The Fire Hose: Mink Exports, Planetary Limits, Nuclear Benefits Here's a roundup of noteworthy news and commentary plucked from my Twitter flow and expanded on slightly here beyond the telegraphy that comes with a limit of 140 characters: Roger A. Pielke, Jr., the always provocative University of Colorado political scientist, proposes that scientists who have concluded that humans are crossing perilous "planetary boundaries" are expecting too much influence over societal decisions related to energy and ressource use: Ninad R. Bondre, science editor at the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program in Stockholm followed up with a link to a fascinating piece on scientists and policy: These pieces reminded me of the work of Thomas Lessl, a scholar at the University of Georgia focused on the cultural history of science, on what he and other scholars have called "scientism." I promoted Keith Kloor's post on the paucity of coverage of a new peer-reviewed study on the health benefits of nuclear power (compared to coal), co-authored by James Hansen, who retired yesterday after 46 years of planetary and climate science at NASA: You can explore reactions to Kloor's post here. I posted twice on Twitter about a recent article describing how mink farmers in the United States, after a long decline, were in overdrive aiming to supply China's explosively growing demand: Finally, a new study involving the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration points to the importance of planners building and designing for heavier rains in coming decades: I hope my town - where road maintenance is being debated and gullywashers are already a big issue - takes heed.