-
Archives
- December 2023
- May 2020
- May 2016
- March 2016
- December 2015
- June 2015
- February 2015
- August 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- October 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- January 2013
- November 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- September 2011
- August 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- December 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- October 2005
- September 2005
- August 2005
- July 2005
- June 2005
- May 2005
- April 2005
- March 2005
- February 2005
- January 2005
- December 2004
- November 2004
- October 2004
- September 2004
- August 2004
- July 2004
- June 2004
- May 2004
- April 2004
- March 2004
- February 2004
- January 2004
- December 2003
- November 2003
- October 2003
- September 2003
- August 2003
- July 2003
- June 2003
- May 2003
- April 2003
- February 2003
- November 1998
- June 1998
- May 1998
-
Meta
Category Archives: science
Where are all the aliens?
Where are they? Well, I think I know. I believe in aliens. I believe we aren’t alone in the universe, or even in the galaxy. And I am not alone. 52% of Brits and 54% of Americans agree. It’s 56% … Continue reading
Vipassana – vaguely sensational.
Two weeks before Christmas I went on a 10 day silent retreat on a former farm in Hereford. Or, as one friend describes it, Meditation Boot Camp. It certainly was tough but now I’ve had a few weeks to recover … Continue reading
Posted in god, meaning of life, science, words
Leave a comment
The best essay on the meaning of life I’ve ever read.
As you may know I once asked every philosopher in the UK about the meaning of life. It was a slightly depressing experience. Only 22 out of a possible?644 replied . Those replies were great. Being philosophers they didn’t actually … Continue reading
Two excellent physics explanations.
I have just come across to these two incredibly lucid accounts of two key features of modern physics. Worth sharing Semiconductors – Mark Miodownik Silicon is a poor conductor of electricity because all of its four outer electrons are bound up … Continue reading
Posted in science
Leave a comment
Emily Dickinson proved wrong by science twins!
Emily Dickinson was a remarkable genius but one of her most famous observations has just been blown sky high by a pair of 14 year old twins. Emily wrote: CXXVI THE BRAIN is wider than the sky, For, put them … Continue reading
Deja vu.. tous
A barely believable story about a slightly deranged American intelligence worker who goes AWOL knowing everything? Haplessly pursued by the NSA & GCHQ? I’ll clearly never work in intelligence because it has taken me until now to rememeber that I … Continue reading
Posted in onemonkey, science
Leave a comment
Can’t see a Coelacanth? Me neither
These designs just popped into my head. Will someone please make them for me? Sadly, it turns out that these beasts aren’t just ellusive, they are now also really endangered 🙁 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coelacanth
Posted in good, images, science
Leave a comment
A physicist’s take on the meaning of life
Sean Carroll is a theoretical physicist and a science communicator. He’s a cosmologist with a particular interest in understanding what time is. He is also a vocal atheist who spends a fair bit of his own time arguing with philosophers … Continue reading
Posted in meaning of life, science
1 Comment
From Disney Imagineer to killing thousands of mice with cancer
It seems unlikely that supergenius Danny Hillis was unhappy with his time as a Disney ‘Imagineer’ . Where, according to this week’s Nature, he got to do very cool things like design themepark rides. But I wonder what Mickey thinks about … Continue reading
The Quietest Place on Earth Will Drive You Insane Within 45 Minutes
This Gizmodo story makes a nice follow up to saturday’s prose poem. Maybe that wasn’t fiction after all? There’s a small room in Minnesota that blocks out 99% of all external sound. That’s an impressive number! Also impressive: nobody can … Continue reading
Posted in science
Leave a comment
For dolphins, seafood tastes salty.
New research in top science journal PNAS suggests that carnivores can’t taste very much. This is particularly bad news for dolphins. Humans and many other mammals have five types of taste receptors – sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and umami (savoury … Continue reading
Posted in good, science
Tagged bitterness, Carnivora, Carnivores, Dolphins, PNAS, Taste Receptors, umami
Leave a comment
Comfort or Food? The Harlow Monkey Love Song
Anyone who gets through first year psychology will be familiar with Harry Harlow and his cruel experiments with rhesus monkeys. Little orphan monkeys were given the choice between a wire surrogate mother who provided food and a terry cloth surrogate … Continue reading
Posted in good, psychos, science
Tagged Arundel High School, Cruel Experiments, Harry Harlow, Rhesus Monkeys, Surrogate Mother
Leave a comment
What Einstein really thought about God..
“The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. He who knows it not and can no longer wonder, no longer feel amazement, is … Continue reading
Flying spaghetti monster photographed for the first time
For those that doubted the existence of the flying spaghetti monster, scientists have managed to photograph him. And the reality is more amazing than you can have imagined.. He really is out there floating in space spanning the whole universe. … Continue reading
Posted in good, images, science
Tagged blue meatball, Magnetic Fields, Magnetosphere
Leave a comment
More top croc news
Now the exciting world of crocodile classification has just become twice as complicated. It used to be that it was easy to tell crocodiles from alligators. If you were in Africa it was a crocodile. Now it turns out that … Continue reading
Posted in science
Leave a comment