Dear Science

Bright, Hot, then Cold: The City After Nuclear Blast

Wed, 28 Dec 2016 09:06:00 -0500

Nuclear war offers a multitude of bad ways to die. The bulk of the initial deaths from a nuclear bomb come from the intense heat from the detonation itself, followed by the firestorms triggered by the blast. Extrapolating from the incendiary bomb attacks in World War II (Tokyo and Dresden being among the more infamous), the authors note, “the projected number of injured requiring medical treatment would be drastically reduced relative to that projected by blast scaling, as many injured that would otherwise require treatment would be consumed in the fires.” If not vaporized at the center of a blast, many of those who survive the initial moments would then promptly be burned alive by a raging super-fire extending for many kilometers from the hypocenter of the blast.

Sustainability, Not Fear: What CFCs Can Teach Us About Beating Climate Change

Wed, 28 Oct 2015 09:38:00 -0400

Cliff Mass (meterologist, and a smart man with a consistently different take on global warming issues), makes an interesting point in a recent post: By focusing on global warming as a moral issue (and from his perspective, using scare tactics about the weather to promote concern) environmental activists are failing to convince the public to make needed changes now. Instead, we should talk about sustainability–switching the conversation to how to adapt to climate change and preserve out lifestyle better, less destructive, technologies.

Ebola Thrives on Poverty and Disparity

Wed, 01 Oct 2014 12:31:00 -0400

With the first confirmed case of Ebola in the United States, I suspect at least a few of you are freaking out.

Ebola–like many viruses, including the recently popular enterovirus 68–is spread by filth. You need exposure to infected body fluids (blood, tears, sweat, vomit, diarrhea) to get it.

The American Health Care Market Just Became Less Opaque

Wed, 08 May 2013 18:28:00 -0400

How much a plate of spaghetti is going to cost you isn’t usually a mystery. Sure, the price can vary quite a bit–from a few cents if you’re making the plate yourself from groceries, to dozens of dollars at a fancy restaurant. You shouldn’t be too surprised by the bill at the end; the price is right there on the menu, or on the box–same for you as anyone else.

The Fukushima Disaster

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 21:06:00 -0400

Like many of you, I’ve been closely following the developments at the Fukushima reactor complex. Below is a set of links to articles I’ve written for the Stranger, as the events have unfolded.

The Gold Standard: Inflation, Wealth and Economic Growth

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 16:09:00 -0400

Conservative commentators have been riling up their audiences recently with lots of talk about America ‘devaluing our money’ and expressing the horrors that befell us after the United States left the Gold Standard in 1972. Beck, as always, provides the well-crafted prototype of this line of reasoning.

Take Your Generosity and Shove It, Buddy

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 08:00:00 -0400

Who would you vote off the island: the selfish ass or the generous spirit? The selfish ass, right? Rational.

WSU scientist Craig Parks along with Asako Stone set out to figure out exactly how much loutish behavior a group will tolerate before throwing the selfish out. What they discovered is far more interesting:

The HIV Vaccine.... Success

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:06:00 -0400

Sixteen thousand people volunteered for the study; unlike most, these weren’t people engaging in high risk behaviors like sex work or IV drug abuse. All received condoms, HIV prevention counseling, and an offer for HAART therapy if they became positive. Eight thousand received a placebo shot, the other half six doses of two distinct (and previously failed) HIV vaccines. About five years later, 74 of the placebo recipients were newly HIV positive. Twenty-three fewer, 51 total, among the vaccine recipients were now HIV positive.

One Superconducting Ring to Bind Them All

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 07:23:00 -0400

The United States power grid is currently (get it? get it!?) split into three distinct chunks: an Eastern interconnection, a Western interconnection (of which Seattle and Washington State are members) and Texas. Why is Texas separate from the rest? Why indeed.

The Health Care Debate

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:38:00 -0400

(Illustration by Chris Rummell)

There really isn’t much to debate.

The US healthcare system, in its present state, is a failure. It fails those with and without coverage. We spend more, care for fewer and are sicker than the citizens of any other industrialized nation.

Drugs and Devices

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:15:00 -0400

Why are prescription drugs so damn expensive? Or that test your doctor ordered–requiring you to be contorted into some ornate machine–that costs thousands of dollars?

Layers of cost build up as we dive deeper and deeper into the life of a medical drug or device. At the shallowest depths are the most obvious additions to costs, the vast sums of money spent on marketing to consumers and doctors alike. Next down are the costly FDA trials, phase I, II and III that must be completed before a medical device or drug comes to market; it’s these studies that also ensure safety and efficacy. At the beating heart of all of this, typically, is in an idea from a publicly funded academic research lab.

Why Are American Doctors So Damn Expensive?

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 17:45:00 -0400

The average American salary overall is about $42,000 a year.

The average family medicine doctor in the United States pulls down about $200,000 a year. The average internist or pediatrician earns about $175,000 a year. A general surgeon earns about $290,000 a year.

Turfed in the American Health Care Market.

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:21:00 -0400

The only good insurance customer is the healthy and irresponsible consumer–the prototypical healthy 30 year old who refuses to get a flu shot or annual checkup. Everyone else gets turfed.

Air Conditioning

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 11:50:00 -0400

Air conditioners aren’t cold machines; they’re pumps. After this past week in Seattle, several of us are a bit more interested in how to move heat around.

Science can help. First up, the ideal gas law: PV = nRT. (It’s pronounced peev-nert. Say that to your friendly local mechanical engineer and you’ll likely receive a ‘8.31, yo!’ back in return. Plus or minus a fist pump, or high five. Know you’ve done well.)

The Apollo Guidance Computer

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:38:00 -0400

Let’s say you’re a NASA engineer in the 1960s, wearing your snazzy black plastic glasses, thinking of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. You start thinking navigation. Getting into the right orbits is going to take a fair bit of computation–plus some fine control of rocket engines and navigation jets. Really, you’re going to need a computer.

Extraterrestrial Saltwater Ocean on Saturn Moon

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:17:00 -0400

Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, probably has a saltwater ocean under it’s surface, at least per an analysis of data from the Cassini probe. Take it away NASA and JPL:

For the first time, scientists working on NASA’s Cassini mission have detected sodium salts in ice grains of Saturn’s outermost ring. Detecting salty ice indicates that Saturn’s moon Enceladus, which primarily replenishes the ring with material from discharging jets, could harbor a reservoir of liquid water – perhaps an ocean – beneath its surface.

