A Little Help, Please
Nora needs some help from some of you sciencey types. Head on over….
Archive of entries posted on February 2008
Insert Poop Joke Here
The water wonks have been all over the story about Tucson’s problems with low-flow toilets: not enough water to get the, umm, solids to the sewage treatment plant. I’ll go with Shaun McKinnon: Tucson’s sewer pipes may have a case of the feeble flushes, suffering from cramps brought on by too little water in the …
You Don’t Need Carbon to Commute
Michael Tobis had a post today about Lance Armstrong’s plans for an 18,000-square-foot bike shop in Austin that seems, at least in part, to be marketed at the bike commuter: “This city is exploding downtown. Are all these people in high rises going to drive everywhere? We have to promote (bike) commuting…” The thing is, …
Comment of the Day
John Mashey, in the bowels of an old thread, had this to say on the incentives and disincentives to rational transit economics: Think about the logical effects of local statutes that a certain amount of parking spaces be provided per resident, worker, or customer. In effect, parking spaces are required, thus spreading buildings further apart, …
Betty the White
A reader raises an interesting question about the Easy-Do Parties lady: Why is she alone in the kitchen, and why do the party guests in the background appear to be on fire? Nora, an expert in electricity and people being on fire (or, perhaps, the magical arts) suggests that the Easy-Do Parties lady (her name …
Pat Mulroy and the Problem of Western Water
Pat Mulroy is one of the most interesting people in Western Water right now. As the General Manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, she’s the one responsible for getting Las Vegas the water it needs. Or, more precisely, the water it says it thinks it needs. Michael Campana had an interesting comment recently, though, …
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Is The “Global Warming” Really A Secret US Military Project?
From Danger Room: “Weather modification was used successfully in Viet Nam to (among other things) hinder and impede the movement of personnel and material from North Viet Nam to South Viet Nam,” notes a Naval Air Warfare Weapons Division – China Lake research proposal, released last month through the Freedom of Information Act. But “since …
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The Prerogatives of the Yellow Jersey
A friend was riding up Albuquerque’s long Tramway Hill Sunday when he was passed by a lone rider on a time trial bike in full Team Astana kit. Astana, current home of last year’s Tour de France winner Alberto Contador, had been training in Albuquerque. We thought they had gone, but Contador was apparently still …
Snowpack Looking Good
I’ve been too busy this week to spend any time looking at the new monthly numbers myself, so I’ll let Aquafornia and Staci Matlock be your guides to reports that the snowpack in the mountains feeding the Rio Grande and the Colorado is looking mighty good right now. Or how ’bout this map. I haven’t …
Congestion Costs
An interesting post from last month on those hidden costs and benefits of higher gas prices. Turns out, according to some smarty-pants economists, that if the price of gasoline goes up (if, for example, we impose a gas tax), people carpool and ride the bus more, resulting in less congestion and therefore net time savings …