Uncommon Ground

Want to be green?

2009-11-06T11:00:00Z

Live in a city. That's what Adam Stein argues, and he's pretty persuasive. A couple of weeks ago he gave Green Metropolis, a new book by David Owen, a favorable review. As the subtitle to Owen's book puts it, the key to living sustainably is living smaller, living closer, and driving less are the keys to sustainability. Put that way it's hard to argue with.

Living smaller? Sure. Living smaller means consuming less and making fewer demands on the planet's resources. My partner and I live reasonably simply. We're mostly vegetarian, for health reasons as much as environmental ones. We recycle as much as we can, we keep the thermostats turned down, and we turn lights off whenever we leave a room.

Driving less? Sure. Part of living smaller, isn't it. Who wouldn't take public transport if they live in a place where its comfortable and convenient. Public transit is non-existent in rural northeastern Connecticut, so I drive less by combining trips to school with stops at the grocery store and by combining several shopping trips into one whenever I can.

Living closer? This is where it gets interesting. I'll quote just a little of Stein's response to comments on his favorable review:

I recently read that a freight train can move a ton of goods 460 miles on a single gallon of diesel. Your car can move a bag of groceries about 20 miles on a single gallon of gasoline. Sustainability is best measured by proximity to a supermarket, not a farm. (emphasis in the original)

That's right. It matters more how close you live to where you buy your food than where it's produced. And it matters even more how it's produced. Over 80% of the carbon footprint associated with food is associated with producing it, not with transporting it (source).

Bottom line. Your friend with a small apartment in Manhattan probably has a smaller carbon footprint than you do. She almost certainly has a smaller carbon footprint than I do, since I live in a comfortable house on a little over an acre of land, and I have to drive back and forth to work, to the grocery, to the pharmacy, to anywhere I want to go other than for a walk around my neighborhood.¹

So if you really want to be green, move to Manhattan (or DC or San Francisco or Chicago or Seattle or Boston), take the subway or bus to work, and grow your vegetables in a community garden. ]]> ¹And, no. It's not just because I'm lazy. The nearest supermarket and pharmacy are a little over 3 miles away. The nearest other stores are 5-10 miles away.

Elements of presentation success

2009-11-05T11:00:00Z

A couple of months ago, I pointed out that Carmine Gallo told us how to give a really bad presentation. His plan, of course, was to share that advice so that we'd know what not to do. Knowing what to avoid is helpful, but knowing what to do is even better.

Well, Gallo now has some advice on what to do.

Steve Jobs does not sell computers; he sells an experience. The same holds true for his presentations that are meant to inform, educate, and entertain. An Apple presentation has all the elements of a great theatrical production.

And those elements are

A headline.
A villain.
A simple slide.
A demo.
A holy smokes moment.

It won't be easy to make a simple slide or a demo about Bayesian hierarchical modeling, but I can probably come up with a headline, a villain, and a "holy smokes", and three out of five would make me a hall of famer in baseball.

Evolution in extreme environments

2009-11-03T11:00:00Z

From a recent e-mail:

Live, Free Webcast of "Evolution in Extreme Environments" Symposium

Those who cannot attend this year's National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) conference in Denver will nonetheless be able to participate in the fifth annual evolution symposium, cosponsored by AIBS and the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center. Educators and students are encouraged to tune in to the live Webcast on Friday, 13 November, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Mountain Standard Time, and to take advantage of this opportunity to hear internationally renowned researchers discuss their fascinating, cutting-edge work in "extreme" evolutionary biology. Speakers will talk about how life evolves, adapts, and flourishes in some of the most extreme environments on Earth, such as high-altitude areas, the deep-sea, Arctic ice, and caves. Classrooms around the world will be able to submit questions online and speakers will respond in real time. For full program information, including speaker names, talk titles and times, and the link to view the live Webcast, please visit www.nescent.org/NABT09Webcast.php or send an e-mail to eog@nescent.org.

