The Copenhagen Diagnosis

This report covers the range of topics evaluated by Working Group I of the IPCC, namely the Physical Science Basis. This includes:

* an analysis of greenhouse gas emissions and their atmospheric concentrations, as well as the global carbon cycle;

* coverage of the atmosphere, the land-surface, the oceans, and all of the major components of the cryosphere (land-ice, glaciers, ice shelves, sea-ice and permafrost);

* paleoclimate, extreme events, sea level, future projections, abrupt change and tipping points;

* separate boxes devoted to explaining some of the common misconceptions surrounding climate change science.

via The Copenhagen Diagnosis.

Observations: Climate change cover-up? You better believe it

While the revelations about pressuring the peer review process and apparent slowness in responding to an avalanche of requests for information unveil something below impressive scientific and personal behavior, they can also be seen as the frustrated responses of people working on complex data under deadline while being harassed by political opponents.

via Observations: Climate change cover-up? You better believe it.

Firing Back – Howard Kurtz

“The reality of it is that Fox News often operates almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party. . . . Take their talking points and put them on the air. Take their opposition research and put them on the air, and that’s fine. But let’s not pretend they’re a news network the way CNN is.”

via washingtonpost

IEEE Spectrum: We Come to Bury IE6

No tech company would expect its engineers to hunt down that information using an 8-year-old computer. Yet some let their workers limp along with an 8-year-old browser that has inspired a movement dedicated to taking it behind the proverbial shed and putting it down. I refer to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 6, which will be virtually unusable within a couple of years, possibly much sooner.

via IEEE Spectrum: We Come to Bury IE6.

Brain Scans Reveal What You’ve Seen | Wired Science | Wired.com

Having modeled how images are represented in the brain, the researchers translated recorded patterns of neural activity into pictures of what test subjects had seen.

via Brain Scans Reveal What You’ve Seen | Wired Science | Wired.com.

Is This the Light Bulb of the Future? – Gadgetwise Blog – NYTimes.com

In May 2008, the Department of Energy announced that it would award $10 million to the first company that developed a solid-state lamp that could replace a standard bulb.

via Is This the Light Bulb of the Future? – Gadgetwise Blog – NYTimes.com.

9 Eco Rules Humans Shouldn’t Break If We Want to Survive

In an ambitious attempt to assess how humans are doing as stewards of planet earth, 28 leading scientists have drawn up a list of nine “planetary boundaries” that must not be crossed if we want to avoid drastically changing the global environment and imperiling our own existence.

via 9 Eco Rules Humans Shouldn’t Break If We Want to Survive | 80beats | Discover Magazine.

Patrick Swayze dies at 57

Patrick Swayze, the hunky actor who danced his way into moviegoers’ hearts with “Dirty Dancing” and then broke them with “Ghost,” died Monday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 57.

via The Associated Press: Publicist: Patrick Swayze dies at 57.

The iPhone Loves Love | datingish

The iPhone has done it again. I’m going to have to replace the question “there’s an app for that?” to “there isn’t an app for that?” At this point, it’s the things that Apple hasn’t thought of already that surprise me the most.

via The iPhone Loves Love | datingish.

Google’s Custom Solar Technology Will Reduce Costs by 60% : TreeHugger

Google's developing new solar tech that will drop the cost from 18 cents a kW-h to just under 5. At least, it's hoping to.

via Google’s Custom Solar Technology Will Reduce Costs by 60% : TreeHugger.