470.post-1159984359112716532006-10-04T10:32:00.000-07:002006-10-04T13:11:02.730-07:00

A few years ago Nobel Peace Prize Committee Chairman Gunnar Berge awarded a prize to America's fourth most useless President of the 20th century, Jimmy Carter, and declared the prize "must also be seen as criticism of the line the U.S. administration has taken on Iraq ... a kick in the leg to all that follow the same line as the United States."In other words, we will give a prize to ineffectual

Chief Scientistnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34089470.post-1159157297460624412006-09-25T08:13:00.000-07:002006-09-25T13:35:37.300-07:00

There are basically three kinds of environmentalists: Type 1. The most avid environmentalists I have ever met are not Sierra Club employees or people in the middle of protests, they are sportsmen and sportswomen who appreciate the environment because cultivating a clean environment means they can continue to enjoy it. They basically pick up after themselves and leave things the way they found

Chief Scientistnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34089470.post-1158861769174393662006-09-21T10:45:00.000-07:002006-10-19T13:37:25.093-07:00

Environmentalists applauded Richard Branson's generous contribution to the global warming issue. Speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative, an annual conference of business, political and nonprofit leaders hosted by the former President, Branson said he would invest about $3 billion to combat global warming over the next decade.Clinton praised Branson, calling him one of the most "creative" and

Chief Scientistnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34089470.post-1158852734076835422006-09-21T07:21:00.000-07:002006-10-12T15:42:05.176-07:00

Statistics are funny things. In the 19th century, when tuberculosis was more common, doctors recommended that patients move to Colorado for the drier air. Critics of Colorado could rightfully cite that the state had the highest tuberculosis rates in the country, and the most deaths from the disease. Cause and effect meant that Colorado caused TB.Now a British study is claiming that the data

Chief Scientistnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34089470.post-1158803793847850392006-09-20T18:38:00.000-07:002006-10-04T16:55:23.893-07:00

Evolution advocates are all atwitter about a skeleton uncovered in Africa that has finally become ready to begin examining. First, let me qualify; I say 'evolution advocates' and that sounds contentious but that's not to say I disbelieve evolution. However, I wouldn't be a contrarian scientist if I believed every popular piece of pop science that came along. Instead, I would be an

Chief Scientistnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34089470.post-1158696134015183032006-09-19T12:42:00.000-07:002006-09-20T16:13:43.113-07:00

Pundits, engineers and economists are wringing their hands over the Freescale Semiconductor leveraged buyout - at $17.6 Billion it is the largest privatization of a high-technology company in history.Why is this a bad thing? I don't think it is, but I am not doing the hand-wringing. However, if you are one of the people who thinks less corporate accountability and more outsourcing is bad, blame

Chief Scientistnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34089470.post-1158687651136832242006-09-19T10:26:00.000-07:002006-09-25T13:25:25.056-07:00

Some monkey at Scienceblogs.com actually wrote that as a response to what individuals can do about global warming. Yes, consume less. Not 'think about a way to solve global warming' or 'create ways to turn potentially bad things into good things.' With that kind of thinking we would never have;*Penicillin, because it came from mold. A bad thing.And*Domesticated livestock, because the Al Gore

Chief Scientistnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34089470.post-1158296582904821482006-09-14T21:21:00.000-07:002006-09-14T22:03:02.913-07:00

I liked SEINFELD. I thought it was a funny show. And I guess I therefore like Larry David, even though he would annoy the bejeesus out of me in real life.This does not mean, however, that just because some sub-literate harpy is sleeping with Larry David that her opinion should be foisted off on an unsuspecting public.Now, I am not one of those elitist scientists who insist only people with

Chief Scientistnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34089470.post-1158160902832726722006-09-13T07:57:00.000-07:002006-09-13T08:21:42.850-07:00

Science education is in the tank. If you ask teachers, they will insist they need more money. If you ask sociologists they will say science needs to be more fun/creative/interesting/appealling/whatever. I don't know the answer in the classroom but I know the answer - fewer classrooms.I was on one forum and some crazy woman insisted George Bush's "No Child Left Behind" program was at fault. She

Chief Scientistnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34089470.post-1158017619300070892006-09-11T15:53:00.000-07:002006-09-11T16:33:39.340-07:00

Seed Magazine, internet science's version of The Sierra Club, NARAL and whatever groups hate religion the most, is all atwitter that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will sign yet another aggressive, anti-business piece of legislation.Now, of course, it won't harm California industry if someone finds an expert that says it won't. No, more legislation will help industry in California.

Chief Scientistnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34089470.post-1157753067286327972006-09-08T15:02:00.000-07:002006-09-08T15:04:27.300-07:00

You'd think there isn't. One politician says there isn't. Heck, he went further, saying if you hear any doubt, ignore it. "There is no science on the other side."Well, there is opposing science, but what happens when there is so much money tied up in making sure there is global warming that you're going to get sued if you say anything else?Ask M.I.T.'s Alfred P. Sloan professor of meteorology

Chief Scientistnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34089470.post-1157759310441240332006-09-07T16:48:00.000-07:002006-09-08T16:48:30.443-07:00

This study says glaciers were shrinking long before George W. Bush got into office.We're physicists, not glaciologists ( though it sounds like the kind of cool, non-specific, government-funded title that could be a lot of fun ) so we're inclined to look for the opposing view as well. We should receive that via email, with accompanying hate-filled invective, shortly after this hits the

Chief Scientistnoreply@blogger.com0