What we're talking about Sunday, September 18, 2016
Doomsday and Nuclear Risk
Reset the Doomsday Clock?
The Pump Handle September 7, 2016
Both Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump have suggested their respective administration’s would have more aggressive nuclear weapons policies. Knowing that, I wonder if it’s time to consider moving the hands of the Doomsday Clock closer to midnight.
Labor Day report highlights some of the year’s best news reporting, research
The Pump Handle September 6, 2016
From the weakening of workers’ compensation to the lives of America’s nuclear plant workers, it was another year of stellar news reporting on worker health and safety.
Binding Energy, Nuclear Physics, and Radiation Poisoning
Starts With A Bang November 14, 2013
“Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war that we know about peace, more about killing that we know about living.” –Omar N. Bradley Nuclear physics is one of the most daunting, emotionally charged phrases in all of science. You can hardly say the words without the image…
Channel Surfing
Life Science
Until now I had assumed that a “peep” was that squishy sugar-covered marshmallow treat that we enjoyed as kids and a “yo-yo” was a toy on a string. As it turns out, peep and yo-yo are also term used to described types of diving patterns. A square dive is one in which there are no excursions to the surface, known…
A new study conducted by researchers at Northwestern University examined the costs of reproduction in roundworms, otherwise known as C. elegans. They discovered that male roundworms can send two kinds of pheromones that prime females for reproduction. One type of pheromone they studied sparks the onset of puberty in young female worms while the other prolongs fertility in aging females. …
Physical Science
“When we think about the present, we veer wildly between the belief in chance and the evidence in favour of determinism. When we think about the past, however, it seems obvious that everything happened in the way that it was intended.” -Michel Houellebecq If you take anything in the Universe and want to know what…
Did you ever notice that Pluto doesn’t have much of a tail? No, not that Pluto! This Pluto: This has been known for a while. NASA noted this last year: New Horizons has discovered a region of cold, dense ionized gas tens of thousands of miles beyond Pluto — the planet’s atmosphere being stripped away…
“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive — to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.” –Marcus Aurelius How old is life on Earth? If all you had to go on was the fossil record, you’d run into severe trouble once you went back more than one…
Environment
Time to declare this year’s sea ice race over – thanks to those of you who pointed this out to me while I was on holiday. As an apology for the lack of interesting things to say about sea ice, there’s a couple of nice pix of mountain ice at the end. Follow them to…
In a new study — the first of its kind — researchers fed water laced with fracking chemicals to pregnant mice and then examined their female offspring for signs of impaired fertility. They found negative effects at both high and low chemical concentrations, which raises red flags for human health as well.
The Pump Handle
Not an “accident”: Emilio Dodd, 55, suffers fatal work-related injury in Lewisville, TX
This week’s snapshot of just one work-related fatality in the US. This one occurred on Tuesday, September 6, in Lewisville, TX
Humanities
In a new study — the first of its kind — researchers fed water laced with fracking chemicals to pregnant mice and then examined their female offspring for signs of impaired fertility. They found negative effects at both high and low chemical concentrations, which raises red flags for human health as well.
A new study conducted by researchers at Northwestern University examined the costs of reproduction in roundworms, otherwise known as C. elegans. They discovered that male roundworms can send two kinds of pheromones that prime females for reproduction. One type of pheromone they studied sparks the onset of puberty in young female worms while the other prolongs fertility in aging females. …
Oklahoma Supreme Court rules against state’s opt-out workers’ compensation law; asbestos removal companies accused of discriminatory hiring; new research finds New York City’s paid sick leave law barely impacted businesses and hiring; and researchers predict that raising Colorado’s minimum wage will pump millions into the local economy.
Education
Until now I had assumed that a “peep” was that squishy sugar-covered marshmallow treat that we enjoyed as kids and a “yo-yo” was a toy on a string. As it turns out, peep and yo-yo are also term used to described types of diving patterns. A square dive is one in which there are no excursions to the surface, known…
A new study conducted by researchers at Northwestern University examined the costs of reproduction in roundworms, otherwise known as C. elegans. They discovered that male roundworms can send two kinds of pheromones that prime females for reproduction. One type of pheromone they studied sparks the onset of puberty in young female worms while the other prolongs fertility in aging females. …
Confessions of a Science Librarian
Interview with Guerilla Science on Revolutionising how audiences experience science
I wish I knew how many times per week I get pitched opportunities to “interview” brave, unconventional, innovative “scientists” on my blog. Too many to count, most weeks. The pseudoscience PR whirlpool is vast and slippery. But there’s also the legitimate “Hey, somebody at my university just published this thing, maybe you want to talk…
Politics
“After years of peddling a false conspiracy theory that President Obama wasn’t born in the United States, Donald Trump — just 53 days before Election Day — now says he believes the president was born in the U.S. “President Obama was born in the United States. Period,” Trump said at a campaign event in a…
Watch this video on The Scene. Here’s the text. Keith Olbermann is back.
