Monthly Archives: October 2019

“The Current War” Then and Now

Posted on 31 October, 2019 by alfin2101

The Current War is a movie depicting the fierce early 20th century contest between electrical pioneers Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse to determine whether Direct Current (DC) or Alternating Current (AC) electricity would power the homes and the rapidly growing … Continue reading →

Posted in Electrical Power Grid | Tagged | 1 Comment

California is Destroying Itself Out of a Hysterical Fear

Posted on 30 October, 2019 by alfin2101

California has big problems. The state cannot even keep its lights on, its people are becoming more impoverished, and state leaders are utterly confused as to the true reasons why. Businesses and taxpayers are leaving the state in larger numbers. … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate | Tagged | 5 Comments

Space Warfare: A Kill Chain Approach

Posted on 30 October, 2019 by alfin2101

Space is Military High Ground The US Air Force has been exploring multiple uses of outer space for decades. The latest flight of the secretive USAF X37B space plane came to an end recently after a record 780 days in … Continue reading →

Posted in Military, Space Future, Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment

Xi in Jeopardy from the Return of the Tuanpei?

Posted on 21 October, 2019 by alfin2101

… Xi Mingzhi was unsatisfied with her life in China after living for several years as a student in the United States. Out of love for his daughter, Xi Jinping was reportedly persuaded to let her return to school in … Continue reading →

Posted in China | Tagged | 2 Comments

New Genes Pop Up Like Magic

Posted on 20 October, 2019 by alfin2101

Since 2012 scientists have been learning how new genes are created in all kinds of organisms. The image below provides a look at simple gene expression, followed by a glimpse into the creation of a new gene out of “non-genic … Continue reading →

Posted in Genetics and Gene Expression | Tagged | 3 Comments

Is Genetic Divergence a Controversial Topic?

Posted on 18 October, 2019 by alfin2101

Genetic Divergence Genetic divergence is an accepted concept in evolutionary science. Genetic divergence is the process in which two or more populations of an ancestral species accumulate independent genetic changes (mutations) through time, often after the populations have become reproductively … Continue reading →

Posted in Genetics and Gene Expression | Tagged | 7 Comments

Why China Lags

Posted on 17 October, 2019 by alfin2101

China is amply endowed with a high intelligence population, hard working and ambitious. Historically, China has supplied the world with a number of significant inventions. So why is the modern measure of China so small and lagging? China Was Once … Continue reading →

Posted in China, IQ | Tagged | 9 Comments

Styles of Thought

Posted on 14 October, 2019 by alfin2101

The human brain did not evolve with any particular end in mind. But we have been lucky to find at this late date in our evolution that our brains are capable of several types of thinking. Using these different approaches … Continue reading →

Posted in Cognition, Creativity | Tagged , | Comments Off on Styles of Thought

Jordan Peterson: The Movie

Posted on 12 October, 2019 by alfin2101

A new documentary about the Jordan Peterson phenomenon is being released in movie theatres, titled “The Rise of Jordan Peterson.” It is an attempt to present the man with all his warts, wrinkles, and foibles — while also revealing the … Continue reading →

Posted in Jordan Peterson | Tagged | 10 Comments

Working Age Populations Crash: What Does It Mean?

Posted on 6 October, 2019 by alfin2101

Compare the changes in working age populations for 8 nations in the graphs below. In the first graph we see the changes between 1990 and 2019. In the second graph we see changes projected for working age populations between 2019 … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics | Tagged | 9 Comments

Heredity and Behaviour in Dog Breeds

Posted on 5 October, 2019 by alfin2101

Evan MacLean (University of Arizona), Noah Snyder-Mackler (University of Washington), Bridgett vonHoldt (Princeton University), and James Serpell (University of Pennsylvania) recently published a paper in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, looking at the heritability of 14 dog behaviours. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Genetics and Gene Expression | Tagged | Comments Off on Heredity and Behaviour in Dog Breeds

Without Fossil Fuels Modern Civilisation is Impossible

Posted on 4 October, 2019 by alfin2101

80% of Energy Comes from Fossil Fuels With over 80% of energy consumption coming from fossil fuels, pretty much everything we have in our economy today is available thanks to fossil fuels. We wouldn’t have today’s homes, schools or grocery … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Doom, Energy, Peak Oil, Wind | Tagged | 2 Comments

SpaceX: Mission to Mars, Earth, Luna — and Beyond

Posted on 1 October, 2019 by alfin2101

Elon Musk has one good company — SpaceX. The company has proven that it can provide reliable and economical space launch for most modern uses of space, from satellite launches to space station resupply. But Musk is introducing new goals … Continue reading →

Posted in Asteroids, Space Future | Tagged | 3 Comments