Graduation Edition!
Walking to school, U.S.-China relations, education, Nicolas Cage ... and a jade plant!
It’s been a busy few weeks, with work travel, my annual drive from TN to CT for the summer, and the transition from the spring semester to summer courses. Whew!
The midpoint of the drive is always Hopkins Graduation, which I enjoy a great deal. It was great to have graduates stop by my office in the days before the ceremony to introduce their families. My favorite part of the whole thing is sitting on the stage, spotting my students, and seeing the big smiles on their faces. So much joy!
The team has a bunch of cool stuff about to be released, so I’ll keep this issue brief with just a few interesting things I’ve come across. Much more to come in the next few issues!
Happy Stat of the Week!
Energy costs are rising right now, along with just about everything else, but the declining cost of renewables is an underreported story. Comparing the true cost of various energy sources is tricky, but LCOE is a measure that somewhat controls for the differences in how each form of energy is maintained. Check out this chart, which I pulled from Wikipedia.
Alternatives/renewables are now competitive on cost (if not cheaper) than fossil fuels, and huge advances in battery tech make solar and wind 24/7/365 energy sources. I read an analysis about 10 years ago saying that American energy independence was impossible. Difficult? Sure. Impossible? Apparently not. I favor an “all of the above” approach to energy generation, but the future is clearly renewables/alternatives.
Some Things That Intrigued Me
Kids don’t walk to school anymore. This brief piece shares data showing that children rarely walk to school. Most of the decline occurred before the mid-90s, and the percentage has hovered around 10-12% ever since. I’m of mixed mind about this. There are obvious benefits to having more kids walking to school, but there are also downsides - including more bullying, I suspect. It’s a complicated issue!
U.S.-China summit. If you’re reading this, the Sino-American relationship impacts you on a daily basis. This summary of perspectives on the recent Trump-Xi summit is a quick, informative read.
Improving research journals. Over the past 10-12 years, a great deal of ink has been spilt about how to improve social science research. This brief commentary by Bob Maranto provides some grist for the mill, with a specific focus on bringing ideological balance to research journals.
Some Things That Interested Me
Proportional representation is having a moment! I’ve previously mentioned my growing fascination with proportional representation as a way to address this gerrymandering madness. Over the past month or so, it seems to be coming up more and more, including this episode of the Ezra Klein podcast. It’s a very good overview of the key issues.
Nicolas Cage interview. The New York Times recently interviewed Cage about his upcoming TV show on Amazon Prime. It was more interesting and entertaining than I expected. Here’s the print version, which is slightly abridged. However, I highly recommend the podcast version or video version to get the full Nic Cage experience.
Cool conference. Pre-pandemic, the UK Creativity Researchers Conference was one of my favorite annual events. The organizers are back at it, and they’ve moved the event online this summer. If you have some time on June 24, I highly recommend it.
Jade Plant of the Week
As I picked up a package at CVS yesterday (No shipping charges from some merchants if you have it delivered there. Who knew?!?), I noticed a jade plant sitting under a display table. Look at the size of the leaves on this green baby! Those puppies are 3-4” long. Wow! I’m tempted to call it “elephant ear jade,” but I’m going with “albatross jade” for now. Nominations for better variant names are encouraged! Maybe “helicopter jade?”
Where to Find Me
email: jplucker@jhu.edu
http://Amazon.com/author/jonathanplucker