Anthonares

[1491, Anthropology, Charles Mann, Clovis, Debate, Philosophy of Science, Science]

I’ve just finished reading the first five chapters in Charles Mann’s fantastic 1491 and have been simply blown away so far. But, that will have to wait until a future entry. Today I’m going to share an idea I had when reading Mann’s chapter about the scientific infighting surrounding the Clovis culture. Pardon me if it’s a bit rambling, I’m just beginning to firm up my thoughts here.

For those who aren’t aware of the “Clovis-first” issue, Mann summs it up quite well. For decades, a powerful group of anthropologists headed by Dr. C. Vance Haynes at Arizona jealously defended the idea that the Clovis Culture was the progenitor of all subsequent Native American cultures. A few so-called “pre-Clovis” sites appeared, but none so convincing as the Clovis, New Mexico site that had given its name to the early Americans. This absence of evidence was taken to be evidence of absenc” in light of the beautiful line of reasoning that motivated the Clovis-First hypothesis (for more information, read 1491!).

The basic premise of my argument is this: subsets of, or entire scientific disciplines occasionally become wrangled in debates that seem little to do with the science, but rather with the personalities involved because the theory outpaces the ability of the science to gather and process data. Good recent examples of this include the slow acceptance of the tectonic theory in Geology, impact extinction in archaeology, string theory, and until about two decades ago, anthropogenic global warming.

Continue Reading »

[Politics, power, President, Supreme Court, War]

I’ve largely avoided writing about politics lately largely because there isn’t a lot of moral or ethical clarity for me to be encouraged by. Though I am in disagreement with many of the actions of our President and Congress, I can’t get too angry about what happens. Were the political situation reversed, very little would be different. Sure, tax cuts and things might have been very importantly different, but still the primary goal of those in power would be to keep it. But yesterday’s 5-3 (Roberts recused himself) ruling by the Supreme Court that President Bush’s special tribunal to try Guantanamo Bay detainees was illegal is probably the most encouraging news I’ve heard from Washington in a long time.

Yesterday’s decision is being called a rebuke of the President, and a restriction of his authority in his War on Terror. That’s exactly what it is. SCOTUS ruled that a President who has declared a never-ending war still has to answer to the laws of the land, or at least those of his own military. He has to uphold the Geneva Convention, even though those he is attempting to try in his special courts did not do the same. I am encouraged not because I think any lasting damage will be done to the President’s image (I think that the public will largely view this ruling as irrelevant to their judgments of the man), but because it keeps in check his power, and that of his office. Even if you don’t agree with my political views, you might agree that limiting the power of the President in a permanent state of war will ultimately benefit all of our rights. If you don’t agree with that, well it seems to me that you probably also don’t buy that old saying about power and how it corrupts. Get out of denial.
Continue Reading »

[1491, Anthropology, Beni, Charles Mann]

In the comments thread of my most recent Damn Interesting article (linked in my RSS feed, go check it out if you haven’t subscribed) about the Passenger Pigeon, a reader mentioned the book 1491 by Charles C. Mann. It’s about the latest ideas in archaeology and anthropology relating to native peoples of the Americas prior to Columbus’ arrival (hence the title).

I almost immediately went out and purchased the book and have started reading it this evening. I’m excited for a number of reasons, but mostly because it turns out–like most things we learn about in elementary school–that what we were taught about Prehistoric America is entirely wrong.
Continue Reading »

[Aquaculture, Cod, Futurism, Marshall T. Savage, Millenial Project, Oceans, Population Bomb]

Covering over 70% of the Earth’s surface, our Oceans are surprisingly unproductive. The vast majority of the caloric needs of the world’s population are met by land-based agriculture. Except for a few localized regions of the globe, seafood only provides a little dietary variety. And, for most of us, wild-caught fish and seafood remain the only non-domesticated source of food in our diets.

The global population is today estimated to be 6.5 billion, and is expected to reach 10 billion before it (hopefully) crests near mid-century. While population is increasing, arable land is decreasing due to soil salinization, erosion, poorly-planned development (i.e. urban sprawl), dam-building, and desertification. Genetically-modified foods may help touch off a second “Green Revolution“, but that may not even be enough (see my writeup on Vertical Farming for more). That’s where aquaculture comes in.
Continue Reading »

[Environment, Marine Reserve, Northwest Hawaiian Islands, Oceanography]

Yesterday President Bush signed an executive order designating the Northwest Hawaiian Island chain as a protected marine reserve.

