This question was recently inspired by a article in PopularScience:
Propane lamps and similar devices often use a mesh sack over the flame to contain it. Originally metal mosquito netting was used, now days all sorts of materials are used. The Original purpose of this mesh sack was to cotain
Not likely to match anything in your house unless you've wallpapered using LEGO, these limited edition De Stijl FS 247 speakers are bound to be cheaper than buying anything from the Dutch artists they take their name from.
Part of ELAC's Art Edition range, these $1,500 left and right loudspeakers measure 1,021mm high × 220mm wide × 320mm deep, and use 30-250 watts per channel. But anyone buying these De Stijl speakers probably doesn't care two hoots for specs, right? [ELAC via Chip Chick]
NASA just launched the new Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, this morning. It'll be used to detect light- and heat-emitting objects that the Hubble might miss. Such as spaceships, I'll bet!!!
The WISE will be in orbit for the next nine months, snapping a photo every 11 seconds to map the entire universe in infrared. Eventually it'll cover the entire sky 1.5 times over.
It'll be looking for any objects that have a potential of hitting Earth as well as distant objects such as brown dwarfs and far-away galaxies shrouded in dust. Also, alien spacecraft. I mean, duh. [CNN, image via]
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has returned another incredible picture of an Apollo landing site, this time of our second manned walk on another world… and again, the footprints of the astronauts are clearly visible!
In November 1969, Apollo 12 touched down near the Surveyor 3 probe, which had soft-landed two years previously. The astronauts walked up to the lander and even brought back pieces of it! Surveyor is easily seen in this image, as well as the craters Pete Conrad and Al Bean investigated. In this high-resolution image (taken in September), you can even see their bootprints radiating away from their lander!
After the other Apollo images from LRO, I know this is more of the same. But don’t let it fall from your mind that these images show that once, not long ago, we dared to explore. For those few shining moments, we reached farther than our grasp, and managed to do something extraordinary. We let that slip away not too much later. Yes, our robots probe and peer into every corner of the solar system, and have done a magnificent job. But I am of the opinion that we need to send men and women out there as well, to extend the human presence beyond our own planet, beyond a simple low-Earth orbit.
I don’t know when we will exceed our grasp again. But I hope it’s soon.
Despite their tiny size and short lifespan, fruit flies are familiar test subjects in labs because they can show us a lot about ourselves, particularly in terms of genetics. And in a study for Current Biology, a team led by Anita Devineni found that the insects have another thing in common with people—they like alcohol, sometimes a little too much.
The scientists started by giving their test subjects a choice. Flies held inside vials could sip from thin tubes holding either liquid food spiked with 15 percent ethanol or plain liquid food. The researchers measured the descent of the liquids inside each tube to get a readout of which food the flies preferred [Science News]. It was no contest: The flies preferred the alcohol-spiked food, and the more they had it, it seems, the more they craved it—the flies’ tipples grew more frequent over time [National Geographic News].
Researchers found other signs of addiction similar to human alcoholism. When they upped the alcohol content from 15 to 25 percent, flies who hadn’t been drinking didn’t care for the harder stuff, but those already accustomed to alcohol slurped it up. When the researchers laced the booze-food mix with small amounts of the toxic chemical quinine, those flies continued to drink, even though fruit flies normally avoid the chemical. “I was actually pretty surprised when they continued to drink it,” Devineni says [Science News].
That alcohol has strong effects on fruit flies is unremarkable; other studies have shown that. But Devineni’s study offered the flies a choice to drink or not, which revealed some new ways it can change them. Her team found that flies even relapse: those allowed to drink for a few days and then forced to abstain for a day or two went right back to boozing at peak levels when the scientists offered the spiked food again. The team hopes to investigate the genetics behind this behavior in the future, in hopes of zeroing in on the genetic component of alcoholism in humans.
