Something new to worry about
In case you don’t have enough to worry about already, and are looking to supplement your angst-inducing list, there’s this. “Low-probability, high-impact” indeed. [Hat tip: Instapundit.]
Continue reading →Category Archives: Science
I wonder if…
…the science about this was considered settled before the new evidence came to light. Speaking of science and geology (and we were, weren’t we?), recently I was reading a book called Europe Between the Oceans: 9000 B.C.—AD 1000, and was … Continue reading →
Leonard Cohen and “Going Home”: a brief elaboration
Last night I was listening to Leonard Cohen’s “Going Home.” In that song he’s his usual lugubrious, hypnotic, philosophical, mystical self. The lyric could only have been written by a writer who’s no longer young. You may think the song … Continue reading →
Thinking about swallowing a tapeworm in order to lose weight?
Well, don’t bother: you’ll probably gain weight instead. Another myth shattered. And boy, what some people won’t do for science.
Continue reading →Robert Frost on “the science is settled”
No, the poet Robert Frost didn’t write anything about the believers versus the deniers of anthropogenic global warming. After all, he died in 1963. When I started this blog (lo about nine long years ago!), I had some idea of … Continue reading →
Your dog…
…recognizes your face, not just your smell.
Continue reading →Can we even suggest that perhaps the kids are not all right*?
Some research has been published indicating that the offspring of same-sex couples may not be doing quite as well as other kids, and it has met with a firestorm of politically-correct disapproval. This should come as no surprise; politics is … Continue reading →
The fruit fly war
I think I’m winning. For now. It all started with an event so ordinary as to be unremarkable: a couple of fruit flies (or their larva) came in with some purchase or other. After I spotted them, I was very … Continue reading →
Which goes first, the chicken or the egg?
It’ll be the egg that will become obsolete (perhaps even illegal some day, like old-fashioned lightbulbs?) if Hampton Creek Foods (founded by Bill Gates) has anything to say about it: In its food lab, biochemists grind up beans and peer … Continue reading →
Oh boy, now we have to worry about…
…the destruction of the human race by artificial intelligence: In 267 brisk pages, Barrat lays out just how the artificial intelligence (AI) that companies like Google and governments like our own are racing to perfect could — indeed, likely will … Continue reading →
Men’s and women’s brains are different
Well, duh. It’s the connectivity, stupid: Researchers found that many of the connections in a typical male brain run between the front and the back of the same side of the brain, whereas in women the connections are more likely … Continue reading →
The drones of Amazon
Fantasy? Soon-to-be reality? Then again, you could just go to a nearby store if you need something that quickly. Will people be tempted to shoot them down? How will Amazon avoid landing a drone on someone’s head? What about apartment-dwellers? … Continue reading →