Sheril R. Kirshenbaum
sheril
Posts by this author
December 29, 2007
'I'm going to celebrate the new year when it's most convenient to me and, give or take 365 later, do it again.' - M.C. 2006
Many of us will spend the fleeting moments of 2007 toasting something that arguably rivals an odometer ticking over to a round number. Completely arbitrary. For even if space…
December 28, 2007
Well folks, I'm headed to California for a couple weeks...
Posting from me will be light, but you can bet Chris will have lots to share about Science Debate 2008 in the meantime.
Happy New Year!
December 26, 2007
Chris already listed several amazing new signatories who joined ScienceDebate2008 and now we can finally announce the most exciting news yet!
NEW YORK - A Republican and a Democratic member of the United States Congress, who are each also scientists, are leading an effort to push for a presidential…
December 26, 2007
= 3.1415926...
Over at Correlations, I'm having fun with Ï:
Just think: patterns exist that establish themselves out of disorder. So could it be that a higher order of some kind constructed a universe ascribing to specified geometrical axioms that result in early trajectories forward? And what if…
December 24, 2007
from The Intersection
Sheril, Chris, and Sparticus Maximus The Great
December 23, 2007
Last month, everyone was up in arms as Japan launched its fleet off Antarctica in the first major hunt of humpbacks since the 1960s. The move wasn't great for public relations, and would you know it... turns out all the hullabaloo has made a difference:
'Giving in to U.S. pressure and worldwide…
December 21, 2007
We already know everyone's favorite echinoderm is a far-eastern delicacy, has purported aphrodisiac qualities, and is a real life shape shifter even J. K. Rowling couldn't dream up... but according to an international team of scientists, the under appreciated sea cucumber may just be a veritable…
December 19, 2007
Long ago, before I wandered through tidepools and discovered the majestic sea cucumber, I wanted to be an astrobiologist.
To this day, little captures my imagination and attention so intently as the study of space. And I know I'm not alone... From Carl Sagan to George Lucas, most everyone seems…
December 18, 2007
I need a new computer.
So readers, Mac or PC?
The thing is Mac users sometimes scare me just a little... Really. It's as if they've been converted to the Church of Macintosh. Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon? Now admittedly, my dad is a Mac user and mom's set on her PC, so it's possible…
December 17, 2007
Just one month ago, Cyclone Sidr - one of the fiercest cyclones to hit Bangladesh in the last 131 years - slammed the country's southern and southwestern regions. At least 3,300 people lost there lives and millions were left homeless. The United Nations estimates that 8.7 million people were…
December 14, 2007
There's wonderful reason I've been quieter here than usual... ScienceDebate2008 has hit the ground running to so much enthusiasm and excitement, Chris and I are incredibly busy keeping up with all the hullabaloo! And we're also having a lot of fun working to make this incredible idea into a…
December 12, 2007
I love being a scientist. That said, science is far too vast to be limited to me and my test tube holding, statistics-savvy, lab-coat-wearing, and/or globe-trotting colleagues who traverse the spectrum of 'ologies'... You see, science reaches out infinitely beyond the realm of those who 'do' it…
December 10, 2007
Science. Such a simple term inextricably involved in every aspect of our being. It's exploring the past while looking toward our future. Science is life.
Step back and consider what we read, watch, hear, and experience in the news and everyday--stem cells, terrorism, immigration, human health…
December 7, 2007
Student Postby Wayneho Kam and Waynekid Kam
If Santa Claus came out with a "naughty or nice" list based on how well people treated the environment, who will be on the "nice" list? Who will be on the "naughty"? Have you ever wondered?
You can count on Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on…
December 7, 2007
Student Postby Stephanie Gold
Today, it seems that everywhere we go we hear about companies and retailers trying to do something for the environment. Whether it's Wal-Mart installing solar panels to power everything from the store lighting to the refrigerator section or a small local grocery store…
December 7, 2007
As Chris hinted, the two of us have been hard at work on something extraordinary to be announced next week! Get ready for BIG news that we're real excited to share here...
In the mean time, posts today will introduce a couple of bright young authors. You see, last month I gave a lecture here at…
December 5, 2007
With all the hullabaloo over women in science and engineering, let's hear if for the girls who just made history in New York!
Girls won top honors for the first time in the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology, one of the nation's most coveted student science awards, which were…
December 5, 2007
Over at Natural Patriot, you'll find Carnival of the Blue 7 - the best in oceans blogging for the month of November. I contributed my post on Cyclone Sidr's approach to the coast of Bangladesh - a region extremely vulnerable to rising sea level and storms.
As host Emmett Duffy describes:
'Our…
December 4, 2007
may be a bit too doped up on red bull and reality tv to have our finger on the pulse of every issue in national policy, but this kind of ridiculous propaganda on the Lieberman-Warner climate bill isn't fooling anyone.
While I can wax poetic on what's blatantly problematic with this approach to…
December 3, 2007
Little over a year ago, scientists warned the world's fish and seafood populations may collapse by 2048. But wait one second... If they're serious, what's a seafood lover like me to do 40 years from now?
Okay, while we may be headed for trouble - let's remember fishing can be done responsibly and…
November 30, 2007
I often write about the power of music to move and motivate people. The arts have a monumental role in culture which is, of course, at the intersection of politics, science... life. As a musician and former radio jock, I recognize talent, and a couple weeks ago I heard something special from…
November 29, 2007
It is an important and popular fact that things are not always what they seem. For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much -- the wheel, New York, wars and so on -- whilst all the dolphins had ever done was…
November 29, 2007
Research... okay, but geoengineering continues to raise a heck of a lot of red flags for me.
By no means do I deny what we're up against or disagree with my favorite blogger, but I'd like to emphasize that priorities must focus on changing our collective mindset and behavior regarding carbon in…
November 28, 2007
Dark settles on Majher Char, a 3x2 km long island in the middle of the Ballashar River in the Bay of Bengal. Last week, this was the scene of death and utter destruction when Cyclone Sidr came ashore, carrying in it's wake a 5 meter wall of water that washed over this island of 1800 inhabitants.…
November 27, 2007
A look to our sidebar and you'll see a new photograph. Regular readers may notice the style is quite different from the previous image and arguably distinct from what I generally advocate on the blog. Or is it?
Until this weekend, I hadn't realized I'd been feeling pressure to hide...or at least…
November 27, 2007
Next November 4, make an informed decision.
There's no denying this is the kind of stuff the voting public remembers...
November 26, 2007
Earlier this month, 58,000 gallons of bunker fuel poured into San Francisco Bay when the cargo ship Cosco Busan hit the Bay Bridge. What I want to know is--since the actual amount of oil released in the Bay was relatively small compared to scenarios like Exxon Valdez, why are we witnessing a major…
November 22, 2007
Like most of our readers, we're off on vacation over Thanksgiving - Chris to Wisconsin, Sheril to New York - and posting will be very light til we return.
We wish everyone a warm and happy holiday!
November 21, 2007
On the bookshelf of bad ideas, this one would be an epic:
Developers Plan Massive Water Park in Arizona Desert
Unfortunately, this seemingly absurd story is moving toward full blown project. My post on our freshwater crisis is now up over at Correlations. Here's an excerpt:
Do we, uh, really…
November 20, 2007
A Japanese fleet has instructions to kill 50 humpbacks - and 1,000 whales total - under the shroud of 'scientific whaling'.
Why should we care? Well it's estimated that there are about 10,000 humpbacks coursing about the planet now... low numbers considering we had 240,000 in the North…