science ← the digital glebe

After the Gold Rush 4

May

2013

Scottish Islands Renewable Project: Final Report https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/scottish-islands-renewable-project-final-report ‘Our study concludes that the costs of deploying renewables on a large scale in the Scottish Islands is high, and that there are a number of technological and environmental challenges. However, onshore wind on the Scottish Islands is cost competitive with several other forms of low carbon generation ...

Does Fear Still Sell? 8

Apr

2013

I think the ‘bobos’ have had their chips to be honest. If there’s hope, it lies with the proles. “Concern about the environment is legitimate, but catastrophism transforms us into cowering children. Distrust of progress and science, calls for individual and collective self–sacrifice to ‘save the planet’ and cultivation of fear: behind the carbon commissars, ...

Myth of the Flat Earth 7

Apr

2013

Wikipedia is finally catching up at last. Myth of the Flat Earth. “Since the early 20th century, a number of books and articles have documented the flat earth error as one of a number of widespread misconceptions in popular views of the Middle Ages. The misconception has had no currency in historical scholarship since at ...

Origins of the Royal Society 3

Apr

2013

The Royal Society’s motto ‘Nullius in verba’ might roughly translate as ‘take nobody’s word for it’, or ‘on the word of no one’, and yet the Royal Society appears to have become increasingly involved in interfacing science with political policy-making. As a result, the Royal Society seems to be tainted, politicised & increasingly involved in ...

Know Thy Enemy 3

Apr

2013

“When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?” John Maynard Keynes Almost to a man, the four main parties in UK politics -Lib Lab Con SNP- all repeat the following mantra with little deviation: “Climate change is the greatest threat faced by humanity and the most important political issue of ...

Not By Fire 3

Mar

2013

Source: Steven Goddard & NASA The blue bars show arctic ice growth at a ten-year high, which I have superimposed over sunspots for the same period. We can extend the data across the full satellite record since records began in 1979: Orkney’s latest March visitor: “Wildlife experts said it was extremely unusual for a walrus ...

Black Holes & Relativity

Mar

2013

Stephen Crothers delivers a resounding critique of the most popular dogma in the theoretical sciences, all given at a level of common sense, free from mathematical elaborations.

Trust 7

Feb

2013

Trust is just so fragile! By Motm – About once a month I have a meal with a long term ex-work colleague It turns out to be a general discussion about putting the world to rights, but one thing is a common thread, that things seem to be getting worse! Trust seems to be like ...

Rupert Sheldrake: “Science Set Free” 3

Jan

2013

Part 1 of a talk by Rupert Sheldrake at the conference ELECTRIC UNIVERSE 2013: The Tipping Point, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “Many scientists like to think that science already understands the ways of the natural world. The fundamental questions are answered, leaving only the details to be filled in. The impressive achievements of science seemed ...

The Game is the Game 8

Jan

2013

So, you’re the head of a major corporation -let’s call it EnormoTech Inc. You’ve had a good run -as far as business longevity goes- you’ve been a player for twice the average lifespan of a top-500 UK company, therefore you’ve just hit 25 years of age. Success came when you were young and hungry; now ...