Related Content:
80beats: Tiny Tree Shrews Live on Alcohol, But Never Get Drunk
80beats: Cheesecake is Like Heroin to Rats on a Junk-Food Diet
80beats: Fetal Alcohol Exposure Makes For Booze-Loving Rats
Discoblog: A Scientific Defense of Beer
Image: Edward Dougherty
Stage now set for grand human space flight plan, Opinion, Lou Friedman, Houston Chronicle
"We don't know yet what the Obama administration has in mind for NASA or how it is going to handle the issue of human space flight. We are sure it will not be canceled, but how will it be advanced? We see two distinct possibilities: a great one that would have us engage the world and several generations to take the next great leap, or a mundane one that would have us locked in Earth orbit with little purpose and a level of risk that exceeds its gain. The 1970s shuttle decision produced a great vehicle and a magnificent technological accomplishment, but ultimately a poor program with no destination and little purpose. We hope this type of decision will not be repeated, and believe that the stage has been set for something much grander."
Keith's note: Lou, in your haste to wrap your arms around the as-yet unreleased Obama space plan, you apparently haven't bothered to read up on the decades of human physiology expertise gained from these Space Shuttle (and shuttle-supported ISS) missions of "little purpose" or the immense experience gained in the assembly and operation of large complex spacecraft (the ISS was mostly carried into orbit by the Space Shuttle). Both of these things are needed in order for humans to go to Mars. So, do not be so quick to dismiss the value of the Space Shuttle program. Indeed, it may not be going away entirely (sidemount HLV).
"Flexible Path" means that we try many things Lou - not just the one particular destination that you are interested in (Mars).
The Guinness World Records doesn't just award insanely tall men and disgusting long fingernails, you know. Sometimes they happen over to our side of the crazy pool, to give recognition to things like the camera with the most lenses ever.
Created at the Nagoya Institute of Technology of Japan (it had to be Japan), the camera you can see above was constructed using 158 lenses, which were attached in four rows, spanning 47cm in diameter. As each lens only cost $2.10 it's entirely realistic to try and top their record for next year's Guinness book, but bear in mind it took the team of students six months to build. Better organize some cheap labor. [Sankei News via CrunchGear]
This weekend, Fox News had a “debate” over global warming between Senate denier James Inhofe and Dem Ed Markey, chair of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. The question: Does global warming actually exist?
This is of course not really a debate, but biased coverage that undermines what we know by suggesting there is really an open question here. Think Progress has more, including this stunning exchange between host Chris Wallace and Inhofe:
WALLACE: The fact is, just this week, the world meteorological organization said that this decade is the warmest on record, and that 2009 is the 5th warmest year on record. Does that mean nothing?
INHOFE: It means very little. Because that was based on the same flawed science — the IPCC science — that we have been looking at.
Yup–for Inhofe, it’s all a vast conspiracy and it all centers on the IPCC. Even though the IPCC only assesses the science every 5 years, and certainly hasn’t assessed the temperature record between, um, its assessments….
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How could Christopher Nolan ever follow up on the Tumbler? Maybe he won't. Maybe Batman will just walk. But should Nolan give in to inevitable studio pressure to design another new, marketable Battoy, I humbly propose this modified Lamborghini Ankonian.
A concept Russian design student Slavche Tanevski, the Ankonian, named after a breed of black-haired bull, combines sleek and angularity through a series of winged panels that appear carved from some metal obsidian alloy engineered for sheer badassery. And OLED lights built directly into the body, while a slight stretch of the imagination, are a welcome touch.
If Batman won't take it, we most certainly will. (Though if Bruce Wayne could still provide the funds, that might help.) [Car Design via AutoMotto via LikeCool]
Fuse is what Synaptics—who probably made the trackpad you're swirling your finger on, and maybe your phone's touchscreen—says the next generation of touch phones will be like: You'll be squeezing, touching and stroking the phone, all over.
The more three-dimensional interface is designed by The Astonishing Tribe, who also designed Android's UI, as well as interfaces for Sony Ericsson and pretty much every other phonemaker at one point or another.
