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'Storytelling Science' - Oxford Science Festival March 11th, 2012

'Storytelling Science' - Oxford Science Festival March 11th, 2012

Mar 01 2012 | comment(s)

Science 2.0 scribe Dr. Catarina Amorim is organizing a 'Storytelling Science event at the Oxford Science Festival, so if you are around Sunday, March 11th head over to The Jam Factory, 27 Park End St, Oxford for a day of storytelling by the scientists behind the research and discover (almost...) everything you always wanted to know but were too afraid to ask…

Details here
My Workplaces: Mad Scientist Lab versus Chinese Red Banners

My Workplaces: Mad Scientist Lab versus Chinese Red Banners

Mar 01 2012 | comment(s)

It may be of interest for those outside of science and academia to get a closer look at what diverse scientists’ work environments are like.  Some may be surprised about the drab conditions.  Only few places look like the mad scientists’ secret laboratory in movies, although my previous lab was just like that (see below).


Here is my present work place at the National Laboratory for Solid State Microstructures, University of Nanjing, China.  Most of the day, I am in front of a computer in My Office, which I sometimes convert into a standing desk deal; see Dumpster Diving For Longevity:

Criegee Biradicals: Could This Particle Cool The Planet?

Criegee Biradicals: Could This Particle Cool The Planet?

Mar 01 2012 | comment(s)

Criegee biradicals, invisible chemical intermediates, are powerful oxidizers of pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide produced by combustion and can naturally clean up the atmosphere. Sounds like fiction, right? These chemical intermediates were first postulated by Rudolf Criegee in the 1950s but researchers now say that they have been detected and with further research could play a major role in off-setting climate change.
This Is Going To Be A Problem

This Is Going To Be A Problem

Feb 29 2012 | comment(s)

Back in August, an iPhone game called simply "Squids" charmed me with its adorable, somewhat-anatomically-plausible rendition of my favorite animal. Luckily for my productivity, however, I don't have an iPhone--I have a Nexus One.
Mission-Blue.Org For Ocean News

Mission-Blue.Org For Ocean News

Feb 29 2012 | comment(s)

Mission-Blue.org is a new site from the TED Prize and 2009 TED Prize winner Dr. Sylvia Earle for news on all things ocean. The launch includes original stories  on the Sargasso Sea, Antarctica’s Ross Sea, and the shark fin ban and profiles, like an interview with Carl Safina.

The End Of College Lectures?

The End Of College Lectures?

Feb 29 2012 | comment(s)

Americans like to fix things.  We like to improve and we are convinced the future will be better, a subset of people who want to retreat into the world of the past aside(1), but nothing has changed little despite a century of being criticized like university lectures.
Guest Post: Carl Brannen On CP Violation

Guest Post: Carl Brannen On CP Violation

Feb 29 2012 | comment(s)

As today I have just published a piece on CP violation which lacks detail on the theoretical aspects of the issue, I think it is a good time to offer you here a post on the matter written by Carl Brannen, a independent researcher and now Ph.D. student who is a great example of how what is typically dubbed "crackpottery" can at times convert into accepted science. Carl has managed to get a few of his papers accepted for publication, but he remains "on the edge", dealing with issues that many frown upon. Maybe he is right, or maybe he is not, but I sympathize with his approach, so I occasionally offer him this site for his pieces [TD].
LHCb Measures Direct CP Violation In Bs Mesons

LHCb Measures Direct CP Violation In Bs Mesons

Feb 29 2012 | comment(s)

A long awaited confirmation that direct CP violation occurs in Bs mesons (particles composed of a b- and an s-quark) not unlike what happens to lighter mesons (the K0, the B0, and the D0) is coming from LHCb. In an article appeared yesterday in the Cornell arxiv, LHCb describe their measurement of direct CP violation in the decays of both B0 and Bs mesons to Kπ final states (a kaon and a pion). The former is now the best precision measurement we have of the phenomenon, the latter is also the most precise bid (only one former measurement of the effect exists).
Yoga Just Got A Lot More Interesting To Men

Yoga Just Got A Lot More Interesting To Men

Feb 29 2012 | comment(s)

John Friend, the founder of Anusara, one of the world’s fastest-growing yoga styles, is being criticized by his yoga followers for being a bit of a rascal.  He has sex with students.  A lot.

