Monthly Archives: March 2011

Neil DeGrasse Tyson Gets a Present ;)

Posted on March 6, 2011 by ErgoOne

I have a bunch of friends’ kids whose birthdays and/or Christmases I attended, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen any kid happier to get a toy than Neil DeGrasse Tyson was to get this: Of course, Tyson is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Science, Space | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Ecological Lunchroom Fail: U.S. Congress Reverts

Posted on March 6, 2011 by ErgoOne

The dining room at the U.S. Capitol building, where both the Senate and House of Representatives meet, has given up after an experiment with ecologically sound, compostable, disposable forks, spoons, knives, plates and cups, and reverted to plastic and styrofoam. … Continue reading →

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U.S. Air Force X-37B Space Plane Flies :-)

Posted on March 6, 2011 by ErgoOne

After a false start yesterday that was scrubbed because of bad weather at launch time in Cape Canaveral, Florida, the U.S. Air Force X-37B was successfully launched today.

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U.S. Air Force X-37B Space Plan Flies on Friday^H^H^H^H^H^H *SATURDAY*

Posted on March 4, 2011 by ErgoOne

Or so we hope. The weather at Cape Canaveral didn’t cooperate. <sigh>

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US Government Agency Caught Smuggling Guns into Mexico!?

Posted on March 4, 2011 by ErgoOne

According to a story posted to the Los Angeles Times web site this evening, the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (commonly called the ATF or BATFE) has been “leaking” guns to known arms smugglers so that … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Why *Everybody* Needs Critical Thinking Skills #2: Research Fraud

Posted on March 4, 2011 by ErgoOne

In the past few weeks, two cases of serious research fraud have become public. Both involved medical research done by well-respected researchers, and both led to inappropriate medical decisions that have probably caused deaths in patients. Andrew Wakefield. British researcher … Continue reading →

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Why the Public Needs Critical Thinking Skills #1: “Churnalism”

Posted on March 3, 2011 by ErgoOne

In today’s Columbia Journalism Review is a excellent article on “churnalism”, their term for articles posted on news sites as news articles that are, in fact, simply press releases with little or no additional material. The article discusses who issues … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Internet, Meta, Politics, Science | 1 Comment

Mohamed Yunus Forced Out of Grameen Bank

Posted on March 3, 2011 by ErgoOne

For the past few weeks I’ve been following talk that Nobel Laureate Mohamed Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank and the guy who mostly started the micro-credit revolution, was under pressure to retire. The talk is that this was due to … Continue reading →

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U.S. Air Force X-37B Space Plan Flies on Friday

Posted on March 3, 2011 by ErgoOne

According to a story posted today in Space.com, the United States Air Force X-37B unmanned space plane is due to take off Friday to some unnamed location, presumably outside the 100 km boundary to space, on an unspecified mission for … Continue reading →

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New Hampshire Considers Criminalizing TSA Scanners, Patdowns

Posted on March 1, 2011 by ErgoOne

Today the New Hampshire state legislature is considering a bill that would make using the now-standard TSA “nudie scanners” and “enhanced pat downs” constitute sexual assault, a class III felony. The bill covers any agent of any government at any … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Rights, Politics | Tagged , | Leave a comment