Government Working

Earlier this year Steven Chu told BP how to use gamma rays to image their broken well.

Now another example of American government scientists helping private industry solve a problem.

See TheAtlantic: How NASA Engineers Helped Rescue Trapped Chilean Miners

Something to remember when some argue that government can't accomplish anything, the private industry is always better, science is flawed, etc.

Thoughts On Climategate

Lots of summary at TheAtlantic: ClimateGate III: The Mystery of the Missing Data and BoingBoing: More Insight on Those Leaked Climate Change Emails

My thinking is this:
- this is one data set of many
- climate based observations (e.g., sea ice extent, sea level rise, mtn glaciers, species movement, etc) all point to climate change
- based on source code comments the predictive climate computer model has serious problems
- this "scandal" demonstrates why open data and open source software are so important
- it is odd that the climate change deniers who are hyping Climategate are generally the same people who have been silent on the much more troubling problems with electronic voting machine software

Dr. Hart And Ardi

Dr. Hart has been studying the African rift valley for a long time and been a part of many hominid discoveries over the past 20 years.

The latest discovery is the oldest hominid yet.

See DaytonDailyNews: Miami geologists part of history-making ‘Ardi’ dig

The Latest On The K-T Boundary

PhysOrg: New blow for dinosaur-killing asteroid theory
Professor Keller's page: The Great Chicxulub Debate

Atlas Shrugging?

NY Times - Formal Search for Adventurer Is Halted

First Jim Gray, now Steve Fossett has been lost. If Steve Jobs disappears it'll be time to start searching for a secret canyon in Colorado.

I am not alone in thinking this apparently:
The Lone Sysadmin - Steve Fossett, Jim Gray… Atlas Shrugged?
Through The Looking Glass - BEE-Witched, Bothered, and BEE-Wildered
Could There Ever Be a Galt's Gulch?