http://scienceblogs.com/neurotopia/2009/10/friday_weird_science_the_bees.php?utm_source=selectfeed&utm_medium=rss
( Science as fun and funny : Friday catblogging and an anecdote about the perils of research all at one go. )
Phenomenology, Fundamental Physics and Inconsistent Truths
http://scienceblogs.com/catdynamics/2009/10/phenomenology_fundamental_phys.php?utm_source=selectfeed&utm_medium=rss
"There is no use trying; one can't believe impossible things."
"I dare say you haven't had much practice. When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
This week, a short, innocuous little astrophysics paper appeared in Nature discussing the apparent inferred constant surface density of cold dark matter in the inner part of galaxies.
This somewhat startled fellow SciBling Ethan, enough for him to bang out a new post - discussing why cold dark matter is to be preferred to an alternative model popularly referred to as MOND.
I thought Ethan was a bit harsh, and commented, leading to Ethan's new reply:
that, yes, it is evil to promote MOND over Dark Matter.
Tsk. These young 'uns...
Fortunately I have achieved Zen.
Not that I ever, in my most deranged hallucinations, thought I'd ever find myself defending MOND in a public forum...
( '6 impossible things before breakfast' : Lewis Carroll - Alice in Wonderland. I've used that : discussing religion and what people will swallow ! )
Turning straw into gold
http://www.mnn.com/technology/research-innovations/blogs/turning-straw-into-gold
Our first stop on Samso (a Danish island in the Kattegat) was lunch at the Energy Academy headed by Soren Hermansen, who led the island to 100 percent carbon neutrality by combining renewable energy technologies with innovative cooperative financing models.
Today's most popular mnn
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- The ritual timber circle at Durington Walls known as the Southern Circle may be the model used by the priest-astronomer-architects who designed Stonehenge. Let’s reconstruct this incredible archeological find. In so doing, we’ll get a feel for what life was like in the only Neolithic village discovered in England – and possibly the largest of its time in all of northwest Europe. This settlement may even have been the resting and feasting place for the work crews who built Stonehenge.
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What If...
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2009/10/9/133630/378#5
by BooMan
Fri Oct 9th, 2009 at 02:42:33 PM EST
...the Scandinavians were conservatives? How might the Nobel Prizes be awarded differently? I think they might look something like this:
Is Climate Change a Moral, Philosophical Belief? And Can You Be Fired Over It?
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/10/is-climate-change-a-moral-philosophical-belief.php
im Nicholson, former Head of Sustainability at Grainger, a UK property company, claims that he was let go in 2008 for his "strong" views on climate change and the environment, reports CNN. Turns out, Nicholson feels his dismissal was a form of discrimination against his beliefs and he's taking the case to court.
It does seem a bit ironic to us that a sustainability officer would be fired for being...a sustainability officer. It would be one thing if the fella was at his wits end and chose to leave, but to be fired for environmental beliefs seems a little backwards. Here is where the story gets more interesting. Nicholson was fired back in 2008 and has since taken his case to court, alleging that believing in climate change and its future effects on the planet are more of a philosophical belief and therefore protected under the UK's Employment Equality (Religion and Beliefs) Regulations. Essentially, this climate change case has turned into an anti-discrimination case.
Grainger on the other hand disagrees, stating that Nicholson's climate change views are not philosophical beliefs, but rather scientific and therefore don't fall under the regulations. Can you discriminate between moral and ethical beliefs based on science versus faith? Lawyers for Nicholson say,
With major corporations, even the outliers, these days abandoning the Chamber of Commerce ship for their "extreme" views denying climate change, it seems odd that anyone would be fired in this day and age for supporting it. Would you bite your tongue in the office if you knew corporate leadership didn't believe (or if it was bad for business to believe) in climate change? Or would you say enough is enough and take it personally when flat-earth-type-ideas are prominent?
To Nicholson, he has stopped using air travel, eats less meat, and made his house more energy efficient, in effect, changing his lifestyle for his beliefs. Does this constitute a philosophical belief? A judge just finished hearing the case, and a decision is expected in a few weeks.
