Monthly Archives: January 2008
Micro vs. Macro Evolution
I don’t like the definition of macro vs. micro evolution. But I do enjoy the way this video makes fun of creation science proponents. Continue reading Micro vs. Macro Evolution
Creepy Alginate spheres
Blueberry syrup, sodium alginate and calcium chloride is all you need to make these spheres that look a little like caviar.
MIT finds key to avian flu in humans
From a Massachusetts Institute of Technology press release:
researchers have uncovered a critical difference between flu viruses that infect birds and humans, a discovery that could help scientists monitor the evolution of avian flu strains and aid in the development of vaccines against a deadly flu pandemic.
E.O. Wilson: TED Prize wish: Help build the Encyclopedia of Life
As E.O. Wilson accepts his 2007 TED Prize, he makes a plea on behalf of his constituents, the insects and small creatures, to learn more about our biosphere. We know so little about nature, he says, that we’re still discovering tiny organisms indispensable to life; yet we’re still steadily destroying nature. Wilson identifies five grave threats to biodiversity (a term he coined), using the acronym HIPPO, and makes his TED wish: that we will work together on the Encyclopedia of Life, a web-based compendium of data from scientists and amateurs on every aspect of the biosphere.
Continue reading E.O. Wilson: TED Prize wish: Help build the Encyclopedia of Life
My Linux Calendar
- Jan 06
- Millard Fillmore’s birthday (let’s party!)
- Jan 06
- Children’s Day in Uruguay
- Jan 06
- Belgium becomes a federal state, 1993
- Jan 07
- Christmas in Ethiopia
- Jan 07
- Pioneer’s Day in Liberia
5 dangerous things you should let your kids do
Gever Tulley, founder of the Tinkering School, talks about our new wave of overprotected kids — and spells out 5 (and really, he’s got 6) dangerous things you should let your kids do. Allowing kids the freedom to explore, he says, will make them stronger and smarter and actually safer.
Continue reading 5 dangerous things you should let your kids do
Cameron Sinclair: TED Prize wish: Open-source architecture to house the world
Accepting his 2006 TED Prize, Cameron Sinclair demonstrates how passionate designers and architects can respond to world housing crises. The motto of his group, Architecture for Humanity, is “Design like you give a damn.” Using a litany of striking examples, he shows how AFH has helped find creative solutions to humanitarian crises all over the globe. Sinclair then outlines his TED Prize wish: to create a global open-source network that will let architects and communities share and build designs to house the world
Continue reading Cameron Sinclair: TED Prize wish: Open-source architecture to house the world
Home Schoolers Are Annoyed by Wife Swapping
Have you ever seen the TV show “Wife Swap?” Admit it, you have. It is a form of ethnography in its own somewhat demented way. But it is also a very specific, network-endorsed statement about class and character of society.
Continue reading Home Schoolers Are Annoyed by Wife Swapping
Do the Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire Primary Matter?
What is the relationship between what happens in these two early primary races and what actually happens later on in the election cycle? Continue reading Do the Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire Primary Matter?
Carolyn Porco: Fly me to the moons of Saturn
Planetary scientist Carolyn Porco says, “I’m going to take you on a journey.” And does she ever. Showing breathtaking images from the Cassini voyage to Saturn, she focuses on Saturn’s intriguing largest moon, Titan,with deserts, mudflats and puzzling lakes, and on frozen Enceladus, which seems to shoot jets of ice. Continue reading Carolyn Porco: Fly me to the moons of Saturn
Murray Gell-Mann: Beauty and truth in physics
Wielding laypeople’s terms and a sense of humor, Nobel Prize winner Murray Gell-Mann drops some knowledge about particle physics, asking questions like, Are elegant equations more likely to be right than inelegant ones? Can the fundamental law, the so-called “theory of everything,” really explain everything? His answers will surprise you. Continue reading Murray Gell-Mann: Beauty and truth in physics
Hod Lipson: Robots that are”self-aware”
Hod Lipson demonstrates a few of his cool little robots, which have the ability to learn, understand themselves and even self-replicate. At the root of this uncanny demo is a deep inquiry into the nature of how humans and living beings learn and evolve, and how we might harness these processes to make things that learn and evolve.
Cabin Kitch In The Modern Age
An innovative computer hacker stuffs a computer inside a beaver.
Continue reading Cabin Kitch In The Modern Age
Carnivalia and other matters.
We have a new carnival, and I need to tell you something important about ripping out kitchens. Continue reading Carnivalia and other matters.