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How Google Saves Billions In Taxes

How Google Saves Billions In Taxes

Apr 02 2011 | comment(s)

Google Europe managed to generate $7 billion in profits yet paid tax on only $50+ million.  How is that possible?   They're headquartered in Ireland to take advantage of its low 12.5% tax rate but even then get to duck out of paying much.
Takers, Not Makers - Can We All Work For The Government?

Takers, Not Makers - Can We All Work For The Government?

Apr 01 2011 | comment(s)

More Americans work for the government than in manufacturing, farming, fishing, forestry, mining and utilities combined.

The number one in employer in Silicon Valley, the home of high technology for the world, is not Intel or Google or Apple, it's the federal government.  And the California state government is the number two.   In total, California has 2.4 million government employees—twice as many as people at work in manufacturing.
Demons In The White House? The Science Answer

Demons In The White House? The Science Answer

Apr 01 2011 | comment(s)

Louis Farrakhan, the controversial Nation of Islam leader, defended Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and said demons were to blame for President Barack Obama's assault on Gadhafi.

Sure, it can be confusing that Democrats have applied the fuzzy-wuzzy 'freedom fighters' label to Libyans to rationalize a Democratic president going all neo-con and attacking the leader of a sovereign nation which is no threat to anyone outside its own borders... but demons?
Trader Joe's Pizzas Recalled Because Of...Wheat

Trader Joe's Pizzas Recalled Because Of...Wheat

Mar 30 2011 | comment(s)

It used to be that natural ingredients were good, but as western civilization has gotten more concerned about health, immune diseases and allergies have gone way up.  Wheat is listed as a 'known allergen' by the US Department of Agriculture.   

Now 131,000 pounds of pizza products shipped to Trader Joe's stores nationwide have been recalled because they contain wheat.  Yes, wheat.  The product that set off the agricultural revolution in Europe and made them world leaders.  The product that fed the Roman Empire.   The product we subsidize to keep it profitable for farmers because food is a strategic resource.
NBC's Brian Williams Does Not Mention G.E.'s $0 Tax Bill

NBC's Brian Williams Does Not Mention G.E.'s $0 Tax Bill

Mar 30 2011 | comment(s)

G.E., General Electric Corp., which owns NBC News, generated a profit of $14.2 billion last year.   It's taxes paid for 2010?  $0.

Did NBC mention that?  They did not.  So the next time you think that the media is only biased when the network is Fox News, keep that in mind.   Did ABC cover the story?   You betcha, of course they covered a competitor.
Twitter Monitor Plus Algorithm Yields 'Credible' News

Twitter Monitor Plus Algorithm Yields 'Credible' News

Mar 30 2011 | comment(s)

If you have used Twitter, you either love it or hate it.   Regardless of how you feel on the subject, social media sites, like Twitter, have become a source of news for some, though if you think people only watch news on television they already agree with, you can imagine what their Twitter feeds are like.

John Timmer at Ars Technica discusses some Yahoo! researchers who say they can create an automated system that identifies newsworthy events and judges their reliability with an accuracy of nearly 90 percent.
Japan’s Earthquake: Deciphering the Fury

Japan’s Earthquake: Deciphering the Fury

Mar 30 2011 | comment(s)

The events that have afflicted Japan since the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami of March 11 are all too well known, but the events that occurred before and the even more ominous events that may occur in the near future are less known.
The Future Of Long-Form Journalism?

The Future Of Long-Form Journalism?

Mar 28 2011 | comment(s)

Is deeply reported journalism going the way of the fax machine?  Is the Web Apple says is our future, on tiny screens and mobile devices, all wrong for long-form, edited, fact-and-spell-checked work?
It Isn't Easy Being President

It Isn't Easy Being President

Mar 27 2011 | comment(s)

President Obama is often portrayed as an "anti-war" candidate, now and during the 2008 election.  He is clearly no such thing, as his willingness to take unilateral action against the leader of a country which is no threat to anyone outside its own borders (just like Iraq) demonstrates.

Yes, he was critical of the Iraq War but only because he preferred imperialism “not just through military force, but through the force of our ideas; through economic power, intelligence and diplomacy.”
Earth Hour Yawn

Earth Hour Yawn

Mar 27 2011 | comment(s)

What's the environmental equivalent of those emails that ask you to stick it to oil companies by not buying gas on a Tuesday?   Earth Hour.  Started in 2007 as sort of a well-meaning placebo (think carbon credits, without having to spend any money) it has technically spread to 130 countries but the participation - people who shut off their lights from 8:30-9:30 p.m. last night - has dropped significantly, even though they claim a billion people participated (like Million Man March and Iraq war protests, knock 80% off claims).
Can You Smell The Quantum Physics?

Can You Smell The Quantum Physics?

Mar 24 2011 | comment(s)

Quanta lost by electrons could be detected by proteins within the nose, say a group of physicists, and odor molecules could absorb these quanta and thereby be detected.   If their hypothesis is right, an "electronic nose" superior to any current chemical sensor could be created.

