A study in the March edition of the American Journal of Psychiatry, senior-authored by Jerome C. Wakefield, empirically challenges the effectiveness of psychiatrists' official diagnostic manual in preventing mistaken, false-positive diagnoses of depression. This isn't the first time that Wakefield has challenged the DSM criteria for diagnosing depression. His first assault caused such controversy that the criteria were slightly tightened, but DSM-V is on the horizon and I suspect psychiatrists are busy pushing their particular niche obsessions.
On 31 December 2009, Fabrice Bellard announced that he had set a new world record for the most number of digits of the number pi. His algorithm has calculated the first
2.7 trillion digits of this famous mathematical constant, beating the previous record of 2.5 trillion digits set earlier in the year.
Lapham's Quarterly has published a long essay, Secular Revival by Warren Breckman, editor of the Journal of the History of Ideas. The article starts by looking at the dream of the scientific revolution and the Enlightenment; that of a brand new world high in secularism and low in religious delusions. As we know, it hasn't materialised. Indeed, apart from Europe (or at least among native Europeans) religion seems to be as much a part of the landscape as it ever was. Unable to land that mortal blow to religions, is secularism itself withering away?
This science cryptic crossword has been sitting on my computer for far too long and was yearning to see the light of day. It is in the tradition of cryptic crosswords but with a science edge to it. It isn't a science quiz masquerading as a crossword; it's a word game where I have expanded the conventions of cryptic clues to include references to the sciences and to mathematics.
It is also an experiment. I have more of these and if people enjoy them I will make these science cryptic crosswords a regular feature. Please let me know of any teething problems such as whether the dimensions are OK, the file easily downloadable and the instructions to submit your solutions clear.
Enjoy!
ESA’s Herschel Space Observatory has revealed the chemical fingerprints of potential life-enabling organic molecules in the Orion Nebula, a nearby stellar nursery in our Milky Way galaxy. This detailed spectrum, obtained with the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far Infrared (HIFI) - one of Herschel's three innovative instruments - demonstrates the gold mine of information that Herschel-HIFI will provide on how organic molecules form in space. Several German Institutes contributed essential parts to the HIFI instrument: the Universität zu Köln and two Max Planck Institutes: Radioastronmie (Bonn) and Sonnensystemforschung (Lindau).
March 14th is Pi Day, and that's official! This tradition was started at the Exploratorium, in San Francisco, and 2010 will be their 22nd year of irrational exuberance. It also coincides with Einstein's date of birth – which was on 14 March 1879 – so it's a double celebration for geeks around the world.
A Tribute To Richard Feynman: Feynman Point Pilish Poems 2013
The Math-e-Monday Puzzle: Squares from a Tetrahedral Die
Solution to The Jailer's Revenge
