January 2010
2 posts
What is the Monkeysphere? →
A seriously fantastic (and hilarious) article about the limits of the human brain.
One of several favorite paragraphs:
First, train yourself to get suspicious every time you see simplicity. Any claim that the root of a problem is simple should be treated the same as a claim that the root of a problem is Bigfoot. Simplicity and Bigfoot are found in the real world with about the same frequency.
The importance of stupidity in scientific research →
Science makes me feel stupid too. It’s just that I’ve gotten used to it. So used to it, in fact, that I actively seek out new opportunities to feel stupid. I wouldn’t know what to do without that feeling. I even think it’s supposed to be this way. Let me explain.
I’m not talking about`relative stupidity’, in which the other students in the classactually read the...
December 2009
19 posts
Ducks fight the battle of the sexes in their... →
The males have explosive erections and the female’s vagina that twist the wrong way.
Who will win in this battle for sexual control?
Find out over the next few billion years of evolution!
“When ordinary matter falls into lumps of dark matter it turns into galaxies,...”
– Has dark matter finally been detected?
Put in perspective by Science magazine. (hint, people are being sensationalists.)
OK TO GO on Vimeo
Chain of Hyper Space scenes from films (a collaboration with Mike Merrill). Part of the thing which is so appealing about Hyper Space scenes in films is the idea that something fantastic and unknown lies at the end of them. In fact, here are the primary uses of Warp Speed/ Hyper Space as plot device: A) Tunnel to unknown. B) Escape from danger via total oblivion. Both...
Dear reddit: I'm tired of people bitching about...
In any thread involving astrophotography, but (for some reason) particularly anything from Hubble, there is inevitably a slew of people calling ‘fake’, because it’s not what you would actually see if you were standing there - because NASA include colour-coded information from other parts of the visible spectrum.
You have to remember:
Our eyes only evolved to be maximally...
The 2009 Geminid Meteor Shower →
carolinemartin:
johnzanussi:
“Make hot cocoa. Bundle up. Tell your friends. The best meteor shower of 2009 is about to fall over North America on a long, cold December night.
A new Moon will keep skies dark for a display that Cooke and others say could top 140 meteors per hour. According to the ...
Stem cells can be engineered to kill HIV,... →
The study, published Dec. 7 in the-peer reviewed online journal PLoS One, provides proof-of-principle — that is, a demonstration of feasibility — that human stem cells can be engineered into the equivalent of a genetic vaccine.
Science is an unstoppable process. When being chased by an unstoppable process that wants to see you dead it is highly recommended you quiver in fear and/or...
Watchcarolinemartin:
johnzanussi:
“This music was recorded by Voyager I and II as they crossed paths with Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune. They weren’t captured with a microphone: Audible sound can’t travel through space, so Voyager was listening to the electromagnetic waves around the planets and moons. Waves produced by space phenomena, like the planet’s magnetospheres interacting with the Sun’s...
Royal Society Realses Many Historical Papers for... →
Might I recommend Isaac Newton’s original theory on light and colors? Its a wonderful piece. I am also enjoying the 1763 Essay on Chance.
Enjoy!
(via Reddit)
November 2009
6 posts
Dear God, please confirm what I already believe →
The researchers started by asking volunteers who said they believe in God to give their own views on controversial topics, such as abortion and the death penalty. They also asked what the volunteers thought were the views of God, average Americans and public figures such as Bill Gates. Volunteers’ own beliefs corresponded most strongly with those they attributed to God.
Next, the team asked...
Monster Waves on the Sun are Real →
News Flash: Huge object in out solar system does everything extra huge.
NASA:
The scale of the thing was staggering. It rose up higher than Earth itself and rippled out from a central point in a circular pattern millions of kilometers in circumference. Skeptical observers suggested it might be a shadow of some ...
3 tags
3 tags
“A Higgs-Boson walks into a church, the priest says “We don’t allow...”
– Brian Malow