The Trump White House Rhetoric seems to say: Give up on Puerto Rico

The White House calls the disaster in Puerto Rico a “good news story,” implying that the federal government is doing a great job there. Meanwhile, Donald Trump put out a tweet today that seems to imply that the US needs to consider whether or not it wants to help Puerto Rico, which, by the way,…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/29/the-trump-white-house-rhetoric-seems-to-say-give-up-on-puerto-rico/

An interesting new graphic showing climate change

This graphic, by Boggis Makes Videos and put on YouTube just a few days ago, breaks all the rules of how to make effective, understandable graphs for the general public. However, if you follow all those rules, it is difficult or impossible to get certain message across. Therefore, this graphic is necessary if a bit…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/29/an-interesting-new-graphic-showing-climate-change/

Wait, don’t buy an Echo yet!

I had mentioned before that we are enjoying our Amazon Echo, one of those robots that listens and then responds with a certain degree of intelligence. We don’t use the Echo for very many things, but that is partly because we are not in the habit. For example, if I’m sitting in a certain chair…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/29/wait-dont-buy-an-echo-yet/

The Great Pacific Invasion

When the big tsunami hit Japan in 2011, many objects were washed out to sea. This flotsam provided for a giant “rafting event.” A rafting event is when animals, plants, etc. float across an otherwise uncrossable body of water and end up alive on the other side. With this particular event, I don’t think very…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/28/the-great-pacific-invasion/

People who voted for Jill Stein were tricked, and we are all paying for it

Or so it seems. Donald Trump won the 2016 election with 306 votes to Hillary Clinton’s 232 votes. That is a spread of 74 votes. Clinton was likely to win in several states in which she lost, including Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, maybe Ohio, etc. In three states that could have gone either way, Jill Stein’s…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/28/people-who-voted-for-jill-stein-were-tricked-and-we-are-all-paying-for-it/

Puerto Rico Disaster Implications: Migrations, Politics, Cholera

Two or three thoughts about the current crisis. When there is a major climate disaster in the US, people move. Since the US is big and has large gaps in population, it looks different than when a disaster happens in some other places. Five million (or more) Syrians leaving the Levant left a major mark…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/28/puerto-rico-disaster-implications-migrations-politics-cholera/

States Can Lead the Way on Climate Change

True that. In the US, energy policy and regulation happens much more at the state level than the federal level, and our federal government went belly up last January anyway. Some states will not lead, they will go backwards, but others will lead, and show the way. So, here I want to highlight this new…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/27/states-can-lead-the-way-on-climate-change/

Reading the Special Election Tea Leaves

There are special elections all the time, mostly at the state level. The news is full of the Moore vs. Strange race, which isn’t just strange because Strange is in it. You all know about that. But what you may not know about is the interesting victory, also yesterday, of Kari Lerner in New Hampshire.…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/27/reading-the-special-election-tea-leaves/

Discovering The Mammoth: The Evolution Of Modern Scientific Thinking

It wasn’t a mammoth, it was a mastodon. But it was still a big hairy elephant featured at the climax-end of the main exhibit hall in the New York State museum. And it was an exhibit to end all exhibits. The New York State Museum, during its heyday, was world class, and the hall of…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/27/discovering-the-mammoth-the-evolution-of-modern-scientific-thinking/

Shooting At The Queen, Torchwood, AI: Cheap Books

In Tooth and Claw, Season 2 Episode 2 of Doctor Who 2.0, we see the formation of The Torchwood Institute and the banishing of The Doctor (and Rose) from the United Kingdom. Fat lot that does. Anyway, we also see Queen Victoria make mention of the multiple attempts at her assassination. I suppose it is…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/26/shooting-at-the-queen-torchwood-ai-cheap-books/

Future Farms Will Be Run By Robots

I have a love-hate relationship with farmers. I have a great deal of respect for the enterprise and for those who dedicate their lives to it. But, I also become annoyed at the culture in which modern American farming embeds itself. And, I don’t feel a lot of reticence talking openly about that. Having done…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/26/future-farms-will-be-run-by-robots/

How Twitter Starts The Next Big War, Unless You Act To Stop Them

Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at U.N. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won't be around much longer! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2017 A pair of American B-1 Lancer bombers is flying north northeast along the border of North Korean air space. Accompanying the bombers is…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/26/how-twitter-starts-the-next-big-war-unless-you-act-to-stop-them/

Why is this year’s hurricane season so much worse?

