worldsfair | February 6, 2007Or maybe we can call this... "ALIVE IS THE THING"
From the Journal of Applied Physiology. 30: p420 (1971)
Often in the life sciences, the act of observation must occur as an exercise of the dynamic whole. Not through the focused eyes of a molecular lens, or the turbulence of cells in petri plates and test tubes. Not even within the safe boundaries of a cadavre. Although these are powerful conveniences to be sure, the quest for truth often relies on effects seen in the context of the moving, the breathing, and the conscious - preferably all three at the same time. We call this the…
bcohen | February 6, 2007[Basic concepts: Epistemology.]
Adolph Quetelet, a mathematician of the High Enlightenment, explained with scientific precision how to know when lilacs will bloom (this was about the year 1800). The lilacs, he said, bloom "when the sum of the squares of the mean daily temperature since the last frost added up to (4264C) squared."
So now we know. Whew!
That's one way to put it. This, to me, offers one way to get into the basic concept of what's called epistemology. Perhaps calling it a basic concept is a bit askew, since it is complicated and philosophically thick. But it's interesting,…
bcohen | February 6, 2007Here's an update from a previous post about James Sherley, at MIT, who'd threatened late last year to go on a hunger strike to protest not getting tenure.
According to this story yesterday at ABC News (and, I now see, as also noted by Omnbrain), the guy is going through with it. Speculation following from my earlier post was that he'd either not do it, that it was strange to wait until now to start, or that there was more to it than we knew. I still don't know anymore about the case, and honestly forgot about it. But there he is, going through with it.
I wonder if anyone can help us,…
bcohen | February 6, 2007The New Yorker has an intruiging review of the life and legacy of Alfred Russell Wallace. Since 2000, there have been at least five noteworthy biographies of Wallace, bringing greater historical and public attention to "Darwin's neglected double."
Beyond differences in our historical familiarity of the two men, Wallace and Darwin differed by social background, education, temperament, rhetorical skill, and methods (and certainly more). The article of course doesn't suggest that the two were intellectual equals, nor that we should all now be Wallacists, but it does shed light on how some of…
bcohen | February 4, 2007I teach engineering ethics, so I should be expected to have a more nuanced take on this, but this is where I am, as regards organic animal cookies: it just seems wrong.
Really, don't you think? I suppose vegetarian animal cookies would be weirder. And organic? Big deal. It's not necessarily a contradiction. But every time I see the box, it confuses me.
Maybe it's directional, the way you come at it. By which I mean this: it isn't so much that it's wrong, as much as it simply doesn't seem right. What will the kids think?
worldsfair | February 3, 2007It's interesting to me that in this little truth game we have going, it seems that most of the activity generated happened around the single statement concerning Wilco. Now that we've come up with a statement that seems to reflect the "general" sentiment about this band, things have gotten quiet lately.
Still, the ranking for truth (on google.com) has appeared to settle at around #18, 19 or 20. So what to do to jump start things again?
Well, I think we can edit the line about "global warming," given the IPCC report (pdf) officially released yesterday, but maybe more importantly, we can add…
worldsfair | February 2, 2007So did anyone else see that Grey's Anatomy episode last night? You know, the one with the patient on chemotherapy, that had some sort of herbal supplement earlier in the day, and whammo, that strange mixture somehow led to (as they said in the show) a form of "neurotoxic" blood?
And by neurotoxic, we mean that when going under the knife, you had doctors dropping left and right, from some airborne element in the blood?
Because if you did, and especially if you are an M.D., I'd like some answers. Because this has everything to do with Radiohead.
Not that I believe for a second that those…
worldsfair | February 2, 2007No doubt, a lot of talk is buzzing about the IPCC and its statements. But how exactly do these documents come to be? I have an excellent article on this at Terry, written by Sarah Burch. Check it out. It's called:
"IPCC FAQ PART I (BURCH REMIX) (OR TAMING THE LEVIATHAN: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE INTERGOVENMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE)"
worldsfair | February 2, 2007Specifically: why in heaven's name did Felicity choose Ben over Noel?
I mean seriously folks: Noel was obviously the better choice. And I say this because he was of the geeky, computer literate set, and (I think, I think) was essentially representing all that is good and deserving of those who are single, smart, sensible and nice in the scienc-y community. And yet, and yet, Felicty chooses Ben! And fer chrissakes, this is even with the added variable that had Felicity chosen Noel, she would have also scored a free trip to Europe.
So people, what is up with that?
But wait, wait... Maybe…
bcohen | February 1, 2007Not only was I once awarded a baseball signed by the entire 1983 Orioles team -- when attending the Orioles Traveling Carnival and having my number selected from a bowl -- and yes, I'm counting that as an honorific, because, I mean, Rick Dempsey was there and everything -- but now this:
I have just been appointed (hold your breath, longer, keep holding...almost...almost...okay...okay, now breathe)...a biographical candidate into the Cambridge Who's Who of Executives and Professionals in Nursing and Healthcare!
