Science and technology links
Why be an engineer: made me laugh.
A robot made of Lego™ that can solve a Rubik’s cube in 12 seconds.
The bookshop Borders using an “interesting” definition of ‘social sciences’.
A grumpy young physicist explains entropy.
Trailer for a proposed London to New York in 37 hours airship. Does not look anything like traditional airships. More details.
Examining the motivations of conflict among hunter-gatherers.
Nominating a single book to help a few survivors after a planetary catastrophe.
Physicist David Gross is optimistic on energy sources.
Swine flu has led to far fewer flu deaths in the US than normal.
Research team believes it has identified the colour scheme of a dinosaur.
A census of the wildlife of the Antarctic has been completed.
About fact-checking and cognitive bias.
Baddies in movies who draw first get shot because it is in the script: but there is a real life basis for it- we move faster when reacting than we initiating.
Evidence for a high rate of medical transmission of HIV in Africa. Grappling with explanations for the high HIV rate. The war on AIDS is being lost, because expanding cases are falling behind treatment funding and prevention has not been successfully pursued.
About sleep (including tips on good sleeping):
So in addition to regular exercise and eating according to your metabolic type, getting enough good quality sleep is extremely valuable for maintaining your ideal weight .
A web “insider” casts a sceptical eye on some of the web's effects and implications.
Getting a bit excited by an idea being floated (from Microsoft) to “license” access to the Internet. The UN has been interested in licensing speech since at least 1985.
A grim example of Facebook™ as an information conduit.
One of my favourite economic bloggers as an example of the “long tail”. And also.
There are times when you need to be really careful about which email you open when. But the model whose pictures of whom he was looking at wants him to keep his job and has signed the petition:
Operators of the website, who are based at Shepherd's Bush in west London, have given their list of reasons for saving Kiely: He seems like a nice bloke; the pictures weren't hardcore; he has suffered enough and finally, there's just too much political correctness in this world anyway.
Buzz Aldrin likes what President Obama is proposing for the space program. Best views of Pluto.
Using lasers to zap mosquitos. Airborne laser successfully targets ballistic missile. The press release. Electric lasers have apparently hit battlefield strength. Thinking about implications. And also.
About applying the science of human motivation to business. In France the issue of management-style and work-based suicides has become a national debate.
A wonderful, heartfelt post, about blogging from a great blogger.
South Australia withdraws from its attempt to censor the internet.
Looking into programs to delay sexual activity among young African-American teenagers and how the results are spun.
Ninetendo win $1.6m against a guy who bragged about illegally downloading the latest SuperMario game. (A manifestation of the problems that technology is creating for intellectual property.)
Disputing “smart growth” claims about emissions, energy use, transport and health effects.
Annoyed Dutch scientist resigns from Dutch Academy of Sciences worried about the retreat into mutually incomprehensible jargon and conflicts of interest within the Academy.
About medieval trial by ordeal:
Ordeals disappeared from Europe after Pope Innocent III’s decree. But, while they lasted, they improved criminal justice. Ordeals are inferior to modern trial methods because modern defendants don’t believe in iudicium Dei, not because trial by jury is inherently superior. If modern citizens did have the superstitious belief required for ordeals to work, it might make sense to bring back the cauldrons of boiling water.
… Many societies weren’t, and in some cases still aren’t, wealthy enough to create strong, effective, and more expensive state-made institutions of order. Superstition’s prominence in such societies may reflect the need to rely on cheaper substitutes for such institutions, substitutes such as beliefs in curses, afterlives, and iudicium Dei.
If this is right, it’s not only that scientific advance crowds out superstition. As societies become wealthier, superstitions become less necessary. So people abandon them. This creates the space required for scientific understandings to emerge.
A robot made of Lego™ that can solve a Rubik’s cube in 12 seconds.
The bookshop Borders using an “interesting” definition of ‘social sciences’.
A grumpy young physicist explains entropy.
Trailer for a proposed London to New York in 37 hours airship. Does not look anything like traditional airships. More details.
Examining the motivations of conflict among hunter-gatherers.
Nominating a single book to help a few survivors after a planetary catastrophe.
Physicist David Gross is optimistic on energy sources.
Swine flu has led to far fewer flu deaths in the US than normal.
Research team believes it has identified the colour scheme of a dinosaur.
A census of the wildlife of the Antarctic has been completed.
About fact-checking and cognitive bias.
Baddies in movies who draw first get shot because it is in the script: but there is a real life basis for it- we move faster when reacting than we initiating.
Evidence for a high rate of medical transmission of HIV in Africa. Grappling with explanations for the high HIV rate. The war on AIDS is being lost, because expanding cases are falling behind treatment funding and prevention has not been successfully pursued.
About sleep (including tips on good sleeping):
So in addition to regular exercise and eating according to your metabolic type, getting enough good quality sleep is extremely valuable for maintaining your ideal weight .
A web “insider” casts a sceptical eye on some of the web's effects and implications.
Getting a bit excited by an idea being floated (from Microsoft) to “license” access to the Internet. The UN has been interested in licensing speech since at least 1985.
A grim example of Facebook™ as an information conduit.
One of my favourite economic bloggers as an example of the “long tail”. And also.
There are times when you need to be really careful about which email you open when. But the model whose pictures of whom he was looking at wants him to keep his job and has signed the petition:
Operators of the website, who are based at Shepherd's Bush in west London, have given their list of reasons for saving Kiely: He seems like a nice bloke; the pictures weren't hardcore; he has suffered enough and finally, there's just too much political correctness in this world anyway.
Buzz Aldrin likes what President Obama is proposing for the space program. Best views of Pluto.
Using lasers to zap mosquitos. Airborne laser successfully targets ballistic missile. The press release. Electric lasers have apparently hit battlefield strength. Thinking about implications. And also.
About applying the science of human motivation to business. In France the issue of management-style and work-based suicides has become a national debate.
A wonderful, heartfelt post, about blogging from a great blogger.
South Australia withdraws from its attempt to censor the internet.
Looking into programs to delay sexual activity among young African-American teenagers and how the results are spun.
Ninetendo win $1.6m against a guy who bragged about illegally downloading the latest SuperMario game. (A manifestation of the problems that technology is creating for intellectual property.)
Disputing “smart growth” claims about emissions, energy use, transport and health effects.
Annoyed Dutch scientist resigns from Dutch Academy of Sciences worried about the retreat into mutually incomprehensible jargon and conflicts of interest within the Academy.
About medieval trial by ordeal:
Ordeals disappeared from Europe after Pope Innocent III’s decree. But, while they lasted, they improved criminal justice. Ordeals are inferior to modern trial methods because modern defendants don’t believe in iudicium Dei, not because trial by jury is inherently superior. If modern citizens did have the superstitious belief required for ordeals to work, it might make sense to bring back the cauldrons of boiling water.
… Many societies weren’t, and in some cases still aren’t, wealthy enough to create strong, effective, and more expensive state-made institutions of order. Superstition’s prominence in such societies may reflect the need to rely on cheaper substitutes for such institutions, substitutes such as beliefs in curses, afterlives, and iudicium Dei.
If this is right, it’s not only that scientific advance crowds out superstition. As societies become wealthier, superstitions become less necessary. So people abandon them. This creates the space required for scientific understandings to emerge.