seattle
lborkowski | December 29, 2015During the holiday season, Kim, Liz and I are taking a short break from blogging. We are posting some of our favorite posts from the past year. Here’s one of them, originally posted on March 16, 2015:
by Liz Borkowski, MPH
In 2003, the city of London took a dramatic step in the battle against traffic congestion: It implemented a congestion charge of £5 for those driving private vehicles into an eight-square-mile central congestion zone on weekdays between 7am and 6:30pm. The fees were increased twice, and since 2011 have stood at £10. Drivers purchase day passes online, and a camera network…
lborkowski | March 16, 2015In 2003, the city of London took a dramatic step in the battle against traffic congestion: It implemented a congestion charge of £5 for those driving private vehicles into an eight-square-mile central congestion zone on weekdays between 7am and 6:30pm. The fees were increased twice, and since 2011 have stood at £10. Drivers purchase day passes online, and a camera network and a license-plate-recognition system allow for enforcement and penalty collection. Motorcycles, bicycles, taxis, and buses are exempt from the charges.
An essential aspect of London's system is that it invests the revenue…
sporte | September 23, 2010It's been exciting to see the progress in getting the Theobroma cacao genome sequenced and off to the databases.
But....
I've toured the Theo chocolate factory twice now, and there's a crucial piece in the story that appears to be missing.
photo by S. Porter 2010
You see, chocolate is like wine. We don't get the chocolate we love from eating the fruit. We get the so-called "food of the gods" by eating the fruit after it's been fermented. And, just like wine, microorganisms are the ones doing the fermenting.
I learned this from attending two separate tours at Theo chocolates, our local…
sporte | August 4, 2010This summer, Seattle's weather has been cloudy and cold. Luckily, "cloud" has another meaning.
For those of you wondering, what "cloudy" means, Eric Nilsson, from Insilicos, has a great article in Xconomy on Seattle and cloud computing.
A quick description of cloud computing would is to think of computer hardware, that is, the servers and data centers, as "utilities." Where other utilities like the Rocky Reach Dam produce and sell electricity, cloud utilities sell computing power. How they sell it is the distinguishing piece.
I think this quote from the article describes it best:…
grrlscientist | June 14, 2010tags: Using Science to Create the Ultimate Chocolate Bar, Theo Chocolate Company, Seattle, organic chocolate, fair-trade chocolate, Doc Choc, Andy McShea, streaming video
Harvard-trained molecular biologist Andy McShea takes a distinctly scientific approach to making better and healthier chocolate. Dr McShea, known as "Doc Choc," is the Chief Operating Officer of the 4-year-old Theo Chocolate company, which he describes as the fastest-growing organic, fair-trade chocolate producer in the United States.
Visit Theo Chocolate Company or read more about it in TheScientist's Dr. Chocolate […
pontiff | March 5, 2010Congrats to OneBusAway, winners of the 2010 WTIA Industry Achievement Award for "best use of technology in the government, nonprofit or education sector". OneBusAway was started by University of Washington students and provides real time access to transit information here in the Seattle area. I know it best through it's iPhone app, which is by far my most regularly used app (sure I probably use email more, but the iPhone app I use every weekday nearly without exception.) Yeah, yeah I know you fancy European cities will scoff at our backward nature, but I will tell you that the iPhone app is…
pontiff | November 3, 2009Not helpful:
In Seattle if a road bends ever so slightly you are on a new street, but the above is...confusing.
pontiff | September 24, 2009Note the new location (updated 9/28/09)
The Optimizer is coming to town, which is always fun:
TIME: 1:30-2:30 pm, Tuesday, September 29, 2009
PLACE: CSE 305
SPEAKER: Scott Aaronson (MIT)
TITLE: Quantum Money
ABSTRACT:
Ever since there's been money, there have been people trying to counterfeit it, and governments trying to stop them. In a remarkable 1969 manuscript, Stephen Wiesner raised the possibility of money whose authenticity would be guaranteed by the laws of quantum physics. However, Wiesner's money can only be verified by the bank that printed
it -- and the natural question of…
sporte | September 22, 2009This morning I attended the Fifth Annual WBBA Governor's Life Sciences Summit. The breakfast was great; the talks were okay.
I do enjoy the stories about people who's lives were saved because of biotechnology and I agree that the focus of the summit, research and discovery are important, but I can't help thinking about the missing piece.
For the past ten years, I've been involved in a national experiment to help build an educated workforce for biotechnology. Through that time, I've learned about one glaring area where Washington state is missing out.
