Date posted: April 7, 2007

Some Links

An interesting article by Nobel laureate in economics Daniel Kahneman and Jonathan Renshon, Why Hawks Win (Foreign Policy, January/February 2007), uses insights from psychology and behavioral economics to explain why decision makers tend to listen more to hawks, who tend to favor coercive action and the use of military force, than to the doves who are skeptical about the usefulness of force and prefer dialogue.

The story of a graduate student in the PhD program in cognitive neuroscience at Boston University who uses his understanding of the workings of the brain to advance on Who wants to be a millionaire?

Rotation Of Earth Plunges Entire North American Continent Into Darkness. Old news to some, but I only came across it this week, and I find it funny enough to add a link to it.

Blog of a Geisha. Ichimame is a Japanese maiko or apprentice geisha, who, for more than a year now, has maintained a blog in which she tells about her daily life. It is in Japanese only, but according to the site, English translations are forthcoming.

It's that time of the year again. Always makes me think of the Anton Corbijn video for Atmosphere by Joy Division.

Saturday March 31 sex clubs and peep shows in Amsterdam's red-light district organized an open house day to counter recent bad publicity about money laundering, forced prostitution and human trafficking. Too bad I missed it. I'll have to go another time.

The New York Times published a special section on the latest museum boom. I especially like the interactive map detailing the museums being built or planned across the US.

Op-Ed article in The New York Times by Patti Smith on the occasion of her inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Japanese meteorologists in TV apology for cherry blossom forecast glitch.

Keepon, the dancing robot, its movement repertoire is still limited, but it sure is cute.

"People board a ship restaurant in the low Yangtze River March 2, 2007 in Chongqing Municipality, China. Six million people in Chongqing could be facing severe water shortages by the beginning of May due to a persistent drought along the Yangtze River which has dropped around 40 percent, according to a local meteorological expert. Some 80 percent of China's inland river shipping services are carried over the Yangtze River and its tributaries." Photo by China Photos/Getty Images. More photos here.

Chongqing like other Chinese cities has grown tremendously in the past 5 to 10 years. It is in fact one of the fastest growing cities in the world. The surrounding area has large reserves of coal, gas and various minerals. There is a lot of heavy industry. Chongqing is also close to the Three Gorges Dam. But it depends crucially on one environmental factor, the Yangtze river. It is not only a major transportation link to other cities, it also provides drinking water, cooling water etc.

The other week, ahead of World Water Day on March 22, the WWF released a report, World's Top Rivers at Risk (pdf, 1.76Mb), which lists the top 10 rivers under threat from climate change, pollution and the construction of dams. It provides for disturbing reading. But as the images of the Yangtze show, it is a problem that demands action.