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.
King Coal And The Heat Values Of FuelsA Potted History Of The Human Use Of CoalThe term 'coal' covers many different materials with a common property: they are materials high in carbon which were formed from plant residues under pressure and over geologically long periods. BCE 13,000 - black amber, or jet, is known to have been used1 for ornamental purposes in Britain.BCE 2 - 3,000 - natural outcrop coal used for fuel in Britain.CE 200 - 400 - exploitation of surface coal fields on, by modern standards, a small scale.CE 1200 - 1300 - trade has developed in coal; mining is in development.CE 1600 - 1700 - experiments with steam engines, leading to
Water has an economic value in all its competing uses and should be recognized as an economic goodThe Dublin Statement on Water and Economic DevelopmentIn a warming world, will people fight over dwindling water supplies? Will there be water wars? What has economics to teach us about this? As glaciers recede, as lakes and rivers dry up, what then of the laws of supply and demand? What then of property rights and the free ride principle*?..........................................................The War Of The Wells
GMST : Discovering Trends What Is The Average Global Temperature? asks Adam RetchlessAdam's question is a good one. In brief, and very much oversimplified:
WARNING! Very bad joke alert. Please engage brain before reading further.Scoop! Newsflash! No Science At IPCC!Following hot on the heels of recent news about emails, glaciers and rainforests comes a new discovery that will warm the hearts of climate change deniers everywhere. It is indisputable fact that the IPCC does not conduct any research nor does it monitor climate related data or parameters.
Putting A Lid On The Spread Of InfectionThe common phrase "put a lid on it" can apply to stopping something or setting a limit to it. For example, putting a lid on spending means the same as a cap on spending. More generally, the phrase is a request to cease and desist, applied to behaviour such as persistent complaining or playing loud music.How do you put a lid on the spread of infection? The answer is simple, effective and quite literal: put a lid on it.
Death By FraudJim McCormick has been charged with fraud over his sales of a totally bogus explosives detection device, as reported in my earlier post here. I was beaten to the punch in writing about this bogus device by Barry Leiba back in November 2009.
Himalayan Hype : Reading Between The LinesA recent IPCC news release admitting a small instance of bad science has triggered a flurry of news stories and blog articles based on worse science. The IPCC error in question took figures, not from the scientist concerned, Professor Syed Iqbal Hasnain, but from media reports of what he is claimed to have claimed. Those media reports appear to have a common source: a 1999 New Scientist article by Fred Pearce.
Can The UK Met Office Weather The BBC Contract Storm?The UK's Met Office could lose its contract with the BBC, according to recent media reports.To the general public there is no difference between a weather forecaster, a media weather forecast presenter, a meteorologist and a climatologist. That is most unfortunate, since errors in forcasting tend accordingly to be taken as evidence against a person's personal choice of climate prediction.
Join The Navy : See A NukeThere was a time when a navy, merchant or military, consisted of hundreds of ships, each manned by hundreds of crew. When I was a child in the 1950s, Sheerness was a thriving dockyard town. Everyone in town knew at least one soldier or sailor, either as a relative or as a friend.
Global Cooling : Beyond ParochialismDuring the next 10 years, climate science and climate science reporting will, I believe, change the public perception of climate change. More people will come to understand the difference between parochial weather and global climate. As more and more people become directly affected by climate change, former deniers will begin to ask why "they" didn't do something about the problem.
Global Cooling : How Wrong Can You Get?Despite media reports to the contrary, the Antarctic ice is still melting, as noted here:Climate change is warming the Amundsen Sea, which is at the southern margin of the Pacific Ocean. As rising sea levels push the warm water beneath the ice shelves, it melts them from below, pushing the grounding line higher up the continental shelf.
Filtering Information In The Information AgeThe Fortean Times appears never to have been mentioned on scientific blogging.com, much less cited as a reference source. Now, when you have quite finished falling about laughing, I would like, in all seriousness, to draw your attention to a recent Fortean Times article:The New Information OrderHow the Internet is freeing conspiracy theories from the control imposed by traditional media.By Robin Ramsay, Fortean Times, December 2009.
