The End of the Space Age: It's important to recognize, though, that the decision in question belongs to all of us, and not just to Barack Obama. The administration wouldn't be cutting the manned spaceflight program if Americans were still...
The Price of Casino-Like Finance Is Higher Than We Think: However, Maxine suspects that the longest term and most severe damage from the finance casino will not be from government deficits required to shore up too-big-to-fail banks and insurers. It...
Several readers have pointed me to this development at Berkeley High School: Berkeley High School is considering a controversial proposal to eliminate science labs and the five science teachers who teach them to free up more resources to help struggling...
Chard Orzel's book, How to Teach Physics to Your Dog, is out. Much props to Chad for being able to write a book while being a professor and father. A man for all seasons indeed!...
Copenhagen dreaming: In defense of the scientific method: As the Copenhagen conference on the successor to the Kyoto Protocol draws near, I want to lay some meta-thoughts out about the scientific method which I think are important, as a context...
Seed's Mr. Space Lee Billings has an interesting piece, The Long Shot: "If planets are found around Alpha Centauri, it's very clear to me what will happen," Marcy said. "NASA will immediately convene a committee of its most thoughtful space...
The rise in eczema, or asthma, or the general return of infectious disease, reminds one that though we live in a post-Malthusian Age generally, many of the truths of earlier times hold. While with physical technology we can rest assured...
The GSS has a variable, ODDS1, which represents the question: Now, think about this situation. A doctor tells a couple that their genetic makeup means that they've got one in four chances of having a child with an inherited illness....
A few years ago I pointed to a paper which surveyed variation in health across the United States as a function of geography. Today Andrew Gelman points to a new map put out by the heath insurance industry. I've placed...
