Da Science
– Inserto su quello che Curiosity ha trovato nel cratere Gale.
– Nell‘editoriale, la direttrice ricorda le critiche alla Convenzione di Minamata approvata in aprile, anche se spera che più di 50 paesi la ratificheranno nella conferenza del 9-10 ottobre, e la renderanno vincolante. I vincoli però sono pochini:
For example, in 2010 the top two sources of mercury pollution were artisanal gold mining (727 tons) and coal-fired power plants (475 tons). As many as 15 million adults and children live in communities at risk from mercury pollution from artisanal gold mining, primarily in Africa and South America. Mercury from coal-fired power plants can be transported through the atmosphere far from the source, deposited in aquatic systems, and then converted to methylmercury. The population at risk may have had no voice in the decision to install the coal-fired facility. The treaty stops short of specifying goals or target dates for action plans for reducing mercury release from mining, nor does it require refitting of existing coal-fired power plants to reduce mercury emissions.
Seguono cinque articoli sul tema.
– Dei molti paper in scienza dei materiali, segnalo solo quello di Alan Lai et al. che hanno fatto una ceramica a memoria di forma, “elastica” al 7%.
– Ricerca bella e triste di Luke Gibson et al. Sull’arco di 25-27 anni hanno osservato le popolazioni di piccoli mammiferi nei frammenti lasciati dalla deforestazione delle isole, nel lago artificiale della diga Chiew Larn in Thailandia:
We found that native small mammal communities disappeared rapidly after fragmentation. By 5 to 7 years after fragmentation, three large islands in our sample (10 to 56 ha) sustained 7 to 12 species of small mammals, which was similar to diversity found on the nearby mainland. However, on nine small islands (<10 ha), species richness rapidly declined to just one to three species during these initial surveys. After 25 to 26 years, native small mammals had virtually disappeared from all 16 islands. (…) We also surveyed small mammal communities in the mainland forest surrounding the reservoir and detected no similar decrease in diversity.
– una lettera di Enzo Boschi, ex presidente dell’INGV a proposito della sua condanna a 6 anni per omicidio nel processo dell’Aquila. Elenca le prove a suo carico, tra le quali una comunicazione al pubblico che non ha fatto, e
As further evidence of my guilt, the public prosecutor completely distorted the argument of one of my journal publications – E. Boschi, P. Gasperini, F. Mulargia, Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am. 85, 1475 (1995) – effectively putting science itself on trial. In that 1995 work, my colleagues and I highlighted the statistical importance of temporal “clustering”: various strong earthquakes in a (geologically) brief time span. We posited that the high probability rate calculated for the Aquilan territory is not statistically meaningful because it is based on three events that occurred between the 17th and 18th centuries—hardly a suf?cient basis to describe what would happen in subsequent centuries.
The public prosecutor’s superficial interpretation of scientific results to bolster his argument sets a grave precedent for not only seismology but many other disciplines as well.
Mi sembra che il precedente sia già stato stabilito dalla medicina e dall’epidemiologia. E forse era meglio parlare anche degli altri sismologi condannati solo perché erano andati alla riunione convocata dalla Protezione Civile.
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L‘Economist racconta il business della frode scientifica in Cina:
DISGUISED as employees of a gas company, a team of policemen burst into a flat in Beijing on September 1st. Two suspects inside panicked and tossed a plastic bag full of money out of a 15th-floor window. Red hundred-yuan notes worth as much as $50,000 fluttered to the pavement below.
Money raining down on pedestrians was not as bizarre, however, as the racket behind it. China is known for its pirated DVDs and fake designer gear, but these criminals were producing something more intellectual: fake scholarly articles which they sold to academics, and counterfeit versions of existing medical journals in which they sold publication slots…
Jeffrey Beall non sarà sorpreso. Cmq ne sono appena nati altri 30…
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Bufala del giorno
Più di una in realtà, nel pur breve commento di Franco Battaglia sul Giornale. Abstract per fainéants: la CO2 non è un gas serra, il resto è un gomblotto.
A proposito di “ripresa” dei ghiacci artici: per la prima volta, un grosso cargo (carbone…) fa la rotta N/O dal Canada alla Finlandia senza nemmeno un rompighiaccio di scorta.