JoNova
A science presenter, writer, speaker & former TV host; author of The Skeptic's Handbook (over 200,000 copies distributed & available in 15 languages).
Jo appreciates your support to help her keep doing what she does. This blog is funded by donations. Thanks!
Follow Jo's Tweets To report "lost" comments or defamatory and offensive remarks, email the moderators at: support.jonova AT proton.me
Statistics
De-extinction of the woolly mammoth takes a major step forwards: Scientists successfully reprogramme elephant stem cells – and it could allow them to resurrect the lost species by 2028.
Could the thylacine be next?
The Tasmanian tiger or thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) was the largest carnivorous Australian marsupial to survive into the modern era.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-13163981/Extinction-woolly-mammoth-elephant-stem-cells.html
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-017-0417-y
Should these developments be welcomed?
71
Great news!
Just in time for the engineered collapse of Western civilization and the pre-planned mandated re-introduction of hunter-gatherer social structure.
With any luck Canada will be under a mile of ice by 2100.
I propose it be called Trudeautide Ice Sheet.
170
If they could tweak the DNA so the tigers only ate cats that would be awesome!
21
Resurrecting Europeans of the sort in existence circa 1850 would be good; they had spines, inherent common sense etc. We need a billion or so.
70
Are they prone to flatulation?
20
New US Bill Would Strip COVID-19 Vaccine Manufacturers Of Liability Protection
The overwhelming majority of claims that have been processed have been rejected, according to the HHS, which both runs and administers the program.
https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/new-bill-would-strip-covid-19-vaccine-manufacturers-liability-protection
Has anyone put forward a similar bill in Australia given the “Minister for Everything’s” dirty deal with Pfizer?
120
Chrissy Bowen and his mates at the CSIRO have failed to learn anything from the experience of Germany and the UK in their embrace of unreliable energy.
New York’s experience with offshore wind energy projects will also be ignored.
The saying of “watching a train wreck in slow motion” has never been more apt.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/03/07/new-data-points-in-new-yorks-unfolding-energy-implosion/
180
Projections for electricity demand over the next nine years have more than doubled from 221,000 gigawatt hours last year to 564,000 gigawatt hours this year, according to the North American Electric Reliability Corp.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that globally ‘electricity consumption from data centres, artificial intelligence (AI) and the cryptocurrency sector could double by 2026.’
By 2026, they say global data centers’ energy demand will equal that of the entirety of Japan.
Australia will be left behind given the mind set of Chrissy Bowen and his corrupt mates at the SCIRO.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13168983/US-facing-risk-rolling-blackouts-predicted-electricity-demand-DOUBLES-AI-data-centers-crypto-mines-presenting-staggering-challenge-outdated-grid.html
140
An excellent analysis of the NY City looming train wreck.
This is what NSW Consumers can expect from the proposed Wollongong and Newcastle ‘Wind Towers’ – If they ever get built that is. Hopefully not.
140
JR:
Not just NSW but Victoria and SA as well, as practically all politicians design our future electricity by reducing reliable generation to some time supply and push for increased usage for homes and transport.
Here in South Australia there is enthusiasm (by pollies and bureaucrats only) for hydrogen. This will “save the State” although how? There is no current method of using it to generate electricity nor of using it for heating, except for wishful desires by those who see the chance of lots of money for ‘subsidies’.
120
Indeed – last week’s Sunday Mail had a 4-page wrap around (coloured green of course) spruiking this latest cargo cult brain fart. I have lived here on and off for about half of the last 60 years and this is example no. 8754 of government “inspired” dreams to save us. Not since Tom Playford has anything actually worked as intended.
40
If nuclear reactors have to be placed in re-enforced containment buildings, then why not grid scale Lithium batteries?
Where are the “Green Brigade” on safety issues associated with toxic emissions from Lithium batteries? Far more dangerous than CO2.
https://stopthesethings.com/2024/03/07/french-lithium-battery-warehouse-explodes-in-terrifying-toxic-fireball/
150
Asking rational questions of ideologues is in itself an irrational approach.