The Case for a Public Health Plan

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:12:00 -0400

… isn’t about the uninsured. Paul Begala put it concisely on Real Time with Bill Maher last week:

(Most relevant part starts at 3:35.)

My transcript:

What we’ve really spent our money on, in this system, is trying to figure out to not cover people who have paid for their premiums.

It's Difficult to Say Nice Things About NDs

Wed, 27 May 2009 11:02:00 -0400

A recent column of mine responded to a question/rant about naturopathic medicine:

A dear friend of mine is about to enter a prestigious program of naturopathic medicine. There—in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars and five years of his life—he will study homeopathy, osteopathy, water therapy, etc. Apparently, after gaining his ND credential, he will not only be allowed to practice medicine in Washington, but also to prescribe drugs. Why does state law allow these practitioners to dole out the pills? Can this possibly be safe?

Influenza

Mon, 04 May 2009 12:44:00 -0400

As a pathogen, influenza is the cat’s pajamas; influenza puts the ortho in orthomyxovirus, the segments in its RNA genome and the misery in sneeze droplets everywhere.

Let’s unpack H1N1 and H5N1. The ‘N’ in both stands for neuraminidase, a fancy way for saying “snot eating enzyme.” The virus needs to get to the juicy cells at the back of the throat. Our bodies pour out copious amounts of snot in defense, forming a sticky wall of doom for all manner of pathogens. Stuck on the outside of every flu virus is a sea of this neuraminidase enzyme. The enzyme gobbles up the snot, allowing the virus to reach the cells lining our throat. In comes the ‘H’ or hemagglutinin protein, also located on the outside of the virus. Hemagglutinin binds the salicylate receptors located on the outside of almost all cells (salicylate is a special way of saying aspirin), dragging the virus into the cells. Once inside, you’re infected. Huzzah for our little virus. Go team!

Good Work Dendreon

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 10:01:00 -0400

Dendreon, a Seattle-based biotech startup, just completed a successful phase III trial on an entirely new kind of cancer treatment. The idea: If cancer is difficult to treat because the mutated cells divide and crawl all over the place, and thus cannot be cut out in one chunk, why not send the immune system after ’em? The immune system loves crawling all over the body in a hunt for the unwelcome. If we could figure out a way of telling the immune system “cancer, bad” all would be well.

Yet Another Reason to Dislike CFLs: Horrible Power Factors

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 10:47:00 -0400

Many of you already know of my skepticism of compact fluorescent lightbulbs. Now utilities are joining in the hate: CFLs use about twice as much energy than previously claimed.

Lightbulbs, TVs, ovens, baseboard heaters–whatever–draw energy from alternating current with varying degrees of efficiency, due to the funkiness of alternating current.

Making the Hard Choices for Energy

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:45:00 -0400

A landmark Energy Department project to bury carbon dioxide produced by humans has begun as workers sunk a huge drill bit into Illinois ground this week, signaling continued support for a climate change mitigation strategy that has fallen out of favor in many circles.

The Mammalian Cell Fate Map

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:22:00 -0400

As a part of writing up my PhD thesis, I adapted this figure from Gilbert’s Developmental Biology, Fourth Edition:

(This figure is my own. Click for a much larger version–suitable for printing on an 8.5x11 sheet of paper.)

The Ethics of Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:50:00 -0400

What happens when a part of our body gets injured–or just wears out?

The ideal response would be to replace the tissue and cells lost with new, full-functional replacements–regeneration. For the parts of our body that are constantly turning over–skin, blood, and to a lesser extent bone for examples–this is exactly what happens. Since the cells in these tissues are always being replaced anyways, injury is little more than a very bad day.

Evolution of Cascades

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 11:04:00 -0400

Regulated cascades pop up all the time in biology–particularly in complex organisms. Whether coagulation, development or differentiation of specific cell types, they all follow the same general pattern. To keep things simple, I’m generalizing this whole idea into the task of making a birthday cake:

Responses to Dire Warnings of Imminent Danger

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 10:24:00 -0400

1. In the best way we can, in the face of no viable alternatives beyond doom.

From NOAA:

NOAA’s National Weather Service has issued a report that analyzes forecasting performance and public response during the second deadliest tornado outbreak in U.S. history. The report, Service Assessment of the Super Tuesday Tornado Outbreak of February 5-6, 2008, also addresses a key area of concern: why some people take cover while others ride out severe weather.
….
In reviewing the public response, the team found that two-thirds of the victims were in mobile homes, and 60 percent did not have access to safe shelter (i.e., a basement or storm cellar). The majority of the survivors interviewed for the assessment sought shelter in the best location available to them, but most of them also did not have access to a safe shelter. Some indicated they thought the threat was minimal because February is not within traditional tornado season. Several of those interviewed said they spent time seeking confirmation and went to a safe location only after they saw a tornado. Many people minimized the threat of personal risk through “optimism bias,” the belief that such bad things only happen to other people.

Which Doll is the Nice Doll?

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 09:56:00 -0500

What’s so bad about allowing the people of California to vote in favor of a separate-but-equal form of domestic partnership for same-sex couples?

Let’s look at the pro-Prop 8 text from the official voters guide:

Voyager 2, How I Miss You

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 17:41:00 -0500

Early in 1986, I snuck out of bed and turned on the ancient black-and-white television set close to my bedroom. Only eight years old, I sat down to watch a PBS special. The Voyager 2 spacecraft was about to send back the first close-up pictures of the planet Uranus.

Autism is Not Caused By Vaccination

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:10:00 -0500

Autism is not caused by vaccination.

Autism is not caused by vaccination.

Autism is not caused by vaccination.

Autism is not caused by vaccination.

Autism is not caused by vaccination.

The Carbon Impact of Reading On Paper or Online

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 12:48:00 -0500

For my most recent Dear Science column, a reader asked:

Dear Science,

Is reading The Stranger online actually any greener than reading the printed-in-Yakima hard copy? Doesn’t it take a shitload of electricity to run the servers and keep them cool? How would one even figure out how to compare the carbon footprint of, say, going to the coffee shop once a week and reading the print version versus reading it online, as well as checking in with Slog on a regular basis? Folks talk about the internet as being green, but part of me suspects that all it does is put its pollution somewhere out of sight.

