There's been a lot of attention given to Freeman Dyson's article in the New York Review of Books about global warming and its possible solutions.
As a writer, he does have an usually clear and succinct style, which makes the article a pleasure to read.
His discussion about the issue of discounting is a very helpful and useful contribution to debate, I think.
But the second major aspect of the review, in which he expresses confidence that the answer to excessive CO2 will be genetically engineered super trees, hardly seems something that we should make plans around. As some people have said, we're all still waiting for our rocketbelts, household robot servants and a cure for cancer and the common cold. The best predictions of practical applications of new-ish technology can be way off the mark.
Over at Real Climate there is criticism of his views both in regard to discounting and the genetically engineered solution. There are also hundreds of comments following the post arguing in each direction.
It's all interesting reading. Not a mention of ocean acidification though, although presumably Dyson would say that the trees will be the prompt answer to that too.
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
More Indian crime files
Wife poisons husband to death-Patna-Cities-The Times of India
More amusing choice of words from the loveable Times of India:
According to reports, wife Shobha Devi allegedly poisoned her husband in their house because he had come to know that something was brewing between her and a village guy, Dinesh Yadav.
More amusing choice of words from the loveable Times of India:
According to reports, wife Shobha Devi allegedly poisoned her husband in their house because he had come to know that something was brewing between her and a village guy, Dinesh Yadav.
I really should get back to work...
but in the meantime, have a look at some photos of some very cool buildings by a Japanese architect:
JAPAN-PHOTO | MODERN ARCHITECTURE | WATANABE MAKOTO SEI
I am particularly keen on the Aoyama Technical College, which looks from some angles like the top half of a giant robot.
Here are some much clearer photos of it.
JAPAN-PHOTO | MODERN ARCHITECTURE | WATANABE MAKOTO SEI
I am particularly keen on the Aoyama Technical College, which looks from some angles like the top half of a giant robot.
Here are some much clearer photos of it.
Mahmoud's mouth just won't stop
Ahmadinejad: 'Israel soon to disappear.' | Jerusalem Post
You would think that he might tone down the rhetoric just a little, given that he has most of the world worrying about whether he's developing nuclear weapons. But no, Mahmoud keeps up the threatening language.
By the way, last week Phillip Adams interviewed an Iranian journalist who has written a biography of Ahmadinejad. In the introduction, Adams said:
The funny thing is, I think it's fair to say that the journalist did nothing to indicate that he had been "caricatured" at all, and painted a picture of a potentially very dangerous, naive man too certain of his fundamentalist belief that he will hand over to the Hidden Imam.
Adams' cynical introduction, implying the unfairness of Western views of the man, were not vindicated.
Unfortunately, they don't do transcripts of Late Night Live, but if you have time to listen to it, the audio of the interview (at the previous link) is well worth it.
You would think that he might tone down the rhetoric just a little, given that he has most of the world worrying about whether he's developing nuclear weapons. But no, Mahmoud keeps up the threatening language.
By the way, last week Phillip Adams interviewed an Iranian journalist who has written a biography of Ahmadinejad. In the introduction, Adams said:
After his suprise election as President of Iran in 2005, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad quickly passed into caricature in the Western media - mocked as a diminutive blacksmith's son with a beaming grin, and demonised as an apocalyptic visionary who denies the Holocaust and seems intent on playing a game of nuclear 'chicken' with the US.
Who is Ahmadinejad really? And how much of a threat does he pose to his country and the rest of the world?
Adams' cynical introduction, implying the unfairness of Western views of the man, were not vindicated.
Unfortunately, they don't do transcripts of Late Night Live, but if you have time to listen to it, the audio of the interview (at the previous link) is well worth it.
UFOs of the outback
An elderly couple in the Northern Territory say they were buzzed in their car by a "dark silvery" UFO. It's an interesting report, because it is said to have happened at 4pm, which rules out a lot of possible explanations (fireballs, etc) if it had happened at night.
No air force activity up there at the moment? An F111 using terrain following radar would fit the bill.
No air force activity up there at the moment? An F111 using terrain following radar would fit the bill.
A good idea
Mile-high urinals | Gulliver | Economist.com
Possibly, we will see urinals in Airbus planes.
They have them in Shinkansen (the "bullet trains") in Japan, and I would have thought that women would appreciate the cleaner sit down toilets that they would leave.
Possibly, we will see urinals in Airbus planes.
They have them in Shinkansen (the "bullet trains") in Japan, and I would have thought that women would appreciate the cleaner sit down toilets that they would leave.
Toxoplasma spreads out
The world's most successful bug hits dolphins - life - 02 June 2008 - New Scientist
Don't you hate toxoplasma gondii? It's everywhere on land, and now increasing evidence that it is spreading to marine mammals. Given that there is some evidence that infection affects human personality, I hope the dolphins don't start attacking swimmers any time soon.