50
This caught my attention today:
Amid explosive demand, America is running out of power
Opening paragraph
Vast swaths of the United States are at risk of running short of power as electricity-hungry data centers and clean-technology factories proliferate around the country, leaving utilities and regulators grasping for credible plans to expand the nation’s creaking power grid
Story by Evan Halper
March 7, 2024
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/ar-BB1jtM69
Washington Post
Who would have thunk it?
Don’t imagine most of the media will want to pick up on it, not to mention expound on it.
100
Electric Grid Nearing Overload Due to “Green” Energy Push and AI
The surest sign that the problem is really, really bad is that even WaPo is writing about it:
Vast swaths of the United States are at risk of running short of power as electricity-hungry data centers and clean-technology factories proliferate around the country, leaving utilities and regulators grasping for credible plans to expand the nation’s creaking power grid….
The soaring demand is touching off a scramble to try to squeeze more juice out of an aging power grid while pushing commercial customers to go to extraordinary lengths to lock down energy sources, such as building their own power plants.
“When you look at the numbers, it is staggering,” said Jason Shaw, chairman of the Georgia Public Service Commission, which regulates electricity. “It makes you scratch your head and wonder how we ended up in this situation. How were the projections that far off? This has created a challenge like we have never seen before.” ….
The power crunch imperils their ability to supply the energy that will be needed to charge the millions of electric cars and household appliances required to meet state and federal climate goals….
It is all happening at the same time the energy transition is steering large numbers of Americans to rely on the power grid to fuel vehicles, heat pumps, induction stoves and all manner of other household appliances that previously ran on fossil fuels. A huge amount of clean energy is also needed to create the green hydrogen championed by the White House, as developers rush to build plants that can produce the powerful zero-emissions fuel, lured by generous federal subsidies.
Planners are increasingly concerned that the grid won’t be green enough or powerful enough to meet these demands….
10
Old Ozzie says:
‘Planners are increasingly concerned that the grid won’t be green enough or powerful enough to meet these demands.’
A contradiction in terms but no matter…
40
Forget about “Boom and Bust”. . . it’s now the “Boom and Bailout” economy!
I knew there were ‘bailouts’ for banks — but bailouts for real estate investors, too? That slipped by me….
As a sign the boom time for American REITs (real estate investment trusts) is over, their ‘lobby group’ is begging the government and the Federal Reserve for a bailout.
(Apparently, there have been 4 bailouts in the real estate sector since 2009…. I didn’t know that. Maybe it was a ‘secret’ they didn’t want to share! )
By the way, this article mentions the firm Blackstone — not to be confused with Blackrock. The Blackstone REIT had at one point $70 billion of assets (but not that high today — customers are trying to cash out in droves, so they had to limit redemptions to 2 percent of net asset value per month.)
“However, investors trying to cash out see the writing on the wall. The gloom in commercial real estate, caused by yet another artificial boom that went bust, can’t be gainsaid by inflating share prices in quarterly reports. Begging for bailouts doesn’t foster confidence that these REITs are indeed “all-weather” investment strategies that “build long-term wealth across market cycles,” as claimed in one of their latest quarterly reports.”
Begging for Bailouts | full article at Mises Institute
90
‘Skeptical investors in those REITs are rushing for the exits, and the REITs themselves are barring the doors.’
A similar situation is unfolding in China, the sharp edge of deflation.
90
Propaganda piece in the SMH basis its argument in favour of Labor’s low emissions ‘ute tax’ on
“That is because the focus on the cost of the vehicle ignores the benefit for owners when they spend less on fuel.”
…which has been shown to be crap!
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/why-albanese-must-steer-clear-of-a-ute-tax-election-20240306-p5faf5.html?js-chunk-not-found-refresh=true
60
Has anybody seen anything about Trump’s position regarding the selection of a new GOP Senate Leader, to replace McConnell? I would have though he was all over this but I haven’t seen anything yet. The right choice of McConnell’s replacement will be crucial to delivering Trump’s agenda.