It isn’t. Well, it is a little, but not totally. OK, it is, but actually, it is complicated. First, you are probably asking about the Atlantic hurricane season, not the global issue of hurricanes and typhoons and such. If you are asking world-wide, recent prior years were worse if counted by how many humans killed…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/24/why-is-this-years-hurricane-season-so-much-worse/

How to understand the Trump-Russia scandal

To understand the Trump-Russia scandal, I believe it is necessary to step way back and take the very long view. I’m not talking about going back to early 2016, or even the year before. Much farther. I’m not going to make a claim in this post as to what happened and who did what. Rather,…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/22/how-to-understand-the-trump-russia-scandal/

The Wildlife of Nambia

The new Collins Nambia Wildlife guide is the perfect companion for travelers from the US who are trying to get away from it all. Quickly and quietly. Aside from the usual information about the alt-Animals one finds in this remote African country, such as the Vote Suppressing Guerrilla, the Red Butted Baboon and the most…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/22/the-wildlife-of-nambia/

Bill Nye Book, Others, Cheap

Bill Nye’s Everything All at Once: How to unleash your inner nerd, tap into radical curiosity, and solve any problem on Kindle is available for 2.99. Everyone has an inner nerd just waiting to be awakened by the right passion. In Everything All at Once, Bill Nye will help you find yours. With his call…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/22/bill-nye-book-others-cheap/

Is the Trump-Russia scandal a decade long plan just now unraveling?

From the Washington Post: The special counsel investigating Russian election meddling has requested extensive records and email correspondence from the White House, covering everything from the president’s private discussions about firing his FBI director to his White House’s handling of a warning that President Trump’s then-national security adviser was under investigation, according to two people…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/20/is-the-trump-russia-scandal-a-decade-long-plan-just-now-unraveling/

Rebecca Otto’s Clean Energy Plan for Minnesota

Earlier today, Minnesota Gubernatorial candidate Rebecca Otto released her energy transition plan. It an ambitious plan that puts together several elements widely considered necessary to make any such plan work, then puts them on steroids to make it work faster. To my knowledge, this is the first major plan to be proposed since the recent…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/20/rebecca-ottos-clean-energy-plan-for-minnesota/

Hurricane Maria

As you already know, Hurricane Maria is a Category 5 storm menacing the Leewards, and heading, likely, for Puerto Rico. Please avoid making the mistakes that were made in talking about Irma. There will probably be no Category 5 storm hitting Puerto Rico. The storm will probably be a Category 4 before it hits. So,…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/19/hurricane-maria/

Coates: Donald Trump and his Supporters Are White Supremacists

A lot of people will object to the title of this post. I will be told to take the post down. I will be told to modify the title or to change what I say in the post. Nope. Ta-Nehisi Coates is correct, and his presentation is brilliant. Watch the following interview (in two parts)…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/18/coates-donald-trump-and-his-supporters-are-white-supremacists/

Science of Everyday Life: Cheap book opportunity

The Science of Everyday Life: An Entertaining and Enlightening Examination of Everything We Do and Everything We See right now in Kindle format for two bucks Scientists are in the business of trying to understand the world. Exploring commonplace phenomena, they have uncovered some of nature’s deepest laws. We can in turn apply these laws…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/18/science-of-everyday-life-cheap-book-opportunity/

Fantastic Mathematics Wall Calendar For 2018

I love the The Mathematics Calendar 2018. It has an equation or other statement about math for every day, often linked to that day (like, the January 13th entry is “the sixth prime number”). Some entries are little mat quizzes for you to fugue out. Some are funny jokes, like the entry for Thanksgiving (any…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/17/fantastic-mathematics-wall-calendar-for-2018/

CheMystery is a graphic novel

CheMystery authored by C. Al Preece is a graphic superhero novel, drawn by Josh Reynolds, that teaches — wait for it — Chemistry! A radiation accident transforms two youngsters into superheros, and simultaneously creates an evil villain for them to fight. The graphic novel covers that story and is indurated with frequent cleverly placed molecule…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/16/chemystery-is-a-graphic-novel/

Six dead, one remembered, and the $64,000 question.

You’ll remember that Philando Castile was killed in cold blood by a St. Anthony cop, who was later acquitted with the defense that “he was a black guy, I wuz scared.” A couple of days ago, tragically and sadly, a cop in a town near me was run over by a driver who was probably…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/14/six-dead-one-remembered-and-the-64000-question/

How to do Statistics Wrong

Telling people that they are doing statistics wrong is a cottage industry that I usually want nothing to do with, for various reasons including the fact that the naysayers are often blindly repeating stuff they heard but do not understand. But, Alex Reinhart, in Statistics Done Wrong: The Woefully Complete Guide, does not do that,…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/14/how-to-do-statistics-wrong/

Trump White House New Policy: Fire reporters the White House does not like

The policy of the Republican Trump White House is that if a reporter or commenter says something that the White House strongly disagrees with, the reporter or commenter should be fired. It remains to be seen how the Trump White House will enforce this newly articulated policy. The policy was provided as a response to…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/14/trump-white-house-new-policy-fire-reporters-the-white-house-does-not-like/

The Wildlife of Ecuador

Wildlife of Ecuador: A Photographic Field Guide to Birds, Mammals, Reptiles, and Amphibians by naturalist Andrés Vásquez Noboa, witih photography byablo Cervantes Daza, covers mainland Ecuador (but by “mainland” we also mean ocean mammals). Focusing only on non-piscine verts, you will need to go elsewhere for your inverts and plants and such. But you get…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/14/the-wildlife-of-ecuador/

Science Books Cheap

Some potentially interesting science related books cheap now in Kindle format: The Birth of the Pill: How Four Crusaders Reinvented Sex and Launched a Revolution by Jonathan Eig We know it simply as “the pill,” yet its genesis was anything but simple. Jonathan Eig’s masterful narrative revolves around four principal characters: the fiery feminist Margaret…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/12/science-books-cheap/

Myers: Irma, Trump, Climate Change

Ya don’t know, you just don’t know. Note: I’m pretty sure that at the time Trump made those remarks, the Coast Guard was still hunkered down.

