Category Archives: Science

Three brief (non-political) items today.

Posted on Saturday 3 February 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

On entertaining new ideas; Reality and quantum mechanics; Nature as the great recycler. Here’s the first post in a new column that sounds interesting. Washington Post, Daniel Pink, 29 Jan 2024: Opinion | American imagination needs an adrenaline shot. Here’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Cosmology, Science, Thinking | Comments Off on Three brief (non-political) items today.

Edward Craig: PHILOSOPHY: A VERY SHORT INTRODUCTION

Posted on Thursday 25 January 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Proceeding with my foray into philosophy a bit discursively — not yet one of the big histories — I begin with the ‘very short introduction’ I displayed in my initial philosophy post back on 12 January. This is a volume … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Philosophy, Science | Comments Off on Edward Craig: PHILOSOPHY: A VERY SHORT INTRODUCTION

Adam Frank, THE LITTLE BOOK OF ALIENS

Posted on Wednesday 24 January 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s what looked like a fun, occasional book: a popular summary of a popular topic that’s well-known among followers of science and of science fiction. I bought it to glance through, not necessarily read through. But then I heard the … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Book Notes, Science | Comments Off on Adam Frank, THE LITTLE BOOK OF ALIENS

Late Afternoon and the House is Warm

Posted on Monday 22 January 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Another storm blowing through the Bay Area today. Jets are flying into SFO from the north, a rare circumstance. (I can see them from our balcony.) Our three kitties lie near me in my living room office, to be near … Continue reading →

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Tribal Psychology and Racism

Posted on Sunday 21 January 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

What evolutionary psychology reveals about American politics — nothing new here, except to note that these ideas have reached the mainstream press; A former Republican speechwriter summarizes Trump’s vile racist remarks; Short items about Trump’s confusion of Nikki Haley with … Continue reading →

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Math and Beauty

Posted on Friday 19 January 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Big Think’s Ethan Siegel on the Fibonacci sequence; Big Think’s Adam Frank on biological and technological information flow; Shorter items on inflation and human irrationality; how calls for securing the border are political theater; how anti-science (vaccine “hesitancy”) is rising; … Continue reading →

Posted in Mathematics, Politics, Science | Comments Off on Math and Beauty

Readings: Carl Sagan; Maggie Jackson

Posted on Sunday 14 January 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

A 1987 Carl Sagan lecture, just published in 2022, about the protocols of science and government and the need to acknowledge uncertainty; A NYT opinion piece by Maggie Jackson about uncertainty and how to manage it; R.E.M.’s “Leave” Quillette, Steven … Continue reading →

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Philosophy of Government, and other matters

Posted on Monday 8 January 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

How that DeSantis/Newsom debate revealed “the space between red and blue states”; Short items about folding paper to reach the Moon (the answer is 42), and Christian ideas about good and evil, beating up gay children, and Trump as God’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Politics, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Philosophy of Government, and other matters

Before Holiday Break

Posted on Friday 22 December 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Quick post, likely the last one for several days, perhaps a week. Topics: RFK’s lies; Big Think’s “Explain It Like I’m Smart” series; How the humanities have become more political; the most mystifying open questions in science; why a university … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Lunacy, Politics, Science | Comments Off on Before Holiday Break

People Prefer a Softened Reality

Posted on Wednesday 20 December 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

A Big Think piece about over-hyped science and astronomy claims from this past year; Adam Lee on Benjamin Franklin’s “noble lie”: that people need religion in order to behave; And an Endpiece about current holiday activities. I’ve mentioned before that … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Personal history, Physics, Science | Comments Off on People Prefer a Softened Reality