This and That

An important source of human genetic variability: Copy Number Variants (CNVs) via Biosingularity
An enlightened society would wish to understand why its members acted and thought the way they do. Our society pretends as if there is no inherent variability within persons that causes them to react differently to their environment than others. That is one of many reasons why the current politically correct culture will fall.

Top officials in the US government are pressing for huge investments in wind power farms. This is a huge mistake -- a failure to learn from the ongoing British disaster.
Al Fin promotes the use of wind power for niche uses -- areas where it is impossible or too expensive to connect to the grid, or where a small-scale grid inter-tie agreement with the utility is profitable. But large scale wind farms do not make sense on any level as long as much less expensive and more reliable baseload power production is available.

Young Iranians are beginning to walk away from Islam in search of the ancient Persian religion of Zoroastrianism.
This would be a hopeful sign for world peace, should it occur on a much larger scale. Islamic fundamentalism is the source of most world terrorism and the spark for a large number of regional conflicts on multiple continents.

Enjoy the Earth's warm climate while it lasts. via Anthony Watts
The pleasant warm inter-glacial climate we enjoy is but a brief departure from the status quo: freezing cold. Buffoons, fools, clowns, and grifters may quake (or pretend to) at the prospect of additional warming from CO2. The rest of us should realise how lucky we are.