When I first heard that Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for President, was scheduled to appear on The Dr. Oz Show, my first thought was, basically, “Of course he is. What took him so long?” After all, it’s a crank pairing made in heaven. Given that, I considered it my skeptical blogging duty at least…
Medicine
In a new study — the first of its kind — researchers fed water laced with fracking chemicals to pregnant mice and then examined their female offspring for signs of impaired fertility. They found negative effects at both high and low chemical concentrations, which raises red flags for human health as well.
Until now I had assumed that a “peep” was that squishy sugar-covered marshmallow treat that we enjoyed as kids and a “yo-yo” was a toy on a string. As it turns out, peep and yo-yo are also term used to described types of diving patterns. A square dive is one in which there are no excursions to the surface, known…
A new study conducted by researchers at Northwestern University examined the costs of reproduction in roundworms, otherwise known as C. elegans. They discovered that male roundworms can send two kinds of pheromones that prime females for reproduction. One type of pheromone they studied sparks the onset of puberty in young female worms while the other prolongs fertility in aging females. …
Brain & Behavior
Until now I had assumed that a “peep” was that squishy sugar-covered marshmallow treat that we enjoyed as kids and a “yo-yo” was a toy on a string. As it turns out, peep and yo-yo are also term used to described types of diving patterns. A square dive is one in which there are no excursions to the surface, known…
A new study conducted by researchers at Northwestern University examined the costs of reproduction in roundworms, otherwise known as C. elegans. They discovered that male roundworms can send two kinds of pheromones that prime females for reproduction. One type of pheromone they studied sparks the onset of puberty in young female worms while the other prolongs fertility in aging females. …
In the old days, the words “art” and “science” did not mean the same thing they mean today, at least in academia. Today, unfortunately, they have almost come to mean opposites. You can’t be doing both at once. Or, at least, that’s what people who haven’t thought about it much may think. Art can be…
Technology
The FAA is asking people to not board aircraft with a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phone because it might bring the aircraft down, should it start a fire. Also, stow the phone in such a way that the on switch can not be accidentally actuated. The US Consumer Product Safet Commission has issued a warning…
This looks like a fun project. I think it works so well, or at least, seams to in the video because LEDs are so damn efficient. I would make it somewhat differently, but this is good. For one thing, I’d probably make it out of an LED flashlight, swapping out the batteries for a motor.…
Information Science
Confessions of a Science Librarian
Interview with Guerilla Science on Revolutionising how audiences experience science
I wish I knew how many times per week I get pitched opportunities to “interview” brave, unconventional, innovative “scientists” on my blog. Too many to count, most weeks. The pseudoscience PR whirlpool is vast and slippery. But there’s also the legitimate “Hey, somebody at my university just published this thing, maybe you want to talk…
Confessions of a Science Librarian
Friday Fun: Horrible Facebook Algorithm Accident Results In Exposure To New Ideas
Yep, Facebook, love it or hate it, it’s hard to ignore that life just hasn’t been the same these past 10 years or so. Horrible Facebook Algorithm Accident Results In Exposure To New Ideas “To those who were forced to read a headline they did not agree with when they visited Facebook yesterday, we are…
Confessions of a Science Librarian
Books I’d like to read: Climate change, critical thinking, the dangers of big data and more
It’s been quite a while since I’ve done one of these posts, that’s for sure. But since we’re at the start of the new school year, I thought it might be fun to highlight some recent and forthcoming books about science and technology and especially how they intersect with the human condition. Climate change, critical…
Jobs
The Pump Handle
Not an “accident”: Emilio Dodd, 55, suffers fatal work-related injury in Lewisville, TX
This week’s snapshot of just one work-related fatality in the US. This one occurred on Tuesday, September 6, in Lewisville, TX
Oklahoma Supreme Court rules against state’s opt-out workers’ compensation law; asbestos removal companies accused of discriminatory hiring; new research finds New York City’s paid sick leave law barely impacted businesses and hiring; and researchers predict that raising Colorado’s minimum wage will pump millions into the local economy.
Earlier this week, we published our annual report, “The Year In U.S. Occupational Health & Safety: Fall 2015 – Summer 2016,” chronicling the victories, setbacks and struggles taking place in the American workplace. But it was just about impossible to piece together a report like this without thinking about the strange — and often scary — election before us and its implications for workers.
