When I were a lad (ay!) my father suggested that map projections was something I ought to interest myself in.  So I got hold of paper, ruler and pencil, drew a square grid, and then started filling in the outlines of the continents.  What emerged was something like this (maps like this are generated using this wonderful program from Brazil):



Now that wasn’t too good, was it?  Africa doesn’t look too bad, but Greenland’s horribly squashed, isn’t it?  So I borrowed some books from the library, and started to learn about all sorts of different projections.

In 2 weeks I test for my HAM Technician-class amateur radio license. I confess no particular interest in HAM radio. However, my satellite has a transmitter and needs a call sign. It isn't smart enough to take the test itself, so I have to do it for it.

To pass the Technician's test, I need to answer 75% of the 35 multiple-choice questions (i.e. 26) correctly. I found 3 sites that had particularly well implemented practice exams (including telling you what you got wrong, and why). Thus unarmed, I took the test cold last night, repeatedly.

The 3 test sites of glory: eHam *  RadioExam.org * AA9PW

While hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on masking and treating male pattern baldness, surprisingly little is known about its cause at the cellular level.

A Journal of Clinical Investigation study has found that stem cells play an unexpected role in explaining what happens in bald scalps.   Using cell samples from men undergoing hair transplants, researchers compared follicles from bald scalps and non-bald scalps and found that bald areas had the same number of stem cells as normal areas in the same person but noted that another, more mature cell type called a progenitor cell was markedly depleted in the follicles of bald scalps. 

In an ideal energy future, man-made solar cells would mimic much of the functionality of efficient plant life.   Currently solar cell technology is expensive and a maintenance headache but Purdue researchers are working a new type of solar cell that uses carbon nanotubes and DNA to come closer to plant life that can be durable enough for commercials use,

Their design exploits the unusual electrical properties of structures called single-wall carbon nanotubes, using them as "molecular wires in light harvesting cells," said  Jong Hyun Choi, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering in the Birck Nanotechnology and Bindley Bioscience centers at Purdue's Discovery Park.

“Anyone who knows history, particularly the history of Europe, will, I think, recognize that the domination of education or of government by any one particular religious faith is never a happy arrangement for the people.”

“Will people ever be wise enough to refuse to follow bad leaders or to take away the freedom of other people?”

--Eleanor Roosevelt 

Everybody knows that the orbital momentum  is "quantized" and its z-projection  has integer eigenvalues in units of  . Too few, however, know that it is, in fact, a quasi-particle angular momentum which is integer-valued, not the particle one!

Environmental groups are concerned they have lost the trust of the public regarding global warming so they have taken to new marketing approaches.    They started the last decade with runaway public interest and goodwill and ended it with scandals and black marks on the credibility of the climate field.

On Tuesday, September 11th, 2012, I will make the attacks of 2001 a political issue.  For almost 10 years, these attacks have been used by Republicans as a political issue, justifying everything from conspicuous consumption to the Two War Economy of stopping (inflaming) Global Terrorism. 

2000 years from now, if future researchers find our Science 2.0 mug, what would it tell them? 

Quite a bit, it turns out - at least regarding the social structure of the period in which we live.   Coffee is big in society.   But America is a young country compared to an ancient empire like Greece.   Studying drinks in ancient Greece over a long period can help researchers piece together what the social structure may have been like beyond select older writings.