Sailing the Last Voyage with Newton and Pascal
Barack Obama is, to some extent, correct on this: This is our generation’s Sputnik moment. Two years ago, I said that we needed to reach a level of research and development we haven’t seen since the height of the Space Race. In a few weeks, I will be sending a budget to Congress that helps …
Continue reading "The Difference Between Then and Now on the "Sputnik Moment""
President Obama may want one... President Obama called for another “Sputnik moment” on Monday by having the nation invest more in education and science, previewing a theme that is likely to be part of his agenda and his budget for the second half of his term. Mr. Obama, who made his remarks during a visit …
Continue reading "For a New "Sputnik Moment," the '60's Radicals Have Got to Go"
The Church Mouse blog (I think this name is hilarious, considering this) reports the following: Since then, the folk behind the (Manhattan D)eclaration thought it would be a good idea to create an iPhone app which allows users to read and sign the declaration, and share it with others. Â The app was duly created and …
Continue reading "Apple Gives Manhattan Declaration App the Boot"
It took long enough: Former U.S. vice-president Al Gore said support for corn-based ethanol in the United States was "not a good policy", weeks before tax credits are up for renewal. U.S. blending tax breaks for ethanol make it profitable for refiners to use the fuel even when it is more expensive than gasoline. The …
Continue reading "Now He Tells Us: Al Gore Admits Corn Ethanol Not Such a Good Idea"
The Old Grey Lady catches up with a new reality in the U.S.: Traffic is going in circles. Armed with mounting data showing that roundabouts are safer, cheaper to maintain and friendlier to the environment, transportation experts around the country are persuading communities to replace traditional intersections with them. Appearances notwithstanding, roundabouts, such as the …
Continue reading "Roundabouts, the Next Redneck Personal Challenge"
This, from (I think) south-western Virginia: Taken this day in 1987.
As the Telegraph reports, it's a surprise it got on the Beeb at all, but there it is: This was no such programme. Instead, it was a platform for every sinner that repenteth. Former hippy Greens, directors of Greenpeace, the chairmen of the Copenhagen Climate Council and the like, queued up to admit error. Their …
Continue reading "It's "Mea Culpa" Time on the BBC for the Environmental Movement"
Without including engineers, who are charged with coming up with solutions to the problem, things get pretty irrational, as the September-October 2010 edition of Geo-Strata notes: Evolution has been at work on the climate situation recently. Let's overlook the late 1970s forecast of an impending ice age and focus on the early- to mid-2000s 'global …
Continue reading "Getting Past Panic in the Climate Change Debate"
That's what they're paid to do: There was a palpable sense of disbelief in the air at Wednesday’s gathering of the Minnesota Transportation Alliance. On Tuesday, the transportation advocates saw some of their biggest boosters, including U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar, chair of the House transportation committee, go down to defeat as Republicans took control of …
Continue reading "Transportation Lobbyists Better Work With the Winners"
And well they should, too: “Part of the reason that our politics seems so tough right now, and facts and science and argument does not seem to be winning the day all the time, is because we’re hard-wired not to always think clearly when we’re scared,” he told a roomful of doctors who chipped in …
Continue reading "They're Still Talking About Obama as an Elitist Snob"
Positive Infinity 