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/12/myers-irma-trump-climate-change/

The cost of commemorating 9/11 exceeds the benefit. Bin Laden, dead, continues to win.

This is a preface to the preface to a piece I wrote in 2011. I have only this to add: First as an aside, I suspected Trump could win the presidency, most people simply said it was impossible. But nonetheless, I was just as shocked as anyone else. Here’s the thing. American culture reacted to…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/11/the-cost-of-commemorating-911-exceeds-the-benefit-bin-laden-dead-continues-to-win/

Pinker “How The Mind Works” cheap

This is not my favorite book, because I think the subtitle should be “No, it doesn’t Steve” … but How the Mind Works is not without merit, and Steve Pinker is a great writer. Anyway, I thought you’s like to know that it is now available on Kindle for two bucks.

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/11/pinker-how-the-mind-works-cheap/

My Review of Hillary Clinton’s Book Part I

Before discussing What Happened by Hillary Clinton, the nature of the political conversation demands that I preface this review with some context. First, about me. I supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election because I did not want Donald Trump to be president. During the primary, which was not the 2016 election, I seriously…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/10/my-review-of-hillary-clintons-book-part-i/

Three Chances To Flip A Red District Blue

I know a lot of you are interested in local elections. There are three special elections coming up Tuesday that you might want to know about, and possibly lend some support to, or at least, watch. The candidates are shown above. They are: Charlie St. Clair Kathryn Rehner Jacob Rosekrants

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/09/three-chances-to-flip-a-red-district-blue/

Manga Guide to Microprocessors: Excellent tech graphic novel

It has been a long time since I’ve written any machine or assembler code, and it is a rare day that I hand construct a logic circuit using transistors. But it is comforting to know that these skills and the knowledge associated with them still reside in some form or another in the world of…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/08/nanga-guide-microprocessors/

An Excellent Robot Kit: Tenergy Odev Tomo 2-in-1

Tenergy is a company that you know well even if you don’t know them. They make a lot of the replacement batteries for everything. But recently they’ve added a few items to their line of products that reach out in an entirely different direction. Tenergy Odev Tomo 2-in-1 Transformable DIY STEM Education Programmable Robot Kit…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/08/an-excellent-robot-kit-tenergy-odev-tomo-2-in-1/

Back to School Science and Culture Stuff

I usually write my annual back to school post earlier than this, but I was distracted by various events. There are three themes here. 1) You are a science teacher and I have some stuff for you. 2) You have a student in a school and you want to support the school’s science teacher. 3)…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/07/back-to-school-science-and-culture-stuff/

Top fossil fuel producers caused half of global warming, third of sea level rise

I’ll just put this item from UCS here for your interest: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Study Finds Top Fossil Fuel Producers’ Emissions Responsible for as Much as Half of Global Surface Temperature Increase, Roughly 30 Percent of Global Sea Level Rise Findings Provide New Data to Hold Companies Responsible for Climate Change WASHINGTON (September 7, 2017)—A…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/07/top-fossil-fuel-producers-caused-half-of-global-warming-third-of-sea-level-rise/

The Link between Russia and White Supremacy in the White House

It is very rare that I find myself yelling at the TV when Rachel Maddow is on. She is very good at historically contextualized nuanced well informed analyses. But when I watched a segment of last night’s show (on the Internet, I have no cable) I was shocked to see that she missed something really…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/06/the-link-between-russia-and-white-supremacy-in-the-white-house/

Erasing history by removing monuments and renaming things

This is a response to “Removing statues of historical figures risks whitewashing history: Science must acknowledge mistakes as it marks its past,” a commentary published in Nature. For the most part, the commentary reads like a caution to not un-name things and not remove monuments in at least some if not many cases, though it…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/06/erasing-history-by-removing-monuments-and-renaming-things/

Anti-Science Political Hack Named To Run NASA

First, please take two minutes to watch and listen to this, in order to calibrate: Now, remove all liquid containing vessels from the vicinity, put on your head-desk helmet gear, and watch this: Then, behold the fact that Jim Bridenstine, who has demanded that President Obama apologize for believing that global warming is real and…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/02/anti-science-political-hack-named-to-run-nasa/

Upcoming D v R challenges

There has been a trickle of state or federal level races pitting Democrat against Republican, which potentially serve as a barometer for how politics will actually play out on the ground over the next 18 months or so under the Trump Regime. In my view, these races have shown two things. 1) Republicans beat Democrats…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/09/02/upcoming-d-v-r-challenges/