A new tunicate in Long Island Sound

2009-11-02T15:00:00Z

A student in my conservation biology course just pointed out that a previously unreported tunicate has been found in Long Island Sound. It's a member of the genus Clavelina -- and that exhausts my knowledge about it. But I'm sure if you check in occasionally at James Reinhardt's blog, you'll be able to follow updates.

Monday Pen

2009-11-02T11:00:00Z

My Graf von Faber Castell is another of the pens I regularly carry with me. It's one of three morning pens in my journal rotation. My other morning pens are the Namiki Falcon I wrote about last week, and another of the pens I haven't mentioned yet.¹ My evening pens are my Pelikan 400 and two other pens I haven't written about yet.

Mine has a indigo blue body, but other than that, it's identical to the one pictured above. I fight with this one a little. Even though I fill it every time before I use it, it often seems that the ink stops flowing smoothly after I've filled a page or two. I have to stop writing and manually feed the nib by rotating the converter. Other than that it's a very nice pen. The nib is firm, and it leaves a beautiful line. It's enough of a defect that I wouldn't call it my favorite, but it's still a part of my morning rotation. Clearly I like it pretty well. It feels solid and well-engineered, like a well-made German automobile. Here's part of Fahrney's blurb:

Don't let the graceful lines and elegant looks fool you - these German-made pens are built for precision and performance. The Graf von Faber-Castell Guilloche fountain pen has a unique design that distinguishes it from the ordinary. As the name implies, the finish is characterized with guilloche patterns etched into the colorful resin barrels. The fluted metal caps, curved, spring-loaded clips and tapered grips are silver-plated and coated with rhodium to prevent tarnishing. The Guilloche fountain pen has a superior, two-tone 18K gold nib

]]> ¹Remember how I said when I started this series that you'd probably be amazed at how many fountain pens I own? Well, as you can see, I'm not done yet, and I won't be done next week either.

Facts, values, and cultural lenses

2009-10-30T14:00:00Z

Scientists tend to view disagreements as matters of fact and theory that can be settled by data and logic. If the data are consistent with one view and inconsistent with another, that's the end of the story. We often complain when the public doesn't understand or doesn't get it. We figure that if we just explained ourselves more clearly, the facts would speak for themselves.¹

If you've been reading this blog for more than a couple of weeks, you know that I don't buy that view of the world.

The editors of Nature agree. From yesterday's issue:

The public reception of scientific ideas depends largely on two factors: people's ability to grasp factual information and the cultural lens through which that information is filtered.

And this:

The lesson for today's scientists and policy-makers is simple: they cannot assume that a public presented with 'the facts' will come to the same conclusion as themselves. They must take value systems, cultural backdrops and local knowledge gaps into account and frame their arguments accordingly. Such approaches will be crucial in facing current global challenges, from recessions to pandemics and climate change. These issues will be perceived and dealt with differently by different nations -- not because they misunderstand, but because their understanding is in part locally dependent. (emphasis added)

]]> ¹Elsewhere in yesterday's issue of Nature, Michael Bond describes two different attitudes towards evaluating risks: teaching the general public to evaluate risks and steering the public towards correct decisions. I'll try to offer some comments on that article some time this weekend.

Canadians thinking ahead

2009-10-29T10:00:00Z

Newspapers are dying, and the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University is suspending its program in environmental journalism. At a time when the greatest challenges facing us -- global climate change, loss of biodiversity, emerging infectious diseases, nanotechnology, energy -- are centered on science and technology, the science division of CNN shut down its science division late last year and the number of science journalists is decreasing. The task of covering issues with a large scientific/technological component increasingly falls to general beat reporters who don't have specialized training in science. They're often very smart, but they aren't experts, and they could use some help.

Which is where our friends north of the border are ahead of us (source).

The Science Media Centre of Canada will help journalists cover stories in which science plays an important part.

...