Evolution on Darwin's 200th Birthday

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 14:20:00 -0500

Happy 200th birthday, Darwin.

Darwin’s major accomplishment was to condense a lot of thought on the origins of life into two basic concepts: new traits arise randomly (mutation) and the most adaptive of these new traits would become dominant in the population (natural selection)–forming the first cohesive theory of evolution.

Oh NARN...

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 10:50:00 -0500

With Northwest Animal Rights Network (NARN) protesting Lark over Foie Gras, and the (expected) backlash, I feel like it’s time to have a pro-animal rights post. Not pro-NARN, mind you. I want to praise the animal rights activists who created, implemented and supported the research animal use regulations.

Climate Change: Irreversible

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:07:00 -0500

As I’ve written about before, the carbon humanity has already added to the atmosphere is already at a level likely to cause devastating climate change in the coming years and decades. Nor have any political efforts succeeded at even reducing the pace of increases in global carbon emissions.

Farts (Maybe) Detected on Mars. LIFE! (Maybe)

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:09:00 -0500

New research reveals there is hope for Mars yet. The first definitive detection of methane in the atmosphere of Mars indicates the planet is still alive, in either a biologic or geologic sense, according to a team of NASA and university scientists.

How Civilization is Going to End

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:50:00 -0500

Wonder no more.

University of Washington climate scientist David Battisti looked at 23 of the best computational models of the climate available to predict the effect of climate change on global crop yields by the end of this century.

Special Bonus Dear Science: Why is My Car Shit in Snow?

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 16:14:00 -0500

This just in to the Dear Science SNOWPOCALYPSE 2008 (tm) (Hannukah eve again, bitches) crisis center war room control:

Dear Science,
Do AWD or 4WD help me STOP my vehicle faster in inclement weather? I’ve always assumed that even with my extra weight and wider tires this was true… hence my absent mindedness when tailgating other drivers and driving 5mph above the posted speed limit (cops are too busy dealing with traffic accidents to be shooting a radar gun anyway) when it snows.

New Milk Knowledge

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:03:00 -0500

First, Science Magazine is both impressed and disgusted by the clever chemistry behind melamine finding its way into infant formula:

A weeks-long investigation into China’s tainted milk scandal has left scientists astonished by the technical sophistication of those who used melamine to adulterate food products. Chinese investigators, meanwhile, are puzzling over the precise mechanisms of exposure and toxicity in infants who developed kidney damage…

Mark Roth, Spontaneous Combustion and Hibernation

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 13:15:00 -0500

In this month’s Esquire meet Mark Roth—certified genius, a fellow Seattleite and one of the more innovative scientists on the planet.

Back when I was a fresh and new graduate student, I took a course co-chaired by him and fellow Hutch professor Dan Gottschling—on the chromosome—that propelled me forward to my thesis project. At the time, he was working on a truly funky pair of problems: Why don’t we spontaneously combust? How do some animals hibernate?

Mutating: The Results

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 15:14:00 -0500

I asked you to help me with an experiment as a follow up to a recent column on mutation.

Here are the results:

(Click on the image for a full-sized version.)

Ultimately, I decided to not filter out all of the noise comments (including my own) that weren’t attempts to copy the original. Almost all of these clustered together in the green block.

The attempts that riffed off the original–like Fnarf’s and Urgutha Forka’s–clustered together as well in the blue blocks.

My original paragraph was slotted in as comment zero, located in the dendrogram as the left-most leaf in the red block. All of the legitimate attempts to copy the paragraph ended up clustered together in the red block.

A few cool mutations emerged. My original:

CCR is short for chemokine receptor. Chemokines and chemokine receptors allow the cells in your immune system to speak to one another; their epic fight against invaders is like a game of Marco Polo. CCR5 is the chemokine receptor found on macrophages—the gobbling-up cells at the front line of your immune system.

Luckier’s Comment #10:

CCR is short for chemokine receptor. Chemokines and chemokine receptors allow the cells in your immune system to speak to one another; their epic fight against invaders is like a game of Marco Polo. CCR5 is a the chemokine receptor found on macrphages–the gobbling-up cells at the front line of your immune system.

Like most mutations during the copying of DNA, the differences in the copies didn’t really change the meaning, just a few little details of how it was written or punctuated.

See any others?

Cure HIV with a Bone Marrow Transplant?

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:43:00 -0500

From the ~~respected medical journal~~…err the Wall Street Journal:

The startling case of an AIDS patient who underwent a bone marrow transplant to treat leukemia is stirring new hope that gene-therapy strategies on the far edges of AIDS research might someday cure the disease.

General Motor's Interesting New Tech

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:36:00 -0500

General Motors is nearing death–a breathtaking fall in a dizzily short amount of time.

And here’s what might be most shocking–despite being saddled with the costs and responsibilities of being the largest private pension and health insurance provider in the world, GM has made clever and key investments that deserve fulfillment. Yes, I’m talking about an American car-maker; hear me out.

Witness the Magic of Regression Analysis...

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:37:00 -0500

… and some damn good statistics.

FiveThirtyEight’s election-eve prediction, of 349 electoral votes for Obama:

Reality this afternoon, of a projected 349 electoral votes for Obama:

The Climb

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 03:55:00 -0500

I can’t sleep.

I just crawled out of bed and sat down at my kitchen table, giving my brain an attempt at accepting all that has happened tonight.

The results for the Washington State races seem almost unbelievably good–Tim Eyman destine for definitive defeat, transit for a definitive victory along with death with dignity, the reelection of our democratic governor and the potential victory of Darcy Burner.

How to Read a Histogram

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:06:00 -0400

Nate Silver, the wonky head of the mathematically rigorous election projection site FiveThirtyEight.com, has a computer model that uses all of the available polling, weighted for accuracy, demographics and the rest, to run through ten thousand possible elections every day. Each one of these simulated elections pops out an electoral vote total for Obama.

Economic Apocalypse Data for 10/10/2008

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 11:25:00 -0400

Ladies and gentlemen, I want metrics.

In the spirit of objectively tracking the downfall of the global economy, I’ve decided to begin a semi-regular post conglomerating data on the (non-)functioning of the financial system. If I’m going to panic, I want evidence backing it up.

Credit Default Swaps: $60 Trillion of Bullshit

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:43:00 -0400

Car insurance makes sense. If I drive or own a car, I better have some way to pay for repairs and healthcare if I fuck up.

