the 'problem' of global altruism

Biological explanations of altruism will naturally start with a parent's sacrifice for its offspring. This is not difficult to understand by utilitarian arguments and is readily extended to family, friends, even members of the local group (a tribe, for instance). Beyond this, it gets  difficult to imagine any kind of biological advantage for altruistic behavior. Richard Dawkins stretches this to the point of a sacrifice for someone you may see again. OK, difficult but not impossible.

But now consider what I would call 'global' altruism. This is altruism of the very highest order--A Raul Wallenberg, for instance. Wallenberg put himself at great and immediate personal risk for tens of thousands of people he had no connection with; nor was he likely to benefit from his connection to these people in any way. I've never seen an even mildly convincing evolutionary explanation for this sort of behavior. It's quite possible that global altruism exists in other species, but I am unaware of any examples.   Does this bahavior separate humans from other animals?  I don't know.   For me, the existence of  global altruism remains one of the perplexing puzzles of evolution.

A reality check on health-care costs

Journalists tend to be a bit credulous when it comes to large numbers.  Thus we are told repeatedly that the House or Senate health-care bills will cost (fill in an astronomical number here), as if such a statement actually conveyed information.  I saw a graphic on TV news recently that said the cost would be $32,849 per family--I don't remember the actual number, which is beside the point; it's the implied 1 part in 30,000 accuracy that you should be scratching your head at. 

more on the titanium single speed cross rig

Warning:  likely only of interest to cyclocross geeks and weight weenies.
Here are the details of the build.  The frame was made in Russia from a cad file that Scott Mares of Sibex Sports came up with from my geometry.  With Sibex I was able to get a custom frame at less then the cost of a typical stock titanium frame.  The goal was pure cyclocross and single-speed from the beginning.  So, for example, horizontal fork ends were used and there is no extraneous cable routing hardware.  The crankset and BB are Campy Record.  I used road cranks with a 42 chainring on the outer position to get the proper chainline for the 135 mm spaced rear fork.  Record headset, with Deda Newton stem and handlebars.

Climate fallacy #1

Small changes in inputs lead to small changes in ouputs.  

This assumes the Earth is a linear system.  But it's not.  There are many climate-related feedback mechanisms which, once excited, can lead to unstable, out-of-control changes.  For example, ice-albedo feedback.  A small rise in termperature is not just a small rise in temperature.  It can result in reducing the reflectivity of the Earth's surface (the albedo ) by melting ice.  This in term increases the absorption of sunlight, which leads to more ice-melt and off we go.  It works in the other direction too.  Decreasing temperature causes the albedo to increase as ice forms.  This can lead to uncontrolled cooling. 

Climate Scoreboard

N simple, inexpensive things to reduce our carbon footprint

These recommendations were written in the context my local campus community but I'm sure they apply, mutatis mutandis, more generally. Send me your ideas, I'll be happy to include them.

Expensive remedies such as PV and wind are great, but it is much easier to conserve energy than to produce it. For some reasons we Americans tend to seek solutions that are expensive and sexy but require no individual effort or commitment. Oh, and by the way, we have no money so let's do nothing. Some people will think these suggestions are too hard. But hard is curing cancer. Hard is stopping domestic violence. Using a broom instead of a leaf-blower? Requiring campus vendors to provide healthy food? Trivial rewards for people who walk or ride their bikes instead of driving? It's slightly embarrassing that we even have to discuss these things. Embarrassing or not, here goes:

all tubulars all the time

This is my fixed-gear commuter bike (a Surly Cross-Check frame/Reynolds Ouzo pro fork) And when I say commuter I mean everything from riding to the office, to shopping, going to Boulder for meetings or throwing it on a plane for a trip to the East Coast. I've done everything from the Black Hills around Mt. Rushmore, to muddy Vermont single track on this bike. One of the best investments I ever made.

The one thing I want to point out is the Mavic Reflex tubular rims. Tubulars for commuting? I hear you scoff. Yes, in this particular case, Veloflex Roubaix, which are wide, durable and incredibly comfortable. I can't remember the last time I flatted on these. I.e., more than a year ago with daily commuting on normal roads.

the flatbed scanner as a cheap digital microscope

Just got a new HP Photosmart all-in-one (scanner/printer/copier) etc. Kudos to HP for producing the powerful open-source tools that let Linux users get the most out of their hardware (HPLIP). For years I have used flatbed scanners for all sorts of microscopy and measurement applications in my lab; applications that have lots of folks scratching their heads when they see the results that a few hundred bucks of hardware can produce if you let it.

Consider this. At 4800 dpi (what xsane lets me do with the new scanner), that works out to 189 dots per mm. Or a pixel size of 1/189 mm, which is 5 microns! To measure something small, just scan it and count the number of pixels. The 'n' pictured is from from e pluribus unum on a US dime. The image is 159 pixels across, so at 4800 dpi, that is .84 mm wide. Not bad for something you can pick up at the corner big-box for a lot less than $200.

the three laws of inference

If I hadn't believed it, I wouldn't have seen it --- Anon

The problem of making inferences in the presence of uncertainty is ubiquitous both in science and in society. Just look at the controversy over the trends in Earth temperature and how such data influence public policy. What most people don't realize is how uncertainty permeates even the simplest measurements (which are almost never direct) and hence the whole chain of measurements that goes into even the simplest problem. Here are some simple ideas to keep in mind when interpreting claims in the news

the problem is not too little energy

Jared Diamond, January 2, 2008 New York Times: "Much American consumption is wasteful and contributes little or nothing to quality of life. For example, per capita oil consumption in Western Europe is about half of ours, yet Western Europe’s standard of living is higher by any reasonable criterion, including life expectancy, health, infant mortality, access to medical care, financial security after retirement, vacation time, quality of public schools and support for the arts. Ask yourself whether Americans’ wasteful use of gasoline contributes positively to any of those measures."

Diamond also does a great job explaining why the problem is not too little energy but too much consumption. He points out that if the developing world were brought up to the standards of consumption and waste of the developed world, it would be as if the Earth's population were 72 billion people!

7.5 kg custom single-speed cyclocross

When you remove all the mud, this bike weighs 7.5 kg. Some nontraditional features. Single speed. Campy Record crankset (42 chainring), hs, bb, brake levers, etc. Custom Zipp 32h tubular rear wheel with a DT 240 s hub. Training rear wheel is a Mavic Reflex tubular with a Phil Wood ss hub. I worked with Scott Mares of Sibex Sports to design the geometry. He sends the Cad file to Russia where the thing is CNC'd from titanium and presto you have a frameset. It was fun putting together. TRP says not to use road levers with their brakes, but it works fine. The Zipps are really stiff and light. Excel got the custom drilled 303 cyclocross rim from Zipp and built the wheel. The front wheel is a standard road 303. One thing I discovered the hard way: don't use a 3/32 road chain for single speed cross. They break. So I use thick 3/32 cogs like the Surly or a White Industries freewheel. These are much stouter than road cogs and they work with a 1/8 track chain. This chain works fine with the Record chainring.




There is so much clearance, it has been suggested that I could run it with 29er MTB wheels. May try that over the summer.