Plastic Bags and the Throwaway Society

Despite widespread public favor , Public health officials demanded (and got) a ban on reusable plastic bags during the season of Covid-19. The hygiene cost is too high to even consider any of the benefits of reusable bags at this time. 

But what about other times? What is the benefit of banning plastics? What is the cost? 

John Tierney revisits the history of disposable paper and plastic: the rise of Dixie Cups to replace the “common cup” of the old west to the disposable garden party table settings of the space age through to the mandatory recycling programs of the 21st century. 

MyPlanet is thinking through the plastic bag problem. They find two conclusions. 

1. The overwhelming source of plastic bag litter comes from take-out restaurants and convenience stores. 
2. The least wasteful way to pack groceries is to use a disposable plastic bag and then re-use that bag.

The Original Earth Day

Whew! If you think the future is bad now, be glad it isn't 1970.

Thirteen predictions* from Earth Day, 1970.

(more Earth Day predictions: Simon and Ehrlich's famous bet)
*(Apr'17) Mark Perry says: eighteen.

Farming Isn't What It Used To Be

Underwater farms...protected by robot shepherds

...that guard their flocks autonomously

...by shooting attackers with lasers! 

The twenty-first century is here and it's awesome!

The Pacific Garbage Vortex

It seemed unbelievable, but I never found a clear spot.

Wakuya

In the week it took to cross the subtropical high, no matter what time of day I looked, plastic debris was floating everywhere: bottles, bottle caps, wrappers, fragments. ...he began referring to the area as the “eastern garbage patch.” But “patch” doesn’t begin to convey the reality. Ebbesmeyer has estimated that the area, nearly covered with floating plastic debris, is roughly the size of Texas.

 The tales of Garbage Island are lurid.

Like all good stories, it grew over time...“We even came upon a floating island bolstered by dozens of plastic buoys used in oyster aquaculture that had solid areas you could walk on.” Again no photo of the floating island, let alone of him walking on it.

 If you've wondered where those tales come from, read here. If you want to see the garbage patch, read here.

(Feb'17) If I wanted a sensational claim supported by the facts of this article, I could say that in the middle of the garbage vortex there may be 2-4000 pieces of garbage floating in every square meter of ocean.

Poison-injecting robot submarines

Queensland University of Technology has developed an autonomous, poison-injecting robot submarine to kill sea stars and save coral reefs.

The 21st century is upon us and autonomous assassination robots are here.

Enlisting the Troops Against Invasive Species

One creative solution to invasive species:

How Scarce?

Economists vs Ecologists, moderated by Matt Ridley, who wears both hats.

Economists ... What frustrates them about ecologists is the latter's tendency to think in terms of static limits. Ecologists can't seem to see that when whale oil starts to run out, petroleum is discovered, or that when farm yields flatten, fertilizer comes along, or that when glass fiber is invented, demand for copper falls.
That frustration is heartily reciprocated. Ecologists think that economists espouse a sort of superstitious magic called "markets" or "prices" to avoid confronting the reality of limits to growth. The easiest way to raise a cheer in a conference of ecologists is to make a rude joke about economists.

Scientist with the Greatest Legacy?

The greatest impact on the world of science would have to go to Newton, possibly Bacon or Aristotle. The greatest benefit to mankind from scientific work? I guess that would be Norman Borlaug.

Who?

Borlaug was a farmer and a researcher into farming practices. His main idea was to adapt the best practices of the western farmer to the third world: first Mexico, then Pakistan and India. His most famous work was to breed a "semi-dwarf" wheat that could be grown strong and full without growing too tall, then falling over and rotting.

In doing so, he allowed millions of people to live who would have starved to death, probably hundreds of millions. He may have saved more lives than were taken by Mao, Stalin, Hitler and Pol Pot, combined. In the early 70's, the smart set had agreed that mass starvation was a fact of life that could only get worse. Intellectual discussions were how to manage the suffering.

Even as they published, Borlaug had already proven the technology and was implementing the green revolution.

Norman Borlaug passed away three years ago, today. He was 95.

(Or this video has a little more technical content)

green or Green?

Fires are burning all over Colorado just as they recently were in BC. Ironically, this environmental devastation is an unintended consequence of forestry practices that we adopted in the name of the environment.

Clearing underbrush for example, once a common practice, is often discouraged. Instead rotting, decaying wood is encouraged as a habitat for various forest critters. Unfortunately, it provides a source of fuel to promote forest fires and make them hotter. It also allows the pine beetle to spread, destroying vast forests. Darn those unintended consequences!

A mild pine beetle infestation

Forbidden History of Unpopular People

Talk of a scientific consensus always gives me a moment of unease. This entertaining video tells of Ignaz Semmelweis, who had some funny ideas that were contrary to the scientific consensus and insulting to his peers.

Contrast with the news last September that an experiment has measured neutrinos traveling faster than light. To do so would violate Einsein's special relativity (E=mc2),The reaction among scientists was anything but hostile. Most people assumed there was a mistake, but couldn't find the mistake. Discussions of what the mistake might be were open and good-natured. In the meantime, the physics community lit up with speculation of what it might mean if it were true. 

Yes, there are ideas in science that are commonly accepted. Call it "consensus" if you like. But science needs to remain receptive to falsifying evidence. If, for whatever reason, a set of principles is not open to challenge from empirical evidence or alternate explanations, we shouldn't call it "science". Instead, we should use the older, broader term: "natural philosophy".