Ask Me Anything: #6 – The moon
Future Landfill asked “Did you go outside and look up at the moon when Neil Armstrong went for a walk there in ’69?” I wish I could say that yes,…
science
In praise of failure
“In 2004, Kim and Chan (KC) carried out torsional oscillator (TO) measurements of solid helium confined in porous Vycor glass and found an abrupt drop in the resonant period below…
Late night
Neil deGrasse Tyson makes the case for NASA, space exploration, and essentially, the use of government funds for science programmes. Some incredible footage here.
To the Moon and Back: Neil Armstrong RIP
Neil Armstrong has passed away, at 82 years of age. He was the first person to walk on the Moon. No one has set foot on the Moon since I…
Just 2% of Canadians Deny Climate Change Occurring, Poll Finds
canada-climate-change_0.jpeg Originally published on EnergyBoom.com A recent survey conducted by Insightrix Research, Inc. has found that only 2% of Canadians believe climate change is not taking place. The online poll,…
The Problem With Racists
Focus groups are good at focusing. If there is a strong racist voice in the group, they might start to focus on race. When I heard the news this morning…
Fracking Industry Paying Off Scientists For "Unbiased" Safety Studies
science-and-money.jpg As a whole, Americans have an unfortunate tendency to distrust scientists. The number of those who distrust science and scientists is skewed heavily by ideology, with self-identified “conservatives” overwhelmingly…
5 rules for a science-based decision on the Enbridge Pipelines
Monday, August 13, 2012 Prime Minister Harper was in Vancouver on August 7 and took the opportunity to tell Canadians that any decision on the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipelines and…
On confirmation bias
Doug Natelson has done an outstanding job at debunking a ridiculous charge of confirmation bias allegedly affecting a recent study of climate change. Such a charge is put forth in…
Earthshine and Meteors
I tried photographing some Perseid meteors, but didn’t have much luck this year. I did get some nice shots of the Moon, Jupiter, and Venus though. -I took this one…
Mars Laser
We’ve equipped Mars with a laser. Our latest rover there, called Curiosity, actually shoots fricken laser beams from its head. How cool is that? Is there a scientific purpose in…
Stephen Harper Finds Science on the Road the Damascus
Here’s Stephen Harper doing his best to stay out of the Enbridge pipeline debate – the biggest (non-soccer) controversy in Canada these days: Prime Minister Stephen Harper is defending the…
Mars Sounds
One thing missing from Curiosity, that seems an obvious oversight since it’s included on every mobile computer now, is a MICROPHONE! It would be more of a novelty than anything,…
The Mars Landing Videos
Mars Science Lab which is presently the Curiosity rover, landed on Sunday night Earth time in Saskatchewan. There’s an excellent video first that explains why the landing was carried out…
Martian Automobile Association
Years ago I created the Martian Automobile Association (MAA), and tried selling memberships on eBay. I forget if I managed to sell any membership cards, but remember creating at least…
Online notes
Why do students who take courses with me (but colleagues tell me of similar experiences) routinely insist that I scan and post online my very own notes, the hard-to-read, disorganized…
Are Conservatives Inherently More Biased than Liberals? The Scientific Debate Rages On
Republican Brain.jpg In the first round of critical reactions to my book The Republican Brain, there wasn’t much to impress. As I related at AlterNet, the general conservative response to…
Climate Change: Lines of Evidence
The National Academies, America’s preeminent independent scientific advisory body, has produced a series of videos about the science of climate change. This one,the second in the series, explains how scientists…
Conversion Fever! Why The Media Adores Former Climate Skeptics
Muller001.jpg If you’ve been following the science of global warming for over a decade—as I have—you might find the recent conversion of Berkeley physicist Richard Muller into a climate believer…