In this area, incredibly large flocks of birds will descend on parking lots, the roofs of buildings, and any nearby trees. Here is what one of these flocks sounded like outside of a JCPenny in a nearby mall. [audio:http://steve.cooleysekula.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Huge_flock_of_birds.mp3|titles=Huge flock of birds]
Here is some audio from Sather Tower at University of California-Berkeley. The Bells of Sather Tower [audio:http://steve.cooleysekula.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Berkeley_Sather_Tower.mp3]
Author’s Note: in the Dec. 18 game against the Patriots, the Broncos lost spectacularly. Chance giveth, and chance taketh away. I still stick to my punchline: based on the data, the Broncos are statistically behind their own curve… The first I heard of Tim Tebow, starting quarterback of the Denver […]
[This post was inspired by a comment in an article on PhysOrg, http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-09-cern-faster-than-light-particle.html. Thanks to Randy Scalise for bringing it to my attention.] In 1987, a distant star exploded. Here on Earth, it was named “SN1987a” – Supernova 1987a. Here are some basic facts about SN1987a: it occurred (51.4 +/- […]
“Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.” [The title of the 1973 essay by the evolutionary biologist and Russian Orthodox Christian Theodosius Dobzhansky, who criticized the anti-evolution creationist movement.] Almost 30% of humans carry the Human Papillomavirus. In women, HPV has been linked to 90% of […]
The Republican Presidential Candidate debates (and all the media that encircles them) are a great place to look for examples of poorly applied thinking. Specifically, it’s a buffet of examples of pseudo-scientific argument. In this post, we’ll use one example that stemmed from the most recent CNN/Tea Party Express debate […]
It’s about 11 in the morning and the phone is ringing. The crappy red plastic cordless phone is ringing, and the cheap digital sound fills my one-room cottage in Atherton, CA. I remember getting home around 4am. I remember the last thing I heard on the radio before I turned […]
In the most recent Republican Presidential Candidate debate [1], moderator John Harris from Politico put candidate John Huntsman on the spot about his criticism of many fellow Republicans as “a bunch of cranks.” Harris then said, HARRIS: . . . You yourself have said the party is in danger of […]
In part 1 of this series, I discussed the four laws of thermodynamics. These laws tells us that the total change in energy in a system, dU, is composed of two parts: dU = dQ – dW where dQ is the heat energy added to the system and dW is […]
In a recent post, I noted that Republican candidate Jon Huntsman is one of only a few in the field of candidates who seems to have a clear grasp of basic knowledge about the world. Well, this week his campaign has come out swinging and reaffirmed his own excellent grasp […]
Let me just give a big shout out to our Texas-sized Governor, who just set back public impressions of the Texas science curriculum about 75 years. Oh, and also thanks to our highest-ranking public official for saying that Texas public schools are in violation of several supreme court rulings that […]
Science is sometimes very helpful when trying to sort informed political candidates from uninformed ones; uninformed or misinformed candidates are likely to make bad decisions when it comes to crafting policy. America deserves the most qualified policy makers. Today, Gov. Rick Perry got some press for his statement on Climate […]