Back in l981, as a relatively young man, a physicist named James Hansen led a team that reported in Science on Climate Impact of Increasing Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide. The paper predicted that the warming signal would emerge clearly from the noise of natural variability by the end of the century. In the 21st century, saidContinue reading “Hansen sees rapid sea level rise this century”
Tag Archives: Science
Scientist challenges denier: denier threatens suit
In a column this past week, George Monbiot pointed to a meticulously detailed take-down of the English Vicount Monckton's scattered attack on climate change science by an American professor specializing in heat transfer named John Abraham. Abraham went through a presentation by Monckton and surgically took it apart, point by point. It's a devastatingly convincingContinue reading “Scientist challenges denier: denier threatens suit”
Science never saw a ghost: John Muir
After a few years in the Sierra, encouraged by friends, in the 1870's John Muir quit his job running a sawmill in Yosemite Valley and began to explore the Sierra mountains in earnest. At the same time he began to take scraps of paper along with him on his forays into the higher elevations, andContinue reading “Science never saw a ghost: John Muir”
Clitoris surprises; or, you thought you knew, but…
From Mary Roach, speaking briefly but memorably this year on Big Think: http://video.bigthink.com/player.js?embedCode=FyOWlqOspaH-SMvi51rZ2aVCtD9vg_oU Did you know even women get smegma? And I thought it was just me… As Roach says, you gotta love science.
Science and poetry: what they have in common
While confronting — on the page and in person — those who wield shotguns and bulldozers, John Kinsella in Poetry drops in a fascinating digression about what poetry and science have in common: The language of poetry, even in its most lyrical modes, is a language of specific usage—poetry is about arrangement, selection, and presentationContinue reading “Science and poetry: what they have in common”
Sarah Palin and the Dinosaurs
Is Sarah Palin a full-blown creationist who believes, 19th-century style, that the earth is only 6,000 years old? Or is she a little more evolved than that? Here’s some first-hand testimony from an Alaska resident: I first met Alaska Governor and GOP Vice Presidential aspirant Sarah Palin when she was on the City of WasillaContinue reading “Sarah Palin and the Dinosaurs”
Hillary: Bush Declared War on Science
In a speech on the anniversary of the Sputnik launch, Hillary Clinton said today:
Fifty years ago, Sputnik marked the dawn of the Space Age and the
beginning of a new era filled with new challenges. Fifty years later,
there is no single, galvanizing event to steel our resolve and to lift
our eyes to the heavens. The challenges we face are more complex and
interconnected. From the rise of globalization to the threat of global
warming. These challenges require big ideas and bold thinking.
But instead of fostering a climate of discovery and
innovation, the Bush administration has declared war on science. The
record is breathtaking:
Kit Stolz 