• The Environment

    Dispatch from Copenhagen, Day One: Outlook Not So Good

    By Seth Fletcher Posted on 3.10.2009 10 Comments

    "There is not a lot, if any, good news that will be presented in the coming days," said Katherine Richardson, the University of Copenhagen oceanographer. So began the International Scientific Congress on Climate Change, a gathering in Denmark's capital city of scientists from around the world. The purpose of the conference is to synthesize the latest research on global warming. A summary of the findings will be distributed to the global policymakers who will meet here in December at the United Nations's COP 15 meeting.

    3.11.2009 at 08:53pm - Comment by Christopher Mims

    Please ignore the climate change denialists -- ideologues are not, by definition, amenable to evidence that might contradict their most cherished prejudices. As for your piece: this is an excellent summary, and I'm glad to see PopSci has someone in Copenhagen to cover this very important conference. I hope you'll give the solutions part of the conference more than just one post -- it's very important that people get the message that we already have the technology to solve this problem and that it's simply a matter of mustering the political will to get it done: An introduction to the core climate solutions http://climateprogress.org/2008/10/22/an-introduction-to-the-core-climate-solutions/

  • Science

    Trampoline Basketball

    By Adam Weiner Posted on 8.21.2008 1 Comments

    9.12.2008 at 09:49am - Comment by Christopher Mims

    Awesome. And what happens to the energy that doesn't get returned by the elastic trampoline? Is it lost as heat? How does that even work?

  • Science

    The Eye of the Mantis Shrimp

    By Posted on 3.21.2008 3 Comments

    The mantis shrimp (which oddly is neither a mantis nor a shrimp, but a crustacean that resembles both) has arguably the most complicated visual system of any animal on Earth. Its compound eyes sit on independently moving stalks and can see colors ranging from ultra-violet to infra-red. Each eye is divided into three regions for tracking motion, forms, depth, and color. All of this, it is theorized, is done without the aid of its tiny brain. (Its also got claws that can smash through glass, but that well save for another article). Now add to this an entirely new kind of vision previously unknown: the mantis shrimp can see circular polarized light.

    3.21.2008 at 11:32am - Comment by Christopher Mims

    That's wicked. Don't ants and other insects also see polarized light, as an aide to navigation?

  • Entertainment & Gaming

    The Super Mario Multiverse

    By Posted on 3.22.2008 10 Comments

    digg_url = 'http://digg.com/general_sciences/Super_Mario_explains_parallel_universes_2'; You're unique. Aren't you? One of the more creative hypotheses surrounding quantum mechanics posits the exact opposite. Though we can readily see only one world, quantum mechanics says that when were not observing the particles that make up that world, those particles exist in multiple places at once. There are many theories that attempt to grasp what this means, but one of the most tantalizing is Hugh Everett's multiverse concept.

    3.21.2008 at 11:29am - Comment by Christopher Mims

    That pavlus is some kind of genius. More please.

  • Cars

    GM Vice Chairman Calls Global Warming A "Total Crock of S**t"

    By Posted on 2.13.2008 46 Comments

    Heres an odd PR move making the blog rounds today: Bob Lutz, the General Motors Vice Chairman whos driving the charge to build the Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid, was recently quoted in D Magazine calling global warming a crock of s**t.

    2.14.2008 at 08:41pm - Comment by Christopher Mims

    This is one of the dumbest comment threads I've ever seen. What is it about teh interwebs that brings out the self-righteously ignorant? Is it a lowest-common-denominator thing or a 'we have no other outlet for our nonsense' thing? Have fun fiddling while Rome burns, denialists!



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