Want Cheaper Solar Energy - Try Using "Dirty" Silicon

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Monday November 21, 2005 · 5:29 PM PST

2005/11/21 · 17:29

One of the factors keeping Solar Panels expensive is the high cost of silicon. Almost 90% of cells use silicon in their production. And now the demand for pure silicon has surpassed the production making it even more expensive.

The cells with the highest efficiency need pure silicon. When impurities are present in the silicon crystal they have a tendency to capture electrons that are needed to generate the electricity. Read More

What The Hell Is Right With This Place!

SeattleLiberal

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Thursday November 17, 2005 · 9:23 PM PST

2005/11/17 · 21:23

Since, during the last few days, there has been a plethora of Meta Diaries I thought I would add one more. I was walking home Tuesday night in the cold Seattle weather and was struck by something.

There has been much discussion about what is wrong with this site and whether or not it is "broken". I can tell you that it is not. The decision Markos made to start a "blog" and the foresight he had to set up the format he did has changed politics, blogging and my life profoundly. Read More

Science tidbits - A diary that does not mention anyone's genitals!

SeattleLiberal

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Wednesday June 01, 2005 · 11:28 PM PDT

2005/06/01 · 23:28

I needed a break. I was listening to Bush's press conference and when the headache got too bad - I checked in here. I see the genital argument is still raging and I thought I would throw out some new Science articles to change the scene.

No analysis or pithy comments, I'm oh so tired. Read More

The Ongoing GOP attack on Congressman Jim McDermott

SeattleLiberal

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Friday May 27, 2005 · 5:13 PM PDT

2005/05/27 · 17:13

As many of you know, last Saturday the Seattle Kossacks had a BBQ. You may not know a well known Daily Kos member - our Congressman, Jim McDermott, attended. He had lots of questions about "Blogs" and Daily Kos. We also had an opportunity to discuss quite a few issues with him:

His visit to Darfur which was covered in an interview by Armando.
The HIV/AIDS situation in Africa.
The current atmosphere in Washington D.C.
The ongoing frivolous lawsuit involving Congressman McDermott and Ohio Rep. John Boehner. This is not breaking news, but there are some upcoming events that could affect our Representatives and increase the already hostile political environment.

(Pictures of the BBQ are here)
Update [2005-5-27 22:44:36 by SeattleLiberal]: Congressman McDermott responds below to clarify some points about what is at stake here. Read More

Seattle Kossacks - BBQ at Golden Gardens Park

SeattleLiberal

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Tuesday May 17, 2005 · 12:54 PM PDT

2005/05/17 · 12:54

If you missed last Saturday - We had a great time at the Pike Brewery. Our guest of honor was em dash of Kos and Unbossed fame. There are pictures here. If you're wishing you could have made it, you have another chance! Read More

Science Friday - A Selection from Natural Selection

SeattleLiberal

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Friday May 13, 2005 · 1:18 AM PDT

2005/05/13 · 01:18

[crossposted at Booman Tribune]

As the attack on Darwin continues this week, I thought I would round up some of the recent news from the front lines.

I am listening to the Kansas "trial." It has to be in small doses because my neighbors wonder who I am arguing with and they like me to keep the yelling to a minimum.

One thing that strikes me is the ID/Creationists say they want there to be a debate. Well . . . science is a debate. This is how progress is made. One hypothesis is put forward, then another, maybe another and the debate rolls from there. Then the one that best explains the evidence is the winner . . . until a better explanation comes along. Read More

Seattle Kossacks Have 2 Events for May

SeattleLiberal

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Monday May 09, 2005 · 12:46 PM PDT

2005/05/09 · 12:46

This is going to be close to pushing the rules on reposting a diary . . . real close. I posted this late one night and very, very few people saw it. I didn't GIMP satellite images and make an animated gif with the international "No" sign for nothing!

The Seattle Kossacks are having 2 events this month. Read More

Seattle Kossacks! Late Night Invitation to Get Together!

SeattleLiberal

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Friday May 06, 2005 · 12:22 AM PDT

2005/05/06 · 00:22

This month Seattle Area Kossacks are having 2 events. Read More

Why Evolution Matters (Or Creationism and Iraq)

SeattleLiberal

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Thursday May 05, 2005 · 7:47 PM PDT

2005/05/05 · 19:47

[crossposted at Booman Tribune]

O.K. the title is a little odd and this is a little long but bear with me.

Over the last couple of days I have been reading Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror by Richard A.Clarke. If you have not read it yet, I would highly recommend it.

I had an epiphany when I read this paragraph,

From the interactions I did have with Bush it was clear that the critique of him as a dumb, lazy rich kid were somewhat off the mark. When he focused, he asked the kind of questions that revealed a results-oriented mind, but he looked for the simple solution, the bumper sticker description of the problem. Once he had that, he could put energy behind a drive to achieve his goal. The problem was that many of the important issues, like terrorism, like Iraq, were laced with important subtlety and nuance. These issues needed analysis and Bush and his inner circle had no real interest in complicated analyses; on the issues that they cared about, they already knew the answers, it was received wisdom. (page 243 - emphasis mine)

More over the jump. Read More

[Science] Nerd Network News - Diaries from the Week of April 25 - May 1

SeattleLiberal

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Monday May 02, 2005 · 2:04 PM PDT

2005/05/02 · 14:04

I started this series to highlight the week's science diaries. Many political issues will require input from the scientific community to make sound policy decisions.

Some criteria for the diaries I will be including in Nerd Network News:

Diary must have verifiable sources.
Copyright standards must be followed. The sources must be quoted in part and referenced (no complete articles).
Writer must comment or show some analysis of the article (no "link only" diaries)

This is to try to keep the diaries as useful as possible. There may be exceptions if an important subject was brought up and there were no other diaries covering the subject.

The opinions expressed in the diaries are not necessarily my own and spelling errors in the gray boxes are intentionally left as written.

I'm including diaries from Booman Tribune if they were not crossposted here.

If I missed anyone, sorry.

[Science] Nerd Network News - Diaries from the Week of April 18 - 24

SeattleLiberal

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Tuesday April 26, 2005 · 3:49 PM PDT

2005/04/26 · 15:49

I started this series to highlight the week's science diaries. Many political issues will require input from the scientific community to make sound policy decisions.

Some criteria for the diaries I will be including in Nerd Network News:

Diary must have verifiable sources.
Copyright standards must be followed. The sources must be quoted in part and referenced (no complete articles).
Writer must comment or show some analysis of the article (no "link only" diaries)

This is to try to keep the diaries as useful as possible. There may be exceptions if an important subject was brought up and there were no other diaries covering the subject.

The opinions expressed in the diaries are not necessarily my own and spelling errors in the gray boxes are intentionally left as written.

If I missed anyone, sorry.

Nerd Alert : Organic Materials Spotted High Above Titan's Surface

SeattleLiberal

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Tuesday April 26, 2005 · 2:15 AM PDT

2005/04/26 · 02:15

First saw this at talk.origins

The Cassini-Huygens team has discovered complex organic molecules in the atmosphere of Titan.

This discovery raises some interesting questions about how these organics may have formed here on Earth. This gives us an opportunity to study formation of these complex molecules in an atmosphere that is not so influenced by the biological processes occurring in our own.

Exciting stuff. Read More

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