For those who think oil companies are the root of all evil:

http://www.energy.ca.gov/gasoline/margins/index.html

This is the cost breakdown for a gallon of gasoline in CA. You can see that profits and marketing make up $0.12 or only 2.6% of the retail price of a gallon of gas. BUT all of the taxes add up to $0.70, which is 15.3%! At least in CA, the government benefits WAY MORE than the oil companies with higher gas prices.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by kookaburra at 4:08 PM on June 30, 2008

I'm actually really hopeful for algae. Unlike most biofuel sources (I'm looking at you, CORN), it's fast growing, does not have huge land requirements (especially with the new vertical bioreactors), wastewater is actually a favorable input, and some strains are 80% lipid. And it's actually best to place them near power plants, which provide a source of CO2. Not entirely sure about the economic feasibility of the whole system, but with oil at $114/barrel and climbing, it's only a matter of... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by kookaburra at 9:12 PM on April 17, 2008

The outlook isn't nearly as gloomy as Lovelock makes it out to be, and I'm an environmental science graduate student who's depressed on a daily basis over all of these issues. Just let gas get to $5/gallon - then we will see some really huge shifts in thinking and policy.

Carbon offsetting? I wouldn't dream of it. It's just a joke. To pay money to plant trees, to think you're offsetting the carbon?

Carbon offsets are still... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by kookaburra at 12:43 PM on March 3, 2008

The person who made this list has obviously never been a lowly lab assistant before. Sure, it's usually not icky (although I did have to blend fish guts before which is not the most fun thing ever), but it does tend to involve lots of waiting, mind-numbing repetition, working in a concrete cube with no windows, and pull-out-your-hair frustration.

I still love science, though.
posted to MetaFilter by kookaburra at 10:52 AM on June 19, 2007

sourmike: surprise! those who marry young are more likely to get divorced - some interesting correlations of divorce.
posted to MetaFilter by kookaburra at 3:12 PM on October 6, 2006

The media - like everything - must be taken in historical context. It serves as a reflection of the times in which it was created, and censoring sends a message to the general public (and, yes, the children) as to what society believes is acceptable. Smoking has NOW become socially unacceptable, and the media NOW (largely) reflects that, and that's sufficient for me. Unfortunately, society on the whole is still not completely comfortable with female sexuality - hence the censorship of... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by kookaburra at 9:39 AM on August 22, 2006