I saw a cartoon this week that in my opinion provides the explanation why we shouldn’t worry about AGW or anthropogenic climate change, or whatever it is called this week: Hmm. Over the past billion years or so, the temperature of the Earth has stayed in the habitable range, regardless of solar behavior, clouds …
Category Archive: Science
Oct
13
A bad science decision by Canada’s Government
Today, the Government of Canada has added bis-phenol-A to the list of toxic substances, after deciding that the American Chemical Council had failed to: …bring forth any new scientific data or information with respect to the nature and extent of the danger posed by bisphenol A. The problem of course being that there is almost …
Aug
22
On Bedbugs
There have been numerous stories in the news over the last few months regarding the growing plague of bedbugs, even in the best hotels. There has been much made of the fact that bedbugs were mostly eradicated in the developed world in the 1940s, but they have been brought back from the developing world by …
Aug
08
Science journalists misleading the public
I apologize to the masses who check my blog on a regular basis (all three of you) – I’ve been busy and the summer hasn’t had much gripping political stuff for me to comment on.. But today I read something I just shook my head at: An enzyme found in the roots of soybeans could …
Jun
02
The failure of modern “problem solving”
The failure is not in solving the problem, it is in the rush to judge who is responsible for a problem. Because the finger pointing scares people from wanting to be involved in solving the problem. It scares people from wanting to propose new ideas or try new things out of fear of being blamed …
May
12
The big blow ups?
Margaret Wente, in the Globe and Mail this week, writes that we live in an era of big “blow ups” that cannot be stopped. The problem, as I see it, is not that Wente’s smartest people in the world have no idea how to stop it. It is a combination of: People who think they …
Apr
28
Good science vs outspoken parents
PBS’s Frontline had a very good documentary this week, discussing the dispute that has raged for the last 12 years or so regarding the safety of vaccination, particularly with regard to the misguided belief of some people that autism can be caused by adverse reaction to the vaccines. I commend Frontline for staying on the …
Apr
26
We don’t need a new “National Food Policy”
Prof. Ignatieff is proposing that the government get MORE involved in the production and sale of food in Canada, to help farmers, help Canadians eat healthier, and improve exports… Wait, one of the reasons why many Canadian agricultural products aren’t exported is because of the supply management systems that make Canadian dairy, poultry and eggs …
Apr
15
How the Earth can stall modern civilization
Mother Earth may be about to show us how insignificant we are. The recent eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland has shutdown air travel in northwestern Europe. News reports indicate air travel may be curtailed for a couple days. But the geologic history is interesting: The eruptive phase started on 19 and 20 …
Apr
14
Three heroes tell Obama he is wrong
Today, there is an open letter to President Obama from two of the twelve men who walked on the Moon and a third who was supposed to but instead survived perhaps the most harrowing ordeal of them all: The United States entered into the challenge of space exploration under President Eisenhower’s first term, however, it …