The effects of land ice melting is more complicated than you might expect.

Study of ice cores finds that Antarctica was 4oC warmer 130,000 years ago than now.

So much for that scare:
Climate scientists have expressed surprise at findings that many low-lying Pacific islands are growing, not sinking.
Coral islands do that, since coral reacts to ( Read more... )

Examining the concept of ‘fair’ via experimental economics.

Elizabeth Anscombe’s 1972 essay defending the 1968 Papal Encyclical Humanitae Vitae.

Making a good point about the problems of appealing to legal definitions to defend particular conceptions of marriage.

About horoscopes and how ambiguous statements encourage assent.

C.S.Lewis on the ( Read more... )

Great wallpaper against PowerPoint™. The essay on why PowerPoint™ is evil (or, at least, a disastrous way to present technical data).

Best article ever about Wikipedia™:
Crackpottery is to Wikipedia what self-interest is to capitalism - a human failing that, yolked in the right way, can turn ill into benefit for all. Before Wikipedia, what would ( Read more... )

A funny post about how males and females name colours.

That octopus has grabbed my camera!

Getting a car to explode after going over a cliff is harder than one might expect.

A mathematical model for marital break-ups.

A brilliant speech in favour of science.

Being sanguine about the effects of new technology.

Beware of the terrifying ( Read more... )

Best way ever to hammer in a nail.

The truth about tweets and earthquakes.

Possible scientific explanation for near-death experiences.

About the longevity revolution:
Of all the people in human history who ever reached the age of 65, half are alive now.

China is offering to bring its expertise in high-speed rail to California. (This made me ( Read more... )

A ‘public service” Twitter site pleaserobme.

Yes, everyone does pee during the breaks in a major TV event.

I am not much into cars, but this is really cool and Bruno Senner is easy on the eyes.

Being a (not very much) overweight woman apparently significantly increases your chance of misdiagnosis.

Examining the origins of the moral sense. ( Read more... )

Melbourne had a bit more of a storm than it is used to.

Going through the numbers on why release of tundra methane is not likely to be a problem. But it fits the narrative, don’t you know.

If one is serious about carbon abatement, it is likely to be very expensiveThe UK Parliamentary committee hearings are attracting a fair bit of attention. Some ( Read more... )

Climate modeling may be about to change dramatically. The paper.

Paper arguing that cloud cover compensates for the increased power of the Sun.

Retired NASA atmospheric physicist uses matched-station data to identify significant urban heat effect (pdf) in US surface temperature data.

Graphing Greenland ice core data over the last 65 million ( Read more... )

Why be an engineer: made me laugh.

A robot made of Lego™ that can solve a Rubik’s cube in 12 seconds.

The bookshop Borders using an “interesting” definition of ‘social sciences’.

A grumpy young physicist explains entropy.

Trailer for a proposed London to New York in 37 hours airship. Does not look anything like traditional airships. More ( Read more... )

Adorable 10 year old humiliates TV host.

Great ad.

Cutesy global singalong.

Jon Stewart suggests the MSNBC anchor may have gone just a little bit too far: and is very very funny while doing it.

If the Superbowl was directed by Quentin Tarantino, David Lynch, Wes Anderson, Jean-Luc Goddard, Werner Herzog.

k. d. lang sings “Hallelujah” at the ( Read more... )