Science & Society

The article, "Rage Against the Machines: Explaining Outcomes in Counterinsurgency Wars," by Lyall and Wilson III is an interesting read for anyone looking for a scientific explanations as to why insurgencies fought in modernity are losing propositions. They argue that as militaries  mechanized it separated the "incumbent" away from the population, depriving themselves of much needed information. This leads to an "identification problem," the inability to separate insurgents from the population. The "information starvation" often fuels insurgencies as mechanized force attack both the…

As a veterinarian for research animals, I have an odd job, and part of the oddness is the amount of time I spend thinking about how to kill animals. Christie Wilcox posted on how carbon dioxide near-asphyxiation causes panic in mouse and human, so I had to pay close attention. I’m interested in all things carbon-dioxide, because that it is both one of the commonest ways of killing laboratory rats and mice, and one of the most controversial. Killing animals is such an integral part of veterinary medicine (and animal shelter management, and laboratory animal use, and food production) that the…

The winners of our first-ever writing competition here at Scientific Blogging were announced this week, and we couldn’t be happier with the results. Three outstanding articles were selected by YOU – the readers, and all three are certainly worthy of the recognition. Our Grand Prize winner is Darren Lipomi, a fifth-year PhD student in chemistry at Harvard University. Darren’s winning article, Plastic Solar Cells: Science, Expectations, and Challenges, outlines promising news in the development of the next generation of efficient, inexpensive solar cells. It’s a fascinating article providing a…

From The Times, a journalist global warming skeptic changes his tune: I thought global warming was all bog-standard, apocalyptic nonsense when it first emerged in the 1980s. People, I knew, like nothing better than an End-of-the-World story to give their lives meaning. I also knew that science is dynamic. Big ideas rise and fall. Once the Earth was the centre of the universe. Then it wasn’t. Once Isaac Newton had completed physics. Then he hadn’t. Once there was going to be a new ice age. Then there wasn’t. Armed with such historic reversals, I poured scorn on under-educated warmists.…

The NY Times headline on Nov 18, 2009, read: “Why Exercise Makes you Less Anxious” I exercise (training for the Paris marathon next April. Woo hoo!) and I’ve been known to dabble in anxiety, so I linked on it for a read (but with due anxiety: what if I find I’ve been exercising wrong? what if I learn that exercise makes people more anxious?). But the article wasn’t about anxiously exercising people, at least not directly. It was about laboratory rodents. And it’s already made a splash in the blogosphere, despite the scant details in the NYT. So, despite the scant details, I’ll weigh in too…

Hey if were around I think a party is in order. To steal from Prince, party like is December 21, 2012.  Well I predict if the universe is lined up we could have unusual ocean tides from abnormal gravity. But it probably will be just another day. Because it's a loop, it lined up and cycled before. Perhaps we will enter a new age from every ending a new beginning.  An age of enlightenment. NOAA, or noaa, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is a fantastic tool here is a link to this site. http://www.nws.noaa.gov NOAA predicts increased solar storms peaking at the year…

Does it cost money to be green, or can a company make greater profits by being green? Even a decade ago, most companies thought environmental sensitivity was too expensive an option, that it would render them uncompetitive in a harsh marketplace. Today, most thoughtful CEOs understand that environmentally sustainable products and practices are keys to greater profits.[1] What happened? How did a short ten years change attitudes and practices? New technologies made it easier to sort waste for resale, to burn fuel more cleanly, to use less energy, substitute safer chemicals for…

Everyone knows that the dollar is the reserve currency of the world.  But most people probably don't know what that really means and how it affects them personally.  The dominance of the dollar as the global currency of exchange has given the citizens and residents of the United States, a strong advantage in every aspect of foreign dealings, and also perhaps, holds the key to our future prosperity -- that is if the Tea Party does not succeed in returning us to the gold standard, a particularly ruinous policy for ordinary people.  The complete dominance of the dollar began with…

Cue the Star Wars music! Fellow fans, rejoice - you can now wear your love for all things SW loud and proud - on your feet. The folks at adidas Originals were either desperate for a new fan base or wanted to express their inner sci-fi selves. Regardless, the Spring/Summer 2010 collection will feature Star Wars-themed shoes and clothing. Select stores will start selling the goods in January 2010. The new collection "seamlessly fuses inspiration from legendary Star Wars characters and scenes with iconic adidas Originals silhouettes," according to the SW site. The VP of product marketing for…

Missouri can proudly claim it is first in the nation - first to test a new "diverging diamond" interchange that improves traffic flow by eliminating problematic left turns. Sound boring? I admit, the story didn't jump out at me at first. But the myriad diagrams with tiny cars moving across the screen got me hooked, and now I hope that the experiment, if successful, spreads across the country. Even Popular Science reported on the action. The new interchange is located at busy northwest gateway in Springfield, Mo., according to MoDOT. Let's pretend you're in a car on MO-13, traveling north (so…