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Genetically Rescued Organisms: My Comment To USDA On Restoring The American Chestnut Tree

Dec 21 2022 - 11:12
'Chestnuts roasting on an open fire' is in a popular Christmas song, but a lot less common now than when it was written. That is due to an invasive species from Asia. It was once common for environmentally woke people to introduce species from Asia in their opposition to chemicals, because they believed all nature is better than any science, but from California (Bradford pear) to Vermont (the American chestnut) what the science community warned them about doing came to pass. Devastation.

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Christmas Trees Are The Definition Of Sustainable - Why Do Environmentalists Oppose Them?

Dec 21 2022 - 10:12
The pandemic must be over because activists are back to complaining about Christmas trees, which means they will also be back to being anti-vaccine as soon as Republicans stop being idiots and it is once again a safe space for progressives to own. Just like every year from 1998 to 2020.

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Tomb Of Salome Found In Israel

Dec 20 2022 - 13:12
Inscriptions on the walls and crosses in a grotto first found by grave robbers in Lachish national park of the Judean lowlands west of Jerusalem have led archaeologists to conclude it was dedicated to Salome, associated with the birth of Jesus Christ in early Christian accounts.  The Jewish burial chamber and ossuaries dating back to the Roman period became part of a Christian chapel during the Byzantine era until the region was captured by the Rashidun Caliphate in the middle of the 7th century.

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Glioblastoma: Genetically Modified DeltEx Drug-Resistant Immunotherapy Gets Phase II Clinical Trial

Dec 20 2022 - 12:12
From insulin to lowering environmental strain to grow food, genetic engineering is one of the marvels of the 20th century. In the 21st, CRISPR-Cas9 or something else may achieve the same lofty status but genetic engineering isn't done yet.

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200 Million Years Before Giant Whales, Ichthyosaurs Migrated To Give Birth In...Nevada

Dec 20 2022 - 10:12
Giant blue and humpback whales migrate across the ocean to breed and give birth in waters where predators are scarce.

A new analysis of the fossil bed in the Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park (BISP) in Nevada’s Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest suggests that nearly 200 million years before giant whales evolved, school bus-sized marine reptiles called ichthyosaurs may have been making similar migrations to breed and give birth together in relative safety.

Nevada is east of the very large state of California, and the study offers a possible explanation why at least 37 of these marine reptiles came to meet their ends in the same locale.

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Breakthrough: First Direct Measurement Of The Donnan Potential

Dec 20 2022 - 10:12
The Donnan electric potential arises from an imbalance of charges at the interface of a charged membrane and a liquid but detecting it directly has not been possible. Until now.

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Could High Quality Masks Solve China's COVID Problems? Idea For A Randomized Control Trial Of Masks In Households To Find Out

Dec 19 2022 - 17:12

How effective are masks at breaking transmission of COVID?

At present we have many studies but mainly observational - and we have a wide range of expert views on how effective or not the best masks really are

With the rapid spread of COVID in China - that's a country that has the motivation to find answers fast, and has a culture that is very accepting of masks.

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Why Doesn't NASA Respond To Public Concerns On Its Samples From Mars Environmental Impact Statement? (short Version For Experts)

Dec 19 2022 - 10:12

First for anyone who doesn't know, NASA’s perseverance rover is currently collecting small samples of rock and leaving them on the surface in tubes on Mars. NASA want to return them some time around 2033 and they plan to return its Mars samples of rock and some dust / soil to biosafety level 4 facilities (BSL-4). But the ESF in 2012 said we have to contain ultramicrobacteria from Mars and a BSL-4 can’t do that.

See longer version of this post with extra graphics and explanations for non experts.

As Carl Sagan said:

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Why Doesn't NASA Respond To Public Concerns On Its Samples From Mars Environmental Impact Statement?

Dec 19 2022 - 03:12

First for anyone who doesn't know, NASA’s perseverance rover is currently collecting small samples of rock and leaving them on the surface in tubes on Mars. NASA want to return them some time around 2033 and they plan to return its Mars samples of rock and some dust / soil to biosafety level 4 facilities (BSL-4). But the ESF in 2012 said we have to contain ultramicrobacteria from Mars and a BSL-4 can’t do that.

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How To Recapture The Historical Spirit Of Christmas

Dec 18 2022 - 11:12

If the media, popular entertainment, and retail habits are taken as indicators then the celebration of Christmas is no longer just the reserve of Christians. This has some consequences for the religious and non-religious alike.

In popular culture and the media, Christmas is portrayed as a time of happiness, togetherness, generosity, and peace. In the “made for Christmas” movies, such as those on the popular Hallmark Channel, a “feel good” message is the order of the day.

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This Is Your Opportunity To Tell NASA You Want To Keep Earth Extra Safe During Their Samples From Mars Mission

Dec 17 2022 - 12:12

This isn’t something to be scared of. Margaret Race’s analogy of a smoke alarm is a good way of thinking about it especially for this first mainly geological mission from Mars. But we do need smoke alarms in a modern house and this is our “house” for billions of people.