The major thing here is a couple of new gestures: A squeeze gesture, which is detected by additional accelerometers, and a seamless touchpad embedded in the back, so you can scroll by stroking the back of the phone, where you're not hiding the screen. Tilt also gets a lot more play here, the idea being that you can more easily use it one-handed.
The phone's a concept, led by Synaptics and using hardware like their ClearPad 3000, but I wouldn't be surprised to see the basic concepts show up in phones from LG and others, since a lot of companies use Synaptics' tech in their phones.
Synaptics Debuts FuseTM Next-Generation Mobile Phone Concept
Synaptics, Texas Instruments, Immersion, TheAlloy, and The Astonishing Tribe demonstrate collaborative design to drive the future of mobile interaction beyond the touchscreenSANTA CLARA, Calif. – December 14, 2009 – Synaptics Incorporated (NASDAQ: SYNA), a leading developer of human interface solutions for mobile computing, communications, and entertainment devices, today introduced FuseTM, a collaborative mobile phone concept, demonstrating the future of user interaction for handsets. Integrating for the first time multiple interface technologies-including multi-touch capacitive sensing, haptic feedback, 3-D graphics, and force, grip, and proximity sensing-the Fuse concept phone showcases exciting new mobile device usage models. In addition, Fuse demonstrates to device manufacturers the value of ecosystem collaborations providing a model for designing multi- modal interfaces that will optimize the user experience on next-generation handheld device. Every step in the value chain affects and is affected by the end product. A truly collaborative approach takes advantage of each partner's unique contributions in benefiting the user.
Beyond Today's Touchscreen
Fuse extends the now-prevalent touchscreen-based user experience first unveiled in August 2006 with Synaptics' award-winning Onyx mobile concept. With Fuse's bold lineup of innovative interface technologies, Synaptics and partners tackle the difficulty of single- handed usage and the need to look at the screen-two key challenges faced by on-the-go users in current-generation touchscreen phones.
Fuse's innovative sensing technologies surrounding the entire device enable quick, intuitive, single-handed navigation. For example, grip sensing achieved via force and capacitive touch sensors on the sides of the phone allows the user to execute common controls such as pan and scroll. In addition to the novel side sensors, Fuse introduces for the first time, 2D navigation from the back of the phone. This feature offers yet another mode of effective and fun single-handed control without obstructing the display or enhanced usability, Fuse combines multiple sensory input and feedback technologies including active 3-D graphics and next-generation haptic effects."Consumers have many options when it comes to choosing a smartphone, and though many phones are loaded with applications to simplify one's life, they often accomplish just the opposite," said William Stofega, research manager for mobile device technology and trends at IDC. "Synaptics partnering with innovative industry leaders to deliver an intelligent concept device that has the consumers' lifestyles in mind will help showcase the true potential of the smartphone."
Collaborative Design
The Fuse mobile phone concept is the result of a unique collaboration between Synaptics and four global partners-TheAlloy, The Astonishing Tribe (TAT), Immersion, and Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI). With human interface and digital lifestyle in mind, the Fuse design team created a stunning and functional user interface with innovative new modes of sensing input, and visual and haptic feedback.
Each partner provided valuable expertise and contributions to the project:
• TheAlloy led the user experience and overall product design efforts.
• TAT enabled the effective 3-D environment and lent their extensive user interface
software design skills.
• Immersion made possible the tactile feedback, ensuring an integrated and satisfying
experience.
• TI's OMAPTM 3630 processor provided the framework and platform to leverage the
enhanced multimedia, graphics and imaging features that consumers crave.Additionally, Synaptics' ClearPadTM, NavPointTM, and TouchButtonsTM solutions are used in the Fuse mobile concept to offer unique capabilities-such as two-finger input, proximity sensing, grip sensing, text entry, and high-resolution finger input-providing precise pointing and navigation that can dramatically improve and enhance the user experience with a touchscreen.
