The Best Of Science In 2019

There were some big events in the scientific fields in 2019, and Science News has compiled a top 10 list of the biggest. Some were more positive than others (new depression drug good, measles return not so good), but all are important. (Yes, even the Denisovans. Cavemen are very important.) I'm glad that the black hole image took the number 1 spot though, because that's a very big deal. That little orange and black doughnut was the culmination of years of work, and it's great to say that we've finally actually seen a black hole. We can only hope 2020 is equally as interesting when it comes to science.

Sometimes, The News is Hilarious

While on my way to work Monday morning, the radio was just full of talk about a highway in Centreville, Virginia and how the lanes were all over the place or flat out disappeared.  The highway guy could hardly contain his amusement, and I was curious about what exactly was going on.  There weren't any details.  Well, here's the details.  I'm sure the people stuck in the resulting traffic jams were not amused, but I sure was.

The News

I'll be honest, I knew it was going to be work maintaining a daily blog, but I'm struggling here to come up with something new and novel here everyday, and it's proving difficult with there not being a whole lot of interesting news.  Well, some might argue with that, but I'm talking about about real and educational stuff, you know, news that expands your horizons.  All I see now is the latest outrage about somebody dying or some sort of tragedy, and I don't know, it just doesn't get my blood boiling.  I know seeing all that upsets a lot of people, but for some reason, I just can't bring myself to care all that much.  But hey, that's what happens when we have cameras everywhere, and where anybody with an internet connection can have a big voice.  Maybe I'm jaded, maybe I have a thick skin, I don't know.  I don't want to say that I don't want to see the negative side of the world because frankly, it's important that we do see every story.  But we don't see every story, we only see the news that gets people's attention, and that news is usually bad.  People don't pay to know that life is good, they pay to see tragedy, so that's we get.  To be honest, it's little wonder that if you ask somebody on the street, they'll tell you that these are difficult times we live in, what with all the problems in the world.  But let's be honest here, our problems pale in comparison to those of the past.  We certainly don't live under threat of nuclear annihilation, or with World Wars, or Great Depressions, or real labor problems.  People complaining that the minimum wage isn't enough, that it hasn't been adjusted for inflation?  At least they're making money in relatively safe conditions.  At least they're not tied to the company like serfs.  The fact is, the world is as much at peace as it has ever been, but you'd never know it, because we don't hear about it.  We'd rather hear the bad news, because let's face it, it's just easier to be indignant.