"We Be The Humans"
Older Retired White Guy. Buddhist.
"Non nobis solum"
Likes trees better than people. Books better than trees.
"We Be The Humans"
Joined Aug 2018
How to do collaboration.
Flat teams increase productivity for those on bottom and increase long-term impact, suggesting the critical importance of inviting and involving more "brains" to the table for generating sustainable advance:
(guess what. more junk science from the organic food industry)
Stop Eating Affordable Vegetables, It’s Just Too Dangerous, Claims Organic Industry Funded Paper.
"Ethics are not the only reason to question the results. More reason to put this in the junk pile is the tiny sample size involved in the study."
By Hank Campbell
Working notes on the role of vision papers in basic science
(a) vision papers often play a crucial role in instigating new fields of science; and yet
(b) the kind of thinking they involve is of a type that scientists often don't publicly do much of; indeed
(c) the style of thinking involved is sometimes disparaged by many (not all) scientists.
By Michael Nielsen
https://scienceplusplus.org/visions/index.html
(don't forget the footnotes)
When All Research Is Dual Use
Governing new biosecurity threats is not merely a matter of good intentions and better training; it requires a paying proper attention to the social contexts of science.
"Starting from an understanding of all research as inherently dual use and identifying these unknowns as early as possible requires a shift: moving away from the belief that good intentions make good research."
By Sam Weiss Evans
https://issues.org/dual-use-research-biosecurity-social-context-science-evans/
The Kids are Alright !
High school students measure Earth's magnetic field from ISS.
The students programmed an add-on board for the Raspberry Pi computer to take measurements of Earth's magnetic field in orbit. This add-on component, known as the Sense Hat, contained a magnetometer, gyroscope, accelerometer, and sensors for temperature, pressure, and humidity.
https://phys.org/news/2022-05-high-school-students-earth-magnetic.html
(good science, bad science, and a call for more science)
Lavender's Game: Silexan For Anxiety
"Everything looks amazing about silexan, except the part where all the good studies are by one guy taking money from the drug company.
I go back and forth on how much to worry about this, in the context of other anecdotal evidence for efficacy."
https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/lavenders-game-silexan-for-anxiety
#CoSoScience ???
Your Speculation About Why The Hanger Reflex Is Real Is As Good As Any.
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on22yoI40TI
Paper:
(pretty much a must read)
Building a Bottom-Up Bioeconomy
Engineering biology could play a critical role in creating a sustainable, resilient, and equitable bioeconomy, but getting there requires reimagining industrialization itself.
Without deep social engagement, the field of engineering biology risks repeating the mistakes of the past and reinforcing currently inadequate economic and ecological systems.
By Philip Shapira, et al
https://issues.org/building-bioeconomy-engineering-biology-shapira/
Spahks Afta Dahk
Recently, I received an invitation to an event to be held at Boston’s Museum of Science. It was billed as an “electrifying experience”, due to the presence of the world’s largest air-insulated Van de Graaff generator.
Be sure to listen to the audio clip !
By Paul Kafasis
Get Ready For the New, Improved Second
Scientists are preparing to redefine the fundamental unit of time. It won’t get any longer or shorter, but it will be more precise — and a whole lot more powerful.
By Alanna Mitchell
Wired and CERN
By Steve Miller
The electrical wire imagery and CERN equations coexist in Miller’s layers of ink and paint. The highly organized conduits that power CERN may seem like the antithesis of the chaotic, impromptu power lines of Rocinha, but both explore energy on a macro and micro scale.
https://issues.org/wired-cern-steve-miller-gallery/
And
Vaccines can be made over 25% more effective by adding left-handed chiral gold nanoparticles as adjuvants.
https://phys.org/news/2022-04-chiral-gold-nanoparticles-vaccine-efficacy.html
New Important Research !
The Fluid Dynamics of Oreo Cookie Twisting.
They even built a 3D printed “oreometer” so that people can study this phenomenon without using an expensive rheometer.
(And Now In Important Science News...)
Physics models better define what makes pasta 'al dente'
"What surprised us the most is that the addition of salt to the boiling water completely changes the cooking time," "So, depending on how much salt is added to the boiling water, the time to reach al dente can be very different."
https://phys.org/news/2022-04-physics-pasta-al-dente.html
Paper:
( the paper is much better than the sensational science article.)
Mushrooms communicate with each other using up to 50 ‘words’.
Mathematical analysis of the electrical signals fungi seemingly send to one another has identified patterns that bear a striking structural similarity to human speech.
By Linda Geddes
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/apr/06/fungi-electrical-impulses-human-language-study
Paper:
( I agree with this.)
The Anti-Science Movement
The problem isn’t “anti-science”, but bad science, promoted for ideological reasons. This is part of a larger truly grave challenge to humanity, that of our information environment being flooded with untruth, on a scale that dwarfs the output of the Ministry of Truth that Orwell foresaw.
By Peter Woit
/nosanitize
The Planet Inside
Scientists are probing the secrets of the inner core.
Earth’s magnetic field, nearly as old as the planet itself, protects life from damaging space radiation. But 565 million years ago, the field was sputtering, dropping to 10% of today’s strength, according to a recent discovery. Then, almost miraculously, over the course of just a few tens of millions of years, it regained its strength.
By Paul Voosen
In the dark, freezing ocean under Antarctica’s largest ice shelf, we discovered a thriving microbial jungle.
... this food web is built on inorganic nitrogen and sulfur compounds as sources of chemical energy. Microbes use these alternative energy sources to fix dissolved carbon dioxide into complex organic molecules and biomass which in turn fuel this underwater world.
a review of:
The Gene's-Eye View of Evolution
By J. Arvid Ågren
Selfish Genery:
By Daniel James Sharp
"In sum, Ågren has provided both an overview of an important scientific idea and a deeply philosophical examination of evolution and of the nature of life."
https://areomagazine.com/2022/02/28/selfish-genery-j-arvid-agrens-the-genes-eye-view-of-evolution/
Book:
https://bookshop.org/books/the-gene-s-eye-view-of-evolution/9780198862260
a review of:
The Man from the Future: The Visionary Life of John Von Neumann
Ananyo Bhattacharya (Author)
‘The Man From the Future’ Recounts the Life of a Restless Genius.
By Jennifer Szalai
Book:
"We Be The Humans"
Older Retired White Guy. Buddhist.
"Non nobis solum"
Likes trees better than people. Books better than trees.
"We Be The Humans"
Joined Aug 2018