nicholasjon.com :: a weblog >> posts tagged: science

Teaching artificial intelligences through correlations instead of models

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 15:21:46 GMT

“We can throw the numbers into the biggest computing clusters the world has ever seen and let statistical algorithms find patterns where science cannot.” More on the topic at Wired.

Link: http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/06/the_google_way.php

Teach the Controversy

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 01:43:24 GMT

T-shirts for the next time you’re out partying with folks from the Kansas State Board of Education.

Link: http://controversy.wearscience.com/

HiRISE sees Phoenix sitting on Mars

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 05:05:34 GMT

We’re getting amazing images back from this mission.

Link: http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2008/05/27/hirise-sees-phoenix-sitting-on-mars/

Neuropsychologist Studies Sarcasm

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 05:05:21 GMT

A look into the brain structures used in deriving sarcasm from speech.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/health/research/03sarc.html?partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

Astronomers see 'youngest planet'

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 19:26:12 GMT

Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7326318.stm

Stellar explosion is most distant object visible to the naked eye

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 14:19:22 GMT

It’s located in Boötes, and is about 7.5 billion light years away.

Link: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/080321-distant-explosion.html

Arthur C. Clarke: 1917 - 2008

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 13:52:00 GMT

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Obit-Clarke.html?_r=3&hp&%2338;oref=slogin&%2338;oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Striped icebergs

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 15:54:36 GMT

They’re beautiful.

Link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.html?in_article_id=536928&in_page_id=1965

Neuroanatomy of science journalism

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 15:55:00 GMT

Link: http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005472.html

Is there hidden brain imaging in Renaissance masterpieces?

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 02:25:51 GMT

Link: http://streetanatomy.com/blog/2008/01/22/hidden-brain-imaging-in-renaissance-masterpieces/

Blue Brain

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 02:52:13 GMT

Simulating neurons with a supercomputer.

Link: http://www.seedmagazine.com/news/2008/03/out_of_the_blue.php?page=all&p=y

Enjoy life while you can

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 02:52:07 GMT

James Lovelock’s pretty sure we’ve only got about 20 years left before the environment really goes to hell.

Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2008/mar/01/scienceofclimatechange.climatechange

Snow-formation helped by bacterial byproducts

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 02:51:58 GMT

And “byproduct” is science-speak for…

Link: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080302-living-snowflakes-bacteria-important-to-snow-formation.html

Time is running out

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 06:16:23 GMT

What if the universe wasn’t accellerating, but rather time itself was slowing?

Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2007/12/18/scitime118.xml

The Worst Science Stories of 2007

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 11:06:16 GMT

Link: http://www.stats.org/stories/2007/dubious_data_2007.html

The physical world as a virtual reality

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 15:41:50 GMT

(Link to PDF.)

Link: http://arxiv.org/pdf/0801.0337

Insect attack may have finished off dinosaurs

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 19:56:09 GMT

Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080103090702.htm

German ship fights climate change with high-tech kite

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 11:51:00 GMT

Kite powered shipping.

Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/inDepthNews/idUSL1548100520071217?sp=true

Rethinking the Tunguska disaster

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 07:59:30 GMT

New supercomputer-powered models offer a different view of the impact, suggesting it might not have taken quite as big of a meteor as originally thought. Be sure to check out the movies linked in their sidebar for some stunning visualizations of some extremely complicated fluid dynamics.

Link: http://www.sandia.gov/news/resources/releases/2007/asteroid.html

Galaxy Blasts Neighbor with Deadly Jet

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 18:45:55 GMT

Link: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/071217-death-star-galaxy.html

Scientists think they may have found the brain's "irrelevance" filter

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 08:53:01 GMT

Reminds me of the “Your nerd has built an annoyingly efficient relevancy engine in his head” section from The Nerd Handbook at Rands in Repose:

For any given piece of incoming information, your nerd is making a lightning fast assessment: relevant or not relevant? Relevance means that the incoming information fits into the system of things your nerd currently cares about. Expect active involvement from your nerd when you trip the relevance flag.

