Author: Brendan Barry

  • Hog Wild

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    Brendan Barry
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    So admittedly this post should have been up last week, but I liked the lunar cycle one too  much. But today is Friday and who cares. We made it to the end of the week. In the wake of the shootings last week, someone on Twitter posed the question: Legit question for rural Americans –…

  • A Very Loud Tube

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    Brendan Barry
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    As all my readers probably know, I love London. And in loving London, I love the Tube and the Oyster Card and all that goes along with Transport for London. But, I have noticed that sometimes when I take the Underground, there are segments where it gets a bit loud, especially with the windows open.…

  • Greenland, the 51st State?

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    Brendan Barry
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    If you haven’t heard, President Trump wants to buy Greenland from Denmark. So is Greenland going to beat Puerto Rico to joining the Union as the 51st state? No. Not even close. It would be the smallest state in terms of population, but also one of the smallest US territories. But in terms of area, Greenland…

  • From Frying Pan to the Fires of a War Zone

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    Brendan Barry
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    Moving away from climate change now, we turn to the lovely land of Afghanistan. While the Trump administration continues to negotiate with the Taliban in hopes of ending the war, the war continues to go worse for Afghanistan, its government, and its allies, including the United States. It is true that US and NATO ally…

  • Hotter Muggier Faster

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    Brendan Barry
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    Last week we looked at a few posts that showed the future impact of climate change at both a global and US-level scale. In the midst of last week and those articles, the Washington Post looked backwards at the past century or so to identify how quickly the US has changed. Spoiler: some places are…

  • Lunar Cycles

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    Brendan Barry
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    Yesterday in the early hours of the morning was technically the latest full moon. And so since today is Friday and we all made it to the end of the week, it seems like a good time to let xkcd educate us all on lunar periodicity. Credit for the piece goes to Randall Munroe.

  • How Warm Will It Get? Part II

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    Brendan Barry
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    Yesterday we looked at a nice piece from the BBC showing how big cities across the world will warm from the impact of climate change. It did a really nice job of showcasing the numbers. But it was admittedly number heavy. (And for the Americans in my audience, you probably were left out in the…cold…because…

  • How Warm Will It Get?

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    Brendan Barry
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    In Philadelphia, this summer has been warmer than average. But with most recent years being warmer than average, that might not mean much. However, a valid question is that with climate change, how much warmer will the city get on average? The BBC recently published an article that explored the temperature changes in cities around the…

  • Urban Boom Towns

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    Brendan Barry
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    Today we look at a piece from the Guardian about the blossoming of some cities from, essentially, out of nowhere. Think similar to how there is really no reason for Las Vegas or Phoenix to exist—cities of hundreds of thousands situated smack in the middle of the desert. But most of these new growth cities,…

  • How Mass Shootings Have Changed

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    Brendan Barry
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    A few weeks ago here in the United States, we had the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio. The Washington Post put together a piece looking at how mass shootings have changed since 1966. And unfortunately one of the key takeaways is that since 1999 they are far too common. The biggest…