More than two dozen organizations from the private, public and corporate sectors have donated $5,000 to become Charter Members of the SMCC and are recognized on the Centre's website (www.sciencemediacentre.ca). This support is allowing us to push ahead aggressively in these areas:
Governance models, location, start-up funding and long-term financing have all been examined by Halifax Global and that Business Plan is posted on the Centre's website.
Formal application has been made to incorporate the SMCC federally as a non-profit corporation.
A project manager will be engaged shortly to help the Steering Committee identify "Champions" of greater public engagement with science and to raise funds for the start-up and initial year of operations, estimated at $1 million.

Here's hoping that the Centre is successful and that it inspires a similar effort in the United States.¹ In the meantime, journalists in the U.S. may have to hope that

non-Canadian non-science reporters who suddenly have an assignment on, oh, the relative merits of biofuels made from krill or algae, or a giant comet aimed straight at our Moon, or a finding that tuna are fully sentient, can call up something called the Science Media Centre of Canada for a tip on what to do and what's this about anyway. (source)

]]> ¹If I had some connections, some talent for organizing, and some money, I'd do something myself. Here's hoping that someone who sees this post has the connections, talent, and money I dont.

More on the letter to Congress

2009-10-28T16:00:00Z

A week ago leaders of 18 scientific organizations released a letter to Congress restating the consensus view on climate change. The letter has not been widely noticed, but there are a few people who noticed. The ones I know about are:

Joe Romm, Climate Progress
Jon Gelbard, Conservation Value
Dina Cappiello, Associated Press (a glancing mention in the 4th paragraph of the article)

If you happen to run across others, let me know, either in an e-mail or in comments here.

NOVA on evolution

2009-10-28T11:00:00Z

The PBS documentary series, NOVA, has produced many, many useful programs on evolution and the history of life. Now many of those resources are collected into a single, comprehensive web site, NOVA evolution. The site provides a variety of resources for students, teachers, and everyone who's interested in learning more. It looks like a tremendously valuable resource, and they asked Carl Zimmer to come up with his list of the ten biggest developments in evolutionary biology over the last dedade. Check it out.

Global cooling -- NOT!

2009-10-27T11:00:00Z

WASHINGTON -- Have you heard that the world is now cooling instead of warming? You may have seen some news reports on the Internet or heard about it from a provocative new book.
Only one problem: It's not true, according to an analysis of the numbers done by several independent statisticians for The Associated Press.
...
In a blind test, the AP gave temperature data to four independent statisticians and asked them to look for trends, without telling them what the numbers represented. The experts found no true temperature declines over time.
"If you look at the data and sort of cherry-pick a micro-trend within a bigger trend, that technique is particularly suspect," said John Grego, a professor of statistics at the University of South Carolina. (Seth Borenstein, Associated Press)

'Nuff said.

]]> Brad DeLong (as if he needs a link from me)

From a recent comment

2009-10-26T11:00:00Z

Commenting on my Happy Birthday wishes to DotEarth Danny Bloom writes:

But one thing, dear blogger here at UConn. Let's not play the same ugly game Rush plays and wish for his head to explode! That's the same sickness and ugliness that Rush plays by and you should have more class, sir. Please remove or edit that part to sound more humanistic. Something like [edit] "And you might take a moment to see how Rush Limbaugh attack Andy in a very ugly way {here LINK]."

Point taken. I could try to explain why my words are less offensive than Rush's, but it would be more of an excuse than an explanation. I won't remove what I wrote, not because I'm proud of it, but because I don't believe in hiding my warts.

Monday Pen

2009-10-26T10:00:00Z

I've had my Namiki Falcon for nearly 10 years. It, along with my Pelikan 400 and a couple of other pens I haven't featured yet, is my favorite pen. In fact, of my four favorite pens, it's the only one with a fine nib.¹ It also has the most flexible nib of any fountain pen I own. It's the only one I have that wrote smoothly from the moment I started using it. Others took awhile to break in. As it says in the Fahrney's blurb:

Touch the Namiki Falcon's 14K gold nib to paper and enjoy a response you've never experienced before. Black resin barrel has gold-plated clip and trim. Uses cartridges or converter.

