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Thursday, June 13, 2002 |
By Jupiter
Astronomers Detect Signs That Jupiter Has a 'First Cousin'. Astronomers have for the first time found a planetary system of a distant star that in significant respects reminds them of the Sun's family of planets. By John Noble Wilford. [New York Times: Science]P>
A couple years ago, I read a book called Rare Earth, which argued pretty convncingly, that Earth was, as the title said, a rarity among planets. Its distance from the sun, the stability offered it by the other planets (notably Jupiter, which has pretty much swept the dangerous rocks from the solar system), the type of star the sun is, etc., all combined to make it a rarity. At that time, the only other planetary systems found were really unstable: large planets in very eccentric orbits, for example. Those systems, with the eccentric orbits, were easier to find. Now that techniques have improved, more systems are being found, and they look more and more like our own; this new system is more like home than any seen yet. In a few years, we'll be able to image the big planets, and detect the presence of the smaller earthlike rocks that are probably there, too. It's gonna be fun.
10:53:42 PM Permalink
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Pet Sounds Live
I also just listened once to Brian Wilson's new Live version of Pet Sounds. What an odd concept, at first -- a full live concert redoing one of the greatest albums of all time. But Wilson seems to pull it off. I wonder if it's a novelty, or if I'll listen more than once -- why not go back to the original or to the Smile sessions? On the other hand, a favorite game of Dylan fans (or at least of this Dylan fan) is assembling live versions of the various albums from various concert performances. And wouldn't it be great to hear Dylan decide to do a live Blood on the Tracks or Freewheelin'?
10:04:02 PM Permalink
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Western World Pollution Led to African Droughts
Well, clearly Environmentalism isn't the only thing that's toxic! I wonder if the same people who used overheated rhetroic about DDT will rise up in arms about the deaths in Africa caused by pollution in America? My bet is no, they won't.
9:51:35 PM Permalink
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Dr Ralph Stanley
The new Ralph Stanley album came today; the one from Sony's new DMZ label, and produced by Mr. T-Bone Burnett. I've just given it one listen, but do have some first impressions. To start with, for the most part, Stanley is in great voice. He pulls out the strong "O Death" voice from the O Brother soundtrack. The production is really nice, crystal clear. It's probably not surprising, but a little disappointing, that his Clinch Mountain Boys don't back him up; instead, he's backed up by a fine band including the likes of Norman Blake. Nice to see Bobby Neuwirth's name again, as one of the producers of the album. Standout cuts so far are Henry Lee (Dylan recorded it as Love Henry on World Gone Wrong) and Little Mathie Grove.
9:56:30 PM Permalink
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100,000-year climate pattern linked to sun's magnetic cycles. Over the last 1 million years, the earth's climate record has revealed a 100,000-year cycle oscillating between relatively cold and warm conditions... when the sun is magnetically more active, the earth experiences a warmer climate, and vice versa, when the sun is magnetically less active, there is a glacial period. Right now, the earth is in an interglacial period (in between ice ages) that began about 11,000 years ago, and as expected, this is also a time when the estimated solar activity appears to be high.
The current interglacial period happens to be The Rise of Mankind, from caves to space stations. A warmer climate is good for us.
[Dartmouth College] [Jinn of Quality and Risk]
9:32:00 PM Permalink
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Toxic Environmentalism?
Environmentalism and malaria vs man. Millions die every year of malaria because of the irrational DDT ban. Although Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" claims have been thoroughly debunked by scientists in the past four decades, her malevolent influence lingers on and the DDT ban she inspired is directly responsible for the deaths of 100 million people since 1962. It is primarily children and pregnant women in developing countries who are being killed. All sane people must speak up against the toxicity of environmentalism. Read the full story: Environmentalism and malaria vs man... [Jinn of Quality and Risk]
What's one to make of this? I haven't done all the reading, though I did follow a few of the links in this story. The assertion that Carson's claims have been disproved over the last four decades is one I'd like to see backed up, for starters. The line about "toxicity of environmentalism" is way too broad for my taste, though it does get its point across and I've been known to overstate things myself.
One needs to be skeptical about most things, whether its the claims of environmentalists, and investigate nearly everything, insofar as is possible, on your own. I'd be open to reasoned arguments about the points above, but the overheated rhetoric makes me realize that I probably won't learn what I want to learn by reading things this author points to, because they're all more of the same.
(Of course, if true, 100 million deaths is something to get overheated about.)
9:20:18 PM Permalink
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There's one born every minute
This is loathsome stuff. This Salon article is lazy, cynical, disgusting journalism. Looking at cheap charlatans like James Van Praagh and John Edward as if they actually had anything of substance to offer is bad enough. Then quoting a gullible, silly Univeristy of Arizona study to somehow confirm that these guys actually do talk to the dead is the dregs. A thirty second search of Google turns up bunches of well-reasoned, logical, pages showing what despicable clowns these guys are. I'm ashamed of Salon for publishing this piece. Michael Schermer put it well:
"Death is a part of life, and pretending that the dead are gathering in a television studio in New York to talk twaddle with a former ballroom-dance instructor is an insult to the intelligence and humanity of the living."
The Skeptics Dictionary has a nice piece on Van Praagh, and Skeptic magazine has a nice piece on John Edwards. James Randi nicely debunked Gary Schwartz' University of Arizona "study" here (and Schwartz rebutted it here). But this Salon writer and her editors are either too lazy or too gullible to do the couple of minutes work. This isn't innocent stuff folks: these guys are taking lots of money (from someone) on their television show. And their ilk are every day bilking money from the bereaved and gullible. Articles like this only make it easier for them to do so.
6:08:57 PM Permalink
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The birds of Hollywood: An unnatural history. Movie producers spend countless millions to make the details convincing. So why can't they figure out that blue jays are asleep at night and thrushes go south for the winter? [Salon.com]
Nice little piece. Another thing movies never get right is the stars. I keep watching in night scenes to see one little constellation that I recognize but never do. Titannic was a case in point: a beautiful night vista of totally unrecognizable stars. Such a waste.
5:54:37 PM Permalink
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© Copyright 2004 Steve Michel.
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