And it makes sense that the insurance company better be tightly regulated–forced to keep enough liquid assets around to pay out claims. If the insurance company failed to pay up, it would be a nightmare for everyone.

The Complement Cooperative

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:47:00 -0400

Well, that was a lot of money chasing nothing.

It’s not as if we’re lacking in problems needing solutions–climate change, energy scarcity, almost every meaningful commodity priced at historical highs. A vast pool of money and a growing list of problems–why wasn’t the connection ever made? Why didn’t at least some of this wealth go toward solving these problems?

Margin Call: Leveraged Failure, Taxpayer Bailout

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 22:09:00 -0400

Via the Wall Street Journal:

Deleveraging started with securities tied to subprime mortgages, where defaults started rising rapidly in 2006. But the deleveraging process has now spread well beyond, to commercial real estate and auto loans to the short-term commitments on which investment banks rely to fund themselves. In the first quarter, financial-sector borrowing slowed to a 5.1% growth rate, about half of the average from 2002 to 2007. Household borrowing has slowed even more, to a 3.5% pace….

The Big Bailout

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 10:41:00 -0400

Well, ladies and gentlemen, the big socialization of risk that I’ve–and many others–have been foreseeing has occurred:

The actions began to get under way on Thursday with discussions between the Treasury, Federal Reserve and Congressional leaders on what could become the biggest bailout in United States history, a plan likely to authorize the government to buy distressed mortgages at deep discounts from banks and other institutions….

Why Do I Have to Poop When Browsing, Redux

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:36:00 -0400

This just in to the Dear Science mailbag:

Dear Science,

I recently read your response to Bothered Bowels’ inquiry from 2/13/2008. Sadly, BB is not alone. I actually know several people who experience this same issue, most with #2, but others with #1. Indeed, it particularly occurs at Value Village, libraries, bookstores, and also when shopping to CD’s. I find your Pavlovian theory rather interesting and plausible, but I would like to be so bold as to add a comment.

Good From Bad: Steel in the Towers to Steel in Fusion Reactors

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 12:20:00 -0400

Via the BBC:

Scientists say an understanding of how the Twin Towers collapsed will help them develop the materials needed to build fusion reactors.

New research shows how steel will fail at high temperatures because of the magnetic properties of the metal…

McCain's Record on Financial Regulation

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 15:56:00 -0400

If you aren’t concerned about the massive bailout of Freddy Mac and Fannie Mae by the US taxpayers, you should be.

For those of you keeping track, we’re not really bailing out US homeowners; we’re bailing out the bondholders of Freddy mac and Fannie Mae. The predominant bondholder? The central banks of Asian nations. How are we financing this bailout? Using US Government Treasury bonds. Who is buying those? The central banks of Asian nations. For now, at least.

If confidence in US Treasury Bonds falters, we’re all doomed. This is not an exaggeration.

The next president, who in turn will set the regulatory environment, really matters. The best, perhaps the only way, to restore investor confidence in US and global financial institutions is through tight regulation. To be blunt: investors are correct. The Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac bonds were far crappier than they were told. Until everyone in convinced things are worth their claimed worth, things are only going to get worse. We need a president who can take on the financial industries, who is above corruption on this issue above all others.

What follows is a cartoon depicting his involvement in the Keating Five scandal–the last big collapse of US financial institutions, that cost taxpayers over $200 billion (in today’s dollars.)

Experience Where it Counts

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 11:06:00 -0400

What is more important: Having an experienced and capable President? Or Vice President?

FiveThirtyEight makes an excellent point:

In a perfect world, we would all like a President who is Ready on Day One (TM); it is not uncommon for a newly-elected president to face a major crisis almost immediately upon taking office. But more commonly, a President takes the Oath of Office under relatively calm waters, allowing them something of a learning curve.

Genetic Test for Maternity

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 20:59:00 -0400

Well, we seem to have a bit of a question here.

If I were a woman accused of claiming my daughter’s child was my own, and I knew such accusations were false, I’d use science to prove myself right.

Gustav

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 09:42:00 -0400

AT THE RISK OF SOUNDING LIKE A BROKEN RECORD…THE INTENSITY
FORECAST REMAINS PROBLEMATIC. ANALYSES FROM CIMSS AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN SHOWS THAT GUSTAV REMAINS IN 15 TO 20 KT OF
SOUTHERLY VERTICAL SHEAR….AND THE LARGE-SCALE MODELS FORECAST AT
LEAST SOME SOUTHERLY TO SOUTHWESTERLY SHEAR TO PERSIST UNTIL
LANDFALL. THAT…COMBINED WITH THE CURRENT RAGGED STORM STRUCTURE
AND THE MID-LEVEL DRY AIR TRYING TO WRAP AROUND THE STORM IN WATER
VAPOR IMAGERY…SUGGESTS ANY INTENSIFICATION SHOULD BE SLOW.
ADDITIONALLY..GUSTAV IS OVER A WARM EDDY IN THE LOOP CURRENT
NOW…AND SHOULD PASS OVER WATERS WITH LOWER OCEANIC HEAT CONTENT
BETWEEN NOW AND LANDFALL. THE GUIDANCE RESPONDS TO THESE FACTORS
BY FORECASTING MODEST STRENGTHENING DURING THE NEXT 12 TO 24
HR…WITH THE GFDL FORECASTING A PEAK INTENSITY OF 120 KT AND THE
OTHER MODELS ABOUT 110 KT. BASED ON THIS…THE INTENSITY FORECAST
WILL CALL FOR GUSTAV TO RE-INTENSIFY TO 115 KT IN 12 TO 24 HR…AND
MAKE LANDFALL ON THE NORTHERN GULF COAST AS A MAJOR HURRICANE.
GUSTAV SHOULD STEADILY WEAKEN AFTER LANDFALL.

The Fed Abstracting Away Banking Pain

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 14:12:00 -0400

Anthony asks if this:

is bad.

Anthony, it depends on how abstract you want to be.

When you save money at a bank, most of the money gets lent out to someone else. Look at your account balance. Shift the decimal place one to the left. That’s about as much of your money your bank actually keeps around.

Defective By Design: Cycling in Seattle

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 17:32:00 -0400

East Aloha street is the city’s designated route for cyclists to get East and West across Northern Capitol Hill.

