They’ve figured out how they avoid radiation damage, and humans may be able to do it, too.
Category Archives: General Science
Life In The Solar System
The top eight places to look for it. Not including earth, of course.
I think that Carolyn Porco thinks that Enceladus is a better candidate than Europa, but it’s a lot harder to get to.
The Real War On Science
Yes, it comes from the Left and (as with racism) always has. And when they accuse the Republicans of it, it’s simply the usual projection from them. I’ve offered to debate Chris Mooney, too, but I suspect he knows he wouldn’t do well.
[Update a while later]
More thoughts from Judith Curry. And I agree with her that Mooney’s Storm World was (surprising to me, after the polemical Republican War On Science) a good book.
[Update a while later]
This seems sort of related: The global warming “consensus” falls strongly on the side of skeptics:
Taken together, these four skeptical groups numerically blow away the 36 percent of scientists who believe global warming is human caused and a serious concern.
One interesting aspect of this new survey is the unmistakably alarmist bent of the survey takers. They frequently use terms such as “denier” to describe scientists who are skeptical of an asserted global warming crisis, and they refer to skeptical scientists as “speaking against climate science” rather than “speaking against asserted climate projections.” Accordingly, alarmists will have a hard time arguing the survey is biased or somehow connected to the ‘vast right-wing climate denial machine.’
I’ve often written this, but anyone still using the “97%” number is either a demagogue, or ignorant. And when they use it, it’s a strong signal that their opinions can be safely ignored.
[Early afternoon update]
Thoughts from John Tierney himself, where he briefly discusses the unwillingness of the Left to debate him.
Animals Living In Our Houses
As that great philosopher Homer J. Simpson once said, “Animals are crapping in our houses, and we’re cleaning it up. That’s not America! It’s not even Mexico!”
Seriously I’d say that we domesticated dogs, but cats (along with grass) domesticated us. And it’s worth noting, which the article doesn’t, that cat’s haven’t really been domesticated; they too have been tamed, and generally require taming from birth. Feral cats, after a certain age, regardless of their ancestry, will generally remain wild.
Alpha Centauri
I think this is the future of space science.
Men And Women’s Brains
You’ll be as shocked as me to learn that they’re different.
Paleolithic Art
Take a break from this absurd depressing election with a tour of a 35,000-year old French cave. Check out the slide show.
Schiaparelli, RIP
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has seen the impact site. Burn was ten times too short, fell from 2-4 kilometers, almost-full tanks probably exploded on “landing.”
But they think it was a software error, which is good news.
The Southern San Andreas
Is it about to blow?
While it would be pretty devastating, because of the distance, it wouldn’t affect LA as much. The one I worry about is a smaller one, like a 7 on the Newport-Inglewood, just a few miles from the house. That was the one that did a lot of damage in Long Beach in the thirties.
The Crisis In Space Science
What looks to be an interesting paper from Martin Elvis, an astrophysicist who groks private spaceflight.