A Devilishly Smart Pope
A DEVILISHLY SMART POPE One of the books I’m reading now is John D. Barrow’s ‘The Book of Nothing’. The subject is a look at the concept of ‘nothing’, the…
science
A Devilishly Smart Pope
A DEVILISHLY SMART POPEOne of the books I'm reading now is John D. Barrow's 'The Book of Nothing'. The subject is a look at the concept of 'nothing', the void,…
A Devilishly Smart Pope
A DEVILISHLY SMART POPE One of the books I'm reading now is John D. Barrow's 'The Book of Nothing'. The subject is a look at the concept of 'nothing', the…
Passive House in Alaska Heated By Sun
More Canadian homes need to be built like this to survive coming fossil fuel shortages. It certainly saves a lot of money for the homeowner. Passive House in Alaska using…
Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Scott Sinclair studies the effect of NAFTA on government policies, and finds that it’s been used primarily (and all too frequently) to…
The Book List Game
In a recent story titled “Neil deGrasse Tyson Selects the Eight Books Every Intelligent Person on the Planet Should Read,” the eminent astrophysicist listed his top eight book titles –…
SaskPower Says Bigger Is Better, Even Losses? #PowerToGrow
As a followup to the Star Phoenix’s article on the hugely expensive, and (public) money losing CCS plant at Estevan, comes word of further cost overruns. The overruns, in the…
Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Aditya Chakrabortty contrasts the myth of the free market against the reality that massive amounts of public money and other privileges are shoveled…
Set Walmart and Target Afloat, Please
Monty Python was onto something with their sailing financial pirates, I think. “Over 260,000 tons of plastic waste in oceans, study shows“ Why buying dollar store crap will come back…
Harper’s “crazy” Comments
So, @PMHarper, if oil/gas regulations don’t work at $65 a barrel, at what price are they “uncrazy”? $80? $100? — David Akin (@davidakin) December 9, 2014 Here’s an impressive takedown…
SaskPower, How’s That 14 Year Test Going?
Dear SaskPower, I’m interested in seeing the statistics regarding the electricity generated by the test panels installed on the Saskatchewan Science Centre, in the attached picture, and as mentioned in…
Evolutionary Dead-Ends
Some people seem genetically inclined – perhaps I should write doomed? – to believe in nonsense: believe in conspiracy theories, in myths, legends, superstitions and supernatural, in magic, in pseudoscience…
Who Needs Water Anyway?
A delusional remark in a CBC article: “Canada, which has long been criticized for being heavily dependent on shipping natural resources to the rest of the world.” Our Prime Minister,…
NOAA Numbers Manipulated
This is a short essay about why our species can’t have nice things. A PhD Meteorologist in Florida claims that because October 2003 was hottest since October 2014 by only…
Robocalls from Real Robots
“mmm…buzzz…. click…. This is your friendly….buzzz…. automated calling device…click…hummmm… reminding you that….mmmm….buzzz…..click… there are only three days left to…. zzzzz…. take advantage of the Black Friday sales at…. mmmm…. buzzzz…..…
Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Monica Pohlmann interviews Armine Yalnizyan about the undue influence of our corporate overlords in setting public policy: What’s your sense of the…
A Look Into the Ig Nobel Awards
The Ig Nobel Prize is dedicated to science that makes you laugh then makes you think. It’s a fun and great way to get people engaged in science while exploring…
Are Gore, Suzuki, and Neil Young Hypocrites for Using Oil?
No. They are victims of circumstance, and despite their wealth and fame, they alone cannot change ‘the system’. A voice from the Facebook-sphere intones: “I appreciate your commitment and respect…
Absence of evidence and evidence of absence
It has been a while since my last blog post (yes, I love euphemisms). I have not been writing for the simple reason that I ran out of things to…
Model S Tesla Car in Regina
Last month James took me for a spin in an electric Rav 4. This week it was the sporty and futuristic Model S by independent car company Tesla.