40
Possible explanation: Trumpenstein And The Death Of Politics
30
Utter nonsense IMO, and full of contradictions. It also shows almost no understanding of Trump’s character and MO.
10
New Trump Ad Looks Amazing! The Best Is Yet To Come! 😁️
President Trump Just Broke the Internet With This New Ad. 😎️
20
They are waiting for the outcome of the election.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/07/senate-gop-braces-for-long-battle-to-succeed-mcconnell-00145501
00
Thanks, I knew that but I expect Trump is already making his views known. I’m just wondering if he’s made any public statement about it. I’m interested in who he would prefer and why.
10
One of Chris Bowen’s delusions – shared by Greenies – is that every wind turbine produces the same output. Thus their fantasy is more and more wind turbines will power the country. That justifies the expenditure on transmission lines and batteries (without mentioning how those expenses would raise the public’s electricity bills) and would lead to Net Zero.
The performance of King Island might show the fallacy. Windturbines were originally introduced there as a way of reducing diesel consumption which was the islands only source of electricity, but “mission creep” followed including 2.45MW of wind generation and 1.5MW of solar PV, two 1MVA flywheels, a 3MW/1.5 MWh battery, and a 1.5MW dynamic resistor, and lately a wave generator all managed through an advanced hybrid control system.
This is claimed to have reduce diesel consumption by 65%, but there are times when only diesel is working.
And this in “the Roaring Forties” where wind is thought to be a great idea.
Interestingly another plan for the same latitude was in The Falkland Islands where 3 (smallish) wind turbines were added to reduce diesel usage (their only method) and resulted in a 25% reduction. ( I’ve seen 30% originally but lately the claim is that it was only 20% reduction). The result was enthusiasm by the Overseas Territories Dept. and 6 more turbines (all the same make) were installed at different locations but the reduction in diesel only amounted to 40%. A case of diminishing return. Fortunately the (land based) turbines are regularly maintained and their lifetime extended (possibly) to 25 years.
And the islands Council has requested that one of their 2 largest diesels be urgency replaced as it has failed after 80 years of service.
100
FWIW
“If an entire continent is planning ahead for emergencies, why aren’t we?”
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2024/03/if-entire-continent-is-planning-ahead.html
30
Pauline Hanson’s Please Explain
Chinese Spies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqPkcXLakQ8
>2 mins
30
And maybe think before you borrow –
“But they’re not Norwegians!!!
As a former prison chaplain, with a fair amount of experience in dealing with US inmates (including the most dangerous, high-security variety), I was flabbergasted to read this report.”
More at
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2024/03/but-theyre-not-norwegians.html
10
AIs ranked by IQ; AI passes 100 IQ for first time, with release of Claude-3
Last week, I wrote about how I gave AIs matrix IQ tests, and how they all failed multiple different tests.
But I also noticed, reading ChatGPT-4’s answers, that it sometimes used correct logic but still answered incorrectly because it misread the images.
That raised a question: What portion of its failure on the test was due to “bad thinking” vs just “bad vision”?
To answer that, I created a verbal translation of the Norway Mensa’s 35-question matrix-style IQ test — my goal was to describe each problem precisely enough that a smart blind person could, in theory, accurately draw the question (detailed examples below.)
When the matrices were described to ChatGPT-4 in words, it finally got a scoreable IQ!
I administered the Norway Mensa test to it twice, and it averaged 13 correct answers out of 35 questions, which yields an IQ estimate of 85.
Claude-1 was hardly better than random. It got 6 answers right, giving it ~64 IQ.
Claude-2 scored 6 additional points per test (worth ~18 IQ points).
Claude-3 scored yet another 6.5 points, worth ~19 more IQ points, bring it up to above the human average.
