Utopia, you are standing in it!

Credit: alaskapublic.org
A researcher said: “Remarkably, the data suggest that the ice sheets can change in response to more than just global climate,” calling into question some long-held ideas. A professor connected to the study commented: “These findings appear to poke a hole in our current understanding of how past ice sheets interacted with the rest of the climate system, including the greenhouse effect.” Well, fancy that. The commentary notes that ‘global temperatures were relatively stable at the time of the fall in sea level, raising questions about the correlation between temperature, sea level and ice volume’. In short, the ice sheets grew faster than scientists had thought.
– – –
Princeton scientists found that the Bering Land Bridge, the strip of land that once connected Asia to Alaska, emerged far later during the last ice age than previously thought, says Eurekalert. 

The unexpected findings shorten the window of…

In her interview in the Flemish newspaper (subject of previous two posts), our Minister of Energy not only said that the wind always blows somewhere in Europe, and especially at sea, but she also made following remark about Belgian offshore wind (translated from Dutch, my emphasis):

When I became minister, I hoped that our new offshore wind farm would be operational by 2027. It has a capacity of 3.5 nuclear power plants and can supply all Belgian households with electricity.

I heard members of the current Federal Government draw (variations on) this analogy between offshore wind and nuclear power plants quite a lot lately, especially (and unsurprisingly) by members of the Flemish Green party.

For the record, there is a core of truth in this statement. It is true that the capacity of offshore wind in Belgium is expected to be 3500 MW in 2027 and since most…

Jupiter [image credit: NASA]
Unexpected patterns and teleconnections. Some new light is shed on the workings of the solar system’s largest planetary atmosphere.
– – –
Scientists have completed the longest-ever study tracking temperatures in Jupiter’s upper troposphere, the layer of the atmosphere where the giant planet’s weather occurs and where its signature colorful striped clouds form, says Subaru Telescope.

The work, conducted over four decades by stitching together data from NASA spacecraft and ground-based telescope observations, found unexpected patterns in how temperatures of Jupiter’s belts and zones change over time.

The study is a major step toward a better understanding of what drives weather at our solar system’s largest planet and eventually being able to forecast it.

Jupiter’s troposphere has a lot in common with Earth’s: It’s where clouds form and storms churn. To understand this weather activity, scientists need to study certain properties, including wind, pressure, humidity…

Batman: The Movie (1966) Director Leslie Martinson

“Pow!” “Wham!” “Ouch!”

Holy film review, Batman! Every bit as campy and goofy as the 1960s television show starring Adam West and Burt Ward, Batman: The Movie is an ironic and all-around ridiculous comedy that is so self-aware, it is often difficult to follow the wandering plot all the way to the end. Directed by Leslie H. Martinson and written by Lorenzo Semple Jr., the film was hurriedly patched together and released between seasons one and two of the Batman television show. It conveys the convoluted rise of a criminal group known as the “United Underworld” which consists of the all-star villains from the show –Penguin (Burgess Meredith), Catwoman (Lee Meriwether), Joker (Cesar Romero), and Riddler (Frank Gorshin) as they develop various unfolding plots to take over the world. In each case, Batman and Robin stumblingly thwart their efforts at word…

Here are my (political) predictions for 2023 … in for a penny, in for a pound. Feel free to argue the toss …

Jacx will not lead Labour into the election

National and ACT will form the next government

The Greens will struggle to hold onto their ten seats

NZ First will not be in parliament.

Te Pati Maori will pick up two additional seats … one List seat and Tamaki Makaurau

John Campbell will lose his cool on election night

David Seymour will be Deputy PM

Nicola Willis will be Finance Minister

Gerry Brownlie will be Speaker

ACT will pick up Education, Local Government, Defence & Veterans’ Affairs plus one other ‘name’ portfolio as well as having two ministers outside cabinet

Post the election there will be a bruising battle for the ‘soul’ of the Labour Party.

Traditional economics, specifically convergence theory, tells us that poor nations should grow faster than rich nations.

I’m more interested, however, in why convergence often doesn’t happen, or only partially happens.

And I’m extremely interested in why we often see divergence, which occurs when two countries are at a similar level of development, but then one grows much faster than the other.

Let’s consider the example of Brazil vs, South Korea.  Otaviano Canuto has an interesting article, published by the Center for Macroeconomics and Development, that looks at how the two countries have diverged over the past 50 years.

Here’s the chart that depicts the dramatic difference.

The author analyzes many of the reasons that South Korea has enjoyed faster growth.

It’s especially worth noting that Brazil’s protectionism has been self-defeating.

The “middle-income trap” has captured many developing countries: they succeeded in evolving from low per…