Reports have appeared that the US ran a cyber war program infecting the networks that manage Iranian centrifuges with computer viruses intended to slow down the production of weapons grade fissile material by the pariah nation: [Read more…]
Update 21 April ’12, too early AM: The comments below were so helpful I added a link to this piece on the DKos open science thread. Now, you’re all going to be marked as subversives …
As the AOL piece linked below says, “we didn’t see this one coming.” According to them, the hottest selling car in America is … [Read more…]
Given the current anti-science jubilee going on among wingnut foot soldiers on the orders of their ignorant field commanders, you wouldn’t think they’d make a fuss about science. But you’d be wrong. One bold, fearless, anonymous member of the Keyboard Komanndos is mad as hell and they’re not gonna take it anymore! [Read more…]
Via Balloon Juice, above, this is what your gas prices have actually done over the past year courtesy of Triple A. Below, this is your gas prices for the past year on Fox News. Hahaha! Any questions? [Read more…]
So the energy industry, with their collective oily hands deep up the asses of the nation’s political apparatus, are whining about delaying the Keystone pipeline. If you haven’t been keeping up, this is an oil pipe stretching from the Canada tar sand production region to the booming petroleum port of Louisiana. The whiners think we’re so stupid that we’re all supposed to believe creating a river of oil flowing through the lower 48 for rapid shipment offshore to Europe, Latin America, and Asia is all about serving US energy needs. Wednesday alone I witnessed a parade of mostly conservative politicians claiming oil mined in Canada sent to nations’ halfway around the world somehow counts as domestic energy production used by US consumers. In related news, I decree honey produced by Mexico for export offsets US honey-bee decline if it passes within ten miles of our coast or border on the way to Manilla … [Read more…]
The journey of the sun at the same time of day over the course of a year. The figure-eight pattern is called an Analemma
Today, December 22, 2011, is the first official day of Winter and by definition the shortest day of the year — even though it’s not the earliest sunset or latest sunrise — in the northern hemisphere. Perhaps we should mark the occasion, as our distant ancestors did, with some sort of recognition and related social ceremony, celebrating and welcoming the sun as it moves back to beckon plants and animals into the light of quickening Spring? Oh, wait, yeah, Christmas and all … well, anyway, some researchers at Notre Dame are still thinking of the hot summer sun and all the free energy, about 4 trillion terrawatts to be precise, and ways to make it easier for consumers to get at it. One solution, solar-cell paint! [Read more…]
And I’ll make it short and sweet. With Europe softening toward mild recession and the US stuck in permanent high unemployment, the demand side of the equation is unlikely to ratchet up anytime soon. As long as supply is stable this leads to lower gas prices between now and the end of Spring. This is a seesaw: the worse the Euro recession is and/or the economy here, the lower gas prices tend to go, so it’s not exactly good news for everyone.
It’s getting to be that time of year again! The first snow-storm of the season is heading for the Northeast. Some communities could receive almost a full fluffy foot. The snow will probably melt quickly, it’s still early Fall. But the annual industry funded snowjob on climate change may have barely started. [Read more…]
Thin-film solar photovoltaic modules being installed on a roof. Click for more info on thin-film PV
Strange happenings at the nation’s largest solar panel manufacturer. [Read more…]