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Some Quotes from

Some Quotes from "An inquiry Into the Permanent Cause of the Decline and Fall of Powerful and Wealthy Nations" (1814)

Apr 28 2011 | comment(s)

"Dutch capital was employed to purchase goods in one country and sell them in another: so that the Dutch became carriers for others, instead of manufacturing and carrying for themselves. 


Thus circumstanced, Holland was gradually sinking, when political troubles, the end of which it is not easy to foresee, put her at the feet of France.  When Holland was not rich it resisted Spain in all her glory; when Holland was wealthy, it did not even attempt to resist France."

Cordia dichotoma , Cassia fistula , Albizzia are not for calcareous soils Prosopis cineraria ( Khejri ) is .

Cordia dichotoma , Cassia fistula , Albizzia are not for calcareous soils Prosopis cineraria ( Khejri ) is .

Apr 28 2011 | comment(s)

While observing the comparative growth pattern of some tree species under controlled conditions of a University campus it was clearly established that Cordia dichotoma , Cassia fistula , Albizzia are not suitable for calcareous soils with "hard water " Their observed growth under controlled conditions was very poor over a period of 30 years. However under extremes of arid conditions Prosopis cineraria ( Khejri of Rajasthan) was thriving better and it formed very good formation with Neem (Azadirchta indica) as neem provided pesticides and Khejri provided nitrogen fixation. No wonder Khejri is worshipped in Rajasthan .One has to witness this observation to see the rapid growth of Prosopis cineraria at the Banasthali University campus at Niwai Jaipur.
Not With A Bang - Is New Science Media Instead Going Out With A Whimper?

Not With A Bang - Is New Science Media Instead Going Out With A Whimper?

Apr 28 2011 | comment(s)

David Crotty at the scholarly kitchen says that Science 2.0 is a failure.   Like many who use it off-the-cuff, I don't know how he is using the term - I usually do a global replace of 'Smurf' for Science 2.0 in these instances because Science 2.0, like Smurfs(1), seems to be whatever people want it to be.   If you are not old enough to remember the mythology of Smurfs, it makes less sense, but you can more topically replace Science 2.0 with "jobs created or saved" in the stimulus package last year and get an idea what I mean about definitions tailored to suit the environment that exists at any given moment.
Greg Critser, Science Journalism Jack Of All Trades, Tackles The Last Frontier

Greg Critser, Science Journalism Jack Of All Trades, Tackles The Last Frontier

Apr 28 2011 | comment(s)

Science 2.0 Featured Author Greg Critser isn't satisfied being a respected journalist for the LA Times, the Times of London and the New York Times along with selling a lot of books, so he has branched out into the world of being a celebrity chef.

Yes, I said celebrity chef.   In television, actors and managers generally tell the talent it is a bad idea to be in a show with kids and dogs.   I suspect celebrity chefs have a similar rule, namely that you don't try to make pasta live.
Tablets, Computers, Science. We Have Failed - Up To Now

Tablets, Computers, Science. We Have Failed - Up To Now

Apr 28 2011 | comment(s)

I have once before put down some thoughts about computing devices and the situation for scientific use of computer technology, hoping to get some response and start some fruitful discussion. It remained with the hopes, some comments appeared there, but not really in the direction I think is important.
SETI Shut Down - Aliens Who Sent Radio Signals 400 Years Before Radio Was Invented Will Be Disappointed

SETI Shut Down - Aliens Who Sent Radio Signals 400 Years Before Radio Was Invented Will Be Disappointed

Apr 28 2011 | comment(s)

Citing a lack of revenue, the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California has shut down the Allen Telescope Array of radio dishes that have been scanning the skies for signals from extraterrestrial life for decades.

And that's the problem, isn't it?   As optimistic as it sounds to laypeople, the success metric was that a civilization more than 400 years away - because we know there are none closer - would have to have sent low-tech radio signals to a planet that lacked the technology to receive radio signals when they sent them.   The aliens basically would have needed to know the future, which means they didn't need radio waves.
A Simple Derivation Of Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle

A Simple Derivation Of Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle

Apr 28 2011 | comment(s)

In his recent blog post "The World Is Not Woven From Real Stuff", Sascha Vongehr wrote:
Some merely claim that we need quantum mechanics so that the electron does not fall into the atom’s nucleus. Any classical electric charge would spiral into the atom's nucleus. The material that they make up would collapse.... Well, how convincing is this argument? Does it convince you? It would not convince me without a severe dose of already knowing at least a bunch of electromagnetism. Why could there not be some other, more intuitive explanation of why atoms do not collapse?
Ephemeral clouds

Ephemeral clouds

Apr 28 2011 | comment(s)

I’ve talked about cloud computing before in these pages. It’s a model of networking that in some ways brings us back to the monolithic data center, but in other ways makes that data center distributed, rather than central. A data cloud, an application cloud, a services cloud. An everything cloud, and, indeed, when one reads about cloud computing one sees a load of “[X]aaS” acronyms, the “aaS” part meaning “as a service”: Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and so on.

Squids In Space--Seriously

Squids In Space--Seriously

Apr 28 2011 | comment(s)



The last flight of the space shuttle Endeavour will be both manned and squidded.
Can Older Diabetics Relax About Their HbA1c?

Can Older Diabetics Relax About Their HbA1c?

Apr 27 2011 | comment(s)

If you’ve been managing type 2 diabetes for a while, you know that current advice is to maintain your glucose levels at 7 percent or less, as this is where blood glucose levels are for non-diabetics.

A large observational trial published online this week, in Diabetes Care, however, raises questions about this long-held advice in people over the age of 60.

