Evolution Often Got There First...

Stealth aircraft and ships are a response to radar and sonar; they make the targets hard to find.  Electronic counter-warfare (ECW) kicks it up a notch: ECW systems actively fool radar or sonar, either by jamming them so they can't receive a signal, or by deliberately tricking them into thinking their target is somewhere it isn't.

Evolution produced all of these defenses (against the echo-location, or sonar, of bats) long before humans ever did so...

In Praise of CO2...

Harrison Schmitt (of Apollo fame) and William Happer have an interesting article in today's WSJ.  The lead:

Of all of the world's chemical compounds, none has a worse reputation than carbon dioxide. Thanks to the single-minded demonization of this natural and essential atmospheric gas by advocates of government control of energy production, the conventional wisdom about carbon dioxide is that it is a dangerous pollutant. That's simply not the case. Contrary to what some would have us believe, increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will benefit the increasing population on the planet by increasing agricultural productivity.

Read the whole thing...

Older Programmers Are Hard to Find...

I've noticed this phenomenon myself: there aren't enough 50+ year old programmers.  What do I mean by “not enough”?  Take me as an example.  I turned 60 years old last year, and was still gainfully employed as a programmer.  If I had followed a normal career progression (I didn't, but never mind that), I'd have graduated from college in about 1974 or so.  There was a cohort of engineers who became programmers who graduated in that same year.  Where are they?  There aren't enough 60 year old programmers this year to account for that cohort.

This article explores this phenomenon with some actual data (Stack Overflow membership).  I must point out, though, that the Stack Overflow data could easily be systematically biased.  I'm not a member, for example – and it could easily be the case that older programmers are generally less interested in things like Stack Overflow...

The Hazards of p-Values...

The p-values of statistical analysis get people in trouble all the time.  Here's a great explanation of how they do it...

Almaleea subumbellata...

Common name wiry bushpea, native to Australia and Tasmania.  Via BPOD, of course:

Good Doggie!

Watch:


I can't find the origin of this, but what it appears to be is a video of someone firing his gun at police, then being taken down by a dog (presumably a police dog) that jumps right over the car to get him.  The police then approach, guns pointed at him.

Good doggie!  Lots of treats for him that night, I'll bet...