Let’s now consider the release dates on the versions:
Claude-1 March 2023
Claude-2 July 2023 (4 months production time)
Claude-3 March 2024 (8 months production time)
A very simple extrapolation suggests that we should therefore expect to get Claude-4 in 12 – 16 months, and that it should get about 25 questions right per test, for an IQ score of 120.
After that, in another 16 – 32 months, Claude-5 should get about 31 questions right, for roughly 140 IQ points.
https://www.maximumtruth.org/p/ais-ranked-by-iq-ai-passes-100-iq
85 IQ? I’ve eaten hamburgers smarter than ChatGPT-4! 😆
50
Border Mail video report on a meeting to discuss a proposed lithium battery project in Kiewa Valley:
https://www.bordermail.com.au/video/local/x8pp6kz/locals-raise-concerns-about-a-proposed-lithium-battery-project-in-the-kiewa-valley/
(3m 25s video)
BESS = Battery Energy Storage System
40
It is not only Tesla EVs that catch fire!
While undergoing its commissioning process in late September 2023, a fire broke out in one of the Tesla Megapacks at the Bouldercombe big battery in Queensland, Australia. The fire triggered debates about the viability of renewable energy solutions, as well as the safety of battery storage systems.
In 2021, another fire affected a Tesla Megapack-based energy storage project near Geelong in southeastern Australia. It burned for four days, prompting local authorities to send 150 firefighters and more than 30 fire trucks to the scene.
70
Dr. Patrick Moore – Carbon NetZero: A Ridiculous Solution to an Imaginary Problem
70
FWIW
“Amid the EV’s, AI and Bitcoins, Puff The Magical Thinking Dragon comes home to roost: America Is Running Out Of Power”
https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2024/03/07/i-for-one-welcome-our-new-self-driving-overlords-145/
20
Supermarkets are driving farmers into the ground
SUPERMARKETS are creating a crisis that is devastating family farms. Research shows that due to unfair business practices, nearly half of British fruit and vegetable producers believe they will need to give up their farms in the next 12 months.
Organic farmer Guy Singh-Watson, who founded the Riverford veg box delivery company, said the future of family farms looks bleak. ‘About 85 per cent of fruit and vegetables grown in Britain are sold to the supermarkets,’ he said.
‘Thirty years ago, Riverford used to sell lettuces to Sainsbury’s. Halfway through the season they decided that instead of paying me 15 pence per head of lettuce they were only going to pay me 6 pence per head because they said the lettuces were going on promotion. In the end, I held them to their contract, and they did pay me 15 pence per head, but clearly they were never going to buy from me again.’
‘Every year you’re driven down not to the actual cost of producing the vegetables but to the cost of the seed and the labour. There will be no cost in that figure for maintaining the hedgerows, maintaining the ponds, and looking after nature. They’re drilling you down to what they call the “variable” costs of food production which in effect means you’re making a loss.
‘British agriculture is on its knees and most family farms think they’re not going to be in business for the next generation. I’m 66 [average age for farmers is 55], I have five children and none of them want to take over the farm because it’s just too hard to make a living.’
Farmers say the big six supermarkets, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Aldi, Asda and Lidl, cancel and change orders at the last minute, do not pay on time, slash prices even though they are agreed in contracts, buy cheaper alternatives from overseas and demand complex fruit and vegetable specifications. They also try to fool the British public into thinking that foreign imports are grown here by labelling them with fictitious farm names such as ‘Nightingale’ or ‘Willow’.
Mr Singh-Watson said: ‘Consumers want to know where their food comes from. Supermarkets create their own fake farms. I can’t believe it’s legal but apparently it is. It’s certainly not moral.’
https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/supermarkets-are-driving-farmers-into-the-ground/
Not just Australia…
A Current Affair further exposed the ripoffs:
https://youtu.be/4c5SuO6XnAY?si=d6kACQ9GsMgbjnXN
90
FWIW
“Crossing The Rubicon: Confiscating Russia’s Assets”
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2024-03-07/crossing-rubicon-confiscating-russias-dollar-and-euro-assets
31
“Histories Ultimate Blunders”
https://youtu.be/DamG5XDy-Do
Via Chiefio
11
Have you watched it? The last and allegedly biggest blunder led to the defeat of Al Gore by GW Bush in 2000 and thus led to catastrophic man-made global boiling. Now I don’t believe the first four either.