Future handset innovation will rely on the relationship between technology design and designers to unlock the potential of mobile phones as an ideal computing platform. Fuse illustrates to OEMs the advances in Synaptics' sensing technologies and the collaborative effort that will inspire a new wave of multi-modal input design.
"The best touch experience requires the expertise and collaboration of ecosystem leaders to optimize what the user sees and feels," said Gopal Garg, senior vice president of Synaptics' handheld business unit and corporate marketing. "The improved sensory experience of Fuse will drive handset innovation to evolve, taking the current generation of touch-based interaction to the next level of human-device interaction."
"The Fuse project has demonstrated the power of multi-party collaboration to deliver experience-led innovation, said Gus Desbarats, chairman, TheAlloy. "Each partner within the Fuse project has helped to show the effect that leading-edge technology can deliver when applied with design thinking."
"Exceptional user experience differentiates the best designs," said Craig Vachon, senior vice president and general manager of Immersion's touch line of business. "Fuse exemplifies the power of collaboration and realizes what is possible by integrating innovative technology, including Immersion's next-generation TouchSense solutions. Working with these partners has been gratifying; Fuse is further validation that our haptics technology brings to life the power of touch and makes devices more intuitive, satisfying, and fun to use."
"Providing our technology in order to showcase user experience paradigms of next generation devices is one of the key ingredients that keep TAT ahead of the trends in mobile user interfaces", says Charlotta Falvin, chief executive officer of The Astonishing Tribe. "Realizing design ideas that push the limits of technology like the Fuse UI does is one of our passions."
"The world is changing, and so is the way people interact with their mobile devices. TI is excited to be a part of the innovative Fuse concept that reiterates the significant headway we're making to advance mobile user experiences," said Fred Cohen, director of worldwide ecosystem partners for Texas Instruments. "TI's OMAP platform works in sync with these other impressive technologies to bring big-screen, life-like capabilities to consumers' fingertips."
Let's face it, nobody was too upset by the opaqueness of the Nook's spec sheet—screens software, not board-level componentry, are what make ereaders great. But with this teardown comes something glorious: the Nook's Android software has been hacked.
And not hacked like "oh, cool, now we can change the system font" hacked, or "sweet bro, now we can watch the Linux boot sequence" hacked. I'm talking about splayed-open, ready for custom apps, probably-gonna-get-Barnes & Noble-and-AT&T-kind-of-upset hacked. In other words, it's been rooted, like so many Android phones, which means that core OS changes, hacks, and almost certainly apps are all in the cards. Here's the software breakdown, according to Nookdevs:
[The Nook] appears to be running a generic Android image with B&N customization on top to hide the Android underpinnings:
[With]:
• Android 1.5 Cupcake
• Built Tue Dec 1 14:50:20 CST 2009
• turboboot bootloader
• asound
• pvplayer
So what we've essentially got here is a full-fledged Android device, with two screens, a few gigabytes of removable storage and a SIM card with a data connection. The rooting process isn't exactly easy—it involves a screwdriver, a knife, and an Linux computer, if that tells you anything—but the hacking prospects here are massive. AT&T, whose free, unlimited, ebook-only data connection is the Nook's gateway to the internet, can't be too happy about this. That, or they've got some kind of provision for blocking non-ebook data transfer, which the new class of Nook hackers will spend the rest of their devices' lifespans actively trying to circumvent. This should be fun.
And for anyone dying to fill the gaps in the Nook's spec sheet, well, here you go:
• Samsung S3C6410 Processor
• Synaptics TM1369 Touchscreen controller
• Internal 2GB Sandisk microSD card for internal storage
• 3 Partitions
• sdb1: system: ext3 250MB
• sdb2: update possibly?: ext3 150MB
• sdb3: internal memory: ext3 1309MB
• Sierra Wireless MC8777V wireless modem in data only mode
[Nookdevs]
The world's first dual wireless sound bar system with wireless subwoofer and rear speakers makes me want to clear space on my walls and crank some of that rock and roll music.
