thescian | February 28, 2008A comprehensive and very readable post by Coturnix.
In other news, blogging will be slow for some more days till I get back on schedule on some personal matters.
thescian | February 26, 2008Not Exactly Rocket Science. A delicious science blog by science writer Ed Yong, now at Scienceblogs.com.
thescian | February 26, 2008Physics is like sex. Sure, it may give some practical results, but that's not why we do it. - R P Feynman [more]
Part of a beebs program where Feynman talks of physics and more.
thescian | February 25, 2008An article in National Geographic about the search that's to begin at LHC for the particle responsible for gravity - a.k.a God particle, god's own glue, etc. Lickable pictures - a NatGeo speciality - to gawk at.
In Our Time podcast on Parallel Universes. I am posting this with my legs in one, head in another and arms in your Universe. Please don't stare, you are collapsing my multiversal wavefunction.
thescian | February 24, 2008Why is this so important. Chris Abani, an extraordinary Nigerian novelist who published his first story at the age of 16 ( he was imprisoned by Nigerian government for it), at a TED talk.
thescian | February 20, 2008Hair is one of nature's most amazing inventions. It is one of the toughest and lightest of materials. Even if it is harvested from the heads of unsuspecting believers, it does not diminish in value, especially in the eyes a resourceful businessman. Speigel reports:
Balsara hasn't been in the business long. He studied business management in London, and eight years ago a friend came up with the idea of exporting hair. At that time, Indian temple hair was being sold at $30 (â¬20) a kilo. Today the going price ranges from $300 (â¬205) to $600 (â¬410). "Hair has become one of the most expensive…
thescian | February 19, 2008The Letter Writer of Mumbai. A reminder of how technology makes the past obsolete.
thescian | February 18, 2008An FT article:
Poverty in early childhood poisons the brain, the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Boston yesterday heard.
Neuroscientists said many children growing up in very poor families with low social status experience unhealthy levels of stress hormones, which impair their neural development. That effect is on top of any damage caused by inadequate nutrition and exposure to environmental toxins.
Studies by several US universities have revealed the pervasive harm done to the brain, particularly between the ages of six months and three years, from low socio-…
thescian | February 17, 2008Hitchens in an interview about his book on Mother Teresa.
It's either consciously or subconsciously assumed that a person of the cloth actually has better morals. There's precious little evidence of this; there's a great deal of evidence to the contrary, in fact.
[via reddit]
thescian | February 15, 2008Let it be known that a rational scientific mind will shrink at nothing, including the thought of eating shit.
thescian | February 14, 2008Some tools that you may find useful.
Blogbridge. I have been using this regularly now. If they can get their plugin architecture sorted out to play enclosures, it'll be quite nifty.
Firefox 3 Beta. The latest release is fantastic. Add-ons need to be ported but I am not very big on add-ons. Ars has a review.
Opera. I have been playing with the Widgets. Love this widget.
thescian | February 14, 2008Beebs reports[thanks Ramya] on a council that pandered to a family's delusions to save tax payer money.
A psychic was paid £60 by a council to rid a County Durham home of a "poltergeist" after ghostly goings-on.
...
A council spokesman said it paid half the psychic's fee as it was the most cost-effective solution.
It is a cost effective solution for the council but what about the ghost that is not homeless? Who's gonna care for it now? I must say, Durham county council is full of heartless councilors with noses pressed deep into their budget books.
I read this and needed some exorcism…
thescian | February 13, 2008Barnacles!
Yes, indeed, it's the long flagellating thing in the picture. Watch them have a go at it. [wmv video file]
thescian | February 13, 2008
Beebs reports on a frenchman's successful effort [video] to run a car with compressed air. This is being backed by Tatas. Production is to start in India this year it appears. A TR article that has more details.
thescian | February 12, 2008Why does Darwin matter? It is because he cut through so much chaff with one of the most simple, beautiful and exquisitely sharp ideas. Evolution is Life's greatest and truest legacy and he was its most brilliant student.
Read Dawkins celebrating Darwin on the occasion of Darwin Day.
thescian | February 12, 2008Kenji Miyazawa was a 20th century Japanese poet who loved Nature and Science. In a New Scientist article Roger Pulvers who has translated Miyazawa's poems describes him as a tireless and faithful chronicler of nature.
A beautiful line from one of his poems quoted in the article:
Messengers, so to speak, of a catalogue of light
From every possible era that is or ever was.
This "catalogue of light" is a catalogue of time. Miyazawa recognises that the light from the celestial objects we see represents images from different times in the past. At a time when Einstein's theories were not well…
thescian | February 6, 2008Sunita Narain makes a case. Speaking of what she calls the Nano-flyover syndrome (Nano being Tata's new low-priced car), she says:
The question is should we discount the price of motorization so that some (and maybe a few more) can drive a car or a two-wheeler? Or should we pay the real cost of our commute so that the government can invest in mobility for all? The fact is that the government cannot afford to subsidize cars for all. Nor can it afford to invest in both cars and buses.
Ultimately, it is not about economics. It is about politics and the imagination needed to build cities in…
thescian | February 5, 2008Not I, not I, but the wind that blows through me! -D H Lawrence
It's a charmed life that astronauts lead. Wouldn't the catheters that carry more solid things from astronaut's behind have some de-gassing contraption? If not, it's a charmed life indeed. You can get a taste (smell? either way, what a nasty pun) of it if you sniff under the collars in winter when you are totally wrapped in wool. (Admit it, you have sniffed, haven't you).