The June issue of Physics Today featured an interesting article by Gayen and Klocker, "Deep Convection Drives Oceanic Overturning", pointing to the inadequacy of the classical Rayleigh-Benard model of ocean convection. This reinforces my questioning of the sincerity of those who study small aspect ratio thermal convection, when they make claims that their research is somehow relevant to real convection in planetary or stellar environments.
This month's Eos has a really nice summary of the flaws of the Colorado River Compact, by Ge et al. Although I don't live in the Colorado River catchment, I am not far away, and this is a case study of the inevitably ugly collision of science and politics.
Speaking of which, this week Nature has a news article by Jeff Tollefson on a whistle-blower at the U.S. Geological Survey. Unfortunately, any government bureau is necessarily politically accountable, and this leads to unavoidable clashes betweeen scientific "experts" and political authorities. Formal whistleblower protections codified in federal law have little or no actual value in the real world. though federal employees are forced to take annual trainings on them. It is a colossal deceit.
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