The TH-BA3 system is a 280 watt 5.1 home theater that doesn't let any wires get in the way. The sound bar has a built in power-amplifier, one analog and two optical digital inputs and decodes Dolby Digital, DTS, and Dolby ProLogic II surround signals.
Also new today is the 180 watt TH-BS7, a 4.1 channel system whose centerpiece is mountable sound bar that's a scant 1.4" tall by 1.2" deep, with a wee 6" wireless subwoofer to match.
Both systems will be available this month, which I hope anyone with my Christmas list in hand picks up on. The TH-BA3 runs $550 while the TH-BS7 will set you back $600.
JVC LAUNCHES DUAL WIRELESS AND SUPER-SLIM SOUNDBAR SYSTEMS
New TH-BA3 includes wireless rear speakers; TH-BS7 features a slender soundbar and slim, wall-mountable amplifier.
WAYNE, NJ, December 14, 2009 - JVC today introduced a pair of soundbar home theater systems, offering consumers a home theater sound solution to meet a range of budgets and needs. Among the two new systems is the world's first dual wireless soundbar system that features a wireless subwoofer and wireless surround speakers. The other is highlighted by a super-slim soundbar and a thin, wall-mountable amplifier.
JVC's new dual wireless soundbar system is the TH-BA3, a 280-watt, 5.1-channel surround sound system that includes a sound bar, wireless subwoofer and wireless rear speaker kit comprised of wireless left and right surround speakers and a wireless receiver. The sound bar contains four speakers - one each for the left and right main channels and two for the center channel. Also built into the sound bar is the power amplifier, surround decoding, system controls and the transmitter for the wireless surround speakers. It offers one analog and two optical digital inputs and decodes Dolby Digital, DTS and Dolby ProLogic II surround signals.
The new JVC TH-BS7 system is designed to match the slimmest of flat panel HDTVs. It includes a sliver of a soundbar that measures just 1.4 inches (36mm) tall, an even slimmer wall-mountable amplifier/control unit and a wireless subwoofer.
The 180-watt, 4.1-channel TH-BS7 owes its slim design to JVC's own Direct Drive speaker technology that uses a unique voice coil design and strong neodymium magnets to deliver outstanding sound quality and a broad soundfield from a super-slim speaker. The design allows the TH-BS7's soundbar to boast a frequency range of 200 - 20,000 Hz that falls to just 200 - 10,000 Hz at 360 degrees off-axis. The soundbar features four JVC Direct Drive speakers - left and right main channels and left and right surround channels - each driven by 20 watts. The two surround channels are processed using JVC's Front Surround technology to provide a surround sound effect without the need for rear speakers.
Complementing the slim design of the soundbar is the system's amplifier/control unit. It measures just 1.2 inches deep and can be wall mounted. It decodes Dolby Digital, DTS and Dolby Pro Logic II, and offers one analog and three optical digital inputs. The system's wireless subwoofer features a six-inch woofer powered by a 100-watt amplifier.
[JVC]
The iMac? That would be sent back in a heartbeat for this glorious homage to the 50s.
The Philco PC is pretty much a reimagined Philco Predicta—a short-lived but ridiculously iconic television. Then there are other fantastic touches as well, like a typewriter keyboard and a mouse that looks like some sort of repurposed handheld sander from an era when men in gray flannel suits didn't shave, but straight-up ground stubble into submission.
While the Philco PC may just be a concept, some faceless PC manufacturer should really hire designer Dave Schultze and acquire this design alongside him. Tame it a bit for the masses if you insist, but add the typewriter keyboard to some limited edition release. And if you don't make any money, you can return this free idea, no questions asked. [Yanko via Ubergizmo]
If you’re an organized sort of person, you probably have your Christmas shopping out of the way by now. If you’re anything like me, you’re just biding your time, waiting for that last-minute rush as you try to cover all your bases.
