What is science? It’s not this stuff.
Recently in a Facebook post, two of us were squabbling in typical Facebook-fashion over “alternative medicine” and related treatments (many of which came into the discussion as links to pseudoscience…
science
Accepting, Avoiding, and Talking About Collapse
Our best hope for survival is ‘too drastic‘. “The climate system is not stopping you , global society is stopping you.” That’s why the Alberta Premier gets away with saying…
Natural selection simplified
I was startled by the simplicity of the forumla. Stephen Jay Gould, the late eminent paleontologist, biologist and historian of science, summed up Darwin’s basic theory of natural selection so…
Video Of The Day
Someone stole a package from me. Police wouldn’t do anything about it so I spent the last 6 months engineering up some vigilante justice. Revenge is a dish best served…
Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Scott Santens writes about the flaw in markets which fail to distinguish between goods and services which lack value, and those which…
Science by People for People
To the average person it might look like scientists operate in an ivory tower away from reality, which, can make engaging in scientific issues intimidating. To bridge this gap engaged…
The magic of reading
Can you make sense of those lines in the image to the right? Of course not. They’re deconstructed from the letters of a simple, one-syllable word and randomly re-arranged. It’s…
Can Science Turn Conservatives Into Liberals?
Ever since my days at McGill, I've been interested in studying the brains of Cons, to try to determine what makes them so dumb and so bestial.And for years I've…
15,000 Scientists Want to Change Climate Change
They want to stabilize the change and, ideally, change the trajectory we’re on. Climate change is happening faster than predicted and the positive feedback loops have started (meaning that it’s…
A Governor General To Be Proud Of
While the traditional role of the Governor General is to play the mute on any issues that may upset some, smile engagingly at state functions and mouth sanctimonious platitudes upon…
The ignorati rise
Chapman University recently published the results of a depressing, but hardly surprising, survey that shows American believe in codswallop continue to rise. Not political codswallop – this is the supernatural,…
The dogshit dilemma
We have a problem with dogshit. Well, all municipalities do, of course, but ours is increasingly evident: it’s everywhere. And with the growing popularity of pets and our growing population,…
Dissolving Clouds
Came across this and began to wonder… If I could do it too… So today I dissolved some clouds using only the powers of my mind. It took longer than…
Forty years of geekitude
It was forty years ago this fall, in 1977, that I bought my first computer. I had little experience with computers prior to that – a few weeks working after…
Leadership 2017 Links
The latest from the federal NDP’s leadership campaign. – Evidence for Democracy has released the candidates’ responses to its questions about science in Canada. And Canadian Dimension offers replies on…
Solar Eclipse from Regina, SK
The eclipse today was visible from Regina, but not the totality available to Americans in many states. My new Canon SX540 HS did a good job with a pair of…
Roman Concrete
I remember some about this story a few years ago. I don’t think the formula for the Roman mix was well understood at that time. Portland Cement doesn’t cut it.…
Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Alan Freeman discusses the real costs of ideologically-driven deregulation: The idea that “the market” will root out bad actors in any industry and…
Ritz: More Dense Than A Gas
Saskatchewan has a lot of ignoble MPs, but Ritz took the cake this past week. He’s helping to spread nonsense that is solidly a line from anti-science climate change deniers.…