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New post: A quote from Babylon 5 https://mooresie.net/?p=4390
New post: Universe 25 https://mooresie.net/?p=4385
Dot on letter ‘i’ kills two in Turkey
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
That day, the lack of a single dot over a letter—product of a faulty localization of the cellphone’s typing system—caused a chain of events that ended in a violent blood bath (Warning: offensive language ahead.)
Corn sucks
Monday, April 21, 2008
So when they were looking for something to replace the preservatives in our food with that wouldn’t have a name that scares hippies, they settled on corn syrup.
via Metafilter
Also:
Global warming rage lets global hunger grow
The UN says it takes 232kg of corn to fill a 50-litre car tank with ethanol. That is enough to feed a child for a year.
Corn-based ethanol: the biggest greenwash ever?
Before I go on, let me make two points for the millionth time:
1. Without extended, ongoing, and financially generous government intervention, no market for corn ethanol would exist.
2. If ethanol delivers any net energy gain at all over petroleum gasoline, it’s razor thin.
The Starving Ocean
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Atlantic Canada reveals what is probably the clearest evidence anywhere of the ecosystem-effects of persistent human fishing. The early 1990’s crash of the once great Canadian cod stock is held up as a global cautionary tale against fisheries mismanagement, against greedy human ‘overfishing.’ But less well known is that the story is not that simple, that, at the level of scientific detail, so much has gone severely and unexpectedly wrong in Atlantic Canada…that the most basic assumptions underlying the ‘science of overfishing/sustainable fishing’ must now be questioned.
Zooplankton were unexpectedly and inexplicably lost along with Canadian fish stocks. If, as seems likely, this is part of the ecosystem impact of fishing, then this finding has global significance.
While i’ve not went along with the popular Newfoundland theory that seals drove the cod population into crisis (has this ever been researched formally? i’ve been asking people this for years) i’m not convinced by this writer either. Global warming is downplayed as a possible influence in favour of an anti-fishery, anti-seal-hunt agenda, and i don’t see ocean pollution mentioned at all.
The phenomenon of plankton collapse, as reported on this site, needs to be studied. The research effort necessary would be huge, but no existing government has the political courage to fund it. Back to square one.
Long Bets
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Long Bets – The Arena for Accountable Predictions
The purpose of Long Bets is to improve long–term thinking. Long Bets is a public arena for enjoyably competitive predictions, of interest to society, with philanthropic money at stake. The Long Now Foundation furnishes the continuity to see even the longest bets through to public resolution. This website provides a forum for discussion about what may be learned from the bets and their eventual outcomes.
Notably, Ted Danson won $2K on the Red Sox. Much deeper stuff under discussion there, though.
Well, that’s much better.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
The last theme was kind of busted and this one is closer to what my original one looked like. i still have to do some customization sometime.
Asteroids
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
‘Urgent’ Alert Sounded Over New Incoming Asteroid
Less than two days from […] warnings on the potential of Global weather chaos caused by Asteroid 2007 TU24’s 1.4 Lunar Distance close approach to our Earth, and which Western scientists had stated would be “… the closest approach by a known asteroid of this size or larger until 2027”, another new asteroid, 2008 BC15, discovered January 30, 2008, has just approached our Earth at the incredible closeness of 0.8 Lunar Distances.
[…] the greatest concern of Dr. Abdusamatov lies in the ‘assault’ these asteroids are making upon our Earth’s electromagnetic field causing an unprecedented outbreak of Global weather chaos.
That’s two asteroids passing by at a distance about as close as the Moon, the second one actually closer than the Moon by 76,800 km.
Subprime mortgages explained
Sunday, February 17, 2008
“Sir, as an investor and a concerned citizen, I demand that you force our financial institutions to show greater transparency and openness in their financial reporting!”
“Blow me.”
(via Metafilter)
