Science

Universe in a Yard

Looking at the fallen leaves in my back yard and on the South Common this weekend, I noticed a visual correlation. Maybe I’ve been looking at too many pictures of the cosmos, but it occurred to me that the leaf-strewn ground, if turned downside up, could look a little like…

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Carl Sagan Day

For some reason, November 6th has been declared Carl Sagan Day, to honor the great communicator of science. I can’t find an explanation for why today was picked; perhaps it was the date of some major achievement in his career. Last year I believe I posted a passage from his…

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Why We Need to Get Bad Politics Out of Science Policy

So, hard facts. Nineteen nations have set new all-time temperature records this summer. Federal scientists have just announced that we’ve come through the warmest six months, twelve months, and decade on record. A powerful new study published in “Nature” shows that global warming has cut phytoplankton populations by half in…

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Caritas Sale to Cerberus Approved By Massachusetts SJC

The Boston Globe is reporting on “breaking news” that Supreme Judicial Court Justice Francis Spina  held a hearing on the sale of the Caritas Christi Heath Care system to Cerberus Capital Management today. Justice Spina signed-off  on the transaction tranferring the assets of a non-profit entity to a for-profit entity. This was the…

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UMass Lowell Robotic Door Opener

This video is pretty cool. The DORA or Door Opening Robotic Arm was developed right here in the Robotics Lab at UMass Lowell. Hey, why don’t I just let them describe it themselves… Low-cost wheelchair-mounted Door Opening Robotic Arm (DORA) This video demonstrates the final product of Erin Rapacki’s master’s…

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