Roll that in your mind, if you’re prone to think the Critical Mass people were asking for it. “The driver was in his right to run over, by accident or intent, several bicyclists. They were blocking Aloha–the major car route across North Capitol hill. The cyclists were intentionally blocking his way. And, he had dinner reservations!”

If Obama Were My New Bicycle

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:54:00 -0400

Obama’s post-clinching pander-fest should improve his electoral prospects November. So goes the prevailing pundit logic, at least.

Well, did it?

From FiveThirtyEight:

For the first time since shortly after clinching the Democratic nomination, we now have Barack Obama as less than a 60 percent favorite to win the election. Our simulations presently project Obama to win the election 58.4 percent of the time, with McCain winning the remaining 41.6 percent.

Wind Power

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:11:00 -0400

The strip of States from Texas to North Dakota had to be useful for something–beyond nuclear warhead storage, cows, and a rapt audience for Fox News. The middle strip of country blows. Literally. Some of the most consistent winds in the world blow across these States. For wind power, consistency is everything.

Purdue LED Us to More Efficient Lighting, Less Mercury

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:36:00 -0400

Longtime readers know of my aversion to compact fluorescent lightbulbs:

The “mercury vapor” that fluorescent bulbs require is quite toxic. While new compact fluorescent bulbs are voluntarily limited to five milligrams of mercury each, as little as a tenth of a milligram per square yard will make you seriously ill. Shaking hands, drooling, irritability, memory loss, depression, weakness—sounds like fun. And that’s what happens to adults; kids can be permanently injured by mercury exposure. If you break one of these bulbs in your house—and think of all the times a bulb breaks—the current advice is to open a window and run, not to return for at least 15 minutes. Whereas if it’s a traditional bulb, you grab a broom and screw in a new one.

Carbon-Free Energy

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:23:00 -0400

Former Vice President Al Gore, seeking to shake up an energy debate that is focused mostly on drilling, challenged the United States to shift its entire electricity sector to carbon-free wind, solar and geothermal power within 10 years, and use that power to fuel a new fleet of electric vehicles.

Every Visit to the Seattle Central Library Reminds Me of the Cheese Shop Sketch

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 10:47:00 -0400

“Customer: It’s not much of a cheese shop, is it?

Owner: Finest in the district!

Customer: (annoyed) Explain the logic underlying that conclusion, please.

Owner: Well, it’s so clean, sir!

Science, Trashed

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 11:48:00 -0400

What happens to biodegradable trash in a landfill?

Entombed deeply in a landfill, your biodegradable trash is forced to degrade without oxygen, creating copious amounts of methane gas. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, far worse than carbon dioxide. If you’re sending something to a landfill, it’s better for the planet if it never degrades.

What Bush Got Wrong on Stem Cells

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:40:00 -0400

Everything.
W's [August of 2001 speech on the evils of embryonic stem cells](http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/08/20010809-2.html) was an early classic of his presidency, **one of the first indications of his deciderish, rather than uniter-not-a-divider, tendencies**. All his favorite hobbies were covered--simpleminded and peevish sanctimony, rigid adherence to a bizarre and inconsistently absolutist moral code, and disinterest in any sort of logical, thoughtful or informed critique. In short, it was a delightful preview of the following eight years.
Bush’s policy was to deny federal funding for any research on new embryonic stem cell lines created after August of 2001. This wasn’t a ban. Nor was it a system of regulations, well thought out or idiotic. Research involving any embryonic stem cell line created before August of 2001, all requiring the destruction of an embryo? Fine. Dandy. Not murder. Moral, according to Bush. On a line after August 2001? Murder, as it involves the destruction of an embryo–a murder good decent American taxpayers shouldn’t be asked to participate in, even indirectly.

Congratulations, Taxpayer, On Eating That Shit Sandwich For Us.

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:19:00 -0400

Ever since the start of the mortgage crisis–whose origins and effects can be revisited at this post, or on this podcast–I’ve been waiting for the great taxpayer-fueled bailout to begin.

The Success of the War on Drugs.

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:02:00 -0400

For our little war on drugs, we’ve willfully ignored vast chunks of the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments. We might imprison the highest percentage of the population and the greatest absolute number of people in the world–leaving #2 China deep in our dust in this one measure–but, surely, our population is one of the most drug-free!

For Bill Gates on his Last Day at Microsoft

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:58:00 -0400

Dear Bill,

Congratulations on your last day at Microsoft and welcome to the world of biomedical research!

Everyone I know who endured a ‘billg’ review agrees—you’re apparently a bit of an ass. Quick to question and call bullshit, to point out errors or inconsistency, and to demand the best, willing to yell if yelling is needed.

Some Suggestions For Your New Individual Right to Bear Arms

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:46:00 -0400

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Enjoying your recently expanded rights under the 2nd Amendment of the US Constitution? Wait, let me adjust that quote above to reflect the Roberts-court interpretation:

Wait, Why Are There Gay Men?

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:25:00 -0400

If being a gay man is an inborn, inherent trait with some genetic basis–as the massive, overwhelming, credible, sound, tenable, probable, corroborating, confirming, affirmative collection of scientific evidence states–why are there gay men at all? It’s a trait that strongly discourages procreative sex. Less sex with women means less babies and therefore less spreading of the gay genes.

Living and Working Energy

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:52:00 -0400

Adjusting to higher energy prices? You aren’t the only one.

The insanity of shipping even the cheapest goods around the planet, to save a little on labor costs, is finally being recognized as insane:

Calculus and the Housing Bubble

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:08:00 -0400

Bored tonight, I’ve been playing around with the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices dataset that was just released. With all the hysterical coverage around the housing bubble, it seemed like fun to use some of my high school calculus.

You Don't Understand Fuel Economy; Blame MPG

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:21:00 -0400

Assuming you drive the same miles per year, which change will save more gas in a given year:

* Switching from a Dodge Ram at 13 MPG to a Toyota Tundra at 15 MPG

How to Read a Poll

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:12:00 -0400

As we approach November, I anticipate a tidal wave of blog posts on polls. Reading the polling data improperly is hazardous to your health. The disconnect between the polling and the 2004 election results nearly resulted in my death. Avoid my mistakes.

