Greg Laden is a biological anthropologist and science communicator. His research has covered North American prehistoric and historic archaeology and African archaeology and human ecology. He is an OpenSource and OpenAccess advocate. Greg's wife, Amanda, is a High School biology teacher, his daughter Julia is a world traveler and his son Huxley is 2.
The year 2016 was messy and expensive and full of climate change enhanced weather disasters. There were, according to Jeff Masters and Bob Henson, over 30 billion dollar disasters last year.
This is the fourth-largest number on record going back to 1990, said insurance broker Aon Benfield in their…
Rosa Parks wasn't just some kid who decided to defy white authority and relinquish her seat on the bus.
For one thing, she was a bit older than a kid. For another, she carried out this defiant act as part of a larger strategy to cause necessary and urgent change in the rules of society.
When the…
Drones are so early 20th century:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=35&v=92RpDNAvNH0
That doesn't actually look too hard to make. The only tricky part is how to attach it to the monkey.
The State Department has been in the state of chaos over several days, between the Trump Transition Team failing to staff up the Executive Branch, high level officers leaving on their own accord, and so on.
And a mere hours ago, Oil Man Rex Tillerson has been officially sworn in as Security of…
There have been significant wildfires in Chile since November, and they continue. These are the worst fires Chile has seen in known history, and Chile has been keeping track of its history for quite a while.
Are these fires climate change caused? Apparently so. Chile has had a rain deficit for…
The Dogs Still Bark in Dutch
I grew up in the old Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, now known to you as the State of New York. There, I carried out extensive archaeological and historic research, and along the way, came across that phrase, “the dogs still bark in Dutch.”
It is an idea that might…
Correction: Apparently, the part about Gorsuch creating a "Fascism Forever Club" is a falsehood! Well, that's what we get for using the Daily Mail. (In my defense, I originally rejected this story when sent to me because of the source, but then USA Today picked it up. Even thought USA Today was…
Congressional Republicans, voting party line, will end an important provision protecting streams and rivers from coal waste, and a requirement that oil companies report payments to Foreign Governments. The former is blatant hippie punching anti environmental evil. The latter is a fully expected out…
Your objective is to learn Python programming. Everybody has to learn Python.
You are looking for a book that will make that easier for you. One possibility, one that I'll recommend for most people in this situation, is Python Crash Course: A Hands-On, Project-Based Introduction to Programming…
The March for Science is scheduled to take place April 22, 2017 in DC . Hashtag #ScienceMarch
Twitter account here.
Web site here, though not much there yet, this was JUST announced seconds ago.
Please note that they are accepting donations. Click through to the donations page to give a donation…
Well, not my placenta exactly, but ... well, someone's?
Did you now that the placenta that is born out of a female primate's body is an organ of the infant also being born? It is the first body part you lose. I use the term "primate" here because, even though all the "placental mammals" as we are…
Neil Gorsuch is a significant and meaningful choice for SCOTUS. The image above is not fake, it really is his Harvard Law yearbook photo. If he was a Democratic pick, that one image would end him. Since he is a Republican pick, democrats have a Big Tent instead of a spine, and Republicans have…
Those of us concerned with climate change are especially concerned with the nomination of former Exxon chief Rex Tillerson to be Secretary of State. Well, Rex Tillerson was just confirmed by the US Senate.
Donald Trump is the least liked president ever for this point in a term. And, Rex Tillerson…
Two Polls came out a few days ago, but I'm afraid that the news cycles have been swamped and they may have been missed. Here are some simple graphics. Plenty more data can be found at Public Policy Polling, and see RM on MSBNC below for more.
A brief update: This morning, Senate Republicans set aside the rules that say that both parties must be present, with at least one member, for a committee vote to advance a Presidential nominee for a cabinet appointment.
In other words, as outlined below, our system is based not only on enforceable…
It sounds a lot like two hands clapping, but quieter, because you can only do it by slapping your thumb against a couple of your other fingers and not to hard. This, of course, leaves open another important philosophical question. Is a thumb a finger?
A while back my friend Massimo Pigliucci took…
Asking for a friend...
But seriously, this is a real question. For example, several years ago, Herbert Weinstein tossed his wife out the window of their Manhattan apartment, after killing her, following an argument. He was well known to be a non violent person, and there was really no good reason…
Mary Tyler Moore has always had a certain amount of grace, and just now, she had the grace to wait until a reasonable time after the spate of celebrity deaths that captivated the Internet for weeks to pass on to the great Newsroom In The Sky.
She played Laura Petrie on the Dick Van Dyke Show, but…
Last October I reviewed Scratch Programming Playground, by Al Sweigart.
You will recall that Scratch is a programming language that uses drag and drop elements to construct a program.
Individual objecgts, including "sprites" that can move around on the screen, as well as static graphic elements…
I'm only just digesting this, but it appears that Judith Curry, climate scientist turned anti-climate change activist (more or less) has joined the Koch Brothers front group "Cause of Action".
How do we know this? Because she has filed an Amicus Brief (2017.01.25 Mot. for Leave to File, Nos. 14-cv-…
This is a press release from the Natural Resources Committee Democrats, US House of Representatives concerning President Trump's decision and actions to push ahead with two highly controversial petroleum pipeline projects.
These projects had previously been stopped because they did not meet…
The solar energy field now produces the larest share of jobs in US Power generation. There are 374,000 jobs i Solar right now, compared to fewer than 190,00 in coal, gas, and oil.
This corresponds to shifts in the amount of electricity produced by these various sources, as indicated in the…
It is a good idea to occassionally experience history. This helps us understand ourselves, and our possible futures, better. Much of this is done through reading excellent texts. For example, I'm currently reading Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin.…
From ClimateTruth.org, in response to Trump gag orders on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA):
“President Trump and his administration have ignored scientific reality, and now they’re trying to hide it.
“Merely five days into Donald…
It is generally felt that Trump's claims of voter fraud, especially, apparently, by illegal aliens -- Or some kind of alien, not sure -- could be a prelude, or excuse for some kind of widespread voter suppression campaign. In any event, these repeated claims were once thought of as an odd and…
The science is clear: Human caused global warming is happening and is serious. Building and expanding infrastructure to make it easier to burn fossil fuels is a very bad idea. The Keystone XL pipeline and the Dakota Access pipeline were two such projects, and in recent years, the environmental…
I'm not sure this has happened before, and most people are unaware, so I thought a quick note was in order.
If you were previously following the President of the United States on Twitter, when it was Barack Obama, you followed @POTUS.
Twitter has created an account called @POTUS44, which is for…
This is not a time to be distracted, to turn away from politics, to eschew activism. In fact, if you are an American Citizen, you have to look back at your life and recognize that you screwed up, in two ways. First, whatever time you spent agitating and activating and acting out, turns out, was…
