Skip to main content

Aug
3
2009

"Interestingly, it also appears that praising children for their intelligence can make them less likely to persist in the face of challenges, a crucial element of grit."

  • Interestingly, it also appears that praising children for their intelligence can  make them less likely to persist in the face of challenges, a crucial element of  grit.
Jul
29
2009

  • Dyson’s early geo-engineering vision addressed a central, and still daunting,  problem: neither sulfur-aerosol injection nor an armada of cloud whiteners nor  an array of space-shades would do much to reduce carbon-dioxide levels. As long  as carbon emissions remain constant, the atmosphere will fill with more and more  greenhouse gases. Blocking the sun does nothing to stop the buildup. It is not  even like fighting obesity with liposuction: it’s like fighting obesity with a  corset, and a diet of lard and doughnuts. Should the corset ever come off, the  flab would burst out as if the corset had never been there at all. For this  reason, nearly every climate scientist who spoke with me unhesitatingly  advocated cutting carbon emissions over geo-engineering.

  • Ken Caldeira, of the Carnegie Institution for Science, thinks we ought to test  the technology gradually. He suggests that we imagine the suite of  geo-engineering projects like a knob that we can turn. “You can turn it gently  or violently. The more gently it gets turned, the less disruptive the changes  will be. Environmentally, the least risky thing to do is to slowly scale up  small field experiments,” he says. “But politically that’s the riskiest thing to  do.”
Jul
20
2009

  • Undeniably, the fat—the authors of “The Reader” are adamant advocates for the  “f” word—are subject to prejudice and even cruelty. A 2008 report by the Rudd  Center for Food Policy and Obesity, at Yale, noted that teachers consistently  hold lower expectations of overweight children
  • To claim that some people are just meant to be fat is not quite the same as  arguing that some people are just meant to be poor, but it comes uncomfortably  close.
  • 3 more annotation(s)...

  • The movement known variously as “size acceptance,” “fat acceptance,” “fat  liberation,” and “fat power” has been around for more than four decades; in  1967, at a “fat-in” staged in Central Park, participants vilified Twiggy, burned  diet books, and handed out candy. More recently, fat studies has emerged as a  field of scholarly inquiry; four years ago, the Popular Culture  Association/American Cultural Association added a fat-studies component to its  national conferences, and in 2006 Smith College hosted a three-day seminar  titled “Fat and the Academy.”

  • Today, soft drinks account for about seven per cent of all the calories ingested  in the United States, making them “the number one food consumed in the American  diet.”
  • Kessler spends a lot of time meeting with (often anonymous) consultants who  describe how they are trying to fashion products that offer what’s become known  in the food industry as “eatertainment.” Fat, sugar, and salt turn out to be the  crucial elements in this quest: different “eatertaining” items mix these  ingredients in different but invariably highly caloric combinations. A food  scientist for Frito-Lay relates how the company is seeking to create “a lot of  fun in your mouth” with products like Nacho Cheese Doritos, which meld “three  different cheese notes” with lots of salt and oil. Another product-development  expert talks about how she is trying to “unlock the code of craveability,” and a  third about the effort to “cram as much hedonics as you can in one dish.”

  • So when you look at your kids asleep in their beds after you return to your  homes this evening, I want you to ask yourselves, “What kind of Hell am I  leaving for them, and for my grandchildren?”
Mar
13
2009

Did you know that written, scientific or artistic content you create is automatically put under copyright protection under US law - whether you want it to be copyrighted ...

Oct
21
2008

The number of tiger attacks on people is growing in India as habitat loss and dwindling prey caused by climate change drives them to prowl into villages

Nature - the world's best science and medicine on your desktop

Jul
24
2008

  • Another problem is biodiesel's behavior as a solvent. Though this property is helpful, it's kind of a double-edged sword. Some older diesel vehicles (such as cars made before 1992) may experience clogging with higher concentrations of biodiesel. Because of its ability to loosen deposits built up in the engine (which may be there from old diesel fuel), biodiesel can cause the fuel filter to become jammed with the newly freed deposits. Biodiesel manufacturers suggest changing the fuel pump shortly after switching to high-concentration biodiesel blends. Components within these older fuel systems may also become degraded. In addition to deposits within the fuel system, biodiesel also breaks down rubber components. Some parts in the older systems, such as fuel lines and fuel pump seals, may become broken down due to their rubber or rubber-like composition. This is usually remedied by replacing such components. Though many manufacturers have included biodiesel in their warranties, potential for problems could still exist. For more information on biodiesel and vehicle warranties, check out The Biodiesel Standard.
  • decrease in fuel economy and power. On average, there is about a 10% reduction in power. In other words, it takes about 1.1 gallons of biodiesel to equal 1 gallon of standard diesel.
Jul
16
2008

  • The public needs a guide to the policy, not just the politics.

  • Instead, they complained of being pushed so hard to be scientists and engineers that they ended up in jobs they didn’t enjoy. “The irony was that talent in a male-typical pursuit limited their choices,” Ms. Pinker says. “Once they showed aptitude for math or physical science, there was an assumption that they’d pursue it as a career even if they had other interests or aspirations. And because these women went along with the program and were perceived by parents and teachers as torch bearers, it was so much more difficult for them to come to terms with the fact that the work made them unhappy.”
Jul
8
2008

  • At least farmers can argue - often falsely - that they are the "stewards of the countryside". But what possible argument is there for keeping more fishermen afloat than the fish population can bear?

  • In one case on June 3, officers at the Gates Avenue station in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, stopped a 17-year-old for turnstile jumping at about 7 p.m. When they checked his name in police computers, they found that he was a suspect in a mugging done at gunpoint earlier in the day. He was arrested for fare evasion and then turned over to detectives, who charged him with the mugging.

    “It’s still a great tool because bad guys still think that they can jump over, and then you find out they’re badder than just the jumping,” Chief Hall said. “They’re real bad.”

1 - 20 of 342 Next › Last »
Showing 20 items per page

Diigo is about better ways to research, share and collaborate on information. Learn more »

Join Diigo
Move to top