A recurring puzzle of evolution is the persistence of certain entities or behaviours that - at first glance - seem to harm the reproductive fitness of individuals. From the naive standpoint, an individual worker ant makes a mockery of evolution. They’re sterile; a reproductive dead-end.

One way of conceptualizing the answer is the unit of ( Read more... )

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There is a possibly apocryphal story about a conversation on the subject of the solar system between Wittgenstein and a student. Wittgenstein asks the student why early people thought that the sun went around the earth. The student says that it’s because it looks that way. Wittgenstein asks, “And how would it look if the earth went around the ( Read more... )

This is a story about planning, foresight, myths, reality, and the oak beams of College Hall at New College, Oxford.


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Check out this article on Ars Technica about law prof. Patricia Akester’s study examining the effects of DRM on the legal use of copyrighted works. As you’re reading it, bear in mind that due to laws similar to the DMCA all over the world, it is often illegal to bypass DRM encryption, even if copyright law allows you to make a copy.

Why is this ( Read more... )

1. The Photography of Chris Jordan.
   
   Chris Jordan takes very, very big numbers and represents them in photographs. Here’s one that he made with folded prison uniforms standing in for Americans in prison. More on his official site.
   
2. The 30 Worst Atrocities of the 20th Century.
   
   I found this page by accident several years ago. I end up going back to it ( Read more... )

Dan Barber’s story (embedded above) is one of my favourite kinds of stories. He begins with something that seems unethical, tells the story of an unlikely maverick who challenges the status quo and wins (a contest). All the while, it turns out that our maverick’s approach involves some down home ingenuity and hands on sustainability. In the end, ( Read more... )

I was reading this article on Slate.com about a number of subprime mortgage holders who are weathering the financial storm just fine. They have delinquency rates of around 3% in an area of finance where the national average is closer to 19%.

How is this possible?

The explanation that stuck with me came from Mark Pinsky, president and CEO of of the ( Read more... )

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