Category Archives: Science

End of Year Summaries

Posted on Sunday 29 December 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

David Brooks’ favorite essays include one about how Trump’s people have no clue about how to fix complex problems, and one about why people believe *true* things; Two pieces from The Atlantic about 77 facts from 2024, and important breakthroughs … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Politics, Science, Social Progress, Technology | Leave a comment

Notes from Inside the Universe

Posted on Tuesday 17 December 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Vox answers questions about the drones; A piece by Rahm Emanual inspires my own thinking about how much it matters which party is in power, every election cycle; Trump wants to expel immigrants but is happy to hire them; Nancy … Continue reading →

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Institutions, Tribes, and Faith

Posted on Monday 9 December 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Paul Krugman’s last NYT column, in part about what has changed in the past 25 years, including the collapse of trust in the elites; Helen Lewis echoes Fareed Zakaria yesterday: the mainstream media is part of the “elite” system that … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, Epistemology, Religion, Science, Social Progress | Comments Off on Institutions, Tribes, and Faith

A Couple Interesting Things About Reality

Posted on Tuesday 26 November 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

After which, items about toxic masculinity and Trump, Elon Musk stifling news, and others. Let’s begin by noting a couple interesting things about reality, one from a hundred years ago, one new. AlterNet, via The Conversation, 22 Nov 2024: It’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Mathematics, Science | Comments Off on A Couple Interesting Things About Reality

False Realities

Posted on Monday 25 November 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts, as we’ve long heard; Historian Heather Cox Richardson dismantles claims of Trump’s “mandate”; Short items about MTG and NPR; Fox News personalities becoming America’s scientists and doctors; … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Religion, Science | Comments Off on False Realities

Dispatches from the Real World

Posted on Thursday 21 November 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

My latest take on the true vs the real; A piece about RFK Jr identifies the three big reasons you’re alive today: clean water, antibiotics, and vaccines; How we know RFK Jr is wrong about vaccines; How red states lead … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Politics, Science | Comments Off on Dispatches from the Real World

Here’s a New One: Terrain Theory

Posted on Sunday 17 November 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Busy day today so just one item. We’ve had the flat-earthers, the chem-trailers, the vaccine deniers, and now there are those who deny the germ theory of disease. Boing Boing, Jennifer Sandlin, 10 Nov 2024: Germ theory denial is dangerous … Continue reading →

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A Little Knowledge… Is a Dangerous Thing

Posted on Saturday 16 November 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Imagine that you work for a company that does any kind of specialty work, anything at all — urban planning, furniture making, aerospace design — and for some reason the company’s owner dies and his aunt inherits the entire company … Continue reading →

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Notes About the Real World

Posted on Wednesday 23 October 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Let’s look at some non-political items today. Three critical thinking tools used by Daniel Dennett; Eight principles of lifelong learning from an astrophysicist; Adam Lee on our solarpunk future — technology that exists now, but isn’t widely distributed; Scientific American … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Nature, Human Progress, Science | Comments Off on Notes About the Real World

Chemophobia

Posted on Monday 30 September 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

How Rachel Carson’s groundbreaking Silent Spring led to fixing the environment, but also led to an irrational fear of “chemicals” and then the anti-vax movement; Short items about Vance and Wallnau, Trump’s threats of a violent purge of society, how … Continue reading →

Posted in Lunacy, Politics, Psychology, Science | Comments Off on Chemophobia