For those of you who fall into the latter group, check this out. Here are eleven books that have inspired these intrepid travellers to hit — or stay on — the road in 2009. From short stories by a Maori writer to a book about the ethical implications of eating fish, the variety is immense. If you have names on your Christmas buying list with question marks next to them, one of these books might be the perfect gift.
Stay tuned. In a couple of days we’ll cover the movies and music that inspired the internet’s finest travel bloggers.
This post contains affiliate links.
Recommended by Craig Martin from Indie Travel Podcast
Can I claim it’s the two issues of the Indie Travel Podcast travel magazine? No … oh well! In 2009 Linda and I have been exploring Australia a little, but mainly re-investigating home: New Zealand.
Pounamu, Pounamu
Witi Ihimaera may be most famous for penning The Whale Rider or for being the first Maori to publish a novel or a collection of short stories, but it’s his first work — Pounamu, Pounamu — which connects me with a New Zealand I don’t know and inspires me to continue exploring with open eyes.
Available from Amazon
Recommended by Cooper Schraudenbach from True Nomads
Whenever I dream of the red rock canyon country of the American Southwest, I am inspired by author/adventurer Craig Childs, who spends his life exploring the mesas and canyons of the Four Corners region. Back in February 2009 during a wet and cold Pacific storm, I was reading his recent book, House of Rain
Available from Amazon
Recommended by Jonathan Shapiro from Vagabonding at 60
I’m going to punt a bit on how I answer this question. We have been teaching English to Burmese refugees and monks near to my house around Albany, NY. Until recently I was completely unaware of the existence of this community, and the small Burmese monastery in this most unlikely place. One of the monks, a renowned scholar, has returned to Mandalay, and invited us to visit and be his guests at his monastery. This seems like an offer not to be refused, despite the military government, and we plan to go this February.
To get ready, we have been reading several books about Burma/Myanmar. The first is Finding George Orwell in Burma
Recommended by Jeanne Dee from Soul Travelers3
The Trumpeter of Krakow
Available from Amazon
Recommended by Shannon O’Donnel from A Little Adrift
As an American, there is simply no denying that I am representing my country when I travel; and there’s also no denying that I largely view the world from a specific Americanized viewpoint. This provocative book dynamically delves into the east/west relationship; it’s a quick read incredibly clever and thought-provoking. The narrator, an America-educated Pakistani man, lunches with an American man in Lahore and monologues his life story, highlighting his gradual disenchantment with America.
The book blatantly begs the question, “Can all Muslims who criticize America be labeled as fundamentalists?” It looks at prejudices from both sides and expectations for the book’s conclusion are twisted on end and one is forced to assess which man at the table may be the fundamentalist assassin, the American or the Pakistani man. You can’t help but assess your own prejudices and cultural assumptions by the end of the book.
Available from Amazon
Recommended by Daniel Roy from The Backpack Foodie
This sobering, eye-opening book made a deep impression on me in 2009. At once a beautiful travelogue about the world of seafood, and a cautionary tale of the consequences of overfishing and global warming, it both educates and fascinates. This book made me want to travel to to fishing communities the world over, to witness what might be the last generation of ocean abundance. I read this book prior to visiting Tokyo’s Tsukiji fish market, and it greatly enhanced my appreciation of the place.
An “Omnivore’s Dilemma” for seafood, this book is highly recommended if you care for the planet, and want to eat responsibly and in a sustainable manner.
