Weekly Science & Politics News Roundup

• Reading a teleprompter with gusto doesn't mean you know jack about science (or anything else, for that matter). • Counterpoint: Biden on the environment. • What's really going on in the North Pole? • And while we're on the topic, just how much of a sea level rise can we expect in the near future? • The neuroscience of Zen Buddhist meditation, a.k.a. "How to get through an entire McCain speech without committing seppuku." • Finally, this has been all over the Internet—and now, including here: