How do we search for alien life if it’s nothing like the life that we know? At TEDxUIUC Christoph Adami shows how he uses his research into artificial life — self-replicating computer programs — to find a signature, a ‘biomarker,’ that is free of our preconceptions of what life is

Timing is everything.

First, the version by the Eagles:

And now, LeRoy Bell (and some other people):
Continue reading Desperado →

I’ll be interviewing Don on the radio in the AM, then, later that day:

Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011, 1:30 p.m.

Party Room of Larpenteur Estates
1276 Larpenteur Ave. W.
St. Paul, MN 55113

(Park in the back of the apartment complex and go to the gap between buildings near the east end. Signs will point to the Party Room.)

Minnesota Atheists is pleased to host Prof. Donald R. Prothero, who will give a presentation on “Science Denialism: The Holocaust, Evolution, Climate Change, etc.”

Prof. Prothero is the author of the popular book “Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why it Matters.” He is a professor of geology at Occidental College and a lecturer in geobiology at the California Institute of Technology. His website is faculty.oxy.edu/prothero.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 612-588-7031.

Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011, 1:30 p.m.

Party Room of Larpenteur Estates
1276 Larpenteur Ave. W.
St. Paul, MN 55113

(Park in the back of the apartment complex and go to the gap between buildings near the east end. Signs will point to the Party Room.)

Minnesota Atheists is pleased to host Prof. Donald R. Prothero, who will give a presentation on “Science Denialism: The Holocaust, Evolution, Climate Change, etc.”

Prof. Prothero is the author of the popular book “Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why it Matters.” He is a professor of geology at Occidental College and a lecturer in geobiology at the California Institute of Technology. His website is faculty.oxy.edu/prothero.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 612-588-7031.

She passed away just now, in a fairly horrific car crash.

Here is a report.

He was 56, and just recently stepped down from his position at the helm of Apple.

…. my very talented nephew, on the XFactor after the next commercial. Or the one after that maybe.

This is important if you are considering that choice:

According to this poll, most people do. But still not enough.

See also this.

Did you know that the British scientific journal Nature publishes a section, called Futures, edited by Henry Gee, which presents a short science fiction story every issue?

Well, if you go to this week’s Futures in Nature, which is available on line (and not behinda firewall) you will see something special. I’m not going tell you what it is, I’m just going to tell you to go and look, read it, and enjoy.

GO!

Why are you still here? Click here.

The finding for which this year’s Chemistry Nobel was awarded earlier today was sufficiently unexpected and counter to the orthodoxy of the time that today’s prize winner was tossed out of his own research group for reporting it. His 1982 discovery has to do with how atoms are organized in solid matter, and is based on observations made with electron microscopy. Daniel Shechtman’s imagery…
Continue reading “There can be no such creature” – Chemistry Nobel: Daniel Shechtman →

Boy, was I wrong!

From Nancy Jackson, President of the American Chemical Society:

“It’s a great work of discovery, with potential applications that range from light-emitting diodes to improved diesel engines. As President of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society, I am delighted to give warm congratulations on behalf of our more than 163,000 members. Coming as it does during the International Year of Chemistry, the prize showcases chemistry’s global reach and impact in improving life. Years of hard work and dedication lie behind this Nobel Prize. Great people like Dr. Shechtman inspire us all with their contributions to science and humanity”

This is an interesting story of scientific discovery. Here’s a write-up revealing the sordid truth of how science works.