Listened to a thought-provoking lecture by Professor Daniel Schrag, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, and Dale Jamieson, Environmental Studies Program, New York University. They discussed global warming and the possibilities of engineering the climate to mitigate damage. More specifically, they focused on the ethical questions around such engineering. For example - should the scientific community take a conservative or aggressive approach to describing the dangers of global warming? If you were a meteorologist, how much seriousness would you treat a 10% chance of rain, versus a 10% chance of a category 5 hurricane? If you would agree that even a 10% chance of a cat 5 hurricane should be taken seriously, how about a 10% chance of cataclysmic global warming? What level of warning should be promulgated to the public?
Another round of ethical debate centers around potential actions to mitigate global warming. For example, spraying aerosols into the atmosphere might prove to be a cheap and effective way to reduce the amount of the sun's energy reaching the earth's surface. However, the long-term effects of deliberately pumping aerosols into the atmosphere are unknown. Although taking this action might be disastrous, not taking action could also be disastrous.

Listen to a podcast of the lecture and ponder these and other questions.

Rare comet flyby

On the night of February 23rd, grab your binoculars and look for Comet Lulin which will make a close (well, in astronomical terms) approach to Earth.

Bill Gates on TED

Bill Gates made an appearance at the recent TED2009 conference. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design and consists of a series of conferences where interesting people from these three fields give short but passionate talks. Gates spoke at the most recent conference held a few weeks ago. With his recent commitment to philanthropic endeavors, his talk focused on eradicating malaria and improving education. About 18 minutes in length, he emphasizes the disparity in malaria danger between affluent countries in temperate areas and poor countries closer to the equator by releasing a jar of mosquitoes into the room while describing the dangers mosquitoes pose to those in malaria-prone areas.

A World without Windows?

For many computer users, Microsoft Windows IS the computer - many people do not know that there are alternatives such as Mac OSX and Linux. The exact numbers are debatable, but I believe there is general agreement that the Microsoft Windows family is installed on approximately 80% of computers. However, Window's dominance of the desktop may be on the decline. In their most recent quarter, desktop-oriented Windows revenue was actually down 8%. Why is this?

I believe it is the rise of mobile devices and web applications. Laptops and other mobile devices such as smart phones have steadily become more powerful and cheaper, leading many to shun desktops. At the same time, web applications have become more powerful and interactive. Call it "Web 2.0", "cloud computing" or whatever the name de jure, but the ability to access applications over the web such as email (Gmail, Yahoo mail, Hotmail, etc), and office applications (Google Docs, Windows Live, Yahoo Zoho)have lessened the need for a big desktop computer. If your applications and data are hosted on the internet, you also don't need a powerful machine. In fact, one of the fastest-growing segments in the PC industry consists of small laptops with limited power. Called "netbooks", they let users carry a smaller, more portable machine. Often running Linux or Windows XP, they cost much less than a traditional laptop and eschew large hard drives for web-based apps.

This double-whammy, combined with lackluster public response to Windows Vista, has changed Microsoft's fortunes in the desktop operating system arena. What does this mean for consumers? More innovation from Microsoft as they try to regain their lead, and more choices as alternatives such as Linux increase in popularity.

Today President Obama formerly requested that the EPA re-consider a request by the State of California and 13 other states to allow them to enact automobile emission standards more stringent than those of the EPA. Incredulously, this request has been made repeatedly by California since 2002 but was rejected each time by the EPA at the urging of then-President Bush. Additionally, Obama also directed the Department of Transportation to begin the procedures for upping the CAFE to 35 MPG by 2020 at the latest.

This day marks the beginning of what will hopefully be a turn-around in our nation's energy direction. California is the 8th largest economy in the world, with commensurate energy usage. Governor Schwarzenegger ( a Republican, no less!) has an ambitious plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in California to fight global warming and strengthen the state's economy.

Some say (including myself) hurray for some progress! Others say allowing California and other states to diverge from the national CAFE and EPA rules makes it more difficult for the auto industry to compete since there could be a patchwork of regulations. I say, engineer vehicles for the most stringent market and sell them nationwide!

What do you think?

For more info on the President's actions today, click here.

The PBS series Nova has a great episode covering Schwarzenegger's energy plans. The show can be viewed online here. Bill Nye the Science guy and Ed Begley, Jr make an appearance as well.

Abarack Lincoln

I'm in the middle of reading "Abraham Lincoln - Great American Historians on our Sixteenth President" edited by Brian Lamb and Susan Swan. It is a collection of essays and edited transcripts from many Lincoln experts enthusiasts covered by CSPAN. Although at this point I am only one-third of the way through the book, I am struck by the similarities between President-elect Obama and Lincoln.

Much has been made in the press about their both being from Illinois, and both having been elected after serving just one term as senators. I was surprised to learn that Lincoln, like Obama, embraced his political rivals and brought them in to his cabinet. For example, in an almost eerie parallel, Lincoln appointed William Seward as his secretary of state after defeating him for his party's presidential nomination, mirroring Obama's appointment of once-rival Hillary Clinton to the same post.

As Obama has stated that he wants his cabinet to contain people of different opinions, Lincoln also appointed people to his cabinet of opposing ideologies and sometimes obvious antagonisms. For example, Salmon Chase was appointed by Lincoln to be Secretary of the Treasury. Chase was very ambitious and spent his time in Washington running against Lincoln while treasury secretary. Did Lincoln cut him off? No, he later appointed him Chief Justice of the United States.
Lincoln preferred to embrace his enemies and use the diversity of their ideas and their inevitable disagreements as a source of strength. He surely had a much more difficult job in reigning in the egos and enduring the table-thumping arguments, but he believed the ideas that were forged from that hot furnace were indeed strong stuff, much more than would result from a room of yes-men.

I can't say if Obama is simply taking a page from Lincoln's playbook, or if he learned to value this style from his own experience, but I hope he is successful. He has publicly stated that he has studied Lincoln. I was and I guess perhaps am still, concerned about Hillary Clinton's nomination as Secretary of State, given her strong incentive to use the position to her own advantage (and Obama's disadvantage) should she seek to run for president again. However, it may prove to be a great way of uniting the moderate Clinton-ite section of the Democratic party with Obama's more progressive faction. Time will tell.

Our own insecurities and worries have caused us to look for a savior in Obama. He is only human, however, and will surely make mistakes. I do take heart, though, in that he is following either by design or coincidence, some good historical examples. From that saying that those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it, it certainly is wise to repeat those things which are time-proven to work.

Calculator!

The sad thing about this clip - when I was in junior high in the 1980s me and my friend Clint had Texas Instruments calculators - I had a TI-35. I didn't know how to use it, but I thought all the buttons would impress the girls. It turned out to be a bad investment.