November 2014 Archives
The Delicious Science of Chinese Buffets, Where It's Always Thanksgiving
This Thursday, Americans from all walks of life will gather around tables beset with gobs of turkey, mounds of mashed potatoes, loaves of buttered bread, boats of gravy, and heaps of vegetables,...
What's the World's Biggest Telescope?
In astronomy, bigger is better. So what's the very biggest telescope of them all? The Canary Islands off the coast of Morocco house the largest glass mirror reflector telescope in the world. The...
Being Skinny-Fat May Be Worse Than Being Fat
The average sumo wrestler in Japan has a body mass index of 56 (considered morbidly obese) and eats 5,000 calories a day. But despite those inflated and alarming numbers, the "rikishis" (wrestlers)...
Do Trees Die of Old Age?
The oldest known tree in the world is an unnamed Great Basin bristlecone pine in the White Mountains of California. At 5,064 years old, this tree has seen things, man. Though not even remotely as...
Is RealClearScience Conservative or Liberal?
One of the questions we are often asked at RealClearScience is, "What sort of position do you take on scientific issues?" That's a not-so-subtle way of asking, "Is RealClearScience conservative or...
Bad News for Long-Term Pot Smokers
The short-term effects of smoking weed are obvious: An increase in giddiness, an insatiable desire for Doritos, and a casual acceptance of one's loserhood. But, after the high wears off and the smoke...
The Ten Million Dollar Diet
You've seen the statistics; America has a bit of a weight problem. So how do we fix it? Purveyors of diets ranging from low-carb, to Paleo, to raw, to vegan, to Atkin's might try to convince you that...
Is Teaching Psychology a Waste of Time?
Daniel Kahneman is perhaps the world's leading psychologist. A Nobel Prize winner and a professor emeritus at Princeton University, he may also be the field's foremost educator. His book, Thinking,...
Phil Plait's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
The Apocalypse is here. Science writer Phil Plait's worst nightmare came true. The Republicans won control of the U.S. Senate. What can we expect to happen? In Plait's words, the Republicans will...
Private Space Flight Will be O.K.
Two private spacecraft were annihilated in fiery explosions last week. Catastrophic news for space tourism and private space contractors? Not particularly. Each situation exemplifies growing pains...
Should You Really Be Drinking All That Water?
WHEN IT COMES to hydration during exercise, the mainstream message of the day is "drink early and often." But that's exactly what got a 39-year-old athletic, healthy woman into dire trouble back in...
Politicians Say the Most Unscientific Things!
Washington sometimes seems like a place where the scientific method goes to die. More often than not, laws are passed based on ideological desires rather than rational considerations. Facts are made...