There's one word for the missing piece.…
pontiff | August 4, 2009Chris Mooney, former Scienceblogger and provocateur extraordinaire, will be in Seattle this Thursday talking about the book he co-authored with Sheril Kirshenbaum, "Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future." Details:
Thursday, August 6 7:00 PM
University Bookstore
4326 University Way N.E.
Seattle, WA 98105
http://www.bookstore.washington.edu/trade.taf?dept=attribute&category=events&par=trade&ttl=events&page=1
From all I've heard Chris is an excellent speaker so this should be a fun event.
pontiff | June 15, 2009Dan Reed has a brief note up about a new group at Microsoft the extreme computing group (XCG) which includes among its subject areas quantum computing:
XCG was formed in June 2009 with the goal of developing radical new approaches to ultrascale and high-performance computing hardware and software. The group's research activities include work in computer security, cryptography, operating system design, parallel programming models, cloud software, data center architectures, specialty hardware accelerators and quantum computing.
Also in the news here. Microsoft, of course, has long had a toe in…
pontiff | June 3, 2009In the University of Washington's "The Daily" in the lost and found section:
FOUND - PANDA head, appears to be a part of a missing suit. Recovered near 45th and Memorial. presumably stolen by ill-advised sorority girls during their week-long, drunken stupor
pontiff | May 26, 2009Ah, the games people play:
A 23-year-old Tacoma man and an 18-year-old Lakewood woman are suspected of throwing rocks from a railroad trestle onto at least 14 vehicles traveling southbound on Interstate 5 early Monday.
...
Investigators told KOMO-TV that the couple was playing a stripping game that involved each of them shedding a layer of clothing for every headlight they managed to break.
pontiff | May 13, 2009Over at TechFlash there is an article about some words Ed Lazowska, professor extraordinaire here in the computer science & engineering department at UW, had for the Seattle tech scene (see also xconomy):
"It seems to me that the issue with this state is that we are one big happy family in which everybody is doing extremely well. Everyone's college program is above average. And everyone's company is above average. And everyone's venture fund is above average. And if you go a little bit more above average than the next guy, then they get all Dirty Harry and whack you down. It is a state of…
sporte | April 30, 2009We were joking about this a couple of hours ago, but I just picked up the phone and learned that two middle schools will be closed for the week.
Aki Kurose and Stevens middle schools are closed from tomorrow to May 8th. Yikes!
grrlscientist | April 28, 2009tags: Phinneas Phogg, Seattle, Pike Place Market, parrots, pets, entertainment, streaming video
This interesting video is an interview with Chris and Phineas Phogg, who entertain crowds at the Pike Place Market in my other home, Seattle. In this video, Chris talks about about their lives as Buskers. This video reminds me of my own beloved Congo African Grey parrot, Zazu, who died while under the care of a so-called Veterinary Technician while I was in the hospital. I always want another Grey parrot, but watching this video makes me especially miss my parrot, and my home. [5:30]
sporte | April 23, 2009Usually, I'm kind of a hermit, but I heard there would be Bacon and so, I'm going to leave the house next Weds, night and attend a science blogging event at the University of Washington.
I think it will be fun. Not only will there be Bacon, there will be pizza and other bloggers, who may or may not be entertaining.
Others who will be there (besides me) are:
Dave Bacon, Quantom Pontiff
Maria Brumm, Green Gabbro, who is NOT really an intern with the Discovery Institute
Keith Seinfeld, KPLU, Science and Wonder
http://kplu.wordpress.com/
Alan Boyle, MSNBC, Cosmic Log
Eric Steig, UW Earth…
pontiff | April 22, 2009Wednesday, April 29, 6:30 p.m I'll be participating in a panel discussion of science blogging sponsored by the Northwest Science Writers Association:
Join local science bloggers, including Alan Boyle from MSNBC.com's Cosmic Log, David Bacon the Quantum Pontiff, Sandra Porter of Biology in a Digital World, Julianne Dalcanton of Cosmic Variance, Eric Steig of Real Climate, and Keith Seinfeld from KPLU, for a lively discussion about the state of the art (or is it science?) of science blogs. If you are a sciblogger or like the idea, join NSWA at the UW Paul G. Allen Center in the Gates Commons (…
pontiff | April 17, 2009Catching up with places I've been.
Caltech.
Steve Chu to be Caltech's commencement speaker. Caltech has found an upgraded mascot. I once wore the old mascot uniform when we were playing Life Bible college. Nothing like signs saying "Darwin was right!" to inflame some sporting events. Who was the person who decided to send out an email to alumni for a survey where the link led to an MIT web address? That's a good way to get a Techer's suspicions up (even the Boston version of the Techer might catch that.)
Berkeley
Berkeley physics now webcasts their physics colloquium. They also scored a big…
sporte | April 2, 2009We saw it this morning while walking the dog.
Figure 1. A sign nearby claims this is a "Seagle."
Figure 2. The ducks must think swimming is safe.