Category Archives: The scientific method

Potentially habitable?

Posted on September 14, 2019 by

The exciting news in astronomy is the discovery of water in the atmosphere of a relatively small planet, known as K2-18b, that happens to lie in what we often to as the habitable zone of its parent star. The result … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, ethics, Research, Scientists, The philosophy of science, The scientific method | Tagged , , , , , | 60 Comments

Constraining unforced variability

Posted on September 5, 2019 by

Pages 2k has a new Nature paper called Consistent multidecadal variability in global temperature reconstructions and simulations over the Common Era. What they do is present 2,000-year-long global mean temperature reconstructions using seven different statistical methods that draw from a … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Climate sensitivity, Research, The scientific method | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Solar Radiation Management

Posted on September 3, 2019 by

Ray Pierrehumbert has a new article in Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists called There is no plan B for dealing with the climate crisis. The focus of the article is the possible use of geo-engineering, specifically solar radiation management, to … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Environmental change, Global warming, Policy, Research, The scientific method | Tagged , , , , , | 50 Comments

Statistical versus mathematical modelling

Posted on August 31, 2019 by

There’s a short comment by Andrea Saltelli in Nature Communications on Statistical versus Mathematical Modelling. The general premise is that, like statistics, there is also a crisis in mathematical modelling. However, there isn’t the same sense of crisis about mathematical … Continue reading →

Posted in Research, Science, Sound Science (tm), The philosophy of science, The scientific method | Tagged , , , , | 153 Comments

A little knowledge

Posted on August 7, 2019 by

There is apparently a paper from a couple of years ago that is currently doing the rounds and that argues that the Molar Mass Version of the Ideal Gas Law Points to a Very Low Climate Sensitivity. The suggestion is … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate sensitivity, Greenhouse effect, Pseudoscience, Science, The scientific method | Tagged , , , , , | 26 Comments

The Popper Ratio

Posted on August 3, 2019 by

I hereby propose the Popper Ratio – (n.) Unit obtained by calculating the number of “popper” in a long-form text compared to the number of times Sir Karl is really cited. By “really cited” I mean (a) a quote and … Continue reading →

Posted in Freedom Fighters, Philosophy for Bloggers, SpeedoScience, The philosophy of science, The scientific method | Tagged , , | 18 Comments

Climate sensitivity and decadal temperature variability

Posted on July 28, 2019 by

There are some who argue that natural/internal variability can play a role in driving long-term warming, and – hence – could explain a substantial fraction of recent warming. This, however, creates a bit of a paradox; if the system responds … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate sensitivity, Research, The scientific method | Tagged , , , , , | 80 Comments