Contriving

Originally posted on Google+ · June 23, 2014

Children of the 1980's (like the younger of these two co-authors) may fondly remember a TV cartoon called G. I. Joe, whose closing conceit—a cheesy public service announcement—remains a much-parodied YouTube sensation almost thirty years later. Following each of these moralizing pronouncements came the show's famous epithet: "Now you know. And knowing is half the battle."

While there may be some domains where knowing is half the battle, there are many more where it is not. Recent work in cognitive science has demonstrated that knowing is a shockingly tiny portion of the battle for most real world decisions. You may know that $19.99 is pretty much the same price as $20.00, but the first still feels like a significantly better deal. You may know a prisoner's guilt is independent of whether you are hungry or not, but she'll still seem like a better candidate for parole when you've recently had a snack.

Edge.org
Children of the 1980’s (like the younger of these two co-authors) may fondly remember a TV cartoon called G. I. Joe, whose closing conceit—a cheesy public service announcement—remains a much-parodied YouTube sensation almost thirty years later. Following each of these moralizing pronouncements …

Originally posted on Google+ · June 23, 2014

Originally posted on Google+ · June 19, 2014

“Whether it’s Bitnet, The Tor – which is 90% of the Internet – peer-to-peer sharing, or the streaming capability worldwide. At what point does civil society say that as well as the benefits that brings, this enables huge risk and threat to our society that we need to take action against?”

—  Commissioner Adrian Leppard of City of London Police.

Leppard is in charge of the intellectual property enforcement division.  Apparently, technology isn't his strong suit.  And why would you need to understand technology when in charge of enforcing laws about it?

Originally posted on Google+ · June 16, 2014

They come out at night and have sex.  

On your face.

These mites live on your face and come out to have sex at night
Our bodies are home to millions of mites, but scientists know barely anything about them

Originally posted on Google+ · June 11, 2014

And the problem with irrationality is that it depresses your natural ability to wonder if you are being irrational. One of the fundamental skills of rationality is noticing that you are confused, which also happens to be one of the fundamental skills of dealing with being chased around Venice by a giant dragon with the head of your second-grade teacher.

CONSTANT VIGILANCE!
I am going to do something very dangerous today, something that makes me acutely aware of my own mortality. I am going to disagree with Robin Hanson. In my defense, he wrote an entire blog post cal…

Originally posted on Google+ · June 11, 2014

To investigate whether life might exist in this harsh landscape, Benison and her graduate student, Francis Karmanocky III, collected some of the crystals and shaved slivers off for study. When the researchers shined a light through the samples and peered at them through a microscope, they were amazed by the diversity of life trapped within the crystal layers. They observed single-celled organisms known as prokaryotes, as well as green algae, including a variety of green algae called diatoms that are encased in silica armor. Some of the microorganisms were entombed in the crystals themselves, trapped in coffins that slowly grew around them. Oftentimes, though, they were found in tiny bubbles filled with air or water.

Physics Buzz: Chile’s Volcanic Lakes May Hint At Where To Look For Life On Mars
Conditions in the region are too dry for rain or snow, so Salars Gorbea and Ignorado are only sustained by upwelling groundwater that has been turned extremely salty and acidic through interactions with the surrounding volcanic rocks. “We think the water is interacting with the magma chambers,” …

Originally posted on Google+ · June 10, 2014

Well here's a depressing view on our chances to make progress on climate change.

Either way, we've waited so long to begin cutting emissions that two degrees looks flatly impossible. We're on track for 4°C of warming — which is nearly the temperature difference between the world now and the Ice Age. That's a nightmare for the planet. The World Bank tried to model it and realized that they had no idea what would happen — or whether humans could manage. There's "no certainty that adaptation to a 4°C world is possible," they concluded.

7 reasons America will fail on climate change
Why I’m a global warming pessimist.

Originally posted on Google+ · June 5, 2014

Yeah, whatever you say Chobani yogurt.

Originally posted on Google+ · June 3, 2014