01
A belated “FWIW”!
10
An exercise in economic logic? (/s)
“Denver Closed Four Illegal Alien Shelters, and You Won’t Believe What They Did Next”
https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2024/03/07/denver-closed-four-illegal-alien-shelters-and-you-wont-believe-what-they-did-next-n4927114
30
A good example of why you shoud cosely inspect your candidates in local government elections
00
Bankwest closes 45 branches in Western Australia to become fully digital. The billionaire “elites” will soon be running a digital concentration camp. Where you go and what you can spend it on to please the climate gods.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/australian-bank-closes-45-branches-to-become-digital-only-5602289
60
Happy Global Warming everyone. 😆
https://www.drroyspencer.com/2024/03/uah-global-temperature-update-for-february-2024-0-93-deg-c/
10
Do you think the temp spike is caused by CO2?
00
“Do you think the temp spike is caused by CO2?”
..and not a spike in atmospheric H2O?
10
Good point, however its the swimming pools in the stratosphere, a potent greenhouse gas.
The event was unprecedented, do you think it might have purposefully been let off. It may be technically feasible, but where is the motive?
00
News for “ElBowen” to ignore
“New Data Points In New York’s Unfolding Energy Implosion”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/03/07/new-data-points-in-new-yorks-unfolding-energy-implosion/
20
Following that inverse relationship where, as developers want more to provide electricity, electricity becomes cheaper to consumers?
10
Your last paragraph, about Tesla competitors from certain countries winding up the local useful idiots, is probably the key here.
20
Why are windmills like pole dancers?
00
What’s a pole dancer?
00
John Stossel looks at some facts and figures on wind and solar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNS7Qojr1JQ
(5m 32s video)
Interestingly, the power price in (expensive) California is quoted as being ‘almost 30c per kWh’. I’m paying 38c. Maybe I should move to socialist California.
10
As the price of grid supplied power increases, it becomes more financially prudent to install those (pesky) solar panels on your roof (if you are lucky enough to own one). though I admit it does make the problems associated with generating that grid power 24/7 somewhat more complicated.
The benefits are supply substitution cost saving and inflation protection. Note I did NOT say supplying power to the grid.
And maybe in some distant future some enterprising Chinese company will certify to Australian standards one of the less expensive (~400v) batteries needed to attach to that solar inverter. And then grid power for the home becomes a backup solution.
An interesting side question:
Why does Australia have to re-certify all the equipment (not just electrical) which meets European standards?
00
?? ..already available ..!
00
Great news for some folk! Might take a bit of time to roll it out more widely?
We have supermarket prices, then local markets mostly 20% more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c5SuO6XnAY&t=5s
10
Apparently, it’s now OK to call somebody “a stupid black bastard”. Well, she actually said “stupid white bastard” but that’s the exact same thing, right?
Kerr also got blind drunk while representing Australia overseas, threw up in some poor guy’s taxi then got into an argument with the driver. When a police officer intervened, she called him “a stupid white bastard”.
Such are today’s “role models” and “heroes” folks.
80
Well it is OK by me.
Let he who has not thrown up in a vehicle cast the first stone.
Blind drunk is every youth’s rite of passage, the corner stone into their future.
She toned it down a lot, I would have come out with far worse.
Sam is a great Australian role model. I can’t stand women’s sport, but soccer is a bunch of men running around behaving like women, I much prefer women running around behaving like women.
Stupid, well he is a cop.
White, obviously.
Bastard, well he is making something out of nothing.
Well done Sam, you are legend.
Your next pissup is on me. (or an Uber)
This is a very slippery slope to go down. Sticks and stones?
