Science
NBC News' Tim Russert isn't the only one selling Hillary Clinton short today: In the wake of the North Carolina and Indiana primaries, her shares on the Iowa Electronic Markets have fallen to the lowest point ever. The market lets online investors put real money down on the candidates’ prospects, as a science experiment on the "wisdom of crowds." The shares are worth $1 each if the investor's candidate wins the nomination, but they're worthless if the candidate loses.
Today, Clinton’s shares for the Democratic nomination were trading at less than 10 cents on the IEM - and the situation was pretty much the same at the InTrade prediction market.
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The catastrophic cyclone that hit Myanmar hints at the shape of things to come in a warming world — but probably not for the reason you think. Chris Mooney, the author of "Storm World," argues that the tragedy says more about the sad state of infrastructure in the developing world than it does about the raw impact of climate change. However, shifts in climate will likely accentuate that global rich-vs.-poor split.
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Courtesy of Cal Orey |
Cal Orey says her Brittany spaniels, Simon
and Seth, help her predict seismic events.
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Tiny earthquakes have been swarming near Reno for weeks, and seismic experts are trying to gauge whether things are settling down or heading toward a bigger rumble. All this is making some of the region's residents jittery - including Cal Orey, who lives near Lake Tahoe and issues earthquake predictions based on such things as headaches, pet behavior and moon phases.
Orey made headlines when she called the current wave of shakers in advance - and now she thinks a stronger quake could hit by the end of this month. To be specific, she's predicting a 70 percent chance of a magnitude-5 to magnitude-6 quake in the Reno/Tahoe/Sierra region by the end of May.
"I'm not saying 100 percent," she told me today. "But it's likely."
Seismologists don't tend to put stock in such predictions, as I explained in a report about quake forecasting a couple of years ago. However, the practical effect of what the experts are saying is pretty much the same: Be prepared for a Bigger One.
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UW-Madison |
Ions glow inside an electrostatic fusion reactor at the University of Wisconsin.
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One of the nation's top fusion researchers is worried that America is already falling behind in an energy race that won't start for 30 or 40 years.
"We're losing our lead to other countries in the world," Gerald Kulcinski, director of the Fusion Technology Institute at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, told me in his office last week.
How can that be, when most of the world's top technological powers are working together on a $13 billion nuclear fusion research project that hasn't even started construction yet? Kulcinski's answer demonstrates why an "Apollo-scale" effort to solve America's energy woes just might require more thought and time than the original Apollo moon effort.
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Premise Media Corp. |
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Actor Ben Stein, right, sits with a student outside a principal's office in a
trailer publicizing the documentary "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed."
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Ben Stein has done good things and funny things during his more than three decades as an actor, economist and writer (going back to his days as a Nixon speechwriter). His latest work, "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed," is not that good and not that funny. There's something creepy about the documentary, which blends a no-holds-barred assault on evolutionary theory with what sounds like a high-minded cry for academic freedom. It's a 90-minute campaign ad, aimed at swiftboating science.
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NHGRI |
Your genetic code could help you relate to others - or it could be used against you.
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It's been 55 years since the landmark paper on DNA's double helix was published, and five years since scientists revealed the complete genetic code for humans. To mark the anniversary, Friday has been set aside as National DNA Day - and it's a good time to reflect upon how genetics has transformed society.
Since 2003, genetic analysis has opened a new medical frontier. Now a new social frontier awaits as well: Several ventures have set up social networks based on genetic profiles. But there's also a potential dark side to the DNA revolution.
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Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton reaped a windfall of political contributions today in the wake of her victory in the Pennsylvania primary - and if her candidacy actually pays off, investors in Clinton's political fortunes could reap a windfall as well. That's the bottom line from today's prediction markets, where most of the money is betting that her Democratic rival, Barack Obama, will still prevail despite Tuesday's setback.
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The "Car Talk" radio guys go on a joke-filled quest to find the perfect car of the future in a TV show premiering on Earth Day. And the punch line is that the technology they're looking for is already available - for a price, that is.
"Car of the Future," airing Tuesday as part of PBS' "Nova" documentary series, marks the prime-time television debut of Tom and Ray Magliozzi, a.k.a. Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers.
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Masumi Yajima / Univ. of Calgary / AFP file |
A researcher checks a 3-D model of the human body, projected from the
walls and floor of a virtual-reality room at the University of Calgary. Such
blends of medical and cybernetic innovation are likely to become more
widespread in the next 50 years. Click on the image for a larger version.
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How will the world look in the year 2058? Sixty thinkers from around the world rise to that challenge in "The Way We Will Be 50 Years From Today," a collection of essays edited by longtime journalist Mike Wallace.
The consensus view is that we'll muddle through many of the issues that vex us today - including climate change and terror threats. And we'll hit upon so many medical and technological wonders that today's 50-year-olds will have a fair chance of finding out firsthand how the world will look in 2058.
Find out more about how today's pioneers size up tomorrow's frontiers. Then, weigh in with your own vision of the way things will be 50 years from now.
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The film "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" gives the impression that "Big Science" is suppressing "smart new ideas" in America's classrooms - that is, ideas claiming that features of the natural world are so complex they had to be the work of an intelligent designer. The movie also reportedly follows up on efforts to blame evolutionary theory for much of what has ailed the world since Darwin, including Hitler and the Holocaust.
I haven't seen "Expelled" yet, so it's hard for me to judge how wacky the movie really is, but plenty of other folks are already weighing in. Here are a few Web links:
Update for 2:50 p.m. ET April 21: Arthur Caplan, bioethics columnist for msnbc.com, weighs in with his opinion of "Expelled," saying that "there is not a shred of intelligence on display" in the movie.