I wonder what happens when your irrelevance filter is set too high?

Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7132829.stm

What if we had no Moon?

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 11:49:42 GMT

The world would be a very different place.

Link: http://astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2507&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

The Geminids are on tonight

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 12:31:43 GMT

Forecasted to be one of the best.

Link: http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn13036-years-best-meteor-shower-set-to-dazzle.html

White House engaged in systematic effort to manipulate climate change science

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 18:33:25 GMT

Best summed up by a quote from Congressman Henry Waxman, House Oversight Committee Chairman:

The evidence before the Committee leads to one inescapable conclusion: the Bush Administration has engaged in a systematic effort to manipulate climate change science and mislead policymakers and the public about the dangers of global warming.

The rest of the report is just as damning. It’s short, I’d recommend taking a look if you’re even the least bit interested in the politics of climate change.

Link: http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1653

Voyager 2 finds solar system's shape is 'dented'

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 11:31:59 GMT

Blames Mars rover and Chinese space program.

Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSN1044867120071211

Hollow Earth

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 09:31:51 GMT

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollow_earth_theory

Voyager 2 has left the building

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 09:31:45 GMT

It’s now officially out of the solar system.

Link: http://www.nature.com/news/2007/071210/full/news.2007.365.html

TIME's Top 10 Scientific Discoveries 2007

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 09:28:03 GMT

Number one: stem cells.

Link: http://www.60secondscience.com/archive/science-technology-news/times-top-10-scientific-discov.php

lolcats can has science

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 08:13:59 GMT

Also see this gallery at Flickr.

Link: http://community.livejournal.com/lolscience/

Mummified dinosaur discovered

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 06:48:42 GMT

It even still has some soft tissue left.

Link: http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/12/dino_mummy

PlanetQuest: Exoplanet Exploration

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 14:29:27 GMT

Keep track of the discovery of new planets.

Link: http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/

NASA finds evidence of a parallel universe?

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 19:34:39 GMT

Link: http://space.newscientist.com/article/mg19626311.400-the-void-imprint-of-another-universe.html

Heliocentrism for everybody

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 08:13:11 GMT

Another great t-shirt.

Link: http://lardfork.spreadshirt.com/us/US/Shop/Article/Index/article/Heliocentrism-for-everybody--2307270

A homemade speaker using a plastic cup, business card, wire, magnet and some Lego blocks

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 12:58:31 GMT

Link: http://www.josepino.com/circuits/index.php?howto-speaker.jpc

Meteor crash in Peru caused mysterious illness

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 20:08:52 GMT

Possibly due to arsenic in the groundwater. Interesting theory.

Link: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/09/070921-meteor-peru.html

tufte-latex

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 20:07:15 GMT

A LaTEX extension to produce scientific documents a la Tufte’s recommendation. I’m pretty sure Tufte himself has no part in this, however the documents to come out looking pretty good.

Link: http://code.google.com/p/tufte-latex/

Twelve things you need to watch the Perseid meteors Sunday night

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 10:29:47 GMT

Link: http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2007/08/09/12-things-you-need-to-watch-the-perseid-meteors-sunday-night/

Secret to overcoming shyness revealed

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 13:47:09 GMT

Interesting read, though it’s essentially the same advice I give my cat — “relax, nobody’s going to eat you.”

Link: http://www.livescience.com/health/070808_roots_shyness.html

Recursion and human thought

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 04:46:11 GMT

Why a certain Amazonian tribe doesn’t have numbers.

Link: http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/everett07/everett07_index.html

Mr. Wizard passes away

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 12:43:18 GMT

I loved his shows as a kid and always used his experiments as examples when I was teaching.

Link: http://www.mrwizardstudios.com/

Poor Pluto

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 09:06:19 GMT

I love the dopey look on Uranus’s face as it spins sideways, perfect.