This is a significant move for a number of reasons, but primarily it’s because President Bush’s environmental record up to this point looks pretty terrible. The National Resources Defense Council has a more complete list of the President’s environmental record, but here’s a short list of some of the major Bush Administration’s environmental policies so far:

• Allowing more logging in National Forests under the “Healthy Forests Initiative”
• Supporting mountaintop mining, an incredibly scarring strip mining technique
• Supporting drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
• The “Clean Skies” plan actually allows more powerplant pollution
• The denial of global warming will have cost us nearly a decade that could have begun rolling back CO2 emissions (instead we’ve achieved a slower rate of growth, too bad we needed to do that in the 1990s)

Perhaps the only significant Bush Administration policy that actually helps the environment is its support of cleaner diesel fuel standards. His energy policy might seem environmentally friendly with its alternative energy subsidies and hybrid car tax credits, if it weren’t for the fact that far more subsidies will go towards good old dirty coal technology.
Continue Reading »

[Conservation, Environment, Environmentalism, Global Warming, Wind Energy]

As I’ve gone to lengths to discuss in previous posts like this one about nuclear energy, I’m green to the core. Nevertheless, I have some serious disagreements with prominent parts of the environmental movement including my belief that nuclear energy will be a key source of energy into the future. Wind energy is shaping up to be another of those decisive battles within the green community that will determine its course for years to come. The two sides of the debate represent two very different philosphies about environmentalism: pragmatism versus conservationalism. I’m not going to mince words here, the conservationalist side of this debate spouts arguments that are frankly illogical or are altogether unproven. The pragmatic side has everything right, including ironically the conservation part.
Continue Reading »

[Amish, Progress, Society, Technology]

Late last year I read “Radical Evolution” by Joel Garreau and got fairly excited about the prospect of the technological singularity we are supposedly approaching. Because I enjoy reading completely opposing viewpoints (with the exception of most of the scarcely-readable screed that passes for political writing), I picked up a copy of “Better Off : Flipping the Switch on Technology” by Eric Brende. In it, Brende chronicles an eighteen-month stint living in a psuedo-Amish community somewhere in the midwest. I am an unabashed supporter of the fundamental idea that science and technology are helping us progress to a better state. Brende argues the opposite thesis: unthinking adoption of mechanized technology has separated humans from each other, the land they once knew, and the societies that mutual hard work helped to foster.

The book itself is a great read. An interesting narrative moves the book along nicely and provides the framework upon which Brende makes his arguments. The characters are surprisingly well developed for a non-fiction persuasive piece, and Brende himself comes across neither preachy or strident, but introspective and open.
Continue Reading »

[Criticism, Science, Space Elevator, Space Exploration]

One of the treasured axioms of scientific inquiry is that science is incapable of proving something to be true; it can only prove that something is untrue. However, that statement does not mean that science is necessarily capable of proving that something is impossible. Scientists are fond of poking holes in what they perceive as the pipe dreams of technologists. Very often they use theory and fundamental physical laws, with a healthy dose of assumptions, to state their case. Unfortunately for vocal scientists, they’re not always right. In fact, when it comes to space flight, scientists were so wrong that they are still playing catch up.

Within the last few days, there have been two instances of what I consider to be the gross overstating of the impossibility of a task by scientists or science journalists.
Continue Reading »

[No Tags]

As you may have noticed my blogging fell off precipitously. The cause is a combination of factors including: backloading the end of semesters with papers and projects by shortsighted professors, continued remodeling of my new house, an impending paper deadline, and several impending project deadlines. So, as a result I’ll be off until the end of April or early May. Until then, I’ll be writing about once a week at DamnInteresting.com, so you can catch me there.

[Administration, Cancer, Contamination, EPA, Groundwater, TCE, War on Science]

Starting in the early 1980s, it became clear that the common industrial degreasing agent Trichloroethylene (or TCE, for short) might increase the risk of cancer in those exposed to it. Since then, over 80 studies have been published on the possible toxicological effects of TCE exposure. In 2001 after an extensive review of these studies and how people were exposed to the chemical, the EPA publised a draft risk assesment that indicated their intentions to severely limit the maximum legal level of TCE in water supplies (then and currently at 5 milligrams/liter).

Yesterday, the LA Times published an excellent article detailing the aftermath of that publication. The article was surprisingly neutral, given the stark disregard for public health that it exposes in the Administration. I however, am not going to pretend to be neutral. This case is yet another example of how the administration disregards and impugns science and scientists in order to prevent their findings from being an inconvenience.
Continue Reading »