Author Archive for Grumpy Old Techie

Depleted Cranium
Bad Science And Scary Science

A history of Mass Hysteria
Sorry for the lack of posts recently, but I’ve been extremely busy. If you’re looking for something worth reading on the subject of science, medicine and public understanding (or ignorance) and how this can manifest itself, check out Strange History: Mass Hysteria Through the Years. It’s a rundown of some of the more [...]
Jessica Ainscough is Going to Die
Jessica Ainscough is a model and fashion writer turned “wellness warrior.” She’s an Australian media personality who, in 2008, was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer that is slow growing but extremely prone to spreading and which doctors recommended be treated by amputating an arm, where the tumor was located.  It’s understandable [...]
How to Kill Chemtrails… With Vinegar (yeah people believe this)
So you’ve come to believe that aircraft are spraying dangerous substances above your heads and you want to get rid of them?   So, how about using some vinegar? Um… Well… it is a weak acid so it could possibly react with chemicals that are either alkaline in nature or are just prone to breaking down in acid.  [...]
Some updates on the run for the US Congress
Yes, I’m still running for the US Congress and if you’ve noticed that this blog has not been updated as much as it once was, that is why.  It’s taking up a lot of my time, but I will still try to add fresh content to this site. One thing that certainly needs to be mentioned [...]
Refuted: What to do with the epidemiology, cell phones and brain cancer?
Recently came across an especially irritating editorial in the Washington Times and decided I really could not let the contentions stand. Here it is, by Dariusz Leszczynski: Helsinki/Finland, January 11, 2012-Epidemiological studies are given the most weight in evaluation of human health effects. Therefore, when researchers started their effort to find out whether cell phone radiation causes [...]
Psychic Char Margolis Fails Badly On TV
I have to admit, this really does not amount to much of a story, since it’s unlikely to change anyone’s mind, but god I love watching something like this… Interesting that she brought up the “M or J” thing.   I mean, how can you mistake an M for a J, which one is it?  And why [...]
No, Obama Did Not Save the Grand Canyon From Uranium Mining
Stories like this really just grind my gears, because the way it is portrayed in the media is simply false.   If you read any of the reports about the recent extension of a moratorium on mining (uranium mining included) in the Grand Canyon area, you’d think that the big bad uranium mining industry was hell [...]
Harsh Winter Threatens To Leave Alaska Settlements Without Fuel
Although the winter for much of North America has been mild this season, in Alaska it has been extremely harsh.  While those who live in the more remote parts of Alaska are used to dealing with the extremes of nature, this year they are facing the prospect of being cut off from vital supplies of [...]
Nuclear Plant Operators… GASP…. Surfing the internet???
Okay, I admit it.  I’ve been at work in a circumstance where I should have been writing code or responding to e-mails and I may have hit up Facebook or Google News.  Sometimes I had a half-assed excuse to it, like that the weather was bad and I needed to know if there were any [...]
The US Space Program’s Plutonium-238 Crisis
When spacecraft are sent to explore the inner solar system, solar cells are usually the choice to provide power.  However, when venturing out past the orbit of mars, the intensity of sunlight available makes it increasingly difficult to obtain sufficient amounts of power.  Past Jupiter, it’s virtually impossible to power a space probe with solar [...]
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