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Wind turbines are neither clean nor green – @mattwridley

Some powerful data on the wrongheadedness of the pursuit of wind power: “…we can see that wind provided 0.46 per cent of global energy consumption in 2014, … world energy demand has been growing at about 2 per cent a year for nearly 40 years… If wind turbines were to supply all of that growth […]

Ravens – @execupundit

Insight and a pointer from Execupundit. At the risk of spoiling the surprise, I’ll say that I hadn’t before encountered Edgar Allan Poe’s Raven. A world of cultural allusion has just opened up for me.

An inspiring place to blog (or write) #Writing

From Eclecticity Light’s long-running series: A Clean, Well-Lighted Place to Blog …

The pen is mightier than the keyboard, #Writing

At last, proof for the offspring that you need to take hand-written notes. This is an interesting article on how taking hand-written notes results in deeper learning than taking similar notes using a keyboard. The researchers conclude that rich sensory-motor experiences seem to facilitate learning, or put simply, it is the physical movement of the […]

When science gets politicised – @mattwridley

“In 2013, you may recall, the European Union banned some uses of neonicotinoid insecticides to save bees. The verdict on this policy has now come in, from the commission’s own Joint Research Centre (JRC)…Its conclusion is that the ban has been disastrously counterproductive, resulting in an increased use throughout the continent of more damaging pesticides, […]

Andrew Marr

The dark-shadowed sweet shop of the internet – @AndrewMarr9 #Writing

An Oakeshottian* conservative’s view of the world, per Andrew Marr: “Superabundance is foisted upon us as the only sure route to happiness. And from the dark-shadowed sweet shop of the internet to the imminent arrival of driverless cars, we prefer the untried to the tried every time.” A thought-provoking column from Andrew Marr in yesterday’s […]

Ada Lovelace, Poet of Science by Diane Stanley

Ada Lovelace, Poet of Science – @brainpicker

The BrainPickings blog highlights this engaging children’s book about mathematician, computing pioneer (and much more), Ada Lovelace: Sounds like it should be required reading to small children everywhere. By the way, reading this I learn that Ada Lovelace was the daughter of the poet Lord Byron; something I feel I should have known already.

The rehabilitation of Michael Gove

Since leaving office, in the bizarre aftermath of the Brexit vote, Michael Gove has returned to his prior career as a writer, writing a regular column for the Times. His two latest contributions are excellent, objective observations on current events. The first, in the immediate aftermath of the Westminster attack, contemplates how best to respond […]

Food miles – not what they seem

An interesting post from Oliver Riley on the Adam Smith Institute blog: Save The Environment – Don’t Buy Local. “Those who encourage us to buy locally often do so with the view that reduced transport distances will result in less CO2 emissions. Seems simple, but what such people neglect is the fact that the majority […]

Praise of the commonplace

Kurt at Cultural Offering points to the concept of the commonplace book. It’s a powerful idea. I started mine – inspired, I think, by the same underlying sources of TheCramped.com and the Ryan Holiday post – only in October 2015. I use one of my Monsieur Notebooks and, though I number the pages, I haven’t yet […]

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