Paul Feyerabend -

Paul Feyerabend - "Science's Greatest Enemy" Attacks From The Grave

Apr 27 2011 | comment(s)

If you are in science and you have heard the name Paul Feyerabend, it is likely because you have heard the term "post-modernist" and, if you know about post-modernism, you likely do not think much of deconstructionist silliness like that evolution and creationism are both 'cultural traditions' because sociology and psychology play a role in how science is done.
Apple Plans To Fix The Location Data Storage Problem Steve Jobs Said Didn't Exist

Apple Plans To Fix The Location Data Storage Problem Steve Jobs Said Didn't Exist

Apr 27 2011 | comment(s)

Apple now admits that iPhones store location information and plan a patch to scale back their data collection but also say it was no big deal.   Steve Jobs, however, reportedly claimed “We don’t track anyone. The info circulating around is false.”
Scientists Oppose European Stem Cell Patent Ban

Scientists Oppose European Stem Cell Patent Ban

Apr 27 2011 | comment(s)

European scientists are taking to the people to protest the European Court of Justice (ECJ) which would ban patents on embryonic stem cell-related technologies.

Their contention; it would hurt large pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer,  AstraZeneca and Roche.   They say without patents drug companies will not pursue life-saving treatments because there is no profit.   It stands to reason that would apply to all of health care.  Maybe those Europeans are onto something letting the private sector handle all that stuff.
An Interview On The ATLAS Signal

An Interview On The ATLAS Signal

Apr 27 2011 | comment(s)

The interest for the tentative new signal of a Higgs decay to photon pairs does not seem to cease. Yesterday I gave a short interview to Fabio De Sicot, on the latest Higgs rumour. Fabio works for an Italian radio station, Radio Città Fujiko.

The interview is available as a podcast here, but be aware that it is in Italian...
MacNeil's Downfall: PBS's Autism Now Closes On Just As Sour A Note

MacNeil's Downfall: PBS's Autism Now Closes On Just As Sour A Note

Apr 27 2011 | comment(s)

Last night on PBS's NewsHour, Robert MacNeil answered viewers' questions.

ROBERT MACNEIL: Well, perhaps he's right.
We tried to concentrate on what we thought were urgent issues, urgent problems. And a lot of adults with autism, particularly those who describe themselves as a kind of neurodiversity community, are high-functioning people with autism, who have busy and productive lives in the world, who serve a wonderful purpose of helping the community at large to understand and witness autism and be tolerant of it.
Jon Butterworth on the ATLAS Higgs Signal

Jon Butterworth on the ATLAS Higgs Signal

Apr 27 2011 | comment(s)

Another comment on the ATLAS rumour is worth mentioning today, even if it comes a bit late, because it is written by Jon Butterworth, who is a ATLAS collaborator who also writes for the Guardian. You can find it here.

In particular here's a notable quote:

The thing is, CERN is an exciting place right now. New data are coming in as I write. There are lots of levels of collaboration and competition. Retaining a
Neem (Azadirachta indica) and Shisham ( Dalbergia sissoo) for semi-arid regions on calcareous soils

Neem (Azadirachta indica) and Shisham ( Dalbergia sissoo) for semi-arid regions on calcareous soils

Apr 27 2011 | comment(s)

One finds it difficult to raise trees in the sodic or saline soils with a calcareous hard pan. Some years ago I suggested that Neem and Shisham trees could be successfully raised in that kind of soil profile with limited water availability. They will not be attacked by termites and will grow well . To my utmost surprise one can witness both the trees flourishing on the roadside having such soil type from 40 km from Jaipur on Jaipur Kota road : Chaksu to Niwai and also in Niwai and campus of Banasthali University also. The wood of Shisham is very valuable and is very hard for termite to attack. Neem once established contains chemicals which prevent insect attacks. These trees could be taken for large scale plantation in semi arid and arid conditions on road sides.
Why Is Squid Skin So Complicated, Anyway?

Why Is Squid Skin So Complicated, Anyway?

Apr 27 2011 | comment(s)

It's not exactly news--the Navy's decision to fund a huge, interdisciplinary research project on squid skin is so last year--but the topic cropped up again and started me wondering: why do squid use different techniques to make different colors?

Here's an explanatory bit from MSNBC:
Is There A Brainwave 'Fingerprint'?

Is There A Brainwave 'Fingerprint'?

Apr 27 2011 | comment(s)

A new study of electroencephalography (EEG) readings published in the Journal of Neuroscience says that despite the major neural overhaul underway during adolescence, most teens maintained a unique and consistent pattern of underlying brain oscillations.  They say this lends a new level of support to the idea that people produce a kind of brainwave "fingerprint."

They recruited 19 volunteers who were 9 or 10 years old and 26 who were 15 or 16 years old to sleep for two consecutive nights in the lab while EEG electrodes recorded oscillations in their brains during both REM and non-REM sleep. For each child she repeated the measurements about two years later.
What's In Calliope For You?

What's In Calliope For You?

Apr 26 2011 | comment(s)

A colleague I respect, Peter Ong Lim, has good points about whether the Project Calliope satellite is citizen science or personal science.  Darlene Cavalier gave the definition of 'citizen scientist' as "people who aren't trained in science but help real scientists."  I would define 'personal science' as what you call citizen science if the citizen isn't plugged into an existing science network/channel like SETI or such.

You could also call it mad science or individual/small group science projects.  I would put amateur astronomy into the 'personal science' more than 'citizen science'.  You're not helping an established scientist, but doing bonafide research on your own. I'd also put some of the DIY/Maker efforts in that category.