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POPSThe Superstitious Right Fights Good Science on Global Warming We could go on and on detailing the ludicrous inanities of American politics in the age of Bush (himself Exhibit A), but really my favorite has to be the case of global warming. In a society devoted like no other to the politics of fear, we have somehow managed to forget the one thing we should probably fear most.
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POPSIce Cores Map Dynamics Of Sudden Climate Changes he first sudden warming happened 14,700 years ago. The temperature in Greenland increased by more than 10 degrees, and in the milder climate, called the Bølling period, the first people of the Stone Age went towards Northern Europe and Scandinavia. But joy did not last long. 12,900 years ago the ice age stroke once more with a new severely cold period, which lasted until 11,700 years ago, at which time the ice age ended ultimately. The ice cores from Greenland, which reflect the climate in the Northern Hemisphere, show that tremendously fast climatic changes were involved. The ice age ended in one year
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POPSThe Journal of Unlikely Science I think there is a world market for maybe five computers. - Thomas J. Watson ., IBM Chairman, 1943 Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons. - Popular Mechanics, 1949
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POPSEvolution: What the Fossils Say ? (a book recomm) Michael Shermer - is a science writer, historian of science, founder of The Skeptics Society, and editor of its magazine Skeptic, which is largely devoted to investigating and debunking pseudoscientific and supernatural claims. since April 2004 has been a monthly columnist for Scientific American magazine with his Skeptic column. Shermer was once a fundamentalist Christian. Shermer is now a professed atheist, but prefers to use nontheist, and an advocate for humanist philosophy.
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POPSFasting: Is it beneficial to your health? ...fasting has been shown to be effective in treating high blood pressure, however, medical journals won't publish the research. Why not? No profit to be earned from recommending that people skip a few meals??
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POPSThinking the way animals do
Temple Grandin Ph.D. is an assistant professor of animal behaviour at Colorado State Uni. She suffers from a form of autism, and describes the way she thinks as thinking in pictures. This has helped her understand the way Animals think, with direct association, rather than a logical process. A significant statement which can apply to most people, is the fact that originally as far as she was aware everybody thought the same way. Until she asked people and found this was not the case. She describes a radio station person who said she had no pictures, in her mind, but thought in terms of emotions or words. I'm sure I can understand my dogs. They seem to think in a manner that is simple, and straightforward, it can just be a matter of associating cues with behavior, and remembering Pavlov. I think in Pictures and sounds. There is music I can 'hear' in my mind that not only has the same 'quality' as the original, but there is a remarkable capacity to edit. Perhaps something like Auti
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POPSM.I.T Open Courses I know that M.I.T. has been clipped in the past. However this is a list of updated courses. Please refrain from studying too hard during the festive season
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POPSDon't Know Much Biology This attitude has enormous political—and educational—implications. What happens if scientific truth conflicts with a politician's "spiritual truth"? This is not a theoretical problem, but a real one, as we see in debates about stem-cell research, abortion, genetic engineering, and global warming. Ignorance about evolution may be widespread, but it's not nearly as dangerous as dogmatic certainty about the real world based on faith alone.