December 2007

An article from the always-interesting Christmas issue of The Economist provides an update on the state of the panda: covering captive and wild populations, as well as new scientific thinking about what caused their endangerment. Pandas are widely cited as a truly hopeless animal. They are inept at and uninterested in reproduction, with females only [...]

{ 4 comments }

Today, I did two things that are impossible in Ottawa in December: climbed a 1200m mountain and got rained on quite a bit. These activities are to be followed up by Chinese food and a Commercial Drive party. When one gets immersed in Vancouver, one must try to become thoroughly marinated before departing.

{ 2 comments }

While aviation and ground transport get lots of well-deserved attention, in terms of their climate change impact, the concrete industry seems to get a lot less scrutiny. In a way, this is unsurprising; concrete is hardly glamorous stuff. At the same time, concrete production accounts for about 5% of all greenhouse gas emissions: mostly from [...]

{ 4 comments }

Vancouver friends: make sure your calendars are clear for the night of Saturday, December 29th. I will be throwing a party: to feature sushi, curry, much wine and merriment, and the probable playing of mandolins. Meet new and interesting people - or perpetuate long-running arguments that have spanned several of these tragically infrequent gatherings. Directions [...]

{ 3 comments }

This very minute, the Earth’s axis in the northern hemisphere is tilted as far away from the sun as it will be all year: the moment of the winter solstice. Since there is lag built into the annual cycle of temperatures, we still have much of the cold to endure. Even so, our progression through [...]

{ 2 comments }