I use the converter and bottled ink, as I do with nearly all of my fountain pens.

Besides revealing my addiction to the world, there's another danger in making these posts. I have to search for illustrations of the pens I write about. In looking for a photo of my Namiki Falcon, I discovered that there's now a Namiki Falcon 2.

I'm afraid I may have to buy one. The resin barrel on my Falcon is nice, but I really like the looks of that red Falcon 2, and the barrel is metal. Here's what Fahrney's has to say about it:

A perpetual favorite with serious fountain pen users, the Falcon offers one of the very best flexible nibs on the market. The Falcon 2 gives you the same exceptional writing with a new bold look - the barrel and cap have been redesigned in high quality metal in four distinctive colors: Sapphire Blue, Chocolate Brown, Black or Burgundy. Rhodium-plated accents add a contemporary yet timeless appeal. The Falcon 2 fountain pen has a stellar 14K gold and rhodium nib that delivers ink in a smooth and controlled manner assuring an exceptional writing experience. Its outstanding responsiveness allows you to create thick and thin characters as you vary the pressure on each stroke.

]]> ¹"Fine" is a relative term. Most Americans would regard it as a fine nib. It's a medium nib according to Namiki.

The impact of climate change

2009-10-25T16:00:00Z

Climate change is real, but it's hard to grasp the impact it will have on our daily lives. The graphic above brings it home. It's from an interactive climate change map put together by the Science Museum in London.

The map shows the impact of an average 4C rise in global temperature, which John Beddington, the government's chief scientist, said would be "disastrous". A study by the Met Office last month said that such a 4C rise could come as soon as 2060 without urgent and serious action to reduce emissions. (source)

Disastrous indeed.
]]> Luigi

Happy 2nd birthday, DotEarth

2009-10-25T12:00:00Z

DotEarth, Andy Revkin's blog at the New York Times, is two years old today. If you aren't familiar with DotEarth, shame on you. You should be. If you are familiar with it, I'm sure you'll agree with me that it's an extraordinarily valuable resource.

Please join me in wishing Andy a happy second birthday! Read him regularly. It's worth your time.

And you might make Rush Limbaugh's head explode in the meantime. If you don't know what I'm talking about, read this entry from DotEarth in which Revkin responds to Limbaugh's suggestion that he, Revkin, commit suicide.

]]> DotEarth from it's main page.

About Dot Earth

By 2050 or so, the world population is expected to reach nine billion, essentially adding two Chinas to the number of people alive today. Those billions will be seeking food, water and other resources on a planet where, scientists say, humans are already shaping climate and the web of life. In Dot Earth, reporter Andrew C. Revkin examines efforts to balance human affairs with the planet's limits. Conceived in part with support from a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, Dot Earth tracks relevant news from suburbia to Siberia. The blog is an interactive exploration of trends and ideas with readers and experts. You can follow Mr. Revkin on Twitter and Facebook.

Some quick advice on communicating science

2009-10-24T14:00:00Z

The paragraph below comes from this week's Nature. It's an excerpt from an interview with Robert Gifford, who co-authored a report from the American Psychological Association on psychology and global climate change.

What five elements make up an effective message?
First, it has to have some urgency. Second, it has to have as much certainty as can be mustered with integrity. Third, there can't be just one message: there must be messages targeted to different groups. Fourth, messages should be framed in positive terms. Evidence from a recent thesis I co-supervised shows that people are less willing to change their behaviour if you tell them they have to make sacrifices. If you tell them they can be in the vanguard, be a hero, be the one that helps -- that works. Fifth, you have to give people the sense that their vote counts and that their effort won't be in vain.

There you have it. The advice comes in the context of communicating about global climate change, but I'm going to paste that paragraph somewhere where I see it frequently, because the advice applies to communicating any message.