Week in review – science edition

by Judith Curry
A few things that caught my eye this past week.

Observed and simulated fingerprints of multidecadal climate variability [link]
Scientists accidentally turn pollution into renewable energy [link]
AER winter forecast for the US [link]
Current Solar Cycle Fades, Continues To Be Weakest in 200 Years  [link]
New Scafetta paper finds radiocarbon evidence for planetary gravitational control of solar activity & climate [link] …
Dr Roy Spencer: “New Santer et al. Paper on Satellites vs. Models: Even Cherry Picking Ends with Model Failure” [link] …
“The thermodynamic effect of atmospheric mass on early Earth’s temperature” [link] …
Are we witnessing the beginning of the end for the Greenland ice sheet? [link] …
Maybe not. Greenland Temperature Trends 1873 – 2015 [link]
How climate change triggers earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes [link]
New paper finds “Evidence for the effect of sunspot activity on the El Niño/Southern Oscillation” [link] …
New map reveals where ice-rich permafrost could collapse [link]
The myths of negative emissions [link] …
It’s Official: Injection of Fracking Wastewater Caused Kansas’ Biggest Earthquake [link]
Policy and Social Sciences
How Republicans reshaped the House Science Committee [link]
Of “landmark” climate deals and New Year’s Resolutions: how Kigali actually weakens Paris. [link]
“Global Warming Doesn’t Actually Cause Wars, Scientists Say” [link]
The impact of academia on Parliament: 45 percent of Parliament-focused impact case studies were from social sciences [link]
Overcoming barriers to broaden scientific discovery in the Congo [link]
The case against a US carbon tax [link]
Matt Ridley: Climate policy is doing more harm than good [link]
Good piece on whether the new Montreal Protocol deal on HFCs could get held up by the US Senate. Key point here: [link] …
Thousands of people didn’t evacuate before Hurricane Matthew. Why not? [link]
Forest biomass, carbon neutrality and climate change mitigation. From Science to Policy [link]…
There’s a neurological reason why fearmongering is such a powerful political tool [link]
About Science and Scientists
What are your rights & responsibilities as scientists? @theAGU seeks your thoughts for a new position statement [link]
Academic freedom? Gone—And Good Riddance [link]
“By undermining science’s objectivity, postmodernists laid philosophical foundation for authoritarianism.” [link]
What are the best and worst colleges when it comes to academic freedom and viewpoint diversity? [link]
In embracing ‘cognitive capitalism’, universities have moved from knowledge generation to income generation. [link]
UNC philosophy professor warns: ‘Progressive privilege’ abounds in academia [link]
The grey zone: How questionable research practices are blurring the boundary between science and misconduct [link]
Plato for plumbers @markbessoudo Winner of New Philosophers Writers Award [link] …
“much of the theorizing that happens in psychological science is interpreting noise” [link]
Afraid to speak up: In the era of trigger warnings, a tenured professor stays silent [link]
 Filed under: Week in review

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