Not only that, they may accumulate in oysters and mussels!
You mean my fondness for well-done meat, and never having a pet cat, is still not going to protect me ?
I think this calls for drastic measures. Outlawing pet cats may be a start.
Don't you hate toxoplasma gondii? It's everywhere on land, and now increasing evidence that it is spreading to marine mammals. Given that there is some evidence that infection affects human personality, I hope the dolphins don't start attacking swimmers any time soon.
Not only that, they may accumulate in oysters and mussels!
You mean my fondness for well-done meat, and never having a pet cat, is still not going to protect me ?
I think this calls for drastic measures. Outlawing pet cats may be a start.
Old attempts at culture change
Change drink habits? You're joking | David Aaronovitch - Times Online
Aaronvitch is cynical of government attempts to change the culture of drinking.
To back his case, he points out to some historical attempts to decree fashion:
Aaronvitch is cynical of government attempts to change the culture of drinking.
To back his case, he points out to some historical attempts to decree fashion:
Consider the announcement in 1574 by Elizabeth I of her Statutes of Apparel, telling free-born Englishpersons what they could not wear. The statutes laid down limitations on the fineries to be donned by subjects, and were - or so Her Majesty claimed - motivated by a concern that now sounds wholly modern. Viz, “the wasting and undoing of a great number of young gentlemen and others seeking by show of apparel to be esteemed as gentlemen, who, allured by the vain show of those things... run into such debts and shifts as they cannot live out of danger of laws without attempting unlawful acts”.I don't think I was aware of the Elizabethan fashion laws. Still, if I were benevolent dictator, I would be tempted to have another crack at it.Elizabeth had the advantage that she could imprison anyone so much as questioning these laws, let alone breaking them. But not long afterwards we discover various proto-Mailites suggesting that antisocial dressiness had broken out again. Stephen Gosson lamented that hardly had Good Queen Bess “set downe the limits of apparel to euery degree: and how soone againe hath the pride of our harts over-flowen the chanel?” Huge ruffs bothered Philip Stubbes, who, in his The Anatomie of Abuses considered that: “If Aeolus with his blasts, or Neptune with his stormes chaunce to hit uppon the crafie bark of their brused ruffes, then they goe flip flap in the winde, like rags flying abroad, and lye upon their shoulders like the dishcloute of a slut.”
Credit to the Taser
Vital Signs - After Taser Jolt, a Heartbeat Returns to Regular Rhythm - NYTimes.com
This was reported somewhere else last week, I think, but here it is in the New York Times.
Don't tell the Victorian police, though.
This was reported somewhere else last week, I think, but here it is in the New York Times.
Don't tell the Victorian police, though.
Polygamist hair
Judge Orders Sect Children’s Release - NYTimes.com
Have a look at the photo in the above article, and see if you don't agree that forcing embarrassing hairstyles on underage children should alone be enough to allow courts to remove children from that compound.
It's very creepy.
Have a look at the photo in the above article, and see if you don't agree that forcing embarrassing hairstyles on underage children should alone be enough to allow courts to remove children from that compound.
It's very creepy.
Really?
Microgeneration could rival nuclear power, report shows | Environment | guardian.co.uk
I've only been to England for a couple of holidays, I think in an alleged spring and then an autumn, so the idea of solar hot water or photovoltaic panels working well there always makes me snigger a bit. Just how many warm, sunny days are there in that country?
But the renewables consultants always talk it up, and of course it's just my hunch that the figures must be very rubbery.
I've only been to England for a couple of holidays, I think in an alleged spring and then an autumn, so the idea of solar hot water or photovoltaic panels working well there always makes me snigger a bit. Just how many warm, sunny days are there in that country?
But the renewables consultants always talk it up, and of course it's just my hunch that the figures must be very rubbery.
Monday, June 02, 2008
Sounds about right
Why China doesn't break | Comment is free
There's occasionally a "Comment is Free" piece in The Guardian in which there appears to be nothing to object to.
There's occasionally a "Comment is Free" piece in The Guardian in which there appears to be nothing to object to.
Stupid
Boris Johnson blamed for Tube party violence - Times Online
Isn't it extraordinary to think that people were allowed to drink on public transport in London before Boris Johnson? (And that he should then be blamed for stupid yobs who got drunk via Facebook organised Tube drinking parties before the ban came into effect.)
Britain certainly has become a strange place. Sounds like a good dose of conservatism needed, for a decade or so.
Isn't it extraordinary to think that people were allowed to drink on public transport in London before Boris Johnson? (And that he should then be blamed for stupid yobs who got drunk via Facebook organised Tube drinking parties before the ban came into effect.)
