URGENT from Heidi Hammel: “The House Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Subcommittee has proposed termination of the James Webb Space Telescope. Now is the time to contact your representatives in Washington, as well as members of the Appropriations Subcommittees, if you support JWST.”
Science and Public Policy
Japan can learn from Chernobyl
There’s been a lot of sensationalism about the meltdowns at the Japanese Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility. I just read an article that puts Fukushima into perspective without minimizing its seriousness.
What do extreme weather events tell us about climate change?
“Climate is what you expect. Weather is what you get.”
That famous quotation from science fiction great Robert A. Heinlein captures the difficulty climate scientists have when trying to share the science behind global warming to the general public through the media.
For Science History Buffs: Blood Work by Holly Tucker
A slightly edited version of this review appeared in the Dallas Morning News.
Blood Work: A Tale of Medicine and Murder in the Scientific Revolution
by Holly Tucker
(Norton, March 2011, $25.95, 288 pages)
Reviewed by Dr. Fred Bortz
Copyright 2011 by Alfred B. Bortz.
Make no myth-take about climate change risks
I have been an admirer of Richard Muller for some time, though I had no idea that he was among the climate change skeptics. One of the reasons I admire him is that he follows the evidence, and in doing so, he came to a conclusion opposite to what his funders had hoped for: “that the Berkeley (Earth Surface Temperature) project would conclude that global warming is a myth.” No myth. No myth-take!
Groundhog Day moved ahead to January 25
An April Fool’s Day prank with a point. Read this link to understand why Groundhog Day really should be moved ahead to January 25. http://action.ucsusa.org/site/Ecard?ecard_id=1761&autologin=true
Japanese Nuclear Crisis: TMI, Chernobyl, or In-between
My favorite chapter from my 1995 book 
Catastrophe! Great Engineering Failure–and Success is the one where I discuss two very different nuclear reactor accidents, Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. It is my favorite because of the way I ended it. That ending applies to the current situation at the reactors in Fukushima, Japan.
U.S. Navy Preparing for Climate Change
The military services can’t afford an ideological interpretation of climate change data. It has to be prepared for whatever comes our way, such as a very different Arctic environment including ice-free shipping lanes.
Follow science blogger/children’s author on Facebook
If you are a regular reader of my blog postings, you know that I am a passionate, opinionated middle-of-the-roader. I bring the same passion to my writing for young readers, but I want them to learn to form their own opinions.
Knotty Issue: Drafting Climate Change Policy in the face of scientific uncertainty
One of the best things about speaking my mind in print and on line is that it gives me the chance to “meet” people who are willing to challenge me or share viewpoints that put mine in perspective. Such was the case this morning, when I got an e-mail from Andrew Wright, who wrote an article for Politico.com entitled “Scientific talk on climate change.”