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	<title>Hansen&#039;s MagNET</title>
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	<link>http://www.hansensmag.net</link>
	<description>a MagNETic Magazine edited by Stefan Hansen</description>
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		<title>One thousand hours out the window</title>
		<link>http://www.hansensmag.net/2012/01/26/one-thousand-hours-out-the-window/</link>
		<comments>http://www.hansensmag.net/2012/01/26/one-thousand-hours-out-the-window/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:47:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>stefanhansen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Tic tac]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.hansensmag.net/?p=436</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve started a new experiment of mine this year. From January 1 I&#8217;ve kept track of all my hours, 24 of them every day. So, I know how much I sleep (33 % of my time, so 8 hours a day), how much I socialize (11 %, or 18½ hours a week), and so on. I also know how much time I waste on surfing around like an idiot on the net, how many hours I&#8217;m physically active (not enough!), and the list goes on. Although I try to carefully keep track of everything I do, I still have a lot of fuzz &#8211; the term I use for hours not tracked. This turns out to be more than 3 hours a day on average. That&#8217;s more than 1,000 hours in a year! In this time I could have learned 1 or 2 new languages, or earned a good chuck ...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Five hundred Romanian words</title>
		<link>http://www.hansensmag.net/2012/01/25/five-hundred-romanian-words/</link>
		<comments>http://www.hansensmag.net/2012/01/25/five-hundred-romanian-words/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 25 Jan 2012 22:58:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>stefanhansen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Talking Heads]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.hansensmag.net/?p=434</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve been learning Romanian since last Christmas, slowly building a vocabulary. Today I reached five hundred words. Now much, but I&#8217;m happy with it.
The aim is to be fluent before the end of summer.
]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.hansensmag.net/2012/01/25/five-hundred-romanian-words/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Magnitude 7.6 earthquake to hit New York City</title>
		<link>http://www.hansensmag.net/2011/03/16/magnitude-7-6-earthquake-to-hit-new-york-city/</link>
		<comments>http://www.hansensmag.net/2011/03/16/magnitude-7-6-earthquake-to-hit-new-york-city/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 16 Mar 2011 19:14:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>stefanhansen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Science & Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Black Swan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dogma]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[earthquakes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fallibility]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[forecasting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nuclear power]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[postdiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[prediction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[probability]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[risk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[robustness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[science]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.hansensmag.net/?p=380</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Based on data from U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) a magnitude 7.6 earthquake will hit New York, with a 90-100 per cent probability. When exactly the earthquake will strike isn&#8217;t known with certainty, but it could happen in the next few weeks.
Using USGS&#8217;s Earthquake Probability Mapping, it has been calculated that a magnitude 7.6 (or higher) earthquake is to hit New York once every 4 million years. That is indeed a rare event. However, modern instrumental recordings began just 130 years ago (according to USGS), so although a once-in-4-million-year-event is a rare event, we currently have no way of knowing if the 7.6 magnitude earthquake will hit New York City in 4 days, or in 4 million years, for now. As earthquake expert Ronald Hamburger, senior principal at Simpson Gumpertz &#38; Heger, puts it: &#8220;the [once in] 10,000 year earthquake is as likely to occur today or tomorrow, as it is 1,000 ...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>6</slash:comments>
		</item>
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		<title>The 1,000 Watts Vacation</title>
		<link>http://www.hansensmag.net/2011/03/12/the-1000-watts-vacation/</link>
		<comments>http://www.hansensmag.net/2011/03/12/the-1000-watts-vacation/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 12 Mar 2011 15:57:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>stefanhansen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Ramblings and reflections]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.hansensmag.net/?p=373</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The average American lives a power-hungry life, running on about 10,000 watts, the equivalent of having one hundred 100 W light bulbs turned on 24 hours a day, every day, 365 days a year. The average European, living as comfortably, runs on about half of that, burning the same power as fifty 100 W light bulbs. To give a little perspective, a human being burns about 100 watts daily, a long-distance runner about 300-400 watts. In other words: Americans are responsible for burning 100 times their own metabolic need for being alive, Europeans 50 times. That is some crazy numbers &#8211; time for a vacation.
Many people prefer a low key vacation, kicking back on a beach in Thailand, Spain or maybe Jamaica &#8211; as a contrast to our hectic, upbeat American or Europeans lives. For one or two weeks, while on vacation, we essentially live low energy lives, running on ...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Remaining intact</title>
		<link>http://www.hansensmag.net/2011/03/10/remaining-intact/</link>
		<comments>http://www.hansensmag.net/2011/03/10/remaining-intact/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 10 Mar 2011 19:14:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>stefanhansen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Ramblings and reflections]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.hansensmag.net/?p=369</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Flipping through Michael Boulter&#8217;s &#8220;Extinction: evolution and the end of man&#8221;, I came across an interesting section, wherein he writes, on page 5-6, about how the local newspaper in Burren, County Clare, in 2000 said it was &#8220;the wettest weather since records began over a hundred years ago, all brought about by global warming.&#8221; He tells how there were landslides, floods from broken river embankments and land being covered by storming high tides. And then he makes in interesting comment, saying that &#8220;the damage was restricted to modern features of the environment, artificial landscapes out of balance with the whole system. In contrast, the rocks and soil that had been around for millennia remained intact. These mature structures are part of the enormous system that can survive extreme events because they have been developed within the system through long periods of time. Theirs is a natural peace, a balance within ...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Almost All Species Are Dead</title>
		<link>http://www.hansensmag.net/2011/03/10/almost-all-species-are-dead/</link>
		<comments>http://www.hansensmag.net/2011/03/10/almost-all-species-are-dead/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 10 Mar 2011 16:01:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>stefanhansen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ramblings and reflections]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.hansensmag.net/?p=367</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The title of this post is borrowed from the first chapter of David M. Raup&#8217;s book &#8220;Extinction: Bad genes or bad luck?&#8221;, in which Raup reminds us of the 1966 estimate by demographer Nathan Keyfitz, who said: about 4 percent of all people who ever lived is now alive (in 1966). That sounds quite amazing, considering that human beings have been around for about 200,000 years. What makes it possible is the combination of population growth and the newness of the human species.
