APS Puts Global Warming Skeptics In Expert Workshop
The American Physical Society is reviewing its Climate Change Statement.The APS Panel on Public Affairs (POPA) formed a Subcommittee, consisting of Steven Koonin, Phillip Coyle, Scott Kemp, Tim Meyer, Robert Rosner and Susan Seestrom, to consider revisions to its 2007 statement and that group convened a workshop with 6 climate experts, including 3 who are skeptics, though really they are more "lukewarm-ists" than the 'denier' label attributed to everyone who isn't a Think Progress-style Doomsday prophet.
4,000 Reasons To Love Chemistry – And That’s Just In Whisky
If there is a pleasant, chemically-induced but culturally acceptable pastime, someone at U.C. Davis is probably studying it. They have one of my favorite beer scholars, Prof. Charles Bamforth, and are even setting up a coffee science group. Their nutrition department has been generously funded by Mars candy company and, no surprise, a whole 'science of chocolate' panel appeared at an AAAS meeting as a result.Rhynchohyalus Natalensis: Four-Eyed Deep-Sea Barreleye Fish Has 360 Degree Vision
The Rhynchohyalus natalensis in a recent paper was caught about 1000 meters under the Tasman Sea and it has two pairs of eyes, allowing it to spot danger from every angle. One pair is upward-facing tubular eyes, to spot danger from above, while another set is on the side of its head, to detect bioluminescence from deep sea creatures.The second type of eye is typically associated with invertebrates. The authors write that this is only the second instance in a vertebrate, after Dolichopteryx longipes, with both reflective and refractive optics.
I particularly liked the description of how they modeled the optics and image focusing. The authors have the same question I have; this is cool, so why isn't it more common?
CDC: Autism Jumped 30 Percent Since 2012 – What It Really Means
America has seen a 30 percent rise in autism since the last estimate in 2012, according to the Centers for Disease Control.That's a big jump, an epidemic even. Mainstream media is going to have a field day and everyone will be looking for ways to demonize their favorite societal targets.
Before we start writing to Congress, we need to keep a few things in mind.
(1) It's an estimate based on diagnoses
How To Write A Science Article In 3 Minutes
Last week, the L.A. Times was able to post an article about an earthquake 3 minutes after it happened.No human could write that fast. And no human did.
The Psychology Of Why You Want To Know The Plot Of Star Wars VII
You want to know what movies are about - and that is why spoilers related to the upcoming "Star Wars" movie and "Avengers 2" and whatever else are so popular.Hey, you knew how the RMS Titanic met its demise, and you still watched a movie about it, notes Rich Goldstein in The Daily Beast. I didn't, but most of you did. And Shakespeare knew you wanted to know, that is why you read The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet and not The Mystery Of Romeo and Juliet.
I know how The Grapes of Wrath is going to end, I still read it over and over again.
Cosmos Suffers Another Ratings Drop – Even Though It’s Getting Better
Who is to blame for the latest weekly decline in Cosmos ratings? The Walking Dead, NCAA basketball games, a mass exodus due to its opening effort to be culturally in-your-face?There is always going to be competition on TV, just like there will always be competition for a government R01 grant. No point in whining about that. And Cosmos still takes shots at religion, but it isn't devoting 25 percent of episodes to it any more. Across the cultural spectrum, it's been much better during the last two weeks.
None Of The Above: A Science Show The Whole Family Will Enjoy
If you, like me, want to enjoy some science with your kids and not feel pushy about it, National Geographic has a terrific program coming out this evening. My kids can't get enough of None Of The Above which debuts at 9 PM tonight.Host Tim Shaw gets right to it and kids like that. He has the two episodes we saw moving at full-speed.
The premise is simple; Tim presents a fun or clever twist on a seemingly intuitive experiment and asks people what they think will happen. He even provides them with the answer, in the form of multiple choice responses - but watch out for those choice "D: None Of The Above" picks that give the show its name.
Non-GMO Beer: For The Anti-Science Hippie Alcoholic In You
Peak Organic Brewing Co. has announced that it has become the first brewer to receive Non-GMO Project verification for its beer.They believe this makes their product more 'pure' than beers which contain grains that have instead been randomly mutated and hybdrized over thousands of years.
Walking Dead Weekend Beer Science: Brains And Big Donors
The Walking Dead season finale is coming soon and nothing goes with zombie television like brains. In beer.No, really. Dock Street in Philadelphia is introducing a Walking Dead beer, called "Walker", I suppose, to avoid the inevitable lawsuit. It's the brain child (their pun, not mine) of head brewer Justin Low and sales rep Sasha Certo-Ware and is billed as an American Pale Stout brewed with wheat, oats, flaked barley, organic cranberry, and Smoked Goat Brains.
I didn't even know there was such as thing as an American Pale Stout, much less that goat brains added a certain smokiness to beer. In olden days, 'stout' just meant it was more alcohol but today stout is thick and dark.