Clipmarks | bferman's 'science' clips

Computer Screen Contact Lenses

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 03:29:10 GMT

clipped by: bferman
clipper's remarks: Simply amazing

This kind of stuff only used to be in science fiction. Not anymore. A group of University of Washington engineers is developing contact lenses which can, get this, display the details of whoever is calling you on your mobile phone! The display would be superimposed on the outside world. BUT, that's just the tip of the iceberg. The technology, if and when fully-developed, could be used by drivers to display speed of the vehicle, pilots to view the plane's condition while flying and yes, video game developers for new games which would definitely beat virtual reality as we know it. The developers aim to enable web surfing in through the contact lenses too. The team was already able to develop a prototype although a fully-functioning device would probably not be unveiled anytime soon.

Tags: technology, biomedical, science

Test Your Knowledge - Take the Global Warming Test!

Sun, 27 May 2007 17:01:57 GMT

clipped by: bferman
clipper's remarks: Test yourself!

Clip Source: www.geocraft.com

Take the

GLOBAL WARMING TEST

Test your knowledge and common sense in this simple 10-question test

Caution: This section contains sound science, not media hype, and may therefore contain material not suitable for young people trying to get a good grade in political correctness.

Tags: global warming, climate change, science, politics, tech

IPCC Report Dampens Global Warming Alarmism

Sun, 27 May 2007 16:26:53 GMT

clipped by: bferman
clipper's remarks: Of course the media won't pick up on this. "If it bleeds, it leads" and this story isn't bleeding.

Clip Source: www.heartland.org

IPCC Fourth Assessment Dampens Global Warming Alarmism

Reduced Sea-Level Predictions

The biggest story in the summary was largely missed by the environmental media. The IPCC now projects, in its mid-range scenario for carbon dioxide emissions, that the maximum-scenario rise in global sea level in this century will be around 17 inches.

That's a reduction of 30 percent from what was in the Third Scientific Assessment, published just six years ago.

That's huge news, or at least it should be.

But instead of listening to what the IPCC is saying, people are opting for the science fiction of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, whose central disaster scenario is that Greenland sheds the majority of its ice this century, raising sea level as much as 20 feet. Much of Florida disappears, and the Mall in Washington goes under water.

Recent Developments Ignored

In two years, somehow the vast expanse of the upper ocean suddenly lost the equivalent of a decade's worth of warming!

Tags: global warming, climate change, science, politics, ipcc

Fears of Melting Polar Ice Are Discredited

Sun, 27 May 2007 16:04:06 GMT

clipped by: bferman
clipper's remarks: Thank God this isn't really a problem.

Clip Source: www.heartland.org

Fears of Melting Polar Ice Are Discredited

Ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica are losing little if any ice mass, thus having very little impact on global sea level, results from several recent studies show.

Andrew Shepherd of the University of Edinburgh and Duncan Wingham of University College London examined data from 14 satellite-based estimates of Greenland and Antarctic ice sheet volume taken since 1998. According to the scientists, who published their findings in the March 16 issue of Science magazine, the ice sheets are affecting sea level somewhere between a rise of 1.0 millimeters per year and a fall of 0.15 millimeters per year.

Examining the data for Greenland and Antarctica, the two scientists concluded, "Our best estimate of their combined imbalance is about 125 gigatons per year of ice, enough to raise sea level by 0.35 millimeters per year. This is only a modest contribution to the present rate of sea-level rise of 3.0 millimeters per year."

Tags: global warming, climate change, science, politics, weather

Global Warming Making Northern Hemisphere Greener

Sun, 27 May 2007 15:58:41 GMT

clipped by: bferman
clipper's remarks: Apparently global warming actually has some benefits.

Clip Source: www.heartland.org

Rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, together with moderately warming temperatures, have caused a substantial greening of the Northern Hemisphere. That's according to Craig Idso, founder and former president of the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change, reporting in the March 14 issue of CO2 Science.

CO2, Climate Dominant Factors

Idso's article summarizes research first reported in the December 2006 Geophysical Research Letters. In that study, five scientists at universities in France and the United States studied the spatial patterns of vegetation growth north of 25 degrees latitude (a line running east-west just south of the Florida Keys) between 1980 and 2000.