It would be unheard of for an Uber driver to take advantage of young drunk women now wouldn’t it? This is the only question I would like the answer to.
16
More “Things they’re feeding us”
“90% of U.S. Cheese Contains GMO Made by Pfizer”
“Rennet is used as a clotting agent to curdle the milk into cheese, separating the liquid parts of milk from the solids. Pfizer makes a genetically modified rennet, but because of a labeling loophole, cheese containing Pfizer’s rennet does not have to be labeled as containing a genetically modified organism.”
More at
https://www.theqtree.com/2024/03/06/gmos-cheese-oh-my/
An interesting question for Oz cheese makers – IMO
40
Any punts on what the “Cheer” cheese crew might be doing?
00
That came from a comment at Chiefio
His reply –
“It is cheaper and easier to grow some GMO bacteria in a vat and extract the desired chemical than to collect a lot of cow stomachs from the slaughter house and then process them to get the rennet.
It’s all about the cheapness. Health and fitness not so much…”
https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2024/03/05/w-o-o-d-5-march-2024-super-tuesday-tds-eu-pokes-the-bear-zinc/#comment-169337
00
Sounds like you are unaware of the ubiquity of GM microorganisms in industry, including the food industry. It is almost certain that a majority of cheese has GM produced rennet (note that the rennet itself is not a GMO but is the product of a GMO). Same with yeast strains used in beer. And all those protein drinks and supplements.
Some of these use tech that dates back to the 1970s when a gene that makes an enzyme, protein or a peptide were put into bacteria (in a plasmid to be specific) in such a way that the bacteria, when given the right culturing conditions, produced massive amounts of the gene’s product that could be purified at commercial scale.
31
“WH: Security Fence Is To Keep Biden From Wandering Away During SOTU”
From “The Newspaper of Note”
https://hotair.com/headlines/2024/03/07/musk-falls-into-crippling-poverty-after-single-meal-at-five-guys-n3784279
00
US embassy warns of ‘imminent’ attack in Moscow
The US Embassy in Moscow has warned that “extremists” are plotting to carry out attacks in the Russian capital within the next few days.
“The embassy is monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts, and US citizens should be advised to avoid large gatherings over the next 48 hours,” the diplomatic mission said in a statement on its website in the early hours of Friday local time.
It urged Americans to stay vigilant and “monitor local media for updates.” The embassy did not provide any additional details about the alert.
The Russian authorities have not commented on the notice yet.
https://ru.usembassy.gov/security-alert-avoid-large-gatherings-over-the-next-48-hours/
00
Friday history and sarcasm
COSMOLOGIST WHO WAS BURNED TO DEATH!
Giordano Bruno (1548 – 1600), an Italian cosmologist, mathematician, and philosopher was burned to death by religious people only for suggesting that the stars we see in the sky were just distant suns surrounded by their own planetary bodies like Earth.
Stupid heretics.
Lucky he didn’t question 2 penguins walking from Antarctica to the middle east to hop on a wooden ship conceived of by a 500 year old dude called Noah.😆
30
Penguins can swim.
If you read the bible you would know, Noah picked them up on his way through.
21
“And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the Lord shut him in.”
– Genesis 7:13-14
No “on his way through” 😆
10
What about the transgender Penguins?
00
Apparently some teachers (USA?) are embracing the new technology.
https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/03/07/0719222/teachers-are-embracing-chatgpt-powered-grading
Supposedly to mitigate the efforts of students to use the same AI to write the essays…..
Support local rules that require all essays to be hand written in cursive.
10
And Australia contunes going backwards!
Sydney University abandons HSC prerequisites in diversity push
The University of Sydney is ditching the advanced mathematics prerequisites for scores of degrees in response to the declining number of HSC students taking the subject.
Vice chancellor Mark Scott said maths teacher shortages meant too many students could not study the subject in year 12, providing a barrier for diverse students to study at the university.