( A fellow could have some fun with this. I don't know if the softcover novel of an astronaut colony surviving a revolt against technology by scooping oxygen from Earth's atmosphere and mining the asteroid belt losing a scoopship to weapons fire - marooning them on planet and pursued by the authorities while assisted by renegade fans - isn't just loaned out...but Victoria is a bit far to pursue it. Anyway...it was set in a future Ice Age!
Funny how fashions change, isn't it? Dr. John had quite a hoot when I pointed the following out...as he's one who doesn't 'follow the crowd'.
Coming Ice Age Claims
His comeback was equally unexpected. )
C$ hits 1-year high; focus turns to jobs data
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/091008/canada/canada_us_markets_canada_dollar_bonds
Physics- Rep. Joe Barton of Texas for raising skepticism about the theory of plate tectonics.Apologies to Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Michele Bachmann, and Rick Santorum. I'm sure you'd all be worthy of some honorable mention.
Chemistry- Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma for reminding us that 'God is still up there' and we don't need to worry about CO2 and climate change.
Economics- John McCain for reminding us in September 2008 that the fundamentals of the economy are strong.
Literature- Sarah Palin for Going Rogue.
Physiology or Medicine- Rep. Steve King of Iowa for saying that the best vote he ever cast in Congress was against Hurricane Katrina relief.
Peace- Ronald Reagan for arming the Islamic Revolutionary government of Iran, drug-dealing Central-American death squads, Apartheid South African mercenaries, and the forerunners of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.
Is Climate Change a Moral, Philosophical Belief? And Can You Be Fired Over It?
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/10/is-climate-change-a-moral-philosophical-belief.php
im Nicholson, former Head of Sustainability at Grainger, a UK property company, claims that he was let go in 2008 for his "strong" views on climate change and the environment, reports CNN. Turns out, Nicholson feels his dismissal was a form of discrimination against his beliefs and he's taking the case to court.
It does seem a bit ironic to us that a sustainability officer would be fired for being...a sustainability officer. It would be one thing if the fella was at his wits end and chose to leave, but to be fired for environmental beliefs seems a little backwards. Here is where the story gets more interesting. Nicholson was fired back in 2008 and has since taken his case to court, alleging that believing in climate change and its future effects on the planet are more of a philosophical belief and therefore protected under the UK's Employment Equality (Religion and Beliefs) Regulations. Essentially, this climate change case has turned into an anti-discrimination case.
Grainger on the other hand disagrees, stating that Nicholson's climate change views are not philosophical beliefs, but rather scientific and therefore don't fall under the regulations. Can you discriminate between moral and ethical beliefs based on science versus faith? Lawyers for Nicholson say,
"The philosophical belief in this case is that mankind is heading towards catastrophic climate change and that as a result we are under a duty to do all that we can to live our lives so as to mitigate or avoid that catastrophe for future generations. We say that involves a classic philosophical and ethical position."Not only was Nicholson fired, but he claims that leader in the company "showed contempt" for his beliefs and even taunted him. In one case, Nicholson claims the chief executive had a staff member fly from Ireland to London to deliver his blackberry. Nicholson was also unable to do his job, or establish a carbon management plan because he was denied access to the proper data.
With major corporations, even the outliers, these days abandoning the Chamber of Commerce ship for their "extreme" views denying climate change, it seems odd that anyone would be fired in this day and age for supporting it. Would you bite your tongue in the office if you knew corporate leadership didn't believe (or if it was bad for business to believe) in climate change? Or would you say enough is enough and take it personally when flat-earth-type-ideas are prominent?
To Nicholson, he has stopped using air travel, eats less meat, and made his house more energy efficient, in effect, changing his lifestyle for his beliefs. Does this constitute a philosophical belief? A judge just finished hearing the case, and a decision is expected in a few weeks.
( A fellow could have some fun with this. I don't know if the softcover novel of an astronaut colony surviving a revolt against technology by scooping oxygen from Earth's atmosphere and mining the asteroid belt losing a scoopship to weapons fire - marooning them on planet and pursued by the authorities while assisted by renegade fans - isn't just loaned out...but Victoria is a bit far to pursue it. Anyway...it was set in a future Ice Age!
Funny how fashions change, isn't it? Dr. John had quite a hoot when I pointed the following out...as he's one who doesn't 'follow the crowd'.