The five scientists reported, "The results indicate that changes in climate and atmospheric CO2 likely function as dominant controllers for the greening trend during the study period."

Tags: climate change, global warming, science, politics

Climatologist Fired for Exposing Warming Myths

Sun, 27 May 2007 15:47:26 GMT

clipped by: bferman
clipper's remarks: Why am I not surprised by this?

Clip Source: www.heartland.org

University of Washington climate scientist Mark Albright was dismissed on March 12 from his position as associate state climatologist, just weeks after exposing false claims of shrinking glaciers in the Cascade Mountains.

Embarrassing Data

Albright sent emails to his colleagues informing them of the factual data.

Albright noted in his emails the current snow pack is only marginally lower than the long-term average since 1943. Moreover, the Cascade Mountains snow pack has been growing since the late 1970s.

Albright's emails were particularly embarrassing to Philip Mote, the Washington state climatologist.

Review Supported Albright

Censored, Fired

When Albright refused to submit to Mote's censorship, Mote stripped him of his associate state climatologist title.

Politics Triumphant

Cliff Mass, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington, told the March 15 Seattle Times, "In all my years of doing science, I've never seen this sort of gag-order approach to doing science."

Tags: climate change, global warming, science, politics, myth

IPCC Climate Report Scientifically Erroneous

Sun, 27 May 2007 15:05:22 GMT

clipped by: bferman

Clip Source: climatesci.colorado.edu

Climate Science has selected two errors in Chapter 1 of the 2007 WG1 IPCC Report to highlight

The second error (and it is a big one) is their unsubstantiated claim that

“Projecting changes in climate due to changes in greenhouse gases 50 years from now is a very different and much more easily solved problem than forecasting weather patterns just weeks from now. To put it another way, long-term variations brought about by changes in the composition of the atmosphere are much more predictable than individual weather events.” [from page 105]

This is a remarkable claim, and forms the basis of the entire IPCC concept

Their claim

is such an absurd, scientifically unsupported claim, that the media and any scientists who swallow this conclusion are either blind to the scientific understanding of the climate system, or have other motives to promote the IPCC viewpoint. The absurdity of the IPCC claim should be obvious to anyone with common sense.

Tags: ipcc, report, climate change, global warming, science

College Student's Autism Project

Sat, 19 May 2007 04:23:56 GMT

clipped by: bferman
clipper's remarks: Wow, what else can I say. 1 in 150 is pretty scary.

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Tags: autism, science, biomedical, health, epidemic

Fake Science vs. Real Science - how can you tell?

Thu, 03 May 2007 03:03:15 GMT

clipped by: bferman
clipper's remarks: It appears that the global warming hysteria fits into the category of pseudoscience.

Clip Source: www.quackwatch.org

Pseudoscience often contradicts itself, even in its own terms.

The word "pseudo" means fake. The surest way to spot a fake is to know as much as possible about the real thing—in this case, about science itself.

Pseudoscience always achieves a reduction to absurdity if pursued far enough.

Pseudoscience deliberately creates mystery where none
exists, by omitting crucial information and important details.

Pseudoscience attempts to persuade with rhetoric, propaganda, and
misrepresentation rather than valid evidence

Pseudoscience makes extraordinary claims and advances fantastic
theories that contradict what is known about nature.

Pseudoscience displays an indifference to facts

Pseudoscience "research" is invariably sloppy

Pseudoscience begins with a hypothesis—usually one which is appealing emotionally,
and spectacularly implausible—and then looks only for items which appear to support it

Pseudoscience is indifferent to criteria of valid evidence

Pseudoscience relies heavily on subjective validation

Tags: pseudo science, science

Seven Warning Signs of Bogus Science

Thu, 03 May 2007 02:50:49 GMT

clipped by: bferman
clipper's remarks: How many of these signs can you find in the man made global warming hysteria?

Clip Source: www.quackwatch.org

Seven Warning Signs of Bogus Science

1. The discoverer pitches the claim directly to the media.

2. The discoverer says that a powerful establishment is trying to suppress his or her work.

3. The scientific effect involved is always at the very limit of detection.

4. Evidence for a discovery is anecdotal.

5. The discoverer says a belief is credible because it has endured for centuries.

6. The discoverer has worked in isolation.

7. The discoverer must propose new laws of nature to explain an observation.

A new law of nature, invoked to explain some extraordinary result, must not conflict with what is already known. If we must change existing laws of nature or propose new laws to account for an observation, it is almost certainly wrong.

