Humans sent a thing weighing just under a tonne all the way to Mars, where it landed in the most insanely clever way, entirely computer controlled, and then sent back pictures all the way from the other side of the … Continue reading
Why is it so easy to get fat and yet being fat predisposes one to heart disease, cancer, and adult onset diabetes? It seems like a maladaption to the presence of plenty of food. First of all, it’s not nearly … Continue reading
Here’s a reasonable working definition of life – a process which produces localised entropy decrease. Intelligent life doubly so. Think about it like this: light from the sun hits the moon and turns to heat. No life involved. Light from … Continue reading
I firmly believe in the present. There literally is no past and no future, just the changing now. Sure, it contains evidence of things that have been, other circuits of the Earth around the Sun. We can be pretty certain … Continue reading
Introduction With a rare exception or two I haven’t written here for several years. Various things have intervened – moving to a new country, starting a new business, and preceding all that some formal study. What I’d like to do … Continue reading
A documentary about the dangers of GMO foods and the way the biotech industry has covered this up. Here is the trailer, and you can find more about the film at Roundup Ready Nation.
The latest in a line of Bush administration censorship of science. US Geological Survey scientists must now submit work for screening before it can be published. The famously oppressive Qing dynasty in China used secret police to crack down on … Continue reading
Australia is facing terrible water shortages on a continuing basis, due to climate change. We’re running out of fossil fuel, so we probably won’t be able to continue to make fertilisers in the same way, or to make heavy use … Continue reading
There’s a DJ who played at some of our parties who had an album called Edges R Fun. I asked him why he’d called it that, and his reponse was to ask me what I thought. Which launched me into … Continue reading
Greenhouse sceptics argue that the proponents of a human cause of global warming have not made a convincing case. They say we need to understand things better and rule out natural causes before we make costly changes to legislation. This … Continue reading
In a dry glacial valley, 1000m above sea level and 40 miles from the coast of Antarctica, a friend of mine was shown the mummified remains of a seal. The scientist from Davis base who had taken him there asked … Continue reading