Dad. Communications consultant/science writer guy. America's leading lawn gnome critic. Likes: bikes, science, camping, travel. Dislikes: lawn gnomes without eyes, quick declines into fascism.
I block freely.
Greg Lester
Genuine rewrite the textbooks discovery! 🧪🦑
The same team led last year's discovery of even deeper chemosynthetic animal communities. And they are in a crewed submersible, so they actually SAW THE WHALE GRAVEYARD!!! Can't wait for them to keep exploring!
The only counter-example I can really think of is Bell Labs, which gave us the transistor and CMB radiation.
But that was a quirk of history, not a science funding model. Bell Labs became an engineering/science powerhouse as an accidental byproduct of Ma Bell's desire to keep her phone monopoly.
Fun Philly license plate thread.
This isn't Philly-specific—and I don't have photos—but two Jenkintown little league coaches have "Bort" license plates.
One guy was bummed to find Bort taken in PA, so he got a Temple U plate, only to find he lived in the same town as the other Bort.
40,000 Americans die on the roads each year. About 5 million are injured, and tens of thousands of those injuries are permanent or life-altering.
This is all a choice. It is a messed up society that demands we force everyone, not just the elderly, to drive increasingly massive vehicles.
Yeah, we can acclimate...or we can take steps to reduce Philadelphia's heat island effect.
Everyone ever notice that we have a lot of concrete and asphalt just to fill space?
"Science is a Proper Concern of Government"
You have to hand it to Vannevar Bush for laying it all out in clear, thoughtful terms. His arguments still hold.
You can read it all here: nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/2023-04/Endl...
Also, keep building mass transit (yo! @blvdsubway.bsky.social) and then build housing close to it.
With a few notable exceptions, SEPTA has shied from developing its considerable property holdings. That will take a rethink from SEPTA leadership.
www.inquirer.com/opinion/comm...
I think we're well beyond "red alert" at this point and falling into a multigenerational setback.
The scientific enterprise is not a switch we can turn on/off. People will retire, young scientists will find other careers, grad students will quit, and undegrads will choose other paths.
We don't need no science.
Psychologist Colette Delawalla: “If it gets through, we’re screwed.”
tinyurl.com/US-Science-F...
Jo Wolfe, PhD
Greg Lester
Greg Lester
Finally, footage from that new whale graveyard.
The fact that fossils and fresh carcasses mix together in this spot is bonkers. But of course it makes sense, because the scavengers that live down there also need a steady supply over millions of years. They can't just suddenly adapt to the deep.
