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The Man Machine Model 2020...

The Man Machine Model 2020...

Feb 21 2010 | comment(s)

Frankfurt Book Fair


A Personal Belief Tester : Batteries Not Included

A Personal Belief Tester : Batteries Not Included

Feb 20 2010 | comment(s)

A Personal Belief Tester : Batteries Not Included



We all have our personal beliefs; it's a part of being human.  Mostly, we can believe just about anything we want at a purely philosophical level.  But when we interact with others and with our environment, our beliefs may well cause harm to us, to others or to our environment.
Humans Domesticating Themselves: Part IV: Some logical conclusions drawn from the Philosophy Generator.

Humans Domesticating Themselves: Part IV: Some logical conclusions drawn from the Philosophy Generator.

Feb 20 2010 | comment(s)

(Note: Please excuse my lack of a symbolic logic font. LaTeX doesn’t suit my preferences.)
(If you haven’t read the first three parts of this series, you’re just asking for a spanking. Go here.)

Firstly, I must point out that we are, at this time, dismissing defining the final term in the generator: U, save to say that it, through a complexity requiring its own chapter , for now will be put as “that which is good, right or true” and specifically not the opposite. If you prefer you may think of U, for now, as being generally positive and ~U as being generally negative. U stands for eudaemonia.
Did Music Evolve Before Language?

Did Music Evolve Before Language?

Feb 20 2010 | comment(s)

Did music evolve before language?  It's not a trivial idea and there has been debate about it since literally the days of Darwin - Sir Charles himself proposed the notion in "The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex" that a 'musical protolanguage' model could mean that music came before language.
Humans Domesticating Themselves: Part III: Exploring the Philosophy Generator.

Humans Domesticating Themselves: Part III: Exploring the Philosophy Generator.

Feb 20 2010 | comment(s)


    In the first two parts of the H.D.T. essays, we discussed the constituents of paradigm as explained in the Philosophy Generator and the ability to use the chart as a path to Anti-Social Engineering, which attempts to reveal “the programming” to “the programmed.” It is recommended that you read these two essays first for we are about to go down the rabbit hole and things are going to get a bit complicated.
    Please catch up here.
Humans Domesticating Themselves: Part II: Anti-Social Engineering.

Humans Domesticating Themselves: Part II: Anti-Social Engineering.

Feb 20 2010 | comment(s)

(If you haven’t read part one, please click here.)
    
Humans Domesticating Themselves: Part I: The Constituents of Paradigm.

Humans Domesticating Themselves: Part I: The Constituents of Paradigm.

Feb 20 2010 | comment(s)

    We begin by examining the contents of your mind. Our goal in this four part discussion will be to separate the ideas we have concocted for ourselves from the ones that are engineered for us and determine the value this knowledge provides. To accomplish this we must be able to catagorize that which makes up the contents of our mind and in order to do that, we must begin with definitions. Everything we are about to discuss is based on the following chart, which I have dubbed “The Philosophy Generator.”
    The Philosophy Generator
Blogging The 2010 AAAS Day Two

Blogging The 2010 AAAS Day Two

Feb 20 2010 | comment(s)

Day one if you missed it.  Science is sometimes about  taking a hunch and amassing data to confirm the hypothesis.  I am still amassing data but I am reasonably sure the way to know there is a convention of physical therapists nearby is to look for all the women in gym shorts who happen to be limping and follow them somewhere.   I don't have a lot of data points but, anecdotally, I think I am correct.   The APTA (American Physical Therapy Association) is next door.
A Real Dr. Evil

A Real Dr. Evil

Feb 20 2010 | comment(s)

The FBI yesterday released a 104-page report laying out its case the the 2001 anthrax attacks were committed by a US Army bioweapons researcher, Dr. Bruce Ivans. Some are arguing that this report isn't conclusive and that the FBI is closing the case prematurely. I can't speak to that, at least in any informed way, but if the FBI is correct, you've got a chilling, classic evil scientist scenario:
Mathematical Model Gives New Hope To Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia Patients

Mathematical Model Gives New Hope To Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia Patients

Feb 20 2010 | comment(s)

Doctors can now understand better chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), including how it responds to therapy, thanks to a new mathematical model for the disease developed by scientists in Portugal, Belgium and the United States. The work, to be published in the June edition of the journal Haematologica, also reveals that current therapies – which are not believed to cure CML – with the right protocol can actually get rid of the disease, and provides guidelines on how to do that. CML although rare, because of effective life-extending therapies, is now one of the most common leukaemias in the world

Confusions On Evolution, Creationism, And Falsifiability

Confusions On Evolution, Creationism, And Falsifiability

Feb 20 2010 | comment(s)

Assorted creationists claim variously that creation theories are falsifiable and that evolutionary theories are not falsifiable. Here, I want to quickly point out a few flaws that I see in their arguments. I will discuss these issues in a more general manner in another post that I am currently writing.

