Vox Populi
A paper by Sir Francis Galton first published in the March 7, 1907 issue of the scientific journal, NATURE. The paper provides what appears to be the first solid explanation for why Google’s ranking algorithm, not to mention the form of government we've come to know as “democracy”, are so capable.
Disproving Backward Time Travel (kind of)
If it is ever discovered, we would have known about it a long time ago.
Two logical fallacies that we must avoid
“… the implications of many of the scientific ideas and theories, whether mine or otherwise, are indeed immoral, ugly, contrary to our ideals, or offensive either to men or women (or some other groups of people). I simply do not care. If what I say is wrong (because it is illogical or lacks credible scientific evidence), then it is my problem. If what I say offends you, it is your problem.”
Richard Feynman: Take the world from another point of view
One of the better pieces on Feynman I've seen. First aired February 2, 1975 on NOVA. I know what I'll be watching on the Muni for the next few days :)
xkcd: Forks and Spoons
Reading xkcd has become one of my last regular forms of physical exercise. My abs are burning right now from violent guttural reactions to this one.
It's Pi Day!
“Coincidentally, Pi Day is also the birthday of Albert Einstein, who no doubt knew more than a little about pi.”
Planetary Society Criticizes NASA's Manned Moon Plan (Which Is really Bush's Manned Moon Plan)
“He said he had a mandate from the president and Congress and he was not going to consider other options. It’s going to have to change. They don’t have the money to do it.”
LEDs in your contact lenses?
Contact based HUDs are coming: “Researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle have developed a prototype contact lens that incorporates an imprinted electronic circuit and lights.”
Minesweeper and NP-completeness
The problem of simply detecting which squares are or are not mines is NP-complete, and that means, for Minesweeper fans, that their favourite game can be seen as being right at the cutting edge of mathematical research.
The Algorithm: Idiom of Modern Science
“The Algorithm’s coming-of-age as the new language of science promises to be the most disruptive scientific development since quantum mechanics.”
DNA seen through the eyes of a coder
“Like with unix, cells are not ‘spawned’ – they are forked. All cells started out from your ovum which has forked itself many times since. Both halves of the fork() are identical to begin with, but they may from then on decide to do different things.”
The Right and Lawful Rood
… the primary activity depicted here is standards development, particularly the historically mandated procedure for determining the linear measurement known as the “rood”, related to the English “rod”, the German “rute” and the Danish “rode”.
Why we should hang out: a mathematical proof
“Clearly, after inspecting r guys, the expected utility of inspecting one more an continuing optimally is 1/(r+1) the sum of b = 1 to r + 1 of U(b, r+1). Call this expression Z.”
Ten Strange Facts About Newton [neatorama.com]
I'm in the middle of Newton infatuation having just finished the first leg of Stephenson’s Quicksilver. Did you know they're publishing the Baroque Cycle in three smaller trilogies now? The first is worth reading without any further committment.
Sci Foo 2007 Gossip Liveblog [aaronsw.com]
WTF is going on here? Neil Stephenson, Martha Stewart, The Dyson Family (as in vacuums), The President of The Royal Society, Sergey Brin, Nat, and Aaron kicking it on Google campus? This is apparently actually happening right now.
Philosophy of numbers
“So there you have it — lack of units in programming languages and the war in Iraq have a common cause: the lack of correct philosophy on numbers taught in schools.”
Scientists cure cancer, but no one takes notice [studentprintz.com]
“It’s easy to make, unpatented and could be added to drinking water. Imagine, Gatorade with cancer control.”
National Survey Reveals More than 70% of Americans Don't Know Plastic is Made from Oil
Everything is made from oil. It’s crazy.
Douglas R. Hofstadter Explains GEB
“… let me try one last time to say why I wrote this book, what it is about, and what its principal thesis is.”
Radio Lab: Emergence (February 18, 2005)
This is my favorite episode of WNYC’s RadioLab and maybe my favorite piece of radio, period. The segment, “The Invisible Hand” is outstanding. The show is now in podcast and the last five eps are available in mp3. “Emergence” is only available as a RealAu
Feynman Interview: The pleasure of finding things out
Nice little Feynman short on google video. Feynman talking, Feynman painting, Feynman being the complete bad-ass that only Feynman can be… I can’t get enough of him.
Comment of the Day. On "Evidence of the Missing Link Found?"
Evolution is at work. We leave them to themselves and we'll stick to ourselves, and in another 250,000 years we can eat them as either game or domesticated farm animals. God knows we don’t have to selectively breed them for size.
Why Indeed Did the WTC Buildings Collapse?
It’s impossible for diffuse flames (jet fuel, paper, office stuff) to reach temperatures needed to melt steel. This guy thinks there were thermite charges in the buildings.
Nikola Tesla (Wikipedia)
Tesla’s wikipedia entry. I've been wanting to read up on him for some time now.
Einstein's Big Idea - E = mc2 Explained
Audio excerpts from recent PBS/NOVA program celebrating “E = mc2”
Einstein and Godel on a walk
Godel looks scrappy – I think he could kick Einstein’s ass if he got a sucker punch in to start…
Boing Boing's $250,000 Intelligent Design challenge
“We are willing to pay any individual $250,0000 if they can produce empirical evidence which proves that Jesus is not the son of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.”
Who knows? Maybe nonstandard arithmetic is just unavoidable
Some interesting thoughts on Gödel’s Proof and its implications on nonstandard numbers.
Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From The Beaten Track: The Letters Of Richard P. Feynman
Holy crap a new Feynman book! Published by his daughter.
George Dyson - Von Neuman's Universe
More great stuff from IT Conversations. This time a look at Von Neuman’s impact on math, science, computing, etc.
The Proof and Paradox of Kurt Godel
And the hits just keep on comin' – IT Conversations / Tech Nation has an interview with the author of a Godel biography.
The Naked Ape : A Zoologist's Study of the Human Animal
This book is excellent. B&N and Borders keep telling me it’s out of print.
Los Alamos Hermit
This guy is living the dream. I wonder if there’s room in his cave for me and my powerbook. Does he get wifi in there?
The Man Who Grasped the Heavens' Gravitas
Newton: I'd eat a mile of his shit just to kiss his ass. (via slashdot.org)
The Crusade Against Evolution
Wired’s five page look into the “intelligent design” vs. darwinist evolution debate. Ohio seems to be the battleground.