Well, yoga started off as a sex cult, which doesn't get a lot of presence in the marketing brochures.  But it should.  A lot more men would sign up. Hatha yoga — the parent of the styles now practiced around the globe — began as a branch of Tantra, notes William Broad in the New York Times.
In Brains - And Garth Sundem - We Trust

In Brains - And Garth Sundem - We Trust

Feb 28 2012 | comment(s)

If you are anything like me, and you had a chance to sit around with Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker, you wouldn't ask fanboy questions like 'will we ever understand the soul?' or 'how much should I make fun of evolutionary psychology surveys about sex?' you would instead lean in conspiratorially and ask, 'what's the best way to get out of a speeding ticket?'
Homework Help Hurts Learning

Homework Help Hurts Learning

Feb 28 2012 | comment(s)

The dangers of overhanging eyebrows

The dangers of overhanging eyebrows

Feb 28 2012 | comment(s)

There are several possible causes of keratitis – and a new one has recently been identified and described in the literature – with the publication of  ‘Long Eyebrow Hair as a Possible Cause of Chronic Keratitis of Obscure Etiology’ in the specialist journal Cornea.
Lessons From Fukushima: The End Of The

Lessons From Fukushima: The End Of The "Nuclear Safety" Paradigm

Feb 28 2012 | comment(s)

Today Greenpeace issued the 52-page report "Lessons from Fukushima". In it the Japanese nuclear catastrophe is analyzed in detail, and its causes and consequences exposed. The report correctly focuses on a few crucial issues: the lack of accountability for the disastrous consequences of nuclear incidents, the lack of a correct approach to the potential risks involved in the production of nuclear energy, and the failure of proper emergency planning.
Ayurveda is a science of positive health

Ayurveda is a science of positive health

Feb 28 2012 | comment(s)

The use of plants as source of medicine dates back to about 4000 to 5000 B.C. The Indian and Chinese were the pioneers in using plants as valuable sources of medicine. 

List of some important medicinal plants common in various traditional system of medicine S. No. Botanical Name Ayurvedic Name Tibbi Name Siddha Name Tribal Name

List of some important medicinal plants common in various traditional system of medicine S. No. Botanical Name Ayurvedic Name Tibbi Name Siddha Name Tribal Name

Feb 28 2012 | comment(s)

 List of some important medicinal plants common in various traditional system of medicine S. No. Botanical Name Ayurvedic Name Tibbi Name Siddha Name Tribal Name 1. Acacia nilotica (L.) Delile Babul Schmaghe-e-arabi Randoalu Gubul-daru 2. Achyranthes aspera Linn. Apang Apamaga Naayurivi Rechari 3. Acorus calamus Linn. Bach Vaj-e-turki Vasambu Nai-naglea 4. Allium sativum Linn. Lashuna Seer Vallaipondu - 5. Aloe vera Linn. Ghrtia Kumari Sxbr Soathukttalai - 6. Alstonia scholaris (L.) R. Br. Sapta Sapta Aalilai Chatini-daru 7. Andrographis paniculata (Burm. f.) Wall ex. Nees Kirata Chirata Nilava embu Bhui-nimb 8. Aristolochia indica Linn. Iswar mul Zarawand Garudakkodi Isher-mul 9. Asparagus adscendens Roxb.
Diving Into Euler-Lagrange: 2D, 3D, And 4D [parameterizations Of 1D Functionals] (2 Of 2)

Diving Into Euler-Lagrange: 2D, 3D, And 4D [parameterizations Of 1D Functionals] (2 Of 2)

Feb 28 2012 | comment(s)

[Title correction: My goal was to create images of 2D, 3D, and 4D functionals. I think I missed that target. Instead I have 1D parameterized curves that all move in up to 3D in space + time. I have a clear idea how to write new code that could move independently with two, three, or four parameters. That code is not written now, so I will change the title to more accurately reflect the content.]

Nothing like writing a title where I am not sure if I can pull it off. It reminds me of skiing slowly off a 6 foot cliff in Colorado. By the time I landed, I was going fast. Nothing like the constant acceleration of gravity.

One, Two, Three D
Cyber Warfare: The War Of Words

Cyber Warfare: The War Of Words

Feb 27 2012 | comment(s)

I recently read two pieces in RealScience entitled "Cyberwar is already upon us" by John Arquilla and "Think again, Cyberwar" by Thomas Rid.  While there are obviously differing views about what each perspective entails, I couldn't help but be struck by a few comments made by Rid in his piece.
Dear Media: Please Exaggerate The Risks Of Bat Flu

Dear Media: Please Exaggerate The Risks Of Bat Flu

Feb 27 2012 | comment(s)

If if you're in media and tired old swine flu sounds too hammy to generate page views and bird flu does not make your audience cry fowl any more, there is good disease news - scientists may have found flu in bats. If bats can get a virus, why can't humans, in an anthropogenic, anthropocentric world?  

Well, it isn't necessarily the flu in bats but it is genetic fragments of a flu virus. The precautionary principle says we'd better start vaccinating right now - if it's a slow news week because no singers have died and no white kids have been kidnapped, that is.