Antarctic Winters, Not So Wintery Anymore

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 10:43:00 -0400

From the ominously titled European Space Agency press release, Even the Antarctic winter cannot protect Wilkins Ice Shelf:

Wilkins Ice Shelf, a broad plate of floating ice south of South America on the Antarctic Peninsula, is connected to two islands, Charcot and Latady. In February 2008, an area of about 400 km² broke off from the ice shelf, narrowing the connection down to a 6 km strip; this latest event in May has further reduced the strip to just 2.7 km.

Nuclear Power

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:46:00 -0400

With oil prices spiking again—I say from both real increases in global demand and speculation piggybacking on the market conditions, you may disagree—and global energy supplies at some of the tightest margins ever, is it any surprise that…

Show Evolution of a Complex Trait? Ok.

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 18:57:00 -0400

No one really argues about the validity of natural selection. Only the most hardened of young Earth creationists contest that organisms with more adaptive traits will preferentially survive and reproduce. The Intelligent Design crowd tends to wave this off as a trivial truth. Of course, they say, better traits are selected for. They instead claim you need a designer to provide these traits. How could something as complicated as a metabolic pathway simply arise from chance? Where’s the proof that such beneficial traits can simply arise, with no guiding hand?

Intrade Says: Obama Wins

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 11:01:00 -0400

(From electoralmap.net via slashdot)

Intrade, an online futures trading website, allows you to make investments based on whether or not you believe a given event is likely to happen. Will the average price of gasoline be over $4.00 on June 30th? Will Israel and/or the US bomb Iran by the 30th of September? Will McCain or Obama win any given state in the 2008 election?

Happy 10th Anniversary, EU Central Bank: The Only True Free Trade Agreement

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:31:00 -0400

Happy tenth birthday, European Central Bank! My, how you’ve grown. Why? Because it’s hard to be a little bit pregnant. The EU represents the only true free trade agreement between nations today.

Nuclear Power: What's Next.

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 17:56:00 -0400

Nuclear power plants were first proposed at the dawn of the cold war. It was assumed the best fuels–enriched the most for atoms releasing the most neutrons per fissioning–would forever be reserved for military use. We had bombs to build. Hundreds, thousands, millions–enough to scare the Soviets (and the Soviets to scare us.) Military first, commercial power second. So, the plants were designed around using minimally enriched fuels with moderators to keep the scant neutrons around. Hence the collection of plants in operation today, almost all based around mildly enriched Uranium, moderated and cooled by heavily pressurized water. By far not the safest or most efficient design, but doable, particularly if you are limited to mediocre quality fuel.

Nuclear Power: Disaster!

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 11:59:00 -0400

Let’s talk about Chernobyl. We enter our time machine, and roll ourselves back to the start of the cold war. We’re nuclear engineers in the Soviet Union charged with getting as many reactors operating as soon as possible. Every bit of enriched Uranium is going to bomb manufacturing, as is all the available heavy water. So, all we have is a bunch of unenriched Uranium and regular water to build our reactors. Hmmm.

Nuclear Power: Nuclear Waste

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 12:01:00 -0400

We’ve got our reactor up and humming. Our fuel is fissioning, splitting into smaller atoms and releasing neutrons. Our moderator is slowing down the neutrons, keeping them around long enough to fission the next fuel molecule. Our control rods are absorbing enough neutrons to keep the chain reaction in check. The coolant is transferring the heat out of the reactor.

Nuclear Power: Radiation!

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:36:00 -0400

It can’t all be good news. Yes, using a properly designed nuclear reactor, we can capture vast amounts of useful energy by helping atoms get closer to the ideal, iron. Now to the first big wrinkle, radiation.

Nuclear Power: The Reactor

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 17:41:00 -0400

The goal? A controlled fissioning of large nuclei. You’ll need fuel, moderation, coolant, and some control.

Coolant is the easiest to grasp. The fission chain reaction in the nuclear reactor will produce heat. It’s the goal! We need some way to transfer the heat away from the reactor and put it to use. Water is about perfect for this task. Yes, the boiling point of water is pretty low at standard atmospheric pressure. No worries. Just make the reactor pressurized, raising the boiling point of the water, and you have the task done. Most reactors use two circuits, plus a heat exchanger. The high-pressure loop of water goes right into the nuclear reactor. The heat is exchanged to a low-pressure loop of water that boils to steam. The steam is then used to run a turbine, and then an electrical generator. Only the water from the first, high pressure loop, tends to get radioactive.

Cyborg Monkeys and How the Brain Controls the Body

Thu, 29 May 2008 16:25:00 -0400

Thanks to our continuing success in Iraq, you might have noticed distinctly fewer limbs in today’s America. Hence this recent work published in the journal Nature is quite encouraging:

Nuclear Power: The Physics

Fri, 23 May 2008 12:58:00 -0400

As I’ve quipped before, everything in the Universe secretly desires to be Iron.

Why? Meet the nucleus: Protons and neutrons in an uneasy alliance. Neutrons, conveniently enough, are neutral in electrical charge. No problem rubbing two of them together. Protons, however, are positively charged. Remember, like charged objects don’t like sitting next to one another, thanks to electrostatic forces. Holds true for protons. So, how does the nucleus of an atom hold together? Nuclear force! At really short distances, this attractive force between neutrons and protons overwhelms the electrical forces trying to fling the protons apart.

Nuclear Power

Thu, 22 May 2008 18:18:00 -0400

Nuclear power, long reviled as a dangerous source of energy, is on the verge of a comeback. That’s because a growing body of scientists, politicians and environmental activists see atomic energy as part of the solution for global warming and our ever-growing dependence on foreign oil, much of it from nations that, if not downright hostile toward us, certainly don’t share our values.

A Defense of Inches and Fluid Ounces

Thu, 15 May 2008 16:24:00 -0400

I know that as a scientist, I am expected to loathe all imperial measurements–inches, cups, quarts, gallons and Fahrenheit. Whining about the United States’ failure to embrace the metric system? Default behavior for dim bulbs seeking to seem sophisticated.

Platypus Genome!

Wed, 14 May 2008 17:46:00 -0400

(Salim Virji)

Who doesn’t love the platypus? This is a creature bizarre enough to make marsupials feel better about themselves. The platypus, lactates (mammal!) and lays eggs (reptile!), grows fur (mammal!) and venom (reptile!).

Top Five Nuclear Weapons of All Time.

