Ryan Tomayko

Beauty and truth in physics —

Murray Gell-Mann’s (quarks, Nobel prize winner, peer to Feynman at Caltech) TEDtalk from 2007 on the relationship between beauty (simplicity) and truth in science and mathematics:

What is especially striking is that in fundamental physics a beautiful or elegant theory is more likely to be right than a theory that is inelegant.

He goes on to give a bunch of anecdotes that show this playing out over and over during the development of particle physics.

Timewarp: How your brain creates the fourth dimension —

Good article. The comments are even better:

reading this article reminds me countless time I have looked at the clock and the second hand it not moving and then it starts, I am sure this takes longer than a second

That’s always freaked me out. I’ve mentioned it once or twice but people just think I’m crazy so I don’t bring it up anymore. This guy, Frank, explains the phenomenon:

In more ‘joe sixpack’-terms. After you move your eyes fast, they are unable to collect information for a fraction of a second. When the eyes comes back ‘online’ the brain collects motion-information for an equal fraction of a second, and extrapolates the information backwards to create what things should have looked like and fills this fabricated visual information into your memory. Since the needle (or digit) didn’t move while the brain was collecting info for the extrapolation, it won’t be able to predict that it moved in the past either.

Crazy. I knew something was going on.

Nick Kallen - Magic Scaling Sprinkles —

Great talk from this year’s gogaruca conference. Anything that starts with a rail against the belief that tools can have mystical scaling powers is going to end up being a good talk :)

Science.jpg —

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.”

Hawking on the Simpsons —

Ha!

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.”

PHYS771 Lecture 9: Quantum —

The second way to teach quantum mechanics.

Condorcet's jury theorem —

Interesting corollary to Vox Populi. (Via Aristotle Pegaltzis)

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

A Brain Cell is the Same as the Universe —

Space goes inward.

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.

Science vs. Norse Mythology —

Norse Mythology soooo kicks science’s ass in this issue…

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.

The Most Popular Myths in Science Results —

Bullshit: “It takes seven years to digest gum”

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.

Space Time - Relativity, Quantum Physics and the Universe

Thermite burning a hole in a car —

Holy crap! Where can I get some thermite?

Vatican Paper Hits 'Intelligent Design' —

More ID bashing from the Catholic HQ.

Nikola Tesla (Wikipedia) —

Tesla’s wikipedia entry. I’ve been wanting to read up on him for some time now.

Evolution in the bible, says Vatican —

Charles Darwin has a posse…. In Rome!

Holy Squid! Photos Offer First Glimpse of Live Deep-Sea Giant —

Mmmm.. If only I had 1000 lemons.

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…

This is about Self-Reference —

Godel would be proud, I think…

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.”

Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New 'Intelligent Falling' Theory —

Bwwwhhahahahaaaa

Turning 'Unknown' Into 'Unknowable' —

Yep, yep…

Bush: Intelligent Design Should Be Taught —

UUUUuuhhhhggg!

CHARLES DARWIN HAS A POSSE —

Right on…

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.

Email destroys the mind faster than marijuana —

I’m sooo screwed.

Laser-controlled headless zombie flies —

The beauty of science ladies and gentlemen.

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.

Water found on Mars —

Oh wow, this is huge – the hard evidence we’ve been waiting for…

MP3s and PDFs of Feynman Lectures —

There’s a ton of stuff in here.

Black Hole created in Lab? —

holy shit

Altered HIV Attacks Mice Tumors —

HIV as a possible cure for cancer?

Electr-O-Sketch —

Hooking a mouse up to the Etch A Sketch.. Impressive!

100 years of Einstein —

The Economist explains Einstein’s contributions to the science world.

Sharper minds —

Drugs that make you smart; sign me up.

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.

Physicists Decry Bush's Mars Mission Plan —

43,000 of ‘em, in fact..

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?

Psychologist Finds Instance Where 'Two Wrongs Do Make A Right' —

ha!

'New' giant ape found in DR Congo —

nuckin futs!

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.

e^(i pi)+0 = -1 —

Euler 0wnz jo0

Two of Seven Millenium Problems may have been solved —

That’s 2,000,000 USD, btw..

Richard Feynman: The QED Lectures —

Real audio of outstanding Feynman lectures on QED

Monkey Apes Humans by Walking on Two Legs —

Isn’t this how “Planet of the Apes 3” started?

An Intuitive Explanation of Bayesian Reasoning