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With Detection Of Earendel, Hubble Just Set A Viewing Distance Record Of 28 Billion Lightyears

Posted by on Mar 30, 2022 in Space | Comments Off on With Detection Of Earendel, Hubble Just Set A Viewing Distance Record Of 28 Billion Lightyears

Fermilab, now a tourist attraction, found the Higgs Boson before the Large Hadron Collider did, but the lack of comparative luminosity made it a struggle to know that as quickly as the LHC did. 

That's why the discovery of a star by Hubble 28 billion lightyears away, a new record, may not last long if everything goes as planned with its long-delayed successor, the James Webb Space Telescope. It's so far away that Hubble can't tell astronomers if it is even one star or two, because statistical blips in the data need more clarity that a deeper space telescope will provide.

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The Ukraine War Punctured The Myth Of Viable Alternative Energy

Posted by on Mar 29, 2022 in Energy | Comments Off on The Ukraine War Punctured The Myth Of Viable Alternative Energy

The war in Ukraine has driven oil prices to their highest levels since 2008. As crude oil is the main component of gasoline, the first place Americans encounter price pain is at the pump, with 56% of every gallon of gas reflecting the cost of crude, followed by spikes in home climate control.

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Why Your Expensive Restaurant Mac And Cheese Probably Has Velveeta

Posted by on Mar 15, 2022 in Chemistry | Comments Off on Why Your Expensive Restaurant Mac And Cheese Probably Has Velveeta

I make macaroni and cheese quite a lot. I like to eat it on Fridays and for friends and family on holidays. I have sampled mac and cheese all across the country. I am no Guy Fieri, but I have gotten around, and I can tell you with a great deal of confidence that most elite - which is to say costly - macaroni and cheese uses Velveeta. Or at least a key chemical in it.

The reason is not flavor. It is science. 

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Janssen Vs Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccines: A Clear Winner In Reduced Hospitalizations

Posted by on Mar 7, 2022 in Immunology | Comments Off on Janssen Vs Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccines: A Clear Winner In Reduced Hospitalizations

COVID-19 vaccines have shown to be effective at preventing vaccines but the big win for public health is reduced effects if you get it anyway. If you don't have co-morbidities your relative risk is very low but if you do have them, every precaution is worth taking.

The vaccines come in many forms but two of note are the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine (Ad26.COV2.S) and Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT162b2), distinct because Janssen only requires one dose.  And the latter made "mRNA" part of the cultural lexicon. 

Which one led to fewer hospitalizations? They were both outstanding but there is a winner.

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The Social Justice Of Oral Health

Posted by on Mar 3, 2022 in Psychology | Comments Off on The Social Justice Of Oral Health

In the quest to create more social justice and equity, a lot of economic common sense leaves the discussion first. If I become a politician by promising you that you'll get your own personal doctor, for example, you aren't getting a real doctor - you are getting someone handed a doctor title but is really a naturopath, homeopath or whatever else that can be found cheap.

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Sulfoxaflor: EPA Just Gave Them A Fantastic Endorsement For Environmental Health

Posted by on Feb 7, 2022 in Chemistry | Comments Off on Sulfoxaflor: EPA Just Gave Them A Fantastic Endorsement For Environmental Health

We may be our own worst critics, but America continues to lead the world in science, science literacy, and science policy. Anyone who has tried to navigate science policy in Europe knows how bad it can get when the discourse is hijacked by government-funded environmental groups who use taxpayer money to prevent sane efforts at progress for European taxpayers.

Compared to Europe, American scientists have it good.

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Solar Power Activists Keep Saying Solar Is Ready – If So, Net Metering Subsidies Are No Longer Needed

Posted by on Feb 4, 2022 in Energy | Comments Off on Solar Power Activists Keep Saying Solar Is Ready – If So, Net Metering Subsidies Are No Longer Needed

Utility customers in California are being exploited by a special class of grifters. Those who live in apartment buildings or rental homes or live in poor neighborhoods are forced by law to subsidize million-dollar solar installations on homes in Malibu.

The poor are exploited in the form of a direct rebate which depletes funds that could be used for social services for all Californians, plus a special tax levied on their utility bills. It not only pays wealthy people to install solar panels, it pays them to sell any electricity back to the power company on bright days for the same price they buy it at night.

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Solar Power Activists Keep Saying Solar Is Ready – If So, Net Metering Subsidies Are No Longer Needed

Posted by on Feb 4, 2022 in Energy | Comments Off on Solar Power Activists Keep Saying Solar Is Ready – If So, Net Metering Subsidies Are No Longer Needed

Utility customers in California are being exploited by a special class of grifters. Those who live in apartment buildings or rental homes or live in poor neighborhoods are forced by law to subsidize million-dollar solar installations on homes in Malibu.

The poor are exploited in the form of a direct rebate which depletes funds that could be used for social services for all Californians, plus a special tax levied on their utility bills. It not only pays wealthy people to install solar panels, it pays them to sell any electricity back to the power company on bright days for the same price they buy it at night.

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Is It Possible To Promote ‘Trustworthy’ News Without Creating Bias?

Posted by on Feb 3, 2022 in Technology | Comments Off on Is It Possible To Promote ‘Trustworthy’ News Without Creating Bias?

Implicit Racism tests say you are a bigot, it is only a question of how much. Social justice warriors and others in the humanities insist that even a field like astronomy is inevitably a reflex of the power of the socially privileged.

Given that science is always under fire from all sides, is there a way for science to guide technology on ways to help the public find trustworthy sources without 'Who Watches The Watchmen' and 'Follow The Money' claims polluting the discourse?

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The Dumbest Epidemiology Paper You’ll Read This Week

Posted by on Jan 24, 2022 in Psychology | Comments Off on The Dumbest Epidemiology Paper You’ll Read This Week

Epidemiology pushes out a lot of dumb papers. Not as many as social psychology per capita but in volume a whole lot more. It's easy to see why the public believes horse de-wormer cures COVID-19, it was in an epidemiology paper, and that methodology was just as valid as a paper this week 'linking' olive oil to longer life. 

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