Fri, 02 May 2008 16:22:00 -0400
My week is ending poorly.
Rather than go into a lengthy whine about crappily designed and maintained websites, the evil of both the SAX and DOM XML parsers in Python and “what, you can only do one miracle at a time” management, I’d rather present you with an appropriately glum bit of my knowledge.

On Scientific Dissent

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:54:00 -0400

Ready? Prepared to have your mind blown?

(cartoon via xkcd)

Ideas are tested by experiment. That’s all there is to science. This is the only bar an idea must be taller than to take the ride of science as a legitimate hypothesis.

Vytorin (Ezetimibe/simvastatin) Doesn't Work; You Wouldn't Know.

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:35:00 -0400

In the past few months, I bet you’ve seen at least one ad like these. When I first saw these ads, I was impressed.

Most direct-to-consumer drug advertising is loathsome, filled with moronic non sequiturs–what does kayaking have to do with a nucleoside analog used to treat herpes–or simply build up anxiety about a problem, offering no explanation as to how the drug helps.

The Cooper Union Speech

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:02:00 -0400

Have you heard Obama’s Cooper Union Speech? You should.

The key except:

A free market was never meant to be a free license to take whatever you can get, however you can get it. That’s why we’ve put in place rules of the road: to make competition fair and open, and honest…
I think that all of us here today would acknowledge that we’ve lost some of that sense of shared prosperity. Now, this loss has not happened by accident. It’s because of decisions made in board rooms, on trading floors and in Washington. Under Republican and Democratic administrations, we’ve failed to guard against practices that all too often rewarded financial manipulation instead of productivity and sound business practice. We let the special interests put their thumbs on the economic scales. The result has been a distorted market that creates bubbles instead of steady, sustainable growth; a market that favors Wall Street over Main Street, but ends up hurting both. Nor is this trend new. The concentrations of economic power and the failures of our political system to protect the American economy and American consumers from its worst excesses have been a staple of our past: most famously in the 1920s, when such excesses ultimately plunged the country into the Great Depression. That is when government stepped in to create a series of regulatory structures, from FDIC to the Glass-Steagall Act, to serve as a corrective, to protect the American people and American business.

The Era of Fraud

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 12:54:00 -0400

The deadly, fraudulent, heparin sold by a Chinese manufacturer to Baxter shares much with the deadly, fraudulent, wheat gluten and gluttonous, fraudulent, financial crisis.

These frauds are not accidents, slips of care, but rather deliberate attempts to game tests of quality, to turn garbage into gold.

Howto: Create a Financial Crisis

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:16:00 -0400

Kenneth Rogoff, the former chief economist at the IMF and now a professor at Harvard University, said the greenback may drop another 12 percent on a trade-weighted basis.``This recession will be long and deep and when we get out of it, we’ll have inflation,''

Science Round-up: Feeding and Bullying Edition

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 12:50:00 -0500

Eat more drumsticks:

Broiler (meat) chickens have been subjected to intense genetic selection. In the past 50 years, broiler growth rates have increased by over 300% (from 25 g per day to 100 g per day). There is growing societal concern that many broiler chickens have impaired locomotion or are even unable to walk. Here we present the results of a comprehensive survey of commercial flocks which quantifies the risk factors for poor locomotion in broiler chickens. We assessed the walking ability of 51,000 birds, representing 4.8 million birds within 176 flocks. We also obtained information on approximately 150 different management factors associated with each flock. At a mean age of 40 days, over 27.6% of birds in our study showed poor locomotion and 3.3% were almost unable to walk. The high prevalence of poor locomotion occurred despite culling policies designed to remove severely lame birds from flocks. We show that the primary risk factors associated with impaired locomotion and poor leg health are those specifically associated with rate of growth. Factors significantly associated with high gait score included the age of the bird (older birds), visit (second visit to same flock), bird genotype, not feeding whole wheat, a shorter dark period during the day, higher stocking density at the time of assessment, no use of antibiotic, and the use of intact feed pellets. The welfare implications are profound. Worldwide approximately 2×10¹⁰ broilers are reared within similar husbandry systems. We identify a range of management factors that could be altered to reduce leg health problems, but implementation of these changes would be likely to reduce growth rate and production. A debate on the sustainability of current practice in the production of this important food source is required.

Compromised Energy

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 19:54:00 -0500

Today, for the first time ever, oil ended the day above $100 a barrel.

It won’t last.

The last time oil hit these levels (adjusted for inflation) was in 1980, after the throes of the Iranian revolution. The sudden drop in supply shot prices upwards. Before that, during the oil embargo of 1973, oil simply ran out in many places.

Energy Sparing

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 19:12:00 -0500

In my week of carefully recording my weight and diet, using the excellent CRON-o-Meter program, I gained a half pound–from 163.5 to 164.0 pounds in the seven day moving average. Just to emphasize, I wasn’t trying to lose weight, rather just to record what a typical week of eating was like for me.

Hitting an Ideal Weight

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 15:46:00 -0500

Since moving to Seattle I’ve gained thirty pounds.

On my slight five-foot-ten frame, that represents about a fifth more of me since 2001. How did that happen? Very slowly, and with both fat and muscle gains contributing.

A Gigantic Breakthrough in Stem Cell Research

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 13:48:00 -0500

(Image from Takahashi et al., Induction of Pluripotent Cell form Adult Human Fibroblasts by Defined Factors, Cell (2007), doi:10.1016/j.cell.2007.11.019)

Ok. Now I believe.

Two groups working independently–Dr. Yamanaka’s lab in Japan and Dr. Thomson’s Lab in Wisconsin–have converted human cells into embryonic stem cell-like cells. This tremendous accomplishment is on par with the initial creation of human embryonic stem cells about ten years ago, the completion of the human genome project and development of gene knockdown technology.

Imagine Microwave Oven Accidents at your Office, but with Plutonium

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 15:38:00 -0500

Ever since high school, one of my guilty pleasures is to read the Nuclear Regulator Commission’s Operating Experience Summaries. Every workplace dealing with significant amounts of radioactive material must report any accidents that could result in injury. The best are compiled and archived.

Highlights from Today's UW Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine (ISCRM) Meeting

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 18:14:00 -0500

Seattle hosts one of the two major NIH-funded human embryonic stem cell research centers in the United States. This federally funded grant–ten million dollars spread over five years–is supplemented with private donations from the community.

