The “BUT SWEDEN” Model: Already Outdated and Completely Wrong
In the end, that’s all we can do in a situation like this: stack the odds in our favor. And then hope and pray very hard that our gamble works.
Author: Michael Siegel
Mini-Throughput: Visiting the Neighbors Edition
There’s obviously a long way to go before we send off our first interstellar probe. But we have a destination and a serious proposal on the table. And we have the money and the technology. It’s only a matter of time and will.
Ten Things I Think I Think About COVID As of April 3
I won’t say we’re seeing the light at the end of the tunnel yet. But I will say we’re seeing that it is indeed a tunnel and not a bottomless pit.
Thursday Throughput: Io Edition
The Era of Classical Astronomy — from Galileo through Newton — was full of these kind of elegant experiments to measure the shape and size of the solar system, the distance to the nearest stars and the speed of light
It’s Not Time…Yet
The options before us are not “burn the economy down through quarantine” and “burn the economy down through an epidemic”.
Original Fiction: Highest Noon By Michael Siegel
Original Fiction from Michael Siegel: “Kate made one last check, nodded to Samson and then slowly undid the seals on her helmet…”
Virus-Free Thursday Throughput
So as long as you don’t dive into the deep motion, dig a meter into the sand and then get intimate with it, you should be fine and not get Chlamydia
The Stark Simplicity of Hungry, Hungry Hippos
As much as I love the complex, there are times when I just don’t need to be stuffing yet more information into my already over-crowded cerebrum. So, yes, there are times when I’m in the mood for Hungry Hungry Hippos.
What’s Six Orders of Magnitude Between Friends
At some point, the media is going to have to learn how to properly use social media
Thursday Throughput: Are We Alone Edition?
The sheer number of planets in our Galaxy makes the existence of extraterrestrial life very likely. And the number of planets in our Galaxy — indeed the Universe — is not speculation; it is increasingly solid hairy fact.
Mini-Throughput: COVID-19
In the end, COVID-19 is a very serious concern. It is infectious, it is spread easily by asymptomatic carriers and it can kill. But it is unlikely to be the end the world.
Katherine Johnson, RIP
Whenever someone tells me that women can’t do math, I gently remind them that the term “computer” used to literally mean a roomful of women doing math
Thursday Throughput: Leap Year Edition
In a little over a week, we will have an extra day in February. Why do we do this? Because the time it takes Earth to revolve around the Sun is not exactly 365 days.
Dawkins Sticks His Foot In It…Again
Eugenics is a precise word. It does not mean “selective breeding”, which Dawkins — an award-winning Oxford biologist — seems to think it does.
Michael Avenatti Convicted
From Hero of the Resistance to possible Presidential candidate to convicted felon, it’s been a long and awful fall from grace.
Mini-Throughput: We’re All Doomed Edition
So, no, PZ39 is not a danger. This is not a sudden discovery that we are worried about. It’s not passing particularly close to us nor is it likely to. But the overall danger of objects like PZ39 — while low — is real.
Thursday Throughput: Solar Boil Edition
I understand people are passionate about child abuse. But sentinel injuries worry me as a diagnostic tool. I think we’re looking at another triad.
The Impeachment End Game
Whether you agree with Alexander or not, he is pointing the Republicans to an exit ramp from this entire debacle. At least, in a semi-rational world. But we don’t live in that world. We don’t live in that world because of one person: Donald J. Trump.
Thursday Throughput: Somewhere In the Vicinity Of Betelegeuse
So we’re still where we were two weeks ago: Betelgeuse might explode tomorrow. It might explode a hundred thousand years from now. But if it does explode soon, we will get the best look we’ve ever had at how stellar explosions work.
Hillary Clinton vs Bernie Sanders, Round Two
As with the Warren-Bernie spat, it’s a sign that we are moving toward a bitter fight between the populist wing of the party and the establishment wing.
