Monthly Archives: March 2011

It’s Earth Hour tonight. Remember to turn the clocks back to 1900

Yesterday’s post recommended celebrating electricity rather than finding it (or rather the fossil fuel which produced it) the villain. If using no electricity still sounds appealing then this video might give some perspective into such a life. If 1900 still sounds like a place you would consider living. Consider this: 1900 dentistry. Are you turningContinue reading “It’s Earth Hour tonight. Remember to turn the clocks back to 1900”

Earth Hour 2011: In the dark, again

“I am ashamed at the number of things around my house and shops that are done by animals—human beings, I mean—and ought to be done by a motor without any sense of fatigue or pain. Hereafter a motor must do all the chores.” – Thomas Edison. During the World Exposition of 1873 in Vienna, ZénobeContinue reading “Earth Hour 2011: In the dark, again”

Sustainable forest certified beer

The Italian micro-brewery Foglie d’Erba (Leaves of Grass) earned first prize in the category “Anglo-American origin hoppy beers” with their PEFC certified beer at the recent Sapore Beer Festival, held in Rimini, Italy in February. PEFC is the world’s largest forest certification system. “Certification is often only associated with wood-based products,” explained Dr. Antonio Brunori,Continue reading “Sustainable forest certified beer”

Are the data clear and incontrovertible?

University of California at Berkeley Professor of Physics Dr. Richard Muller asks if the climate data are clear and incontrovertible? Answer: no, because they were very much tinkered with. You can’t say that the climate operated one way before 1960 and another way after 1960. Data are data. What should Mann, et. al. have done?Continue reading “Are the data clear and incontrovertible?”

As we gallop toward 7 billion people, what can yeast teach us about population?

Love in the key of fermentation This was written during February, the month with Valentine’s Day, which leads our thoughts to yeasts. Okay well, love. But love can lead to sex, and that leads to reproduction. Yeasts may not know about love, but they do know reproduction. So do we humans: our population here onContinue reading “As we gallop toward 7 billion people, what can yeast teach us about population?”