worldsfair | February 21, 2007
So last week was pretty busy, and to be honest I haven't quite depressurized yet from the fatigue it induced (hence the lack of material from me on the blog - thanks Ben for stepping in as always). On top of that, the science scouts apparently hit a nerve in webland being picked up by a few places of note.
Thanks for the suggestions for more badges - I'm on it.
In fact, I put up a few new ones a couple of days ago. You should go check it out. There's stuff about large animals, stats, telescopes, and setting fire to stuff. All good.
Anyway, next up, a science post proper...
bcohen | February 20, 2007For example, I knew you would click on that.
Oh how coy.
Anyway, an article in The Guardian ("The brain scan that can read people's intentions") reports on this: "A team of world-leading neuroscientists has developed a powerful technique that allows them to look deep inside a person's brain and read their intentions before they act."
A picture of Dave's brain on drugs
(ibuprofen, if I'm reading the scan correctly)
Quoth those Brits:
The latest work reveals the dramatic pace at which neuroscience is progressing, prompting the researchers to call for an urgent debate into the ethical issues…
bcohen | February 20, 2007The Morning News is a fantastic literary and cultural site, chock full of writer-type work, interviews, artwork, commentary, and the like. (We link to them on the lower left of this page. G' head, take a look. I'll wait.) They also run an excellent daily set of news links, almsot always with something unusual and intriguing. (Today, e.g., they give a link to a story on the size of New York condoms.)
Anyway, they've just announced one of their notably fascinating projects, the third annual Tournament of Books. A bevy of high-profile judges, side commentary on the challenges from astute…
bcohen | February 19, 2007More on green campuses and environmental responsibility from higher education. This one's "a high-visibility effort to address global warming by garnering institutional commitments to neutralize greenhouse gas emissions, and to accelerate the research and educational efforts of higher education to equip society to re-stabilize the earth's climate" (from here). (The Chronicle of Higher Ed reported on it as well last week.)
The full "Commitment" paper is here (in pdf), for university and college presidents to sign.
Good P.R.?
Good for the trustees?
Good for the environment?
Opens questions…
bcohen | February 18, 2007This now becomes the third in an unplanned series on James Sherley's threatened, acted upon, and now ended hunger strike.
I saw notice of this in Science [print issue*] last week. Then, curiosity piqued once again, I found an article ("MIT professor ends 12-day hunger strike") from the Boston Globe about it.
The two reports offered different senses of what actually happened. Science made it seem that MIT administration had acquiesced and said (I'm paraphrasing) 'okay okay, we'll give your case more serious and immediate consideration.' Specifically, they said this:
[MIT] agreed this…
bcohen | February 17, 2007Jenna Fisher at the Utne Reader has a guide to green campuses. This helps with an earlier post I'd added last Fall about campus sustainability, which in turn is a continuation of the conversation on consumption patterns.
Quoth Utne.com:In recent years, college and university campuses have proven crucial leaders in the movement to make large-scale, resource-demanding institutions more environmentally friendly. Many have implemented projects that promote alternative energies, energy efficiency, and environmental sustainability. But not everyone's jumped on the eco-bandwagon. So who's doing…
bcohen | February 17, 2007After a long delay, the Annals of Science at McSweeney's are back with Volume XII. In fact, I've been off-line for several days (what a world out there, you should see it) and only now saw that it was up: "Galileo Was Right About the Stars".
So, if you were looking for a small write-up with an over-reliance (some might say juvenile fixation) on Italian names, and one that held Galileo, Jesuits, Maffeo Barberini, Spanish anti-papal cabals, and weather commentary together, then this is your lucky day.
worldsfair | February 16, 2007Last day of my workshop.
And I simply must direct folks to the piece that is up at the SCQ today. The piece by Hugh Powell (who also contributes over at the always wonderful Inkling), is really what the SCQ is all about. Go check it out - it's called, "MALCOLM GLADWELL WRITES THE INTRODUCTION TO A NEW EDITION OF THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY."
Also, the Science Scouts has gotten a wonderful response, and so new members and new badges will be duly added sometime next week (some of the badge suggestions have been really funny).
And for those of you who haven't had a chance to…
worldsfair | February 14, 2007This piece is great. Basically looking at scientific ways to query a few well known hypotheses such as, "All we need is love", "It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all", and "Love means never having to say you're sorry."