Coming Ice Age Claims
His comeback was equally unexpected. )
C$ hits 1-year high; focus turns to jobs data
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/091008/canada/canada_us_markets_canada_dollar_bonds
Canada's dollar zoomed to a one-year high against the U.S. currency on Thursday as commodity and equity prices rose on upbeat economic data that lifted optimism for recovery and whetted the market's appetite for risk.
Helping drive Canada's currency higher was a rise in oil prices above $71 a barrel and soaring gold prices, which hit a record high for a third successive session, climbing above $1,060 an ounce.Herring stock threatened by proposed change: fishermen
NEW.BRUNSWICK (CBC) - A proposal to allow seiners to catch smaller herring would be disastrous for the fishery in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, says the P.E.I. Fishermen's Association. The seiners are looking for the smaller herring to make up in part for a change that forced them to move farther offshore with their ships.
Sudan: End Rights Abuses, Repression
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/10/06-16
Envoys, UN, AU Should Press Ruling Party for Nationwide Reforms
( I predict it would be about as effective as asking the UK or USA to act in the same fashion. )
feedly organizes your favorite sites into a fun, magazine-like start page.
Feedly : Add-ons for Firefox
Feedly is a full feature RSS reader exposed through fast/interactive magazine-like interface
* import your favorite RSS feeds and sources from Google Reader, Bloglines, Netvibes or your bookmarks
* organize RSS feeds into tabs/categories
* configure multiple views: title only, title and summary, image grid, video grid, entire content
* filter the most relevant/popular content
* share articles on twitter, tumblr, delicious and facebook
* syncs with Google Reader, across multiple computers
* overlays search results from your sources on Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines
* offers an extensive list of keyboard shortcuts and rich integration with Mozilla Ubiquity
Feedly supports a wide variety of RSS and ATOM feed format.
http://www.getsatisfaction.com/feedly
Feedly User Community:
http://www.twitter.com/feedly
* import your favorite RSS feeds and sources from Google Reader, Bloglines, Netvibes or your bookmarks
* organize RSS feeds into tabs/categories
* configure multiple views: title only, title and summary, image grid, video grid, entire content
* filter the most relevant/popular content
* share articles on twitter, tumblr, delicious and facebook
* syncs with Google Reader, across multiple computers
* overlays search results from your sources on Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines
* offers an extensive list of keyboard shortcuts and rich integration with Mozilla Ubiquity
Feedly supports a wide variety of RSS and ATOM feed format.
Image Gallery
Support
Support for this add-on is provided by the developer at http://www.getsatisfaction.com/feedly or by sending an e-mail to team@devhd.comDeveloper Comments
Feedly Support:http://www.getsatisfaction.com/feedly
Feedly User Community:
http://www.twitter.com/feedly
based on Google Reader and Twitter.
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| 61 If you're interested in dropping your overpriced monthly cable bill but aren't sure how you'd survive without your TV favorites, the gadget gurus at Gizmodo turn an eye toward their pocketbooks and discover life without ... |  |
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| 2 video. This is just fucking Pulitzer-worthy, a masterful use of the format combined with real, deep knowledge of an important, arcane subject. It cannot be improved upon. |  |
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| 95 Modern phones come loaded with bright screens, fun games and apps, and connections for 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. Not coincidentally, they're constantly out of juice. Here's some of the best collected wisdom about sa... |  |
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| 99 If the part of Google Voice that most appeals to you is transcribed, web-accessible voicemail, you don't need to transition to a new number. A single phone call and settings tweak can send all your unanswered calls to Go... |  |
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| 2 It looks like business was on Tracey Emin’s mind for a while before she said she’d leave the country. This from last week. Earlier this week, Emin addressed the Royal Institute of British Architects with the words: "... | |
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| 3 BBC Newsnight 16 minutes in And is Darling helping the Tories move on from Lisbon? If you didn’t watch BBC 2’s Newsnight last night then check it out on the BBC IPlayer - 16 minutes in. This is one of the most enjoyable... |  |
Feedly Turns Google Reader into a Social Start Page
( Noted in Comments : This has been around for awhile in service called FriendFeed. Like Netvibes for all your online services. Very impressive. )
FriendFeed
Techcrunch
Feedly Adds New Ways To Explore The Blogosphere
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