Various web links I found to be of interest recently.
It's time to be scientific about global warming, says climatologist Judith Curry.
Only catastrophes seem to grab our attention, though, and it's
rarely mentioned that warming would also bring some benefits,
such as expanded production of grains in previously frozen regions
of Canada and Russia. Nor do we hear that people die more often
of cold weather than of hot weather.
...
"There is warming, but we don't really understand its causes," she says.
"The human factor and carbon dioxide, in particular, contribute to warming,
but how much is the subject of intense scientific debate."
...
Scientists are human beings, with human motives; nowadays, public funding,
scientific awards, and academic promotions go to the environmentally
correct.
You see, when you borrow money to buy shares in private companies then mark their valuations higher, the returns look extraordinary. But 'extra' ordinary returns are extremely difficult to deliver at scale, and then only in the most exceptional circumstances for brief periods.
Based on telephone surveys conducted in 2018 and 2019, Pew said
Thursday that 65% of American adults now describe themselves as
Christian, down from 77% in 2009. Meanwhile, the portion that
describes their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or "nothing
in particular," now stands at 26%, up from 17% in 2009.
...
Pew says all categories of the religiously unaffiliated population -
often referred to as the "nones" grew in magnitude. Self-described
atheists now account for 4% of U.S. adults, up from 2% in 2009;
agnostics account for 5%, up from 3% a decade ago; and 17% of
Americans now describe their religion as "nothing in particular,"
up from 12% in 2009.
Overall, these results demonstrate that cuing puzzle information during sleep can facilitate solving, thus supporting sleep's role in problem incubation and establishing a new technique to advance understanding of problem solving and sleep cognition.
How fast people walk in their 40s is a sign of how much their brains, as well as their bodies, are ageing, scientists have suggested.
Medical conservatives are not nihilists. We appreciate progress and
laud scientific gains that have transformed once deadly diseases,
such as AIDS and many forms of cancer, into manageable chronic
conditions. And in public health, we recognize that reducing exposure
to tobacco smoke and removal of trans-fats from the food supply have
contributed to the secular decline in cardiac event rates. Indeed,
medical science has made this era a great time to live.
The medical conservative, however, recognizes that many developments
promoted as medical advances offer, at best, marginal benefits. We do
not ignore value. . . . The medical conservative adopts new therapies
when the benefit is clear and the evidence strong and unbiased.
Peter Beinart
When judges told jurors to disregard certain information-once it was
deemed secret-the jurors gave it more weight.
...
The logic works even better when it comes to Trump's comments
about Ukraine and China. ...
Whether inviting foreign meddling in an American election constitutes
a "high crime or misdemeanor," by contrast, is less well established.
By openly inviting such meddling, therefore, Trump sends the message
that it's not that important. If it were, he'd have kept his request
a secret.
Trump only desires re-election, and neither his base nor his donors want this fight.
If he makes a deal and declares victory without gaining anything significant, as happened - e.g., with Mexico and the European Union - there is little reason to suspect that he would get any more trouble from his base than he got in those episodes.
Rolling Stone article about
the first musical artist born in this century to reach #1 on the pop charts.
She kicked off the season 45 premiere of
Saturday Night Live 09/28/2019.