Luca Turin of MIT, speaking at the American Physical Society meeting, discussed how "vibrational modes" of odors could be their signatures.   Fies can distinguish between molecules that are chemically similar but in which a heavier version of hydrogen had been substituted, according to a recent study.
Global Warming Upside? Crop Output Is Way Up

Global Warming Upside? Crop Output Is Way Up

Mar 24 2011 | comment(s)

The news media are flush with stories this week claiming global warming is crushing global crop production. According to the media, global warming is putting the hurt on two of our favorite indulgences – coffee and beer.   A look at facts...shows global warming is strongly benefiting nearly all global crops, including coffee, beer barley, and African corn.
Of Coffee and Climate: Anecdote Replaces Science

Of Coffee and Climate: Anecdote Replaces Science

Mar 24 2011 | comment(s)

Writing more than 150 years ago, Charles Darwin identified the central problem with humanity’s ability to understand nature’s complex interactions. We believe we are intelligent enough to sort out obscure natural processes, so we invent stories that seem to explain what we are seeing. Darwin recognized, however, that we presume too much, failing to see the real causes of events.
Chavez: Capitalism Ended Life On Mars

Chavez: Capitalism Ended Life On Mars

Mar 23 2011 | comment(s)

The great thing about being a dictator is you can make any ridiculous claim and no one in your country can dispute you -so if Kim Jong Il wants to claim he is Batman, well, okay.

Venezuela's socialist President Hugo Chavez has declared himself a science expert recently, further asserting capitalism is so awful it killed life on Mars.  Yes, he is scientifically asserting that Mars once had water and "it would not be strange that there had been civilization on Mars, but maybe capitalism arrived there, imperialism arrived and finished off the planet."

Happy World Water Day!
Court Puts California's Global Warming Program On Hold

Court Puts California's Global Warming Program On Hold

Mar 22 2011 | comment(s)

While lauded by activists as leadership, the Air Resources Board in California and its mandate of a controversial cap-and-trade scheme was always scientifically and economically suspect (see California grossly overstates emissions to get mandates passed) and it has turned out to be ethically questionable also.
Putting Chernobyl in Perspective

Putting Chernobyl in Perspective

Mar 19 2011 | comment(s)

With the world gripped by fear that the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plants may turn into “another Chernobyl,” perhaps it’s worth examining just how bad Chernobyl actually was.

Putting Chernobyl in Perspective By Josh Gilder
Is Quartz A Cause of Earthquakes?

Is Quartz A Cause of Earthquakes?

Mar 16 2011 | comment(s)

Researchers writing in Nature have stated that quartz deposits may be a prediction tool for earthquakes.   Along with earthquakes, underground quartz deposits worldwide may also be behind mountain building and other continental tectonics, they say.

The researchers examined temperature and gravity across the Western United States using seismic instruments to describe the geological properties of the earth's crust and found that quartz crystal deposits are found wherever mountains or fault lines occur in states like California, Idaho, Nevada and Utah.

They say quartz indicates a weakness in the earth's crust likely to spawn a geologic event such as an earthquake or a volcano.
The mystery of Wednesday's radiation spike at Fukushima

The mystery of Wednesday's radiation spike at Fukushima

Mar 16 2011 | comment(s)

Is Fukushima now more serious than the 1979 Three Mile Island incident in the U.S.A., as US Energy Secretary Steven Chu recently claimed?     Hard to say yet.  But a mysterious rise in radiation Wednesday is certainly cause for concern.   It seems to have been big enough to force technicians to leave the plant, according to the BBC.  Over the days of the Fukushima crisis, attention has switched from reactor building 1 to 3, to 2, back to 3 - and now, to 4.
Kylie Minogue Vs Mike Tyson: What Radiation Does To The Human Body

Kylie Minogue Vs Mike Tyson: What Radiation Does To The Human Body

Mar 15 2011 | comment(s)

Gia Milinovich is a science writer who has access to a pretty good physics resource - her husband, Science 2.0 fave Dr. Brian Cox.  But even Cox, who can make sense of why E=MC^2, can't help with what radiation means.  So Milinovich did it herself in 2006.  The problem?  The site is dead.
Earthquakes In Japan, Nuclear Power And Capitalizing On Disaster

Earthquakes In Japan, Nuclear Power And Capitalizing On Disaster

Mar 15 2011 | comment(s)

In a 24-hour news cycle, it's hard to know what is real and what is not.  In a situation like Japan, all there is left for outsiders is concern.   And some groups with an anti-science agenda want to capitalize on that concern.

Not an hour has gone by that a spokesperson for Greenpeace hasn't hinted that a magnitude 9 earthquake(!) is an indictment of nuclear power.  It's just too darn risky.   Well, what isn't risky if Mother Nature can never be involved?  Greenpeace and other anti-science activists also claim oil is bad, coal is bad, natural gas is bad - everything is bad except for solar which, given today's technology, actually is really bad.