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Knowledge_is_Power

The Environment

Global Warming: a Controversial Bill, And a Game of Roulette

By Posted on 5.26.2009 25 Comments
It's time to call your bookie, because the line on global warming is in. A new paper from MIT breaks down the odds of different outcomes from global warming, based on whether governments take action now or later. And if you're taking that action, bet on "government getting involved" to beat the spread, as last week an important climate change bill made it out committee in the House of Representatives.

5.27.2009 at 12:12am - Comment by Knowledge_is_Power

hey Michael 42, if you didn't know, the rise isn't that big and people who don't visit the beach often will notice more... If you have a friend who is growing over one (1) year, the person who hasn't seen him/her over that year will easily notice the height change while the person who visits the person often will not see as much of a difference...
The Environment

Climate Change Skeptics

By the Editors of E - The Environmental Magazine Posted on 4.6.2009 54 Comments
Dear EarthTalk: I keep meeting people who say that human-induced global warming is only theory, that just as many scientists doubt it as believe it. Can you settle the score? -- J. Proctor, London, UK So-called "global warming skeptics" are indeed getting more vocal than ever, and banding together to show their solidarity against the scientific consensus that has concluded that global warming is caused by emissions from human activities. Upwards of 800 skeptics (most of whom are not scientists) took part in the second annual International Conference on Climate Change -- sponsored by the Heartland Institute, a conservative think tank -- in March 2009.

4.10.2009 at 10:48pm - Comment by Knowledge_is_Power

I kind of got stuck on those 22,000 scientists, It disturbed me, so I took a closer look, General Engineering & General Science (10,102) 1. General Engineering (9,833) I) Engineering (7,280) II) Electrical Engineering (2,169) III) Metallurgy (384) 2. General Science (269) those don't exactly pertain to the climate, and that's about half of the signatures... Medicine (3,046) 1. Medical Science (719) 2. Medicine (2,327) um... BTW only 39 are trained in climatology, you might think "but what about those 341 meteorologists?" the fact of the matter is that the deal in very short term weather...
The Environment

Giant Antarctic Ice Bridge Collapses

By Laurie J. Schmidt Posted on 4.15.2009 13 Comments
A 25-mile-long ice bridge that linked the Wilkins Ice Shelf to Charcot Island on the Antarctic Peninsula has collapsed. NASA satellite imagery shows that the bridge's disintegration occurred sometime between March 31 and April 6. Scientists had been keeping a close eye on the bridge since last March, anticipating its collapse following dramatic changes that have taken place on the Wilkins Shelf in recent years.

4.10.2009 at 10:09pm - Comment by Knowledge_is_Power

hahaha that is a total farce simply because of a) the fact that the charts are only 365 days and b)it shows the snows pack magically increasing from October until it peaks in April... maybe it has something to do with seasons??? hahaha
Science

Update: What Happens in Texas Doesn’t Stay In Texas

By Christine Cyr Posted on 4.1.2009 111 Comments
For months, scientists, educators, and textbook publishers across the country have waited as members of the Texas Board of Education squabbled over whether to remove three little words in their sciences standards: “truths and weaknesses.” The controversy? The language—supported by creationists—requires biology teachers in Texas to discuss possible weaknesses in evolutionary theory, and has had implication for how evolution is taught across the country.

4.9.2009 at 01:17am - Comment by Knowledge_is_Power

Some people say that evolution is a leap of faith because of how complex DNA is, but here's the thing, the is such a thing as a peptide they found one that self replicates, it is only 32 amino acids long, too long to happen by chance eh? then people say "oh well the chance of that happening is less then one in a billion," indeed quite true however some what misleading because if the chance is one in a billion and you have trillions of reactions happening each year, and you have a billion years or so, it is pretty much guaranteed to happen... assume that there are one trillion reactions happening each year, and you have a billion years, that is 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 that is one sextillion or a 1 followed by 27 zeros, lets divide that by 100 billion, that still gives you 100,000,000,000 copies of it, 100 billion isn't bad... next we have "E. coli Long-term Experimental Evolution Project" site link http://myxo.css.msu.edu/ecoli/ for those of you with some training in biology or even someone who paid attention in bio class, you will very likely find this satisfactory.
Entertainment & Gaming

PopSci 5-Minute Project: Disc Doctor

By Posted on 5.23.2008 11 Comments
About to chuck that busted CD? Not so fast, young grasshopper. Web editor Megan Miller demonstrates three ways to resurrect those scratched discs using stuff you probably already have sitting on your shelf.

7.5.2008 at 04:26pm - Comment by Knowledge_is_Power

Would this work on an Xbox 360 disc? specifically The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PLATINUMHITS)
The Environment

The Grouse: Assault on Batteries

By Posted on 2.19.2008 21 Comments
Perusing the deluge of overheated press releases from the CES conference a few weeks ago, one in particular, for Panasonics new line of EVOLTA batteries, got me thinking. And when I say thinking, I mean muttering curse words and shaking my fist. The release made a big deal about the fact that these new batteries last from 1.3 to 2 times as long as other alkaline batteries—which is to say, slightly less poisonous and wasteful, but not much. Whoopdee-flipping-doo.

4.21.2008 at 12:57am - Comment by Knowledge_is_Power

what if we used subsides (spell check) for rechargeable batteries, make a rechargeable battery cost as much as a non-rechargeable and let free market economics take over. All ideas have value... Thomas Edison said that invention is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Every failed light bulb was one step closer to making a good one, if there are 1,000 possibilities and he goes through 999 then he has come to the answer by reasoning.
The Environment

Is Petroleum the Greenest Fuel We Have?

By Posted on 2.8.2008 12 Comments
Though the existence of global warming is indisputable at this point, the debate over the best plan of attack to solve the problem and reduce our dependency on petroleum fuels is far from settled. The latest example: Two new studies released this week indicate that that biofuels such as ethanol may accelerate rather than alleviate global warming.

4.21.2008 at 12:48am - Comment by Knowledge_is_Power

I do agree with Crazy Stan. the Soviets (remember before the USSR collapsed) built Chernobyl with few safeguards, and as we should know no safeguards and pushing things beyond their limits is not a very good idea. Besides depleted U-235 and U-238 are actually far more radioactive. So I propose we strip the uranium and plutonium out of the warheads and use it. Then we have Biofuels, a useful thing but can we really use a worse fuel AND cause starvation in third world countries? Look at Haiti, it lost its leader to unrest caused by us (US, same thing). Do we really like the idea of a nuclear terrorism? (hopefully not)