Creationism is falsifiable: This essay from the Discovery Institute provides two arguments, neither of which are satisfying.
Kill The Spider - At Least Don't Let Your Brown Recluse Loose!

Kill The Spider - At Least Don't Let Your Brown Recluse Loose!

Feb 20 2010 | comment(s)

When I am out doing bug programs I am often asked (with a slow-down-to-look-at-an-accident wince); “where do you keep all these bugs? Do they stay at your house?” I explain about the shelves with the lights, or the bug room and usually digress into a shopworn lecture on respect and the difference between invited and uninvited guests.

And the position I take on respect is this: that respect is a matter of making good decisions based on your understanding of the situation. The better you understand, the more respectful your decisions will be (unless you’re trying to be bad). The less you understand, the more likely you should be to do nothing – learn more.
Smoking and Alzheimer's Disease: Tobacco Companies Research Bias Revealed

Smoking and Alzheimer's Disease: Tobacco Companies Research Bias Revealed

Feb 20 2010 | comment(s)

Good to see that even if journalists can't be bothered to investigate the links between tobacco companies and so-called scientific research, then at least some scientists are doing so. This study, published in January in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, is a meta-analysis of previous studies looking at the effects of smoking on the incidence of Alzheimer's disease. Big tobacco have made much of claims that smoking actually reduces the likelihood of developing Alzheimer's. So how much truth is there to this?
Science Imitating Art: Why Is 21st Century Science Obsessed With The Mona Lisa?

Science Imitating Art: Why Is 21st Century Science Obsessed With The Mona Lisa?

Feb 20 2010 | comment(s)

Heads up, banner-plane pilots: you, like so many before you, could lose your job to a sleek, 21st century technology that not only performs better than you, but looks way cooler doing it.
You Telo-Me, I Tell-o You

You Telo-Me, I Tell-o You

Feb 19 2010 | comment(s)

There is a new article out in today’s Molecular System Biology, which has the media saying the typical baloney-filled things like “The Key to Aging Discovered,” “Breakthrough to Immortality,” and “Live Forever?”


Context Is Vital

Context Is Vital

Feb 19 2010 | comment(s)

Context Is Vital

The meaning of a string of words can seem to be entirely opposite in intent if it is placed in the wrong context.  The device of spreading false ideas by quoting people out of context has a long and dishonorable history.


It is not just words that can be twisted by manipulating the context.  No supposed scientific 'fact' should be trusted in isolation.  Science is not a set of isolated facts - it is a beautiful canvas woven with the finest silks.  The fact that one damaged thread can be plucked out does not constitute proof that the whole picture is flawed.

Scientist, Hero

Scientist, Hero

Feb 19 2010 | comment(s)

It's often the case that attending a conference like AAAS means you have to choose between competing programs, like the good stuff, the fun stuff and the stuff you will make fun of.  This morning I had one of each at the same time but since I didn't get to the one I would likely have made fun of, I will leave that out.

Instead I had to make a tough call between Eugenie Scott and "How Can Scientists Support Policy Makers?" and "The Science of Superheroes" - Genie won, at least in the beginning.
Why Do Astronomy?

Why Do Astronomy?

Feb 19 2010 | comment(s)

Did you ever wonder why some people become astronomers?  I asked random astronomers at last month's AAS meeting, and in my latest 365DOA podcast, you can find out what each said-- and how each explained their research in 30 seconds or less.  For the big picture, the stories of why ordinary, sane people become astronomers, it turns out we get bit by the astronomy bug early.

Either in elementary school, we've already decided, or in high school, we get inspired.  By the time people hit college, the ones who want to be career astronomers have already decided that's their path.
Science Communication, Culture and the Media: New UK Government Reports

Science Communication, Culture and the Media: New UK Government Reports

Feb 19 2010 | comment(s)

The British government has just published a whole batch of reports on science communication. The Science&Media Report was published on 20th January 2010, including a variety of supporting documents. The Science for All Expert Group has also just published its Report, which also includes links to numerous sources of supporting research. There is a lot to read and digest here and I haven't done so yet but thought readers here might like to read it all for themselves.
Science Writing Competition is happening now!

Science Writing Competition is happening now!

Feb 19 2010 | comment(s)

Grad students - the Spring 2010 edition of our Science Writing Competition is going on right now!  The official rules are here, but the big idea is that we are inviting graduate students to write about science – on any scientific topic of their choosing. It is our hope to discover those exceptional students that not only know their science, but can also effectively communicate it to the scientific community as well as to the general public.

Entries must be submitted by March 15th.  And then beginning April 1st we'll let the Scientific Blogging readers cast their votes to determine the winners.