Understanding the Voynich Manuscript #1 Tom, Dick and Harry explain a statistical method. The mysterious Voynich Manuscript. A simple analysis of a sufficiently large text can reveal much about the topic of that text, if the language is known. If the text, as in the case of the Voynich Manuscript, is written in an unknown script, then the same simple analytical method can point the way to the underlying language, or language group.
Arctic Ice June 2010 - UpdateThis is an update to my article Arctic Ice June 2010, part of my ongoing series of articles about the Arctic.The NSIDC ice extent graph shows a fairly constant and greater then average rate of ice loss over the last four weeks.Arctic Sea Ice Entent June 07 2010 - NSIDC http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/.In an article published May 06 2010 I wrote:
Wikipedia's Science 2.0 Article - I Call PoeThis article was inspired by Hontas Farmer's recent article and the subsequent comments: Science 2.0 - Darwinian Selection Of The Best Paper.
Iceberg Alley And Global WarmingIn 1912 there were 1,019 icebergs reported in the North Atlantic shipping lane throughout the iceberg season. Many of those icebergs were reported in April 1912.This year, as of June 06 2010, no icebergs have been reported in that same shipping lane.Is this evidence of global warming?It is so intuitive to assume that, if Arctic ice retreat is due to global warming, then a lack of Atlantic icebergs must also be due to global warming.It doesn't work that way: there is only an indirect link between sea ice loss and iceberg melt mechanisms.R.M.S. titanic
The Science Of WhitewashA complaint often leveled against climate scientists is that they fake their graphs and that investigations into such fakery which fail to show fakery must accordingly be a whitewash.I have news for these people.All graphs are fake.An argument often used in philosophy is that nothing can be known as 100% truth. The same can more properly be argued from the findings of science. Every bit of knowledge comes from human experience and judgment. The human brain is easily fooled: illusions, hallucinations and mirages demonstrate this.
Music - The International LanguagePeoples of all cultures love music and song.This article addresses two urban myths: that yodelling originated in the mountains of Austria, Bavaria and Switzerland and that it evolved as a means of calling from mountain to mountain.Yodelling is fairly universal and is independent of terrain. The greatest variation is in the choice of musical instrument to accompany the yodelling. Modern musicians prefer guitars and electronic instruments. Austrians tend to favor the piano accordian and acoustic guitar. Other cultures favor the 'thumb piano' or lamellophone.
The Science Of FictionTip of the hat to Eric Diaz for reminding me of the muse.Long before writing was invented, amazing stories were told through the medium of the ballad and the saga. Those old tall tales and modern science fiction often have a few common themes - ethics, morality, gadgets and heroic deeds. Gadgets run the full gamut - from the bag of wind used by Odysseus to fill his ship's sails, to the talking computers and planet busters in movies.
Moncktonian ClimatologyChristopher Monckton presents himself as an expert on climate.Since he is an expert on climate, it follows that we should all trust and believe him when he says that there is no problem with the Arctic sea ice."Arctic ice extent is just fine: steady for a decade"Christopher Walter Monckton, 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley. My dear, if you find science confusing, you should try politics! Margaret Thatcher, to President of the Royal Society, March 1990.
Arctic Ice June 2010This article describes the current state of the Arctic sea ice and makes some predictions for the month ahead. The predictions are based on my visual analysis of hundreds of satellite images. I begin with some background and explanatory materials and then show how satellite images can be analyzed to show the mechanisms of ice consolidation and fracture. In the concluding part I show some images of the Arctic ice at the time of writing and point out what I think will happen to that ice during this month.
Getting Steamed Up About NostalgiaThe term nostalgia describes a yearning for the past.As a child, I would travel to school on a steam train. I have always loved the power and the beauty of the steam engine. The steam trains are mostly gone now, except for a few historic lines run by and for enthusiasts.One of my many hobbies is to examine satellite photographs and rediscover old railroad routes using the visual skills of the aerial archaeologist. When the 19th and early 20th century engineers called their routes 'permanent way' they certainly knew what they were talking about.
Love Thine EnemyIt is exceedingly rare that the scientist and the believer can stand on the same platform and present the same message to the world in the form of a law of universal application. What is scientific, you may ask, about an injunction to love our enemies? I hope to explain that point.Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time.Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - A Psalm of LifeWhere science meets belief
Desperately Denying Arctic WarmingThis is the age of rapid public access to satellite images. If you want to know what is happening to the Arctic ice you can see for yourself.There are some people who don't want you to look. They want you to read their drivel instead, and go away believing that the Arctic ice isn't really melting, or if it is then that is nothing unusual.On Saturday, May 01, 2010, Paul Driessen wrote a piece of blatant propaganda called "(Desperately) Looking for Arctic warming". It was "co-authored by scientist Willie Soon".http://townhall.com/columnists/PaulDriessen/2010/05/01/desperately_look… article has been multiply published, see e.g.
Arctic Heroes #1 - Alfred WegenerThe history of Arctic and Antarctic exploration and discovery is filled with the names of heroes. Many of those names get repeated over and over in popular writings on polar exploration. Other names tend to get forgotten. Here, in no particular order, I hope to write of some of these heroes, both remembered and forgotten.Alfred_Wegener is most famous for his Theory of the Drift of the Continents. He is less widely known for his enthusiastic contributions to climatology and meteorology, which led to his death on the Greenland ice sheet in 1930 under the most heroic circumstances.