Why I'm Voting Yes on Prop 1

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 18:01:00 -0400

Proposition 1, the combined Roads-and-Transit package for metropolitan Seattle, provides a real conundrum for me. The sentiment in the Stranger’s ’no’ endorsement rings pretty true to me:

After road proponents realized they didn’t have voter support for a stand-alone roads package (a major roads-expansion proposal died at the polls in 2002), legislators in Olympia linked roads expansion to light rail. This proposal is an attempt to use urban voters to pass a suburban agenda. Rather than letting compromised politicians tell us what’s possible, the people should tell the leaders what’s needed: more light rail without massive roads expansion. It’s time to flex some urban muscle. Seattle voters shouldn’t have to fund roads on the Eastside in order to get light rail.

"The Lingering Concequences of Nationalism-Socialism" or Thoughts on Science in Europe

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 13:28:00 -0400

I’ve just returned from a week long trip to Germany (Düsseldorf and Dresden) for scientific meetings on stem cell research and regenerative medicine–the land of cheerful public artwork, amazing cab drivers and tear-inducing-good mass transit. How many hybrids did I see? Zero

Sputnik'ed Response

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 17:37:00 -0400

Sputnik orbited fifty years ago today–a tremendous accomplishment. But, let’s not mistake the meaning here. The Soviet Union’s launch of the first artificial satellite was both a fantastic technical achievement and a profound threat. If the Soviets could launch a new moon they could also hurl an atomic bomb across the globe. In the context of the late 1950’s, and under the very real threat of nuclear annihilation by a committed and dangerous foe, how did the country respond?

Circumnavigating the Olympic Coast

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 12:07:00 -0400

Child Mortality and Overpopulation

Thu, 13 Sep 2007 18:33:00 -0400

As the New York Times reported today, a higher than ever percentage of children are surviving until their fifth birthday.

This public health triumph has arisen, Unicef officials said, partly from campaigns against measles, malaria and bottle-feeding, and partly from improvements in the economies of most of the world outside Africa.

Happy Ten Year Anniversary

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 13:38:00 -0400

… to triple drug therapy for HIV.

While the new therapy started in 1996, it was on September 11th 1997 when the first report was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Here is a lovely manuscript–a proper randomized double-blind and controlled study.

I Passed

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 18:05:00 -0400

my general exam.

Federally Funded Human Embryonic Stem Cells

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 13:41:00 -0400

The University of Washington was selected by the NIH as one of two national centers for human embryonic stem cell research. The purse? Ten million dollars in federal funds spread over five years. Hurray for us!

Dear Science: Lightning Round!

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 15:10:00 -0400

Vegetarians: outsource your meat eating. Venus fly traps can go vegan, if with a shortened and miserable life.

Hybrid drivers: stop duping yourselves and others. Hybrids are no more environmentally friendly than a small regular car, and maybe even a bit worse. Want to be sanctimonious? Ride a bike.

Big Boned Fat

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 19:22:00 -0400

See if this makes sense to you:

Weight is an intrinsic trait, determined mostly by our genes. Yet, globally the number of obese people has <a href="%3CA%20mce_thref=" http:="" data-www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov="" data-sites="" data-entrez?db=“pubmed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=” data-16242735&ordinalpos=“11&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum">"” target="_blank">nearly doubled since 1980–faster than alleles can redistribute in the population.

Elusive Competence

Sun, 19 Aug 2007 15:20:00 -0400

Last night I got around to watching No End in Sight, the interesting if flawed documentary on the unraveling of the Iraq war.

The pieces the documentary presents are nothing new: A rush to war, minimal plans for the aftermath, too few troops, no martial law, looting, imperial rule, de-Ba’athification, disbanding of the Iraqi military, the construction of the Green Zone, and the bombing of the UN compound.

Open Letter to John Solomon

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 11:59:00 -0400

Dear John,

On the Washington Post’s election blog, you managed to make an ass of yourself.

Many religious conservatives, including President Bush, oppose the scientific use of embryonic stem cells because the cells often come from aborted fetuses.

The Northern Lights

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 10:35:00 -0400

(from Jökull Másson)

Did you know the Northern Lights are occasionally visible from Seattle? We’re at magnetic latitude 52.7, high enough to see some Aurora when the sun is raging.

When the POES activity level hits 9 or 10,

Disease of the Week: Rapid Onset Food Poisoning

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 15:26:00 -0400

After attending a retreat yesterday, I returned home to a night (and morning) of violent vomiting. Quick quiz: what causes rapid-onset food poisoning, as defined by profuse vomiting less than six hours after eating? Anything with pre-formed toxins, of course!

Incubator Space

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 17:37:00 -0400

So, let’s say I woke up this morning with a great idea to deal with three critical problems in embryonic stem cell therapies with one tidy little trick.

Could I found a company in Lake Union? In Seattle? In the region? Finding a vacant warehouse, sweeping out the rats and installing some desks won’t cut it. Like any biotech start-up, I’ll need lab space, with specialized equipment, air handling and utility support. Some fee-for-service cores, for things like DNA sequencing or animal handling, are essential. So is access to a proper academic library—remember, most journal articles are subscription only.

Building Biotech In Seattle

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 17:42:00 -0400

Should Seattle be a center for biotech? “At South Lake Union, we are building a center of excellence in life sciences,” says the mayor. Vulcan has voraciously devoured tax and zoning breaks in the name of biotech in Seattle. Will it work?

Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 16:27:00 -0400

I’ve received several responses regarding my column on compact fluorescent lightbulbs.

From Tom Robey at Hope for Pandora brought up some interesting points:

For reference, 5 mg is 1% of what mercury thermometers contained. Yes there IS mercury, so you should follow these instructions in the rare event that a bulb breaks.

Writing At The Central Library

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 16:20:00 -0400

I’ve spent the better part of this Saturday afternoon writing in the Central Library. The building is totally dysfunctional, but beautiful. Just like Seattle. At least the tourists snapping photos seem happy.

Bio

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 03:43:00 -0400

Prior to arriving in Seattle, Jonathan was on a four year unpaid vacation in the City of Baltimore, where he completed a Bachelors in Science in the fields of Biomedical Engineering and Computer Science (double degree) at the Johns Hopkins University.

About

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 21:10:00 -0400

Ideas are tested by experiment. That’s all there is to science.

Carbon-Free Energy

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Nuclear Power

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000