I know! I know! Isn't it incredible!!
We World's Fair guys don't usually toot our…
worldsfair | January 31, 2007The other day, I read Shelley's great account of the Challenger explosion, called "The Blight Upon the Sky," and it just got me thinking that I wish there were more outlets for that kind of science writing. By outlets, I do mean those in the print arena, like a magazine here or there that is condusive to these type of pieces.
I think I speak from experience, because whilst I've done the occasional traditional science piece, most of the stuff I have fun with are things that are little different, on the humourous side, creative side, or reflective side. And although the web has many outlets…
worldsfair | January 31, 2007
So, looks like the truth experiment is holding it's own at #19 (we were at #18 yesterday). This despite a whole series of strange happenings that seem to converge around what we're trying to do here.
For starters, a few days ago, Google finally demonstrated that it had tweaked its search algorithm to deal with google bombing.
After just over two years, Google has finally defused the "Google Bomb" that has returned US President George W. Bush at the top of its results in a search on "miserable failure." The move wasn't a post-State Of The Union Address gift for Bush. Instead, it's part of…
bcohen | January 30, 2007"Unhappy Meals," says Michael Pollan. That's the title of his article published in The New York Times Magazine this past Sunday. (As Jonah has already pointed to.) After last year's The Omnivore's Dilemma, about what defines/describes different chains of food production, he is speaking still about food, but now more directly about nutrition. It's a push in the same direction to write about food and ecology, about how what we know of nutrition comes from a lot of scientific research that ignores the ecological relationships between and within food and human systems. Nutrition is a great…
bcohen | January 30, 2007With alternative energy proposals, the environmental lines are certainly not clear-cut. I've already noted why I think this is the case (short answer: they foster consumption possibilities, not reductions in consumption). But now there is a precise example of the complexity of such issues in many states proposing what are called Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS).
How could one resolve these tensions, when we don't know which alternative is an improvement? The go-to answer there is generally, ask science. Get the evidence to demonstrate trade-offs. But we can't assume science will…
worldsfair | January 29, 2007Seriously now, everyone should take this course. Although I hear it's restricted to folks who have their own fellowships. Competition is tough these days.
worldsfair | January 29, 2007So I went to a site today called Cool Drive Pass, which is a carbon offsetting project spearheaded by some colleagues of mine at UBC and their friends in Vancouver. Essentially, it's a calculator designed to figure out carbon dioxide emissions of your car, and then to equate an "offsetting fee," where the funds would essentially go to some renewable energy project.
Anyway, carbon offsetting is a bit of contentious issue, since it's viewed by many a stalwart environmentalist as a step, even a step in the right direction, but more likely a step that condones complacency. In other words, some…
worldsfair | January 26, 2007Carrying the torch lit by Ben in an earlier post. I just wanted to say a few words about this album cover:
You see, I am a big Police fan, and the rumour of a possible reunion, and the fact that they may even be practicing in Vancouver is a great thing to consider. But this album cover is intriguing to me, because of the way my opinion of it changed practically instantly one day.
It's like this - when I first saw it, I LOVED the cover. It had this mysterious, organic, yet calculated feel to it, and the interesting thing here, is that I got these aesthetics because I didn't actually see the…
worldsfair | January 26, 2007In the scientific literature, the use of characters from the Pokemon franchise has been suggested as a possible way to broach biodiversity and conservation challenges.
True.
Specifically, this is in reference to a short letter that was published in Science in 2002 (29 March 2002. Vol 295: 2367) and entitled "Why Conservationists Should Heed Pokemon."
It starts:
According to E.O. Wilson's Biophilia hypothesis, humans have an innate desite to catalog, understand, and spend time with other life-forms. This in turn provides a powerful aesthetic argument for combating the present extinction…
worldsfair | January 25, 2007O.K. people - it's got legs, this thing called the truth.
Look at the trend so far: The day after this thing was started, we were at a rank of #310. Then 307 the next day, and then the site actually dissappeared for a day or so from Google itself. Two days ago, we returned and had jumped to #173, and today - today we are at #36!
Here it is in glorious graph form.
What I'm saying, is that we still need folks to play for us to hit the number one spot. Which, I think, is now potentially within reach. As well, what about posts of your own that discuss the validity of the points addressed…
bcohen | January 25, 2007[Category explanation: this post overlaps with so many of our Scienceblogs category options that I ended up just dumping it in philosophy of science as a default location.]
The ETC Group - dedicated, they say, to supporting "socially responsible developments of technologies useful to the poor and marginalized and it addresses international governance issues and corporate power" -- recently held a contest for the design of a new nanotechnology warning sign. But they should've put in a Steve Martin-related bit as one of the contenders.
They had 400 entries reviewed by a panel of judges. The…