Fitting too, being Valentine's Day and all (Happy Valentine's day , Kate!)
worldsfair | February 14, 2007"Leaping from tree to tree, as they float down the mighty rivers of British Columbia. The Giant Redwood. The Larch. The Fir! The mighty Scots Pine! The lofty flowering Cherry! The plucky little Apsen! The limping Roo tree of Nigeria. The towering Wattle of Aldershot! The Maidenhead Weeping Water Plant! The naughty Leicestershire Flashing Oak! The flatulent Elm of West Ruislip! The Quercus Maximus Bamber Gascoigni! The Epigillus! The Barter Hughius Greenus!" (The Lumberjack sketch, Monty Python)
Not only is the above, a good opportunity to learn about a few flora (and occasional fauna), but…
worldsfair | February 13, 2007Specifically, I'm teaching a workshop - this one actually.
Anyway, the piece up at McSweeney's today is inspired, and is another one of those I wish I thought of that things. It's called "The Birthday Party Log of Ned, Born on February 29" - go check it out, it's awesome.
bcohen | February 13, 2007(Thanks to Steven Starr, at the Energy Justice Network, from whom I got most of this.)
This is all strange to me. The January/February 2007 edition of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists says (on page 71): "Major progress towards a safer world would include engaging in serious and candid discussion about the potential expansion of nuclear power worldwide. As a means of addressing the threats from climate change, nuclear power should be considered as an alternative energy source." They also say that "nuclear energy production does not produce carbon dioxide."
They don't say anything about…
worldsfair | February 12, 2007PF#2, as originally introduced.
PF#2, the follow-up.
The answer was "Mercury" (and we still relish the chance to find that middle puzzle-making ground, between Monday crossword too easy and Sunday crossword too hard).
The Queen goes to Queen the band goes to Freddy Mercury.
The instruments go to temperature go to Mercury.
The number sequence goes to the number of moons for each planet, from the farthest out, to, yep ("..."), Mercury.
- - -PF#3 coming by late Spring 2007
worldsfair | February 12, 2007
The SCQ is pleased to announce the launching of the Order Of The Science Scouts Of Exemplary Repute And Above Average Physique - being an initiative aimed squarely at promoting informal networking amongst science communicators, and the sharing of merit badges.
More specifically:
"For the propogation of an ideal where science communicators can meet firstly, for drinks; secondly, for communicating; and ultimately, for networking."
Anyway, this is something that's been in the works for the last few months here in Vancouver, but what the hell - let's open it up to everybody and anybody who…
bcohen | February 9, 2007I mean the title in a different sense than most science bloggers or SciBlog readers will likely presume. I mean it as one who studies science, not one who practices it - given the complexity, esteem, importance, and promise of the scientific enterprise, such deeper understandings of what this science thing is would seem requisite. Thus, over the past thirty or forty years, a lot of people have worked to develop the area of study known as "science and technology studies" (or, with slightly differing emphases that I don't need to get into here, "science, technology, and society" - "STS" in…
worldsfair | February 9, 2007
So I recently bought the new Shin's CD (it's good by the way), and it kind of got me thinking a little of the parallels between the discovery of new music and discovery in the general scientific sense.
It's like there's this aristocracy element to it all, where being the best and (maybe more importantly) being the first is really key to it all.
For example, I happened to have "discovered" the Shins back in 2001 whereby the song "New Slang" made it onto the first baby mix ever I made for my first child (my daughter Hannah, who was born in August 2001). It's a great song, but that's not…
bcohen | February 8, 2007This is a visualization of scientific productivity and population. It's from the online edition of the German "Spiegel."
The top map illustrates the number of scientific publications per year. Contrast this to the population map, shown underneath it. I've copied the map below. Read on to see...
Here's the caption, in German: "Wissenschaftliche Forschung gemessen an der Zahl der Publikationen im Jahr 2001 (oben) gegenuber dem Kartogramm der Bevolkerungszahl der Lander der Welt (unten)."
Make of it what you will. In fact, I wonder what you do make of it.
(And with apologies to our German…
worldsfair | February 7, 2007This is really just to direct folks to a marvelous post over at bldgblog.blogspot.com. You know, speaking as a teacher who is always on the hunt for striking imagery, this one is really quite beautiful (and thanks to McSweeney's by the way, for the direction)
Anyway, take a look at this:
This image (from At this Rate, by Giles Revell and Matt Wiley), represents land development as seen from above - a photoshop reworking of a satelite's view of the plight of urban sprawl if you like. And of course, if it's not immediately evident (visit the bldgblog link above, and it will be), it looks…