“Mathematical skills and knowledge are vital for students to succeed at university and thrive in the workplaces of the future,” he said.
“Yet through no fault of their own, many students don’t have the opportunity to take advanced mathematics at school, a situation exacerbated by ongoing maths teacher shortages that affect some schools more than others.”
The prerequisite change, to begin next year, is a reversal of much of the changes brought into effect in 2019 that introduced two unit maths prerequisites for 62 degrees.
That was supposed to address falling enrolments in maths and lift academic standards at the university.
However, the latest data from the NSW Education Standards Authority shows there were almost 10 per cent fewer students taking advanced maths in 2023 compared to 2018.
The change will mean degrees including commerce, science, medicine, psychology, veterinary science and economics will no longer require students to have undertaken advanced maths in year 12.
Degrees in engineering, advanced computing and pharmacy will retain the mathematics prerequisite.
10
‘Maths avoiders’: Students dumping important HSC subjects
Fewer students may be choosing to study higher-level maths for the HSC because they had been taught by primary school teachers who were “maths avoiders” and developed a negative attitude toward the subject, Sydney University vice-chancellor Professor Mark Scott has said.
Scott made the comments at an Engineers Australia conference on Wednesday, an event for experts to find ways to avoid a looming shortage of professional engineers and increase the number of women enrolling in engineering degrees.
The University of Sydney is the only institution in NSW that has advanced mathematics as a prerequisite for a number of its degrees, but Scott said the number of students meeting the maths prerequisite was getting smaller – a phenomenon he said was linked to a statewide shortage of mathematics teachers.
“Many of our students are going through high school without teachers who are qualified in mathematics […] there’s a myriad of PE teachers teaching mathematics, and what we’re seeing at the University of Sydney is the consequence of that,” he said.
In the HSC last year, boys outnumbered girls two to one in the hardest numeracy subject, mathematics extension 2, while the number of students enrolled in physics tumbled to its lowest level in 20 years. In that subject, there were four boys for every girl.
Over the past 20 years, enrolments in the three hardest maths courses have dropped by 12 per cent.
Scott, who was previously the boss of the NSW Department of Education, said a student’s mindset and attitude towards maths was established well before they chose HSC subjects in year 10.
“They’re often embedded back in primary school,” he said.
30
Scientists’ $50BILLION mission to stop ‘doomsday glacier’ in Antarctica from melting and unleashing havoc on the world
00
TUCKER CARLSON LIVE RESPONSE
Click to watch Tucker’s response to Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.
https://tuckercarlson.com/livefeed/
slide across to 9 mins 29 secs for start
00
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson called President Joe Biden’s speech Thursday night “possibly the darkest and most un-American speech ever given by an American president.”
In an immediate response to Biden’s State of the Union address, the former prime-time host charged the president with delivering a speech “entirely lacking in decency or generosity to his fellow Americans.”
“In fact it wasn’t a speech,” Carlson said, “it was a rant.”
00
WSJ Opinion – Biden’s Partisan State of Disunion
Opinion by The WSJ Editorial Board
State of the Union speeches are eminently forgettable, but President Biden’s address on Thursday was memorable for all the wrong reasons. His address was one long, divisive pep rally for Democrats, goading Republicans throughout the speech, and targeting multiple and various villains for partisan attacks.
It really was extraordinary.
Most such speeches make at least an attempt at reaching across the aisle, if only as a gesture. This one had none, not even on the issue of aid to Ukraine where he most needs Republican support. He made a good if incomplete argument for supporting Ukraine, and we agree with its substance.
But he made the dreadful political mistake of comparing Russia’s threat to democracy with the threat to democracy at home. There is no comparison between Vladimir Putin’s invasion and partisan, even raucous debates in the U.S., and many supporters of Ukraine will resent the linkage. We regret to say it, but this speech may have made it harder for GOP Members of Congress to resist Donald Trump and vote to send weapons to Ukraine. Was the short-term partisan adrenaline rush worth that risk?
