Marsden is Here

The executive summary of the Improving the transition (pdf) report just out from Sir Peter Gluckman and the PMCSA should be required reading for anyone who has contact with children or adolescents.
Tip - you don't have to read it all in one sitting, it's not going anywhere. (It just came to me on an otherwise slow day.)

I just want to pull out and highlight here one statement that caught my attention as having even broader implications for policy delivery.

Given these factors, where interventions are to be targeted, they should be targeted according to risk rather than according to ethnic identity. Once individuals and groups at risk have been identified, strong cultural identity requires culturally relevant interventions and environments, but these interventions, like all others, must be carefully managed and monitored. The same rigour and evaluation needs to be applied to culturally tied interventions as to others (Chapter 22)

This is discussed in depth specifically in relation to Maori/Pasificka/other immigrant cultures and the report makes clear these are not monolithic groups and relevant delivery must be more finely grained.

But "white" culture in New Zealand is hardly a monolithic group either. I'm well aware that I belong to a middle class, highly educated, citified subculture and what gets my attention/consideration is very much not the same thing as even my blue-collar brother*. Whether the differences descend from geographical, socioeconomic or (especially in the case of youth) just "tribal" factors we could all benefit if, after targeting, a tailored approach is the standard. (Even though that last bit sounds like an oxymoron.)

*Currently making far more money than me working drilling rigs in Oz.

New Zealand kelp forests under threat

Last year the Ministry of Fisheries, following a period of consultation, entered giant kelp into the [Quota Management System]
...
the Ministry produced three options for total allowable catch for the management area that extends from a point near Kaikoura all the way down to Slope Point at the southern most tip of the South Island. These options were 1) 375.8 tonnes, 2) 40 tonnes, and 3) 17 tonnes.
...
the Minister’s announcement yesterday that the total allowable catch for the east coast of the South Island had been set at… wait for it…. 1,238 tonnes!!! TA DAAAAA!!!! But hang on a minute, wasn’t the largest option put forward by his own advisors 375.8 tonnes?
...
It takes a lot of time and research to write a submission that is based on current scientific knowledge. I personally feel like the effort that my colleagues and I put into this process was a complete and utter waste of time.

What's that line from Soylent Green? "The oceans are dead, we killed them."?
Although National has done this I'm not convinced Labour would have been any better. I wonder who bought and paid for this decision?
Note that his happens to many other species in the QMS. A veneer of legality to raping the ecosystem.
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Less rage-inducing, a good explanation of why wind circles areas of low pressure instead of flowing straight into them.

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Finally, making the point that academic research careers are the exception for science PhDs, and I think the principle can comfortably be extended to cover 'lesser' degrees (eg Masters) and other disciplines as well.

http://sciblogs.co.nz/hot-topic/2010/06/22/when-the-rain-comes…/

As the oceans warm up, more water vapour enters the atmosphere, and because it is itself a heat-trapping gas this adds to the warming. This positive feedback is important because it increases the amount of warming triggered by the CO2, but it’s also important because of impacts of the increase in water vapour itself. The increase has been measured: there’s about 4% more water vapour in the atmosphere now than there was 30 years ago, and I suspect that we’re now seeing the effects of that on our day to day weather.

Water vapour is sometimes described by meteorologists as the “fuel” that drives storms. As water evaporates from a warm ocean, it cools the surface and transfers energy into the atmosphere. As the water vapour condenses into clouds and rain, that energy is released, intensifying the storm. More water vapour, stronger storms, heavier rainfall.

4% extra water vapour doesn’t sound like a lot, does it? But it’s enough to change the probabilities of heavy rainfall events in two ways. Firstly, the frequency of heavy rainfall events will increase, and secondly the amount of rain that falls in the heaviest events will increase. Take a look at this graph (from NASA’s Earth Observatory feature on the costs of climate change):

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Also from Sciblogs this week:
- I know that everyone here is sufficiently educated to know that camels store fat, not water in their humps. This post looks at other ways they are adapted to a low-water environment -
http://sciblogs.co.nz/bioblog/2010/06/22/the-camels-hump/

- Birds have friends too - http://sciblogs.co.nz/skepticon/2010/06/23/ravens-and-empathy-the-role-of-bystanders-after-conflict/

What was found was that birds who were the recipients of high intensity conflict (eg hitting) were more likely to receive interactions with high value bystanders. In other words, when birds got into a serious fight their friends came over afterwards. The correlation with conflict intensity implies that the “friends” knew when the victim would be more distressed and would need to be calmed. This insight further implies some level of empathy.

Knowledge versus certainty in skepticism, medicine, and science, via a couple of places

Hermit crab house party via Sciblogs

http://publicaddress.net/default,6624.sm

Some analysis of the gubermint's recent 'increase' in science funding.