Question: Take a peek at the meme at left, and examine it for poor logic. A cow eating grass isn’t bad for the planet. The beef industry that is driving unprecedented levels of deforestation–in particular, the destruction of the Amazon …
Category: Renewables – Science
Ending Property Taxes
Property taxes are how we fund public schools. Unless we want illiterate children, we need property taxes. Of course, we’re headed in the direction of mass ignorance anyway. The popular conception among the MAGA right is that education cranks out …
Quick Post on the Second Law of Thermodynamics
I had a physics professor in college who told our class, “When most people go to Germany they tend to take river cruises and drink white wine. Physicists visit Boltzmann’s grave.” I hadn’t thought about this statement in a very …
Studying Math
The drawing here reminds me of a kid I tutored who introduced himself as follows, “Hi, Mr. Shields. I’m Andy. I hate math and it hates me.” Of course, I chuckled amiably and tried to reassure him that we were …
Tagged with: math
That’s Kinda Pathetic
I had to laugh when I came across the meme here. A few weeks ago, I ran into two ladies who had been friends since they were children. One said, “Gosh we’ve known one another for a long time. We’re …
Tagged with: mathematics
Does Science Provide Us Comfort?
In response to the question posed at left, a reader remarks: No, it makes you restless. That’s a fine answer, and it’s true that a blind certainty provides better peace of mind than living in a constant state of doubt, …
Has Spreading Lies Somehow Become Fun?
The assertion at left is, of course, completely false. If starvation cured disease, the poverty in places like central Africa would make these children among the healthiest on Earth. So who’s creating and disseminating lies like this one? And why? …
Tagged with: Spreading Lies
Doubt and Certainty
At left is something that has been said by many of the worlds greatest minds, from Socrates to Bertrand Russell. It’s interesting to note that religious cults try to cultivate certainty in their members. In many cases, questioning the ideas …
Tagged with: Socrates to Bertrand Russell
What Makes Atheists?
I’m not sure an atheist can answer this question, other than to say, “One either believes in things where there is evidence, or one doesn’t, and I was wired to be the former as opposed to the latter.” Speaking for …
Microbial Fuel Cells
The “discovery” that these four African girls supposedly made is called a microbial fuel cell, actually initiated in 1911 by an Englishman. Among the other misstatements here is the idea of “six hours of electricity.” How much electricity? That’s like …
Tagged with: microbial fuel cells
