Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

There’s been a lot of criticism of this choice, but if Klain can do for Ebola what he did for Solyndra, I’m sold. I’ve personally been wondering if it might be a good idea to stock up on lysine, which has some data (and a lot of anecdote) supporting use as an antiviral. Hopefully more…

Sometimes life is a circus: A cruise ship carrying more than 4,000 passengers was denied entry to Mexico — and forced to return to the United States — after officials discovered that a woman on board is a health-care worker who handled fluids from a man dying of Ebola. The lab tech, who worked at…

Here’s a San Francisco news item that may or may not amuse readers. Animal rights activists are now targeting restaurant patrons: SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) – An animal rights group said they would continue to target restaurants after one of their members stormed into a San Francisco restaurant and gave a tearful speech urging diners not…

NASA confirms ‘impossible’ thruster actually works, could revolutionize space travel By Drew Prindle — August 1, 2014 You just bounce microwaves in a cavity. So far about 50 micro Newtons of constant force. Not a lot. Now put this sucker in a circular orbit and watch it go. A nuclear battery would do nicely for…

A bumper sticker I saw for sale the other day cracked me up: Not very politically correct, is it? How dare anyone play games with the sacrosanct “O” that was a very slick icon of a very slick campaign? Political satire which ridicules this administration is frowned upon in an unprecedented manner. When I was a…

From a piece by Bob Barr: Imagine if voter ID laws were as rigorous as gun regulations found in many of America’s major cities. In order to vote in such a scenario, citizens would be forced to take a day-long class (at a cost of $100 or more) about the basics of the U.S. government and…

At Samizdata. Which also suggests Why I Am Not A Muslim. And just for the jokers among us. I did read it all.

This is good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASgApYnZePk

Now more than just a convenient assumption for casting in old sci-fi movies: In his fourth-floor lab at Harvard University, Michael Desai has created hundreds of identical worlds in order to watch evolution at work. Each of his meticulously controlled environments is home to a separate strain of baker’s yeast. Every 12 hours, Desai’s robot…

I just learned that the human AIDS virus is nearly a century old: A genetic analysis of thousands of individual viruses has confirmed beyond reasonable doubt that HIV first emerged in Kinshasa, the capital of the Belgian Congo, in about 1920 from where it spread via the colonial railway network to other parts of central…

Looking at this video from 1970, it’s amazing how few people were there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJhnOq2q3ag The Grateful Dead were at their best before they were well known. I feel very fortunate to have seen them when they were still playing in basketball courts. 

A link sent to me by a friend served as a reminder that there is a culture war raging in this country. Over a particular breed of dog called the “pit bull.” Supporters of the breed are called “apologists” or “pit nutters.” Not quite the same rhetoric is directed against anti-pit-nutters like this crackpot, but that’s…

As they say. Finally: lab on a chip, coming to Walgreens. A few dollars for lipid panel, a few dozen for fertility test, one-day turnaround. Wow. Hope we get one here soon. P.S. Bill Ardolino still owes me some respiroctyes (seriously, why are we all living three minutes from brain death? it’s insanity) UPDATE: Apparently…

As Simon reminded me, the Oklahoma beheading is being spun by our media overlords as anything bit terrorism. So forget about this headline: Oklahoma Beheader Linked to Al Qaeda Leader Awlaki, Boston Bomber’s Mosque And NEVER MIND this picture of the “disgruntled employee.” Of course, it could be argued that Osama bin Laden was a…

I just found out about it from Ulsterman. The “gentleman” doing the carving was a recent convert to Islam. And of course the usual suspects have chimed in. No evidence Oklahoma beheading linked to terrorism – MSNBC. Well of course it is not linked to terrorism. It is terrorism. What they mean I think is…

Earlier I learned that the new mandatory flow restrictors that are now in all sink faucets make certain faucets leak. Like the American Standard faucet in my bathroom, which I thought I would have to replace because it leaked inside the assembly. When the faucet is off, all is well. Turn the faucet on at…

To R.F.K, Jr, “treason” means disagreeing with him on Anthropogenic Global Warming: Blissfully unaware of how hot the irony burned, Robert Kennedy Jr. yesterday took to a public protest to rail avidly in favor of censorship. The United States government, Kennedy lamented in an interview with Climate Depot, is not permitted by law to “punish”…

The owner of a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco is having a tough time with sanctimonious customers: The owner of a San Francisco Chinese restaurant has temporarily closed his doors with an abrupt notice due to what he calls ‘hard to please’ customers. Owner and chef James Chu put a sign on his door stating:…

I don’t know whether there are any botanists who read this blog, but I have a question. Does anyone know what happens in a war between Salpichroa organifolia and Carpobrotus chilensis? Both are said to be invasive in the sense that they take over and crowd out other species. But here the invaders are pitted…

For a little while, it was beginning to seem that the Republicans had a chance of retaking the Senate. Not now. Nick Gillespie has an interesting analysis of what has happened, and offers the GOP some advice: Memo to Republicans: If you are perceived as very similar to the Democrats, just more awful when it…