by JoNova (blog), May 2017
Welcome to paleolithic politics: in this version, the witchdoctors are syndicated and with lap tops.
Archives de catégorie : better to know…?
Earth’s forests just grew 9% in a new satellite survey
by J.F. Bastin et al., May 11, 2017 in ScienceDaily
in Science May 11, 2017
The Age of Exploration may be long past, but even in the 21st century, our maps can still get a major update. Using satellite imagery, a new study has found hidden forests all over the world—almost enough for a second Amazon—in areas with little moisture known as drylands.
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A new estimate of dryland forests suggests that the global forest cover is at least 9 percent higher than previously thought. The finding will help reduce uncertainties surrounding terrestrial carbon sink estimates.
See also L‘équipe d’un chercheur belge découvre 467 millions d’hectares de forêt passés sous les radars
They are diseases hidden in ice, and they are waking up
by Jasmin Fox-Skelly, BBC, May 4, 2017
Throughout history, humans have existed side-by-side with bacteria and viruses. From the bubonic plague to smallpox, we have evolved to resist them, and in response they have developed new ways of infecting us.
However, what would happen if we were suddenly exposed to deadly bacteria and viruses that have been absent for thousands of years, or that we have never met before?
Five reasons blog posts are of higher scientific quality than journal articles
by Daniel Lakens, April 14, 2017
The Dutch toilet cleaner ‘WC-EEND’ (literally: ‘Toilet Duck’) aired a famous commercial in 1989 that had the slogan ‘We from WC-EEND advise… WC-EEND’. It is now a common saying in The Netherlands whenever someone gives an opinion that is clearly aligned with their self-interest. In this blog, I will examine the hypothesis that blogs are, on average, of higher quality than journal articles. Below, I present 5 arguments in favor of this hypothesis. [EDIT: I’m an experimental psychologist. Mileage of what you’ll read below may vary in other disciplines].
See discussion here
Arctic Sea Ice Extent In March
by Paul Homewood, April 6, 2017
DMI have now published the Arctic sea ice extents for March. The average this year was 14.71 million sq km, exactly the same as 2015, and only 60,000sq km less than in 2006.
China’s Hunger For Cars
by Dyfed Loesche ,
With soaring car sales in China in mind, U.S. President Donald Trump might want to sway his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to grant American manufacturers easy access to the Chinese market. In 2008, sales in China caught up with those in the United States (at 6.7 million units). In 2016, sales stood at a whopping 24.4 million and counting. Sales of cars in other big manufacturing nations are almost stagnant.