During the Obama administration, he was concerned about vaccines causing autism and it showed when it came to guidance about swine flu vaccines. His administration banned multi-use vials because of his party's insistence that preservatives caused the disorder.
Tangential Science: it's not necessarily science, but it's still funny.1. Greek fire ain't what it used to be. If you're a student of history, you know that Greek fire (πῦρ θαλάσσιον) was popularized by the Byzantines, mostly against Arab navies. We don't know what it consisted of because the recipe was lost to antiquity but it made enough of an impression that various other cultures copied it. Naptha? Saltpeter? No one can be sure. Greek fire was not an ingredient but instead an entire system. It required special processing to make and was compressed so that the liquid shot out. Thus it required expert handling as well.
Do guys like Bernie Madoff do what they do because of greed ... or ego? A Florida State professor says it's the latter. It makes some sense because it takes a certain drive to become CEO of a large company and that takes a certain self-confidence. But is it more than just determination and grit and confidence? Narcissism is the claim Wayne Hochwarter, the Jim Moran Professor of Management in the Florida State University College of Business, is trying to make.
As you might imagine, I get a lot of press releases. As I have said here before, I like getting them because it's difficult for me to know all the good things happening out there, especially if an organization lacks the budget to hire an expensive PR firm. A little proactive work helps get your message out.
There's this little company you may have heard of called GE. Yeah, it's the one Edison started and I don't know where you come down in the whole Westinghouse/Edison fight but one of those guys screwed Tesla and one did not, so I am inclined to like Westinghouse more than Edison even though GE stock obviously did much better.Hey, I can stick with my principles and still make some money.But GE has earned my respect, not because of Jack Welch (though he earned my respect, mostly by making the stock a gold mine and despite being a part of that annoying Six Sigma crap that has been foisted off on MBAs since the 1990s) but because they made smart grids seem kind of cool.What are smart grids?
Tangential Science: it's not necessarily science, but it's still funny.
Tangential Science: it's not necessarily science, but it's still funny.1. In an overhyped analysis certain to make biologists want to reach for their pistols, it has been declared that women are evolving to be more beautiful:"Evolution has led to women, but not men, getting progressively beautiful, according to scientists" it reads.
You may have heard the fairy tale of The Three Little Pigs. In the original story (1), they leave home to find their fortune but the first one builds his new place out of straw and the Big Bad Wolf blows it down and eats him.By the time he got to the third little pig, who built his house of brick, the wolf got his comeuppance, but it still wasn't a great result for the progessive, environmentally-conscious first one.Researchers at the University of Bath say straw in housing has gotten a bad rap and to prove it they are making a "BaleHaus" of prefabricated straw and hemp 'cladding' panels.Have we learned nothing?
You're all either old enough or young enough to remember "Where's Waldo?" It involved a lovable scamp with glasses who would get himself trapped in awfully complex situations and only keen eyes could rescue him.We have our own lovable scamp, sans glasses, and his name is Garth Sundem. If you haven't seen Garth be lovable, watch this clip from his show on the Science Channel. I'll wait.
A surprising impact on Jupiter is big news this past week. The eyes of the entire space world have been riveted on the discovery of amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley of Canberra, Australia. Now Hubble is in on the act and has provided the clearest picture yet.
Less stable materials may not sound like a great thing for your car but they may be the solution to producing a clean-running hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. More on that in just a minute. First, let's talk about where things are in clean energy.If you've read this site for more than five minutes you know I believe it's better to spend money researching legitimate clean energy rather than porkbarrelling environmental activism darlings like ethanol, wind energy, solar panels and CFL bulbs. Hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles can not only be an important part of the solution to America's energy crisis, they can eliminate it ... but challenges remain.
Tangential Science: it's not necessarily science, but it's still funny.1. Drought is a serious problem in many parts of the world, going well beyond our California 'limit the days you water your lawn' irritation and well into 'We are going to die without rain' territory.It's boom or bust in parts of India, where they actually look forward to monsoons - and sometimes they can't happen soon enough. But what if the water gods are fickle? Some crafty leaders in male-dominated Bihar think the solution is to have young girls walk around naked.
CNN is trying to look like they are impartial by simultaneously only having talking heads who stress how vital government health care is while then proclaiming it Obama's "Waterloo."If you aren't familiar with military history, or only know the colloquial term, here is a brief summary: Napoleon was a brilliant General during the disastrous French Revolution who made himself Emperor after a coup d'etat. He battered around the continental powers, reinstituted slavery, implemented French modern civil law and tried to invent a new week. Oh, and sold us Louisiana.
