Category Archives: Science

Ls&Cs: Engagement with the Universe

Posted on 24 January 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Two contrasting perspectives, today, both passages I just happened to read during my morning web browsing. Rival worldviews. One characterizing religious myths, the other about Kim Stanley Robinson.

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Ls&Cs: Misleading Maps

Posted on 22 January 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s one of my favorite counter-intuitive facts: how our impressions of the sizes of countries and continents that we get from (flat) maps are wildly inaccurate.

Posted in Culture, Science | Leave a comment

L&Q&Cs: Neal Stephenson on What Might Save Us

Posted on 20 January 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Sunday’s New York Times Magazine had an interview with SF writer Neal Stephenson, whose latest novel is Termination Shock. NYT Times Magazine: Neal Stephenson Thinks Greed Might Be the Thing That Saves Us

Posted in Culture, Psychology, Science | Leave a comment

Myths About Science

Posted on 7 January 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Another overcast, damp day, with occasional sprinkles. Today was partner Y’s last day at his current job; he signed his severance package, returned his laptop and badge. He’ll be home everyday now until/unless he gets another job; he does seem … Continue reading →

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E.O. Wilson, HALF-EARTH (2016)

Posted on 29 December 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

E.O. Wilson, Half-Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Life, Liveright, 2016, 259p This is one of Wilson’s last four or five books, the first one following The Meaning of Human Existence in 2014. These books seem slighter that most earlier Wilson … Continue reading →

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E.O. Wilson

Posted on 27 December 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

The great evolutionary biologist and author E.O. Wilson died on Sunday. He was 92. He  had been publishing new books right up to the end, with Tales from the Ant World in 2020. Several of his earlier books, from On … Continue reading →

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Extinction Debt

Posted on 23 December 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Henry Gee is a long-time editor of Nature, one of the two (along with Science) general interest scientific journals. Gee came to notice of the science fiction community in the 2000s (iirc) when he commissioned short science fiction stories from … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution, Science | Comments Off on Extinction Debt

Carl Sagan, OTHER WORLDS (1975)

Posted on 19 December 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Continuing my stroll through my nonfiction library, of books I’ve read that I think are worth remembering. Carl Sagan, Other Worlds (produced by Jerome Agel). Bantam, 1975. This is a thin little book (160pp) with text by Carl Sagan but … Continue reading →

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Ls&Cs: New Conspiracy Theories and Worldviews Available Here!

Posted on 10 December 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Are birds real? Are the leftists the ones denying reality? A perfect gift for the conspiracy theorist in your life who has absorbed all the others, from 9/11 to QAnon to 5G to the stolen election and the Covid hoax, … Continue reading →

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Lc&Cs: Priorities

Posted on 9 December 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Being pro-life and anti-vaccine; being pro-defense and anti-deficit; the decline of American conservatism; and endpiece.

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