How lucky can you get?

The water watchdog.

Q: When you’ve discovered problems, how have you gotten them addressed? A: Science by itself is powerless when you’re dealing with government agencies. I had to cross the line and become an activist, fi ling Freedom of Information Act requests and working with politicians and people on the ground. You have to reach this critical mass where you can put enough pressure on these agencies to make t...

O-35: How Can You Decrease the Complicationof Ovarian Diathermy in Polycystic OvarianSyndrome

Overcommitment

Here you are, you have your first academic job. You were lucky to get it, of course, but you also worked very hard. You did enough high-profile research, sent out hundreds of job applications, went out on dozens of interviews, schmoozed with countless potential colleagues, negotiated setup funds, space and renovations, and now you’re a new assistant professor. What now? The answer is obvious: g...

CMPT 407/710 - Complexity Theory: Lecture 10

Why is randomness useful? Imagine you have a stack of bank notes, with very few counterfeit ones. You want to choose a genuine bank note to pay at a store. However, suppose that you don’t know how to distinguish between a “good” bank note and a “bad” one. What can you do? Well, if you pick a bank note at random, you will be lucky with high probability (here the probability of picking a good ban...

Review of Roger S . Pielke , Jr . , The Honest

Imagine you are a climate scientist, and you get a call from a politician asking whether she should support a proposal to impose mandatory caps on carbon-dioxide emissions. Lucky you! Should you urge support of the proposal? Or should you restrict yourself to explaining recent developments in climate science? Should you offer to answer any specific questions the politician might have about clim...