In other words: more than 99 percent, if not 99.9 percent, of all species are now extinct. It kind of makes me wonder: when is it our turn to join the choir of bygone?
Now compare this with the number of species. One estimate says that there are around 40 million different species of animals and plants on earth. That&#8217;s a lot, but not compared with the estimated number ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.hansensmag.net/2011/03/10/almost-all-species-are-dead/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Anti-skeptics and their predictions</title>
		<link>http://www.hansensmag.net/2011/03/09/anti-skeptics-and-their-predictions/</link>
		<comments>http://www.hansensmag.net/2011/03/09/anti-skeptics-and-their-predictions/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 09 Mar 2011 20:33:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>stefanhansen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Ramblings and reflections]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.hansensmag.net/?p=364</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The first time I heard about The Long Now Foundation was in the late 1990s, when I read about it in Brian Eno&#8217;s published diary, &#8220;A Year with Swollen Appendices.&#8221; I was more gullible back then, and everything related to Eno I &#8211; by definition &#8211; worshiped without question. Luckily, I&#8217;ve grown older and wiser.
The Long Now Foundation has a list of predictions, called &#8220;On the Record: Predictions.&#8221; It&#8217;s a long list of predictions various &#8211; otherwise intelligent &#8211; people have made about the future, among them Kevin Kelly, Danny Hillis and Stewart Brand.
Here are some examples:
&#8220;By 2020, bioterror or bioerror will lead to one million casualties in a single event,&#8221; by Martin Rees.
Is this really likely? I guess so. Is it unlikely? I guess so.
&#8220;By 2050, we will receive intelligent signals from outside our solar system,&#8221; by Paul Hawken.
Likely? Sure. Unlikely? Sure.
&#8220;Human population of the world will peak at ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.hansensmag.net/2011/03/09/anti-skeptics-and-their-predictions/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Ever heard of the Maunder Minimum?</title>
		<link>http://www.hansensmag.net/2011/03/09/ever-heard-of-the-maunder-minimum/</link>
		<comments>http://www.hansensmag.net/2011/03/09/ever-heard-of-the-maunder-minimum/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 09 Mar 2011 17:41:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>stefanhansen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Ramblings and reflections]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.hansensmag.net/?p=362</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In the ongoing debate about climate change, and whether or not global warming is a consequence of our CO2 output or not, often the global warming deniers refer to the suns 11-year natural cycle. They tend to argue that the current heating of earth is normal, since the natural 11-year cycle of the sun is now heating us up. This unsubstantiated belief is why I&#8217;m careful to name these people global warming deniers, and not global warming skeptics. Skeptics they are certainly not. They think they know what&#8217;s going on, unlike a true skeptic, who admits his or hers lack of understanding.
We might be heated somewhat in the coming years thanks to the suns normal 11-year cycle, but does that mean global warming is only attributable to the sun, and that we silly humans have no impact on the climate at all? Not necessarily. Even if the sun is warming ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.hansensmag.net/2011/03/09/ever-heard-of-the-maunder-minimum/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>What book to buy?</title>
		<link>http://www.hansensmag.net/2011/03/06/what-book-to-buy/</link>
		<comments>http://www.hansensmag.net/2011/03/06/what-book-to-buy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 06 Mar 2011 22:55:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>stefanhansen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Ode to Comte de Lautréamont]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.hansensmag.net/?p=357</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Warming: For my eyes only, of no interest to anyone else. 
Time is limited, so is my dollar. I have to buy a book, for various reasons I have to buy a book. Or rather: I&#8217;m allowed to buy a book. Just one, this week, just one. But which one? There are millions of books out there, plenty of them seems interesting. So, which one should I buy? It seems like an easy choice, but it&#8217;s not. Not for me. Okay, what do I want to read about? I want to read philosophy, I want to read about evolution, I want to read books on the debate concerning God, I want to read about science, or at least some science. Also, right and wrong, and epistemology. Man, I have no clue how to make a choice. STOP!
ANTI-STOP. Or start again. I&#8217;ve been watching a documentary revolving around the question of ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.hansensmag.net/2011/03/06/what-book-to-buy/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Where do we go from here?</title>
		<link>http://www.hansensmag.net/2011/03/06/where-do-we-go-from-here/</link>
		<comments>http://www.hansensmag.net/2011/03/06/where-do-we-go-from-here/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 06 Mar 2011 18:26:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>stefanhansen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Ode to Comte de Lautréamont]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.hansensmag.net/?p=354</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Warning: this is a personal more or less automatic writing, for my eyes and fingers only. If you, for some reason, read it, don&#8217;t expect to find anything of any value. 
Once again I sit down with the intent of writing, without stopping, just writing, writing, writing &#8211; like to good old surrealists. Or so I think. Anyway, I actually came here with an intention, to write something about my aim, my plan, my ambition, my quest and so on, and so on. I don&#8217;t know what it is. I know &#8211; to some extend &#8211; what it&#8217;s not. I know that I want to write, and I want to read. I&#8217;m crazy about reading, I&#8217;m crazy about new ideas, ideas than challenge my, makes me see the world &#8211; and myself &#8211; in a new light. I am crazy about that. In a sense, reading is what I would ...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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