Available from Amazon
Recommended by Carrie Marshall from My Several Worlds
Cherry blossom season in Japan is anticipated with such eagerness that its progress is charted by the National Weather Bureau as the delicate blossoms burst into full bloom across the archipelago. Will Ferguson’s quest to follow the cherry blossom front begins on the southernmost tip of Japan. From there, he hitchhikes over 3,000 km to Japan’s most northern point. Hitching Rides with Buddha
Available from Amazon
Recommended by Eleanor Stanford from The Golden Papaya
Kinky Gazpacho
Available from Amazon
Recommended by Anthony from The Travel Tart
The book that I have read this year that’s great for inspiring that new trip is Around Africa On My Bicycle
Available from Amazon
Recommended by Derek Turner from The World by Sea
In 1968, nine men raced against time, nature and each other to be the first person in history to sail around the world alone-without stopping. The men came from all walks of life. Some were respected sailors, others had never sailed at all, but each man had a vision of something greater than himself. In this epic retelling of history, Peter Nichols brilliantly jumps between the stories of each man, from background to strategy. He exposes both the joy and terror of sailing, and leaves you craving adventure. In the end, however, A Voyage for Madmen
Available from Amazon
Recommended by Jodi Ettenberg from Legal Nomads
I have a rule that I only read non-fiction while travelling, so as to learn as much as possible while on the road. In my 18 mos of travel thus far, the book that inspired me the most is easily The Discoverers
Also see last year’s version of this post: The Books, Movies and Documentaries that Inspired Us to Travel in 2008.
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It’s pretty unfair to call somebody “anti-science.” I mean, everybody likes science, right?
That’s what I always thought–at least until fairly recently. That Daniel Henninger Wall Street Journal article got me thinking otherwise, a bit–but only a bit.
But now comes a piece in Investors.com (”powered by” Investor’s Business Daily) by David J. Theroux, who is head of the Independent Institute, a think tank that in the past has been a recipient of ExxonMobil largesse. “Science is not the final arbiter of truth,” blazes the headline–but hey, we all know authors don’t write their headlines.
But the rest of the article is actually in a similar vein:
Thanks to the e-mail exchanges and other documents hacked from computers at the Hadley Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in Great Britain, we now know there has been a conspiracy among some in the science community to spread alarmist views of global warming and intimidate, if not silence, those who disagree.
Let’s hope these revelations result in a sober reassessment both of academia, generally, and the scientific enterprise specifically.
There’s no evidence of a conspiracy, actually, in those emails. Nor is there evidence of anything at all surprising about academia or about science. But Theroux continues:
For far too long, science has been shrouded in a cloak of unquestionable authority as the final arbiter of all knowledge (except, of course, when the research has been funded by business, which for some makes it necessarily suspect).
Such a status has resulted in the creation of enormous, government-funded institutions to examine seemingly every aspect of human existence, with climate science alone receiving $7 billion annually from the U.S. government — more than is spent on cancer and AIDS research.
Unlike business- or even independently funded research, the findings and recommendations of government-funded researchers has been viewed by many as sacrosanct.
Sacrosanct? In my experience, government-funded researchers are under constant fire, and nowhere more than on the climate issue. Indeed, they have been under fire from think tanks like the Independent Institute and its many brethren, who wish to set up an ideological counter academia that will, I assure you, be massively more biased, and massively less dependable, than anything that currently exists in either academia or established science.
Theroux finishes:
The Climate-gate revelations may finally dispel the myth that has surrounded the global warming movement and trigger a movement to put scientific inquiry back into the laboratory and keep it out of the political arena.
Which is weird….because anybody who knows anything about scientists knows that they tend to be really shy about venturing into the political arena. Bizarrely, Theroux wants to lock scientists back up in the lab where, frankly, many would be glad to stay in the first place–because they know well there are many ideological opponents out there, out gunning for them.
It continually astounds me just how much some conservatives live in an upside-down world with respect to modern science. They fear a thing that does not exist; they demonize the unknown. I simply don’t understand how they could talk about “ClimateGate” in the way they do–in the way Theroux does–if they had any serious sense of the realities of trying to conduct science while under fire, in a politicized area like climate research.
Or, alternatively, perhaps conservatives do understand these realities, but are simply engaging in a deafening chorus of “shocked, shocked” behavior.
Either way, it is telling that, by way of spinning “ClimateGate” into the scandal of the century, they feel compelled to denounce the entire infrastructure of modern science in the process.
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