Microlog
42 Microlog entries tagged with ‘science’
The Human Lake
“Instead of being lashed to a lab bench for years, carrying out experiments to illuminate one particular fold in one particular protein, we [science writers] get to play the field. We travel between different departments, different universities, different countries, and—most important of all—different disciplines. And sometimes we see links between different kinds of science that scientists themselves have missed. Which is why… I presented my audience with this photograph of a lake. For the next hour, I tried to convince them that their bodies are a lot like that lake, and that appreciating this fact could help them find new ways to treat diseases ranging from obesity to heart disease to infections of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.” Carl Zimmer’s talk on the importance of the human body’s microbial system. A long read, but fascinating stuff [c/o Kottke]. Science & Nature ·
Cooking for Geeks
I need to get this at some point. Food & Drink ·
Science channels explode onto YouTube
I’ve said it before: these are perfect tools for the classroom. I’m the kid who learned more from TV about maths and science (and appreciating them) than I ever did at school. I’m surely not the only one. Science & Nature ·
Why can’t I control my individual toes?
In short: because I haven’t practiced. But can neuroscience explain why I can’t click my fingers? Science & Nature ·
Why Is Carbon Fiber So Expensive?
Turns out the manufacturing process is a massive pain in the arse. Also: I didn’t realise it’s been around since the 1960s. Science & Nature ·
Q&A: The unappreciated benefits of dyslexia
Makes sense to me. Science & Nature ·
Pruney fingers for better gripping
Those wrinkles you get in the bath might be an evolutionary adaptation that allow for better gripping in wet conditions? Well I never. Science & Nature ·
Speed-of-light results under scrutiny at Cern
Neutrinos in faster-than-light shocker: “We want just to be helped by the community in understanding our crazy result — because it is crazy.” That’s an understatement. Science & Nature ·
The Tastes of Drinking Water
So algae made New York’s drinking water taste of fish or cucumbers? Now I’m kind of glad our tap water tastes only mildly soapy sometimes [c/o Kottke]. Science & Nature ·
Wikipedia entry on spherification
Or, the culinary process of shaping a liquid into little spheres. Craziness. From the tasting menu at Interesting 2011, which also included sweets made from miracle fruit. Food & Drink ·
Why the future doesn’t need us
“Our most powerful 21st-century technologies — robotics, genetic engineering, and nanotech — are threatening to make humans an endangered species.” I’ve already Instapaper’d this to read on my Kindle. Interesting ·
Curbing the kilogram’s weight-loss programme
This is just the beginning! It’s only a matter of time before the fabric of the space-time continuum unravels itself. Interesting ·
The Scale of the Universe
AKA Science is awesome. Interesting ·
Trailblazing
Courtesy of the Royal Society, a pretty neat timeline of cultural and scientific achievements from 1650 to the present (and beyond…) Arts & Culture ·
List of problems solved by MacGyver
You won’t find this in the Encyclopaedia Britannica. That’s why Wikipedia rocks. Interesting ·
Can you read without using your inner voice?
The answer, quite simply, is ‘no’. Bad Science’s Ben Goldacre has been cracking me up lately with his excoriation of the ridiculous Brain Gyms and the impossible crap it advises, such as ‘reading without your inner voice’. Where do they come up with this shit, and more importantly why do people fall for it? Interesting ·
Can You Revive an Extinct Animal?
A good long piece from The New York Times, focused on the attempt to revive the quagga, that throws up a lot of interesting questions. Interesting ·
Wikipedia entry for Photic sneeze reflex
It’s a real condition! After years of thinking I was the only one… Interesting ·
A Rocket To Nowhere
Maciej Ceglowski’s thoroughly researched, damning indictment of the state of the US space programme. Immensely readable, even for those with less than a passing interest in things astronomical. (Be sure also to read his recent follow-up piece, Meanwhile, Back In Space.) Interesting ·
Astronomers detect ‘10th planet’
Seems like these discoveries are happening all the time now. For a name, Matt Webb suggests the distinctly un-Roman-god-like ‘daes’. Also: Farewell Pluto? Interesting ·
Space shuttle to get critical fix
This comes after Nasa announced that they’d been “playing Russian roulette” with their shuttle crews since launches began 24 years ago. Interesting ·
Bursting the magic bubble
How the audience lets itself be tricked by magicians. Interesting ·
Scientists predict brave new world of brain pills
Modafinil scares me. It’s the amphetamine of the 21st Century. Interesting ·
Certain kinds of memory decrease the more knowledge you accumulate, reports a new study
So Homer Simpson was right after all: everytime I learn something new it really does push some old stuff out of my brain. Interesting ·
Astronomers photographed a cosmic event which they believe is the birth of a black hole
I saved this one to my ‘blogfodder’ folder a day or so before Kottke and everyone else beat me to it, so I’m posting it anyway. Interesting ·
Motion induced blindness [c/o MetaFilter]
Very cool. Would this have any significance in terms of drivers’ vision, perhaps? Interesting ·
Bill Bryson answers your questions about A Short History of Nearly Everything
I never did listen to the live lecture I linked about before, so this will have to make do, until I ever do. Interesting ·
Bill Bryson will deliver a lecture on A Short History of Nearly Everything this Thursday
I hope I remember this. I’m still only half-way through the book, but I’m enjoying it very much. Interesting ·
Three new moons discovered around Saturn by the Cassini spacecraft have been given provisional names
I remember reading something about these months ago, but for some reason I didn’t keep track. Will wonders never cease? Interesting ·
Researchers at UCLA have tweaked HIV to create a gene therapy that attacks cancer tumors in mice
This makes be both hopeful and creeped out at the same time. Interesting ·
The New York Times marks the 20th anniversary of string theory [c/o The Morning News]
Interesting ·
First direct image of a planet orbiting another star [c/o helium-3]
Interesting ·
People genuinely enjoy telling others off if they have done something wrong, according to scientists
Interesting ·
European scientists have discovered what they describe as the smallest Earth-like planet orbiting a star outside our Solar System
Interesting ·
Pareidolia: a type of illusion or misperception involving a vague or obscure stimulus being perceived as something clear and distinct
Interesting ·
Physicists in Austria say that they have observed events separated by the shortest time interval ever, and plan to use the technique to study atomic phenomena
Interesting ·
Popcorn popped on an electric stove is both healthier and fluffier than corn popped in a microwave, according to scientists
Food & Drink ·
The first genomic analysis of human faeces reveals that our guts are teeming with 1,200 different viruses, more than half of which are unknown
Interesting ·
Can you tell a real smile from a fake one?
Interesting ·
I go to sleep in a soldier-like position, but I usually wake up a starfish
Interesting ·
Acoustics professor proves ducks DO echo after all
Interesting ·
Five guesses at the number you’re thinking of right now (the first of these was once statistically proven on Tomorrow’s World, I kid you not)
Interesting ·
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This page lists all Microlog entries by MacDara Conroy tagged with ‘science’. You will find many more entries sorted by month and by category in the Archives.
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