Links 5/25/13

Posted on May 25, 2013 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science:

Genetic Testing For Women: When DNA Screenings Lead To Devastating Mistakes
Research on Microbes Points To New Tools for Conservation
NSF Says No to Legislator Seeking Reviewer Comments
Cold fusion reactor independently verified, has 10,000 times the energy density of gas (anyone know if this is bullshit or not?)
Pfizer takes its shot at a vaccine for evasive superbug
Why Portland Is Wrong About Water Fluoridation

Other:

Finland in World War II
Washington, D.C.: The New Boomtown. Bidding wars, multimillion-dollar sales and modern architecture: The transformation of the Washington, D.C., real-estate market
“Children Are Dying”
It’s Not About You
Do Americans Know How Well Their State’s Schools Perform?
Who Will Stick Up For the IRS?
DIA’s art collection could face sell-off to satisfy Detroit’s creditors (disaster capitalism at its worst)
Doing his patriotic duty…one oversized rubber penis at at time
Anthony Weiner’s Rise (actually about Catherine Quinn)
Teenagers’ calorie consumption at McDonalds versus Subway

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5 Responses to Links 5/25/13

  1. Rich S. says:
    May 25, 2013 at 5:41 pm

    Mike,
    I used to work at the Plasma Physics Lab at Princeton up until 1995. When this came up back then, I heard that a couple of physicists tried to replicate it, but could not. I also heard that the safety dept. shut them down because they didn’t have a written procedure. Cold fusion was regarded as bullshit back then.

  2. David says:
    May 25, 2013 at 5:50 pm

    There are reasonably clear take-downs of E-cat (cold fusion) on Lubos Motl’s blog and on the Starts with a Bang blog.

  3. Bayesian Bouffant, FCD says:
    May 25, 2013 at 9:56 pm

    … has been verified by a panel of independent scientists. The research paper, which hasn’t yet undergone peer review,

    Smells bad.

    Still, the seven scientists, all from good European universities, obviously felt confident enough with their findings to publish the research paper.

    But he just told us it hadn’t been published! And he doesn’t name any of the seven mysterious European scientists.

    The main difference, though, is that the cold fusion process (also known as LENR, or low energy nuclear reaction) produces very slow moving neutrons which don’t create ionizing radiation or radioactive waste.

    It sounds like he’s making it up as he goes along, to explain the lack of observed neutrons.

    As for what the secret sauce is, no one knows — in the research paper, the independent scientists simply refer to it as “unknown additives.”

    This expert panel has been assembled to verify results, and they’re OK with not being told the experimental conditions? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
    Ha.

    All told, the E-Cat seems to have a power density of 4.4×105 W/kg, and an energy density of 5.1×107 Wh/kg.

    Ooh, numbers. It must be real. Surveys indicate that if you add a decimal place to your statistics, 23.7% more people will believe you.
    .
    ..
    Oddly enough, this is not the first science fiction masquerading as science I have encountered this weekend. But at least the first example was on a science fiction site. Have yourself another laugh: Butterflies remember a mountain that hasn’t existed for millennia

  4. Cathy W says:
    May 26, 2013 at 7:47 am

    Happily, the Detroit Institute for the Arts has said “Like hell you’re selling our collection” and gotten a lawyer; they think there are clauses in their operating agreement that prevents the sale. Plus, I think there would be rioting from the suburban taxpayers who just voted in a millage in exchange for free admissions.

    On the other hand, Detroit’s water department is being largely privatized/contracted out, if the plan currently in place can be followed through.

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