Link: http://www.mathiaspedersen.com/3dportfolio_poor_pluto_high.html

Many Worlds, Many Treats

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Thu, 10 May 2007 19:11:02 GMT

How to explain quantum physics to a dog.

Link: http://scienceblogs.com/principles/2007/05/many_worlds_many_treats.php

Order of the Science Scouts of Exemplary Repute and Above Average Physique

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 20:59:53 GMT

Merit badges for scientists. My favorite? The I’ve done science with no concievable practical application badge.

I may even have one or two of them laying around.

Link: http://scq.ubc.ca/sciencescouts/

The 25 greatest science books of all-time

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 20:00:44 GMT

Darwin wins first and second — Newton, Galileo and Copernicus round out the top five

Link: http://discover.com/issues/dec-06/features/25-greatest-science-books/

Cydonia - the face on Mars

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 20:31:18 GMT

Somewhat less face-like in the higher-res shots

Link: http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEM09F8LURE_1.html

The Fifth Annual Brilliant 10

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 20:31:18 GMT

Smart people

Link: http://www.popsci.com/popsci/science/80d15f1a587ad010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html

The seven warning signs of bogus science

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 20:31:23 GMT

My favorite: “the discoverer says that a powerful establishment is trying to suppress his or her work”

Link: http://chronicle.com/free/v49/i21/21b02001.htm

Imagining the Tenth Dimension

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 20:31:09 GMT

Great Flash movie for anyone interested in dimensions higher than three

Link: http://www.tenthdimension.com/flash2.php

Ancient observatories from space

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 20:31:44 GMT

Looking back (get it?) at thousands of years of observatories

Link: http://www.spaceimaging.com/gallery/ancientObservatories/default.htm

Time changes modern human's face

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 20:31:26 GMT

Is 650 years really enough to make this sort of change?

Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4643312.stm

'Doomsday' seed bank to be built

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 20:31:10 GMT

Paranoid Scandinavians

Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4605398.stm

13 things that do not make sense

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 20:31:24 GMT

This must be why I was such a terrible physicist

Link: http://www.newscientistspace.com/article.ns?id=mg18524911.600

The looming attention crisis

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 20:31:08 GMT

Supply and demand — having too much information means we don’t have the attention to go around

Link: http://avc.blogs.com/a_vc/2005/11/the_looming_att.html

Seed: Science is Culture

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 20:31:08 GMT

Culture-of-science science-of-culture geekery in zine form

Link: http://seedmagazine.com/

Madness About a Method

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 20:31:08 GMT

NYT article on America’s poorly timed feud with science

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/magazine/11wwln_lead.html?ei=5090&en=099e2f801f399d5f&ex=1291957200&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

Negative lattice expansion from the superconductivity-antiferromagnetism crossover in ruthenium copper oxides

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 20:31:15 GMT

This is my new favorite obtuse headline for an actual science article, and no I don’t know what it means

Link: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v436/n7052/abs/nature03828.html

Storytelling science

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 20:31:33 GMT

Are scientists finally starting to understand how narrative helps their cause?

Link: http://www.americanscientist.org/template/AssetDetail/assetid/44518?&print=yes

Anthony Olejniczak

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 20:31:33 GMT

Congrats to my brother, who’s now associated with the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Link: http://www.eva.mpg.de/evolution/associat/olejniczak/index.htm

Will Malthus Continue to Be Wrong?

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 20:31:13 GMT

One of the three interesting (to me) questions being asked by Science Magazine

Link: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/309/5731/102

How Are Memories Stored and Retrieved?

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 20:31:13 GMT

One of the three interesting (to me) questions being asked by Science Magazine

Link: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/309/5731/92

Can the Laws of Physics Be Unified?

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 20:31:13 GMT

One of the three interesting (to me) questions being asked by Science Magazine

Link: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/309/5731/82

Scientists study sarcasm

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 20:31:39 GMT

Yeah, that’s going to work

Link: http://www.apa.org/releases/sarcasm.html