They say two people can’t see the same mirage. I wonder who the hell started saying that?  Last fall, in the article, Polls Are Not Rigged, But They Also Aren't 'Scientific', prolific science…

Today is the first day of the Chinese Year of the Rooster, 2017. I am addressing this in particular to North American friends, since yesterday evening on TV we saw Michael Portillo on one of his…

A lot has been said about the so-called "hiatus" in Global Warming starting in 1998, a major El Niño year. Perhaps the best illustration of the problem with the talking point is an animation titled "…

Technology development and use is one of the distinguishing human characteristics. Throughout history, technological developments have led to new opportunities and problems as civilizations…

Jeffery Beall was keeper of a controversial list of predatory publishers that has been shut down. A big problem with this list is it was academically classist and biased towards journals in non-…

Our nation once again celebrates its unique capacity to transfer leadership with grace and dignity.  The joyousness of the occasion, however, quickly fades into solemnity as citizens and…

If you are in Cambridge, MA on Thursday, Jan. 26, you can see me live at MIT in room 3-270 from 3 to 5pm. If you are anywhere else and have Internet access, you can see me YouTube live in the same…

How Wind Turbines Work - A Legal Perspective If you want to know how a wind turbine works you may visit Wikipedia or the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.  You would not…

You will read in many places of Gene Cernan as the last man on the moon. He certainly was that. To me and to all of us in the Village of Bellwood Illinois he was a home town hero. Bellwood is a…

How would one detail in the past affect how technology and science evolved?  This question comes up at many scales- sometimes personal introspection on what might have been or larger scale…

The Guardian, or as it is more affectionately known to its readers, The Grauniad, seems to think that it takes a native Russian speaker to write 'f' as 'ph'. Almost certainly, a native Russian…

Psst!  Wanna Buy Some Truth? In case anyone has missed my many articles on the topic of global warming-induced climate change: I am totally convinced that humans have been causing global warming…

Not long ago, I read an article Apocalypse now? Nuclear proliferation is the least of our worries, to which the sub-editor helpfully added the heading soon, a massive solar flare will bring the world…

Earlier today, President-Elect Donald Trump met with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and, at least according to RFK, Jr., wants the prominent Democratic anti-vaccine activist to head a commission on vaccine…

There are several reasons I could never be a political pundit. Much less one of the ilk of Charles Krauthammer, who has earned the respect of everyone, even those who do not like him very much. To be…

Summing up My New Semi-Empirical                             …

Metaphors are an important way to facilitate understanding of new processes.  This metaphor is constructed based on the similarity of a rocket’s and civilization’s  transition from one…

Today’s affirmative action professoriate like to talk as though they own the moral high ground because they are not white men. It’s a big act. Even before the affirmative action professoriate came…

The STENDEC Puzzle Ever since BSAA Avro Lancastrian Star Dust vanished on a flight from Buenos Aires to Santiago, the ending of its final transmission - STENDEC - has continued to puzzle experts and…

In Scotland, traditional New Year greeting is Lang may yer lum reek meaning “long may your chimney smoke”.  So may you never be short of fuel for your fire. So, if I understand this article…