Given the foreign threats to democracy, Mr. Biden could have made a bipartisan pitch to increase defense spending. Even Jimmy Carter made that pivot in the final year of his Presidency when the Soviets were on the march. But Mr. Biden wants to spend and spend on everything else instead. This could turn out to be a historic miscalculation as the threats from Iran, Russia and China mount.
The speech was downhill from there, with a list of partisan campaign themes that hewed hard to the left, while framing opposition as ill-intended and out to hurt the country.
He demeaned the Supreme Court on abortion, suggesting its decision overturning Roe v. Wade was partisan and political. The truth is that the Dobbs decision, as correct as it was under the Constitution, has been a political boon to Democrats. But he still trashed the Court, and the Justices in attendance a few rows in front of him had to sit stoically and take it.
His political enemies list was long, and far more than Mr. Trump.
10
Heart surgeons find 58% of patients have plastic clogging arteries
NAPLES, Italy — In a world where plastic is literally in the air, a concerning new study finds that people with heart disease may have more plastic than plaque in their arteries. In fact, researchers in Italy discovered that more than half of the patients they examined had detectable microplastics and even tinier nanoplastics mixed in with the plaque in their clogged arteries.
The groundbreaking study focused on patients undergoing surgery for a condition related to the buildup of plaque in the arteries — specifically, in the carotid artery, which supplies blood to the brain. Researchers analyzed the plaque extracted during these procedures, employing sophisticated techniques like pyrolysis – gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, stable isotope analysis, and electron microscopy. These high-tech methods can reveal the chemical makeup of substances and visualize the tiniest particles, essentially allowing scientists to “see” the presence of microplastics and nanoplastics (collectively known as MNPs) in the arterial plaque.
What they found was startling: nearly six in 10 patients had these plastic particles embedded within the plaque in their arteries. Specifically, polyethylene, the materials that make shopping bags and packaging materials, was found in the plaque of 58.4 percent of patients. Polyvinyl chloride, used in everything from pipes to vinyl records, was present in 12.1 percent of the samples.
The study didn’t stop at just identifying the presence of these particles. It went further to explore the implications for patient health. By following the health outcomes of 257 patients over an average period of nearly 34 months, the researchers discovered that those with MNPs in their plaque faced a much higher risk of severe cardiovascular events — like heart attacks, strokes, or even death — compared to those without. The risk was over four times higher for those with MNPs in their arterial plaque.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa2309822
Wouldn’t take much inflammation from any other source to hit the tipping point.
Like bottled water?
Bottled water samples were collected and analyzed by scientists over a ten-month investigation. The study analyzed 259 bottles from 19 locations in nine countries across 11 different brands and found an average of 325 plastic particles for every liter of water being sold.
In one bottle of Nestlé Pure Life, concentrations were as high as 10,000 plastic pieces per litre of water. Of the 259 bottles tested, only 17 were free of plastics, according to the study.” – Drinking Bottled Water Means Drinking Microplastics
https://www.organiclifestylemagazine.com/how-to-detox-from-plastics-and-other-endocrine-disruptors
As for detoxing, best of luck.
10
FWIW
“COVID-19 May Lead To Persistent Cognitive Impairment, Brain Fog, And Lower IQ Scores”
https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/vcovid-19-may-lead-persistent-cognitive-impairment-brain-fog-and-lower-iq-scores
Jab status?
00
FWIW
“Why isn’t this author a best-seller? Because she deals in truth”
Why isn’t this author a best-seller? Because she deals in truth
00
The link for that
https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/why-isnt-this-author-a-best-seller-because-she-deals-in-truth/
10
“These 10 Charts Caused An NGO Hissy Fit At NARUC
Yes, Michael Bloomberg’s goal of shuttering 40% of the electric generation in the U.S. by 2030 is a threat to national security.”
https://open.substack.com/pub/robertbryce/p/these-10-charts-caused-an-ngo-hissy?r=5c3gj&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
10