Do comment on the proposal with your thoughts, they are asking for feedback and do share this post if you want to do something about it.

NASA

- Do Listen To Public Concerns About Life In Samples From Mars

- Your Plan Is Like Building Us A House Without Smoke Alarms

Please share widely and comment on their plans - comments close Dec. 20

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Why Space Explorers Should Care About Any Life On Mars, And Its Capabilities, To Protect Themselves And Earth As They Explore

Dec 16 2022 - 22:12

Open letter to Space Colonization Enthusiasts. This is to accompany my post about how I believe it is important for NASA to get its environmental impact statement for a Mars sample return right, and numerous issues I found with it.

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Eager To Return Mars Samples, Why Is NASA Metaphorically Building A House Without Smoke Alarms? Do Ask The Public First!

Dec 16 2022 - 20:12

NASA are planning to return its Mars samples to biosafety level 4 facilities. That was fine in 2009. But the problem is that it doesn’t contain the very small microbes we now know exist called ultramicrobacteria which can get through a very tiny 0.1 micron nanopore and still be viable.i

The chance of returning life on those mainly geological samples is low. The chance it is dangerous if returned is low. To give an idea of the order of risk I use Margaret Race's analogy of a smoke alarm. The risk of a fire in your house is so low most people don't panic about it. But you still install smoke alarms just in case.

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Open Letter - NASA's Plans To Protect Earth For A Mars Sample Return Are Not Properly Thought Out - We Need To Get This Right

Dec 16 2022 - 16:12
Dear planetary protection experts, astrobiologists, and other interested members of the public.

Are you aware of NASA's draft Environmental Impact Statement. They expect to complete the legal process by spring to summer next year using the new fast track NEPA process. They will do this by treating the returned samples as toxic compounds that we can handle like any human disease or toxic chemical in a Biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) facility. They aren't listening to the public comments asking them to take more care.

The way it's drafted, it's likely that none of the other agencies in the USA will show an interest, because they claim there is no significant risk of environmental effects, and no more risk to human health than any other toxic substance we know how to handle.

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The Playstation 5 Is Bipartisan - That's Probably Why It Is The Top Most Searched For Gift In The US

Dec 16 2022 - 13:12
In the mid-term elections, political pundits noted that if demographic shifts continue, minorities and the young will be less of a factor for Democrats while rural areas will decline for Republicans.

Maybe candidates need to start embracing Playstation culture. An analysis of search results by coupon site Rakuten reveals that Florida, California, and Texas can't agree on much except a Playstation 5 at Christmas (Since we are a nonprofit, Amazon Smile gives us a nickel or something if you use the links from here.) 

That's right, it is the top most searched for Christmas gift this year, from Pelosi-land to DeSantis-ville.

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In 2014, A Voter Referendum Demanded New Water Storage - Government Has Done Nothing About It

Dec 15 2022 - 15:12
The California state legislature mostly exists to pass new regulations, but does very little for the public they claim to serve. Anything important instead has to go around government by way of voter referendum.

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Scientists Achieve Nuclear Fusion, And With It, One Of The Biggest Scientific Achievements In History

Dec 15 2022 - 09:12

This week, scientists from the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California,

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French Union Workers Exploit Cold Weather And Ukraine Situation To Get Paid - And That Means Using More Coal

Dec 12 2022 - 14:12
France is soon going to be asking for a bailout from coal power plants in England. You may be wondering why they need it, since energy is the only scientific area where France shows leadership. They continued to embrace nuclear energy after the U.S. and Germany caved in to progressive activists and ran it into the ground.

The problem is it's a government union, and just like government unions in the US use taxpayer money to hire lobbyists to get themselves raises from other people in government paid by taxes on the poor, French government workers knew with Russia causing high competition and a cold snap during winter, it was the perfect time to strike. Literally and figuratively.

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“Diversity, Inclusion, Equity And The Threat To Academic Freedom”: Excerpts

Dec 12 2022 - 12:12
Policies of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity (DIE) have increasingly led to the exclusion of individuals who do not share a radical 'woke' ideology on identity politics and to the suppression of the academic freedom to discuss such dogmas. Here we put together some particularly illustrative cases of such repression, many of them in scientific environments.

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The Animals We See As Friends Versus Food

Dec 12 2022 - 00:12
Ask a hunting guide about what your first experience as a novice hunter should be and they will say a turkey. No one ever cried over eating turkey whereas a rabbit would be a bad idea for many.

A new survey in Human-Animal Interactions attempted to assess social perceptions in Singapore about ‘food animals’ versus 'friends' and 'worth fighting for', broken down as ‘Love’, ‘Save’, ‘Indifferent’ and ‘Dislike.’

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