Imagine a future where thousands of streams of real-world data would be brought together to reveal previously unknown patterns and trends in human society. What might this new kind of computing marvel do? Ultimately the simulator could help detect impending crises like public health emergencies and instabilities in the financial system while serving as a…Continue Reading…
Politico digs them out of the GOP closet.
This expedition of New York’s subterranean city is pretty cool. No sightings of an alien race, though.
The battle (over global warming) between competing conservative evangelical camps is one to watch in 2011. It’s been brewing for years. In 2005, Richard Cizik, who was then the political lobbyist for the conservative-leaning National Association of Evangelicals, and talking up the notion of environmental stewardship to its 30 million members, found himself in the…Continue Reading…
Part of me can’t believe James Fallows fell for this woo, but another part of me can relate. I’ve been coughing up a lung for several weeks now (mornings are worst), and that’s not counting the other assorted flu horrors, which I’ve alternately tried treating and ignoring. Here’s the various over-the-counter and prescribed meds I’ve…Continue Reading…
As someone who covers archaeology, climate change & energy, and ecology, this developing story fascinates me. The short post by Todd Woody barely scratches at the complex interplay of issues, so it’s worth following up if someone can get a deep dive assignment.
Another wild tale from the illegal wildlife trade, this one about a Malaysian smuggler that offers a window on the illegal wildlife trade and our broken system to combat it. Underfunded law enforcement, government corruption, controversy-shy NGOs, and a feeble international legal framework have yielded few inroads against wildlife syndicates or kingpins like Anson Wong….Continue Reading…
I gotta say, I’m really floored by the level of sacrifice exhibited here. No new clothes for a year! Wow. But as far as such eco-gimmicks go, it doesn’t begin to approach this one. Seriously, I would have been more impressed if the Guardian writer had become a Freegan for a month, or swore off…Continue Reading…
One of my favorite geographers, David Lowenthal, has written two great books that touch on the power of nostalgia: The Past is a foreign Country, and Possessed by the Past. In environmentalism, the notion of an idealized past has long manifested itself in various ways. For example an early strain of contemporary environmentalism–known as the…Continue Reading…
So I’ve been cross-eyed with the flu this week, which is finally ebbing. Even more interesting, the whole family got equally sick at the same time. I think one of our neighbors put a skull and crossbones on our front door. I shuffled out to get the mail one day and another neighbor, caught in…Continue Reading…