Stale Thoughts and Broken Links

Old posts from my weblog.

(Click here for posts on geophysics and the energy industry.)


2006.06.25

LA Times: U.S. Panel Backs Data on Global Warming.

"Coupled with a report last month from the Bush administration's Climate Change Science Program that found ‘clear evidence of human influences on the climate system,’ the new study from the council, part of the National Academy of Sciences, signals a growing acceptance in Washington of widely held scientific views on the causes of global warming."


2006.06.22

Universe Today: Pluto's Planethood Will Be Decided Shortly.

"The International Astronomical Union will be meeting in August to decide on the fate of Pluto. By September, we could have 8 or 10 planets in the Solar System, but there won't be 9 any more."


2006.06.21

AP: Freak waves hit Americas.

"A freakishly powerful storm far off in the South Pacific propelled huge swells to the Americas, causing a surge of waves that battered beachfront homes and businesses from Peru to Mexico, officials said Tuesday."


Engadget: USB teddy bear holds data, scares children.


2006.06.14

Damn Interesting: The Great Rose Bowl Prank of 1961.

"The fourteen Caltech students who organized the prank came to be known as the Fiendish Fourteen. Their prank was so beautifully orchestrated­ and in front of such a large audience­ that it has become the yardstick against which all other college pranks are now measured."


2006.06.13

Frank Wilczek: The Universe is a Strange Place.

> If you still have enough college sophomore in you to care about the origin of the universe and the nature of reality, you should probably read (or listen to) this guy. I think he is as close as anyone has ever been to answering a couple of the all-time "really big" questions.


2006.06.12

It's time to re-start our hurricane coverage --

CNN: Hurricane warning issued for Florida.

"Forecasters issued a hurricane warning for parts of Florida's Gulf Coast on Monday as the first named storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season quickly gained strength in the Gulf of Mexico."


2006.06.08

Steven Dutch: Top Ten Myths About Evolution.

"2. It's Only A Theory

"‘Theory’ does not mean ‘hypothesis’ or ‘guess.’ ‘Theory’ means an organized set of related ideas."

> Where were the anti-evolutionists when my wife was taking classes in "accounting theory?"


Houston Chronicle: Singles today in no rush for romance.

"A sizable segment of the American population -- 43 percent, to be precise -- is single these days.... [But] just 7 percent of all adult Americans -- about 14 million -- are currently looking for a romantic partner."


2006.06.06

Arizona State University: Slab Of Sunken Ocean Floor Found Deep Within Earth.

"‘We are very excited about employing our migration approach to other regions in the mantle,’ [Edward Garnero of Arizona State University] added. ‘This study is just a starting point for bringing once blurry or obscured structures into sharper focus.’"


The Guardian: The Scots are worried. What better omen is there?

"I've never expected England to win the World Cup, not even as a teenage head-in-the-clouds romantic (largely because we didn't usually qualify for the bloody thing).... This time it's different, though."


2006.06.02

NYT: Studies Portray Tropical Arctic in Distant Past.

"The first detailed analysis of an extraordinary climatic and biological record from the seabed near the North Pole shows that 55 million years ago the Arctic Ocean was much warmer than scientists imagined -- a Floridian year-round average of 74 degrees."


Walter Kessinger

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