Feelin’ the Gompertz Law
What’s the Gompertz Law?: What do you think are the odds that you will die during the next year? Try to put a number to it ”” 1 in 100? 1 in 10,000? Whatever it is, it will be twice … Continue reading →
Category Archives: Science
Found: remains of oldest human lineage
Sometimes I toy with the idea of dropping politics entirely from the blog or at least having some politics-free days more often. I don’t really foresee doing the former, and I doubt I’ll be doing the latter either. I seem … Continue reading →
Marie Harf: on how to fight ISIS
The right is having a field day with Marie Harf’s latest pronouncement on the way to fight ISIS (see this, for example). Here’s Harf (speaking to Chris Matthews): MATTHEWS: How do we stop this? I don’t see it…If i were … Continue reading →
Smiley face in space
Wow. Just wow: What is causing the illusion? Something as marvelous as the face itself: In this case, the cosmic “face” is actually caused by a neat galactic phenomenon as well: gravitational lensing. Large galaxy clusters sometimes produce such a … Continue reading →
Climate change data “fiddling”?
Christopher Booker wrote a piece in the Telegraph that claims that climate scientists have fiddled with temperature data, and calls it “the biggest science scandal ever.” Here’s a quote: Two weeks ago, under the headline “How we are being tricked … Continue reading →
Beyond creepy
Want to be virtually preserved? These guys are trying to turn it into a business. But that’s nothing compared to this: What if, rather than simply picking and choosing what we want to capture in digital form, it was possible … Continue reading →
Measles and the demon-haunted world
It is ironic that the success of modern vaccination programs against ancient scourges such as measles has been part of the reason parents today are so ignorant about what these diseases can do. A recent outbreak in California has demonstrated … Continue reading →
And now for some good news
The bad news just keeps coming, so here’s an antidote—a shoulder-level double amputee has been fit with robotic arms whose movement is controlled by his mind. This process has involved a series of training steps: In order to prepare his … Continue reading →
Treatment for neuropathic pain on the horizon?
This link at Drudge caught my eye: “Scientists discover ‘off-switch’ for pain.” That would certainly be something to be thankful for. But then I thought, “Well, I bet it doesn’t apply to neuropathic pain.” I have a special interest in … Continue reading →
Matt Taylor and his shirt
I have a lot more to say about the furor over Matt Taylor’s shirt, but I don’t have time for a longer post at the moment, although I might write one later. But for now I’ll just say that I … Continue reading →
Ebola treatment: this is so inside the box it’s outside the box
Could an older technique yield an effective ebola treatment? And will researchers take the suggestion and try to develop it, instead of a more conventional vaccine?: The proposal builds on the use of “convalescent serum,” or survivors’ blood, which has … Continue reading →
The PC crowd and academic freedom
One would think that Robert Oscar Lopez, “Latino child of lesbians” who is also bisexual himself, might be in with the PC crowd. But questioning some of the tenets of their narrative trumps even those identifying credentials. Mr. Lopez is … Continue reading →