Newmark's Door

"The Mathematics of Lego"

Who knew? Lego sets follow a power law.

"The Yamal deception"

Very detailed discussion of a key piece of the hideously distorted evidence advanced for the anthropogenic global warming hypothesis. 

Other people doing my work for me, part 2

A few physicists, apparently lacking better things to do--why don't you figure out dark matter, guys?--have recently been writing about how wrong it is to expect continual economic growth on a finite planet. Here are two excellent replies to that nonsense:

"Doing The Math for "Physicist versus Economist", for Earth Day"

"Infinite growth on a finite planet? Easy-peasy!"

Wear black this summer

Details here. 

"Feds And Utilities Face Off Over The Electromagnetic Pulse Threat Coming In 2014"

I'd like to believe the utlities, but I also think we should be willing to pay a little more just to be extra cautious. 

Miscellaneous good news

Matt Ridley: "17 Reasons to be Cheerful". (Link courtesy of Michael Greenspan.)

Frack, baby, frack: "This Is The Technological Breakthrough That's Making People Wildly Bullish On America".

As I'm sure all Wolfpackers do, I hope this continues: "Ex-NCSU star Washburn tries for one more rebound".

The Hanging Judge, uncharacteristically upbeat: "Slowly but surely, we’re beginning to see the light." UPDATE: link fixed now.

Ours is a very special time. People are now more aware of what is actually happening, who is to blame for it and why they are at fault, than I have ever seen before in my lifetime. That’s partly because on the Internet, competition for viewers brings more attention to detail.

All this suggests that the American people are not willing to be hustled anymore: not by the banking or housing industries, government officials or even law enforcement agencies that simply refuse to do their jobs.

When all is said and done, we are steadily pushing through, fighting bad news with a stream of optimism and indisputable facts. This is all connected, thankfully, by a sense of humanity free entirely of narcissism.

"STUDY: Our Galaxy Is Home To Billions Of Habitable Planets"

Deepens the mystery of why we haven't heard yet from ET.

On the other hand: "Scientists say Earth may be a 'one-off fluke' and the Milky Way's billions of other planets may all be lifeless". Supernovae may be responsible: "30 Supernovas Per Second in the Observable Universe --Creators of Life & Death".

Many astronomers today believe that one of the most plausible reasons we have yet to detect intelligent life in the universe is due to the deadly effects of local supernova explosions that wipe out all life in a given region of a galaxy.

Finally, "Extraterrestrial Life Common in the Universe --Wishful Thinking?"

But Princeton University researchers have found that the expectation that life — from bacteria to sentient beings — has or will develop on other planets as on Earth might be based more on optimism than scientific evidence.

"If Not Dark Matter, Then What?"

You know the drill by now: modern physics is weird

But if dark matter isn't here in the solar system, it may not be anywhere, because its distribution through the galaxy would have to be extremely peculiar to avoid this region in space. "Modern theories have serious troubles to explain the formation of a [dark matter] halo so curiously shaped," Moni-Bidin told Life's Little Mysteries. 

"Meet the mother theory"

Old and busted: string theory. New hotness: M-theory. Good, short, non-technical discussion. 

"May I Show You My Collection of p-Values?"

Excellent. (Via Marginal Revolution.)

 Which of the following statements about p-values is correct?

1. A p-value of 5% implies that the probability of the null hypothesis being true is (no more than) 5%.

2. A p-value of 0.005 implies much more "statistically significant" results than does a p-value of 0.05.

3. The p-value is the likelihood that the findings are due to chance.

4. A p-value of 1% means that there is a 99% chance that the data were sampled from a population that's consistent with the null hypothesis.

5. None of the above.