news

US Spring 2017 has been very weird #Climate #USANPN #statusofspring

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Back last March I had a posting about spring 2017 being very very early in the US. It is now May and so it is appropriate to check back in with the USA-NPN (USA National Phenology Network) and see how things have been blossoming since then. Side Note: “Phenology” is tracking the dates of biological events in their annual cycle. For example … Read more

What is the Big News that NASA Will Announce today?

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There has been a bit of media flutter about the NASA Press Release entitled …. “NASA to Reveal New Discoveries in News Conference on Oceans Beyond Earth“. Yes the grammar of that press release title sucks, and so no, that NASA News Conference will not be taking place on an alien ocean. I must confess I am … Read more

Changing the world, one byte at a time – Open Citations

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The word Metadata is a term that is often guaranteed to cause eyes too glaze over in under five minutes, and yet it is a word that describes something that is both simple and yet deeply disruptive and transformative. The world as we now know it wold be radically different and a lot worse off … Read more

Claim: “Atheists at risk of dying out” – is this true?

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The UK’s Independent, and others, have latched on to the publication of a new study that claims it has evidence that Atheism is doomed. Basically the claim is that the religious will be able to out breed the non-religious. OK, I’ll bite, let’s take a peek. Atheists at risk of dying out due to belief in contraception, study … Read more

What are the implications of the NOAA funding cuts?

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You are perhaps aware the Mr T is proposing to deploy a rather hefty axe to the funding for NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and radically slash its budget. If you did not know that then your starting point can be an article within The Washington Post (3rd March) entitled “White House proposes steep budget cut to … Read more

Should you support the #marchforscience?

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The #MarchForScience is scheduled to happen on 22nd April. The official “March For Science” website explains it as follows … SCIENCE, NOT SILENCE The March for Science is a celebration of our passion for science and a call to support and safeguard the scientific community. Recent policy changes have caused heightened worry among scientists, and … Read more