Science Odds and Ends

TPP wrote: http://www.cgfi.org/2010/08/taxes-dust-and-oysters-feds-busy-but-wrong-by-dennis-t-avery/
TAXES, DUST, AND OYSTERS: FEDS BUSY BUT WRONG, BY: DENNIS T. AVERY
CHURCHVILLE, VA—The Obama administration seems deeply committed to policies that can’t work.
The President is demanding hefty energy taxes to “save the planet.” Unfortunately the proposed reductions in U.S. greenhouse emissions would have virtually no impact on he earth’s temperatures—even if CO2 is the culprit that it doesn’t seem to be. A 22 percent correlation between CO2 and our thermometer record isn’t very strong evidence on which to rake away an annual $900 billion in extra “energy taxes.”

Magnitude The values of CO2_e (Kyoto) and CO2_e (Total) can be calculated from Figure 2.21 and Table 2.12 in the IPCC WG1 Chapter 2. The forcing for CO2, CH4 (including indirect effects), N2O and CFCs is 1.66+0.48+0.07+0.16+0.34=2.71 W/m2 (with around 0.3 W/m2 uncertainty). Using the formula above, that gives CO2_e (Kyoto) = 460 ppmv. However, including all the forcings (some of which are negative), you get a net forcing of around 1.6 W/m2, and a CO2_e (Total) of 375 ppmv with quite a wide error bar. This is, coincidently, close to the actual CO2 level.

The hunt for a universal flu vaccine, a single shot that would provide lifelong immunity, has been going on for decades, and many teams of researchers have been on the case. The effort is complicated because there are some 16 types of key surface proteins (hemagglutinin) that help the virus bind to host cells, in addition to the several varieties of viral neuraminidase proteins. Changes in the viruses' proteins help it evade identification by the immune system.

A series of discoveries by different groups of researchers have zeroed in on a highly conserved (nonmutated) region of the virus. And a new study, published online October 18 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has piggybacked on these findings to develop synthetic vaccine that has been effective in warding off several different types of influenza in mice. How does it work—and could it work in humans?

Cell phones cannot cause cancer, because they do not emit enough energy to break the molecular bonds inside cells. According to phys­i­­cist Bernard Leikind in a technical article in Skeptic magazine (Vol. 15, No. 4), known carcinogens such as x-rays, gamma rays and UV rays have energies greater than 480 kilojoules per mole (kJ/mole), which is enough to break chemical bonds. Green-light photons hold 240 kJ/mole of energy, which is enough to bend (but not break) the rhodopsin molecules in our retinas that trigger our photosensitive rod cells to fire. A cell phone generates radiation of less than 0.001 kJ/mole. Even making the cell phone ra­di­a­tion more intense just means that there are more photons of that energy, not stronger photons.

S.A.: How are evolution and punk rock related?
G.G.: The idea with both is that you challenge authority, you challenge the dogma. You challenge the doctrine in order to make progress.

S.A.: Einstein said, "To punish me for my contempt for authority, fate made me an authority myself." Isn't science just another form of authority?
G.G.: That encapsulates the struggle so nicely: How do you subscribe to an authority without becoming authoritarian? There is nothing wrong with being the right kind of authority. Someone who is willing to throw it all away at the drop of a hat—even if it means discarding his or her life's work—because a new discovery was made. That is the best kind of authority.

Psychology researcher Soraya Mehdizadeh has discovered a way to poke through the offline-online curtain: she has used Facebook to predict a person’s level of narcissism and self-esteem. After measuring each subject using the Narcissism Personality Inventory and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Meh­dizadeh, who graduated from York this past spring, discovered narcissists and people with lower self-esteem were more likely to spend more than an hour a day on Facebook and were more prone to post self-promotional photos (striking a pose or using Photoshop, for example). Narcissists were also more likely to showcase themselves through status updates (using phrases like “I’m so glamorous I bleed glitter”) and wall activity (posting self-serving links like “My Celebrity Look-alikes”). Some psychologists believe that narcissists—those who have a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, a need for admiration, as well as a lack of empathy—unconsciously inflate their sense of self-importance as a defense against feeling inadequate. Not enough empirical research has been produced to confirm that link, although Mehdizadeh’s study seems to support it.

CinnamonGirl wrote: SC I have loved this thread and your info.

Status Update: "I'm So Glamorous"
A study of Facebook users shows how narcissism and low self-esteem can be interrelated
By John H. Tucker November 2, 2010 0

Sorry but on this one I think they are nuts. We are narcissistic because we use fb? The whole point of using FB is to talk to others and post about yourself. I have found that many psychologists take themselves too seriously and this is a perfect example. I have found very few psychology publications to be true. And they tend to tell us who we are because they are psychologists. Just my humble opinion. Love this stuff you are posting. Including this article.

Because narcissists have less capacity to sustain intimate or long-term relationships, Mehdizadeh thinks that they would be more drawn to the online world of virtual friends and emotionally detached communication.

Although it seems that Facebook can be used by narcissists to fuel their inflated egos, Mehdizadeh stops short of proclaiming that excessive time spent on Facebook can turn regular users into narcissists. She also notes that social-networking sites might ultimately be found to have positive effects when used by people with low self-esteem or depression. “If individuals with lower self-esteem are more prone to using Facebook,” she says, “the question becomes, ‘Can Facebook help raise self-esteem by allowing patients to talk to each other and help each other in a socially interactive environment?’