How might science engender democracy? I’d like to suggest two mechanisms: first, by changing the way people think; second, by altering the interaction among those who make up the community. The more scientifically literate people become, the more they will expect, even demand to participate in the political process, and the more effective they will…
If we find what we’re looking for, we will suddenly know life on another planet is highly probable and that we may not be alone. The discovery would arguably be the most profound one in human history. But what then? —William Speed Weed —starTREK: NASA thinks we can find another Earth in another nearby star… (Discover)…
He was that rarity among physicists, one who could write in a clear, persuasive and entertaining way. His “Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems,” in which three noblemen, Salviati, Sagredo and Simplicio, meet in Venice to argue over the relative merits of Ptolemy’s ancient Earth-centered cosmos and the newer Sun-centered Copernicanism, may be the…
“NOAA today posted online satellite images taken before and after… the historic blackout of the Northeastern United States, which plunged millions of people into darkness.” —Satellite Images of Northeastern US Blackout (NOAA)
“In solitude, he continued his mathematical and physical studies, but also embraced alchemy and esoteric biblical scholarship. He felt himself to be seeking ancient knowledge that had been lost or hidden in the dark centuries of the more recent past. Today’s scientists tend to be embarrassed by Newton’s religious and alchemical studies, but Newton was…
Weingarten shifts uncomfortably in his chair and stares at the glittering gems on his dining room table. “Unless they can be detected,” he says, “these stones will bankrupt the industry.” —The New Diamond Age (Wired) Long but interesting deconstruction of the diamond industry. See also “Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Diamond?“
“What we need is a C-SPAN for science: a cable science network (CSN). This network would carry live lectures by knowledgeable scientists on topics ranging from climate change to biological warfare, as well as debates on issues from the biological basis of aggression to missile defense.” Terrence J. Sejnowski —Tap into Science 24-7 (Science)
“Too many ?studies? and ?reports,? with tables of data in small print appended, have purported to reveal truths about welfare or policing or sex education but in fact have revealed nothing but the initial prejudices of the ?investigators.? For me, the epiphany came when I interviewed the nation‘sleading climatologists for a magazine article on acid…
“I couldn’t help reflecting on the connection between hypertext and napalm, via Vannevar Bush…” Jonathan Delacour —As We May Incinerate (Jonathan Delacour) A fascinating exercise in connecting the dots, and a glimpse into Vannevar Bush’s “war guilt”.
“Why is it, a growing number of people are asking, that anyone can download medical nonsense from the Web for free, but citizens must pay to see the results of carefully conducted biomedical research that was financed by their taxes? | The Public Library of Science aims to change that. The organization, founded by a…
“On 27th August, Mars will be at its closest to Earth for almost 60,000 years. On that date, the Red Planet will approach to within 34,646,418 miles (55,758,006 km) — 145 times the distance of the Moon. The last time the two planets were so close our ancestors were living in caves and struggling to…
“[P]prior to the Second World War the refereeing process, even where it existed, had very little effect on the publication of novel ideas, at least in the field of physics. But in the last several decades, many outstanding scientists have complained that their best ideas? the very ideas that brought them fame?were rejected by the…
“Most of the Web’s content today is designed for humans to read, not for computer programs to manipulate meaningfully. Computers can adeptly parse Web pages for layout and routine processing?here a header, there a link to another page?but in general, computers have no reliable way to process the semantics: this is the home page of…
“What is so interesting about death? Is it the science? Is it like a ‘forbidden fruit’ that you want to know about, but are too afraid to touch? Is it because it is such a taboo subject in our society? Why is it such a taboo subject? Are we afraid of it or are we…
“Next to the table is our water dispenser, which has a tap for warm water and hot water. That’s right, no cold water. If you want a cold drink, you need to prepare the drink, then leave it for a while in one of the colder locations on ISS. It will never get really cold,…
“Simplicity and intuitive appeal are also the main reasons why scientific language has never succeeded in “cleansing” itself from metaphorical “impurities,” despite several attempts to do so. Indeed, metaphors appear to be essential to all forms of language and understanding (4). But if scientific language is by necessity to some extent metaphorical, then interpretation of…
“The alien system is just 90 light years away in the constellation Puppis. The star is at a similar stage of life as our sun and has no companion star, Jones said. It also is in the same galactic neighborhood, so background radiation levels should be about as low as in our solar system.” Erik…
“Paul Hillard, spider specialist at the Natural History Museum in London, said researchers first discovered the effects of psychotropic drugs on spiders during experiments at the end of 1960s.” —Spider Experiments with Drugs (Miss Black Widow) This is just weird.
NASA Planetary CollageAFP/NASA) No image of Pluto? I’m outraged! Disney’s copyright protection schemes have gone too far! Update: I found this image on the AP newswire feed. There was no link or credit, but Rosemary Frezza writes: http://grin.hq.nasa.gov/ABSTRACTS/GPN-2000-000454.html This is the closest thing I could find on a NASA site so far. I wonder who…
“But although multidisciplinary study of the media is now commonplace, it is striking how little effort has gone into examining the role the media play in the public understanding of science, which is itself, by definition, a multidisciplinary activity, though one very much still dominated by natural scientists themselves. All of this tends to reinforce…