Britain certainly has become a strange place. Sounds like a good dose of conservatism needed, for a decade or so.
That anecdote...
I mentioned a few weeks ago my curiosity as to the details of an unsavoury Bob Ellis anecdote that David Stratton put in his autobiography. Andrew Bolt has revealed it here.
(There is quite a lot of overlap between posts here and at Andrew's lately. I get a small amount of pleasure from seeing when I have posted on a topic a few hours ahead of him, but I guess visitors to both sites might more often assume that I am following his lead. Well, of course sometimes that happens, but I seem to beat him to print on quite a few occasions. Is there any award for that, especially for an amateur blogger? :) )
(There is quite a lot of overlap between posts here and at Andrew's lately. I get a small amount of pleasure from seeing when I have posted on a topic a few hours ahead of him, but I guess visitors to both sites might more often assume that I am following his lead. Well, of course sometimes that happens, but I seem to beat him to print on quite a few occasions. Is there any award for that, especially for an amateur blogger? :) )
An update on the LHC, mini black holes and strangelets
There are a few things of note that have happened over the last couple of weeks:
1. Physicist Bee at the Backreaction blog gets a little cranky at having to address the issue, but she sets out in detail in this post why she believes there is no danger at all from mini black holes at the LHC. More importantly, she then respectfully answers those who question or doubt her in the long string of comments that follow. She insists that any arguments against Hawking Radiation existing are not convincing, but she makes many good points. (Including the preliminary one that the extra dimensions that are required to even make mini black hole production at the LHC plausible may not exist.)
Of particular interest in the comments section is the involvement of Walter Wagner, one of the litigants who is trying to stop the start up of the LHC because of perceived dangers.
I have said before that I was not sure what to make of Walter. He has had a varied career, and asking for donations to run a legal case is usually a reason to be concerned about motive. But, his comments in this post impress me. He appears sincere and knowledgeable. It's well worth reading this post and the comments in detail.
2. There's a recent paper on arXiv which does some number crunching on cosmic rays hitting the sun and earth and how they compare to the LHC. Perhaps it's easiest if I just copy the summary here:
However, the section on strangelets (which are another potential worry, even though I haven't spent much time discussing them here) sounds more definitive. Taylor calculates that a negatively charged strangelet would be stopped by the sun, hence if they were capable of causing damage there, it would have already happened.
It sounds as if that is a solid argument.
(Indeed, a similar argument, but with neutron stars, may be the convincing argument about mini black holes not being a danger. That's what CERN is already telling people who email them, apparently. )
3. CERN is still promising to release their new safety report, any day now. I haven't spotted it yet.
1. Physicist Bee at the Backreaction blog gets a little cranky at having to address the issue, but she sets out in detail in this post why she believes there is no danger at all from mini black holes at the LHC. More importantly, she then respectfully answers those who question or doubt her in the long string of comments that follow. She insists that any arguments against Hawking Radiation existing are not convincing, but she makes many good points. (Including the preliminary one that the extra dimensions that are required to even make mini black hole production at the LHC plausible may not exist.)
Of particular interest in the comments section is the involvement of Walter Wagner, one of the litigants who is trying to stop the start up of the LHC because of perceived dangers.
I have said before that I was not sure what to make of Walter. He has had a varied career, and asking for donations to run a legal case is usually a reason to be concerned about motive. But, his comments in this post impress me. He appears sincere and knowledgeable. It's well worth reading this post and the comments in detail.
2. There's a recent paper on arXiv which does some number crunching on cosmic rays hitting the sun and earth and how they compare to the LHC. Perhaps it's easiest if I just copy the summary here:
The high energy cosmic ray flux impinging on the sun and earth for 4 Gyr is compared to the operation of the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at design energy and luminosity. It is shown by two different calculations that both the integrated luminosity and the total hadronic interaction rate from the cosmic ray flux of comparable energy are many orders of magnitude larger than that of the LHC operated for 10 years. This study indicates that it is extremely unlikely that pernicious exotic particles, such as mini-black holes, would be produced by the LHC that would destroy the earth.Sounds good, except that it is still based on the assumption that Hawking Radiation exists, and therefore doesn't take into account the more complicated arguments as to why slow speed mini black holes created at the LHC might be more of a problem than high speed ones.
However, the section on strangelets (which are another potential worry, even though I haven't spent much time discussing them here) sounds more definitive. Taylor calculates that a negatively charged strangelet would be stopped by the sun, hence if they were capable of causing damage there, it would have already happened.
It sounds as if that is a solid argument.
(Indeed, a similar argument, but with neutron stars, may be the convincing argument about mini black holes not being a danger. That's what CERN is already telling people who email them, apparently. )
3. CERN is still promising to release their new safety report, any day now. I haven't spotted it yet.
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