I began this list of warning signs to help federal judges detect scientific nonsense. But as I finished the list, I realized that in our increasingly technological society, spotting voodoo science is a skill that every citizen should develop.

Tags: science, myth

The Blackest Material

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 02:04:28 GMT

clipped by: bferman

Clip Source: science.slashdot.org

The Blackest Material

"Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have created 'the world's first material that reflects virtually no light.' This anti-reflection technology is based on nanomaterial and could lead to the development of more efficient solar cells, brighter LEDs, and 'smarter' light sources. In theory, if a room were to be coated with this material, switching on the lights would only illuminate the items in the room and not the walls, giving a sense of floating free in infinite space."

Tags: science, anti-reflection, technology, nano

Debunking global warming

Sun, 28 Jan 2007 18:53:09 GMT

clipped by: bferman
clipper's remarks: I've often wondered why I haven't heard much in the way of evidence for man made global warming in the news. Finally, here is the explanation! I have read numerous reports of man made emissions of one kind of another increasing, but never any evidence linking those emissions to global warming.
Simply saying that a scientist thinks this or that is not evidence. Real science is backed up with reliable data from reliable sources.

Clip Source: www.cknj.com

Debunking global warming

It is amazing that so many people believe global warming is real and is caused by humans. This myth has been largely promoted by the major media that gives much attention to those who support it and little to those who debunk it.

For example, in December, U.S. Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma chaired a "Climate Change and the Media" meeting. He said that global warming is a hoax. The meeting received almost no major media attention.

At this meeting, Dr. David Deming, a geophysicist at the University of Oklahoma, stated, "I was contacted by a reporter for National Public Radio. He offered to interview me, but only if I would state that the warming was due to human activity. When I refused to do so, he hung up on me."

Deming also said that he received an astonishing e-mail from a major researcher in climate change that read, "We have to get rid of the Medieval Warm Period."

From about 800 A.D. to 1300 A.D. we had the Medieval Warm Period where the world was as warm or warmer than it is today. But it is an obstacle to those maintaining that the current warming is abnormal.

People who want to hear the other side can go to www.oism.org/pproject for a scientific debunking of global warming. Also listed are the names of more than 17,000 scientists, meteorologists and other technical people who have signed a petition stating that there is no convincing scientific evidence to support global warming.

Robert W. Van de Walle

Granada Hills, Calif.

Tags: global warming, myth, inhofe, climate change, hoax, deming, npr, medieval warm period, science, meterology, evidence

Global Warming, 'The Science' & the Politics

Sun, 28 Jan 2007 12:01:12 GMT

clipped by: Djiezes
clipper's remarks: ... read the full article ...

The unfortunate thing is that many people still hold onto a ‘normal’ faith in science such that it can first find truth, then speak truth to power, and that truth-based policy will then follow. Fred Singer has this view of science; so does Mark Lynas. That is why they reduce their exchange to one about scientific truth rather than about values, perspectives and political preferences. If the battle of science is won, then the war of values will be won.

Clip Source: www.postnormaltimes.net

Book review: Unstoppable Global Warming - every 1,500 years

Is this a book about science? It is certainly written by scientists, one a climate physicist (Professor Fred Singer, an ex-US Government science advisor and outspoken critic of the idea that humans are warming the planet), the other a biologist. Its central thesis – the warming currently observed around the world is a function of a 1,500 year ‘unstoppable’ cycle in solar energy – is linked to evidence that most people would recognise as being generated by science. And the book is written as a scientific text, with citations to peer-reviewed articles, deference to numbers and adoption of technical terms. But whether this book is about science or about something else depends on what you believe science to be. One of the central reasons we disagree about climate change is because we have different conceptions of what science is and with what authority it speaks – in other words, how scientific ‘knowledge’ interacts with those other realms of understanding brought to us by politics, ethics and spirituality.

Tags: climate change, global warming, book, review, book review, singer, avery, skeptic, denial, science, ipcc, environment, future, politics