TopoLog

I know where I can find some...

2009-03-13T08:45:00.001+02:00

It's about time they find something useful for pyrite to do. Lemme see, can we open a mine near Cape St Francis? clipped from metamodern.comA new paper in the journal Environmental Science & Technology assesses the requirements for scaling solar photovoltaic systems to the terawatt levels needed to supply electric

Engineering the post-humans

2007-08-17T08:53:00.000+02:00

The Case Against Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering - Michael J. Sandel - Books - Review - New York Times Annotated This is the real problem with self-engineering. It seizes control of humanity so radically that humanity can no longer judge it. We can’t be certain it’s diminishing us. But we can’t be certain it’s perfecting us, either. Sandel got it half right, which ain’t bad.

T.rex vision

2006-07-07T18:46:00.000+02:00

Sight for 'Saur Eyes: T. rex vision was among nature's best: Science News Online, July 1, 2006:T. rex had a binocular range of 55�, which is wider than that of modern hawks, Stevens reports in the summer Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Moreover, over the millennia, T. rex evolved features that improved its vision: Its snout grew lower and narrower, cheek grooves cleared its sight lines, and

The Political Brain

2006-06-26T09:31:00.000+02:00

Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: The Political Brain -- A recent brain-imaging study shows that our political predilections are a product of unconscious confirmation bias: "We did not see any increased activation of the parts of the brain normally engaged during reasoning," Westen is quoted as saying in an Emory University press release. "What we saw instead was a network of

Quantum Ontology: Minds, Brains & Catalysis

2006-06-07T12:07:00.000+02:00

Quantum Ontology: Minds, Brains & Catalysis: Actually just a link to more info on the muscle contraction and quantum tunneling (also known as Rooney's foot) topic referred to in the previous blog. An early application of solitons in biology was proposed by Davydov (1982). He suggested that they may play a role in the process of muscle contraction and relaxation (Also Pang, 2001, dealing with the

Johnjoe McFadden: The power in Rooney's foot

2006-06-07T09:29:00.000+02:00

Guardian Unlimited | Comment is free | Johnjoe McFadden: The power in Rooney's foot:Enzymes capture light's energy from the sun, power our cells, break down our food and synthesise all the proteins, DNA, fats and other biomolecules of living cells. They do all these jobs by speeding up chemical reactions, so that they occur on biological, rather than geological timescales. But the source of this

Spinosaurus as the biggest carnivorous dinosaur

2006-03-02T09:45:00.000+02:00

The Biggest Carnivore: Dinosaur History Rewritten: Now Cristiano Dal Sasso of the Civil Natural History Museum in Milan says Giganotosaurus has been dethroned based on estimates from a new Spinosaurus skull. I think Thomas will be upset about this. Tyrannosaurus isn't Rex anymore, it would seem. Still, these measurements were made on fragments of a Spinosaurus skull, so, T, there's hope.

Email Et(h)iquette

2006-02-16T14:59:00.000+02:00

The Secret Cause of Flame Wars: The reason for this is egocentrism, or the difficulty some people have detaching themselves from their own perspective, says Epley. In other words, people aren't that good at imagining how a message might be understood from another person's perspective. Every mailinglist, forum and newsgroup should post a link to the article. According to recent research

DNA from crushed bones and fossils

2006-02-10T09:14:00.000+02:00

Bone Crystal's Treasure:This method holds much promise for the future analysis of ancient DNA in bones in yielding more reliable and authentic results than has previously been possible, and may help in unearthing the mysteries of our ancestral past. Not quite Jurassic Park yet, but they're getting there. Technorati tags: genetics, paleontology

T.rex's Opa

2006-02-08T20:55:00.000+02:00

For Thomas - they suspect this find to be an early ancestor of Tyrannosaurus rex and other tyrannosaurs. Scientists find earliest known ancestor of T. rex: A two-legged meat-eater, the beast was far smaller than T. rex, measuring about 10 feet from its snout to the tip of its tail and standing about 3 feet tall at the hip. It also sported relatively long, three-fingered arms, rather than the

A scientific leap, but without the faith

2006-02-05T12:05:00.000+02:00

I don't want to get into the Intelligent Design vs Science debate on this blog. Really, I don't. But, damn!, this is just such an excellent piece: Philadelphia Inquirer | 02/05/2006 | A scientific leap, but without the faith: In the Dover courtroom, proponents of intelligent design could be heard repeating their mantra: "Evolution is just a theory. It's not a fact." Scientists would then point

Discovery could lead...

2006-01-27T13:06:00.000+02:00

David Brin said in some interview the URL of which I can't find just now, something to the effect of "Science has become a spectator sport...". He said this in context of the internet and all the science news sites (and blogs, I'm sure). And it certainly seems true. Even Topolog is a commentator on this new "sport". Now, my idea on this post was not so much to discuss this philosophical concept

Duckbill dinosaur mystery finally solved

2006-01-25T15:19:00.000+02:00

One for Thomas the tyrannosaur... Duckbill dinosaur mystery finally solved:"From the brain case, there's no indication that the nerves curled upward into the crest, as we would expect if the crest was used for the sense of smell," Evans says. "It appears the brain changed very little from their non-crested dinosaur ancestors, and the primary region of the sense of smell was located right in front

Politics and reasoning

2006-01-25T15:10:00.000+02:00

Emory study reveals the political brain:"We did not see any increased activation of the parts of the brain normally engaged during reasoning," said Drew Westen, director of clinical psychology at Emory who led the study. "What we saw instead was a network of emotion circuits lighting up. Nothing new, really, but nice to have a scientific basis for my understanding of politics, to have my

Title 1 of 3

2006-01-25T09:07:00.000+02:00

I have no idea why, all of a sudden (geologically speaking), I get three titles to each entry. All in different styles and colours. I only type the title in once...really...

First Impressions Of Beauty May Demonstrate Why The Pretty Prosper

2006-01-25T09:05:00.000+02:00

First Impressions Of Beauty May Demonstrate Why The Pretty Prosper:"Research has demonstrated time and again that there are tremendous social and economic benefits to being attractive," Olson said. "Attractive people are paid more, are judged more intelligent and will receive more attention in most facets of life. "This favoritism, while poorly understood, seems to be innate and cross-cultural.

Social and cultural evolution

2006-01-23T14:28:00.000+02:00

Just a thought on cultural evolution (completely unrehearsed and with no quotable or linkable evidence): Evolutionary list one of two: Approximately 300+ million years ago (please correct me if I'm wrong on any of these details, but it's not overly important just yet) amphibians were the dominant organisms on earth. Somewhere in the late Triassic dinosaurs came to prominence and "ruled" for, say

Machines and objects to overtake humans on the Internet: ITU

2006-01-21T14:05:00.000+02:00

BREITBART.COM - Machines and objects to overtake humans on the Internet: ITU In a report entitled "Internet of Things", the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) outlined the expected next stage in the technological revolution where humans, electronic devices, inanimate objects and databases are linked by a radically transformed Internet. Technorati tags: science, science fiction,

Light is slowing down. E doesn't equal MC square

2006-01-20T11:32:00.000+02:00

Treading the light fantastic: Einstein challenged - Science - Specials Thought I'd start the year with something fundamental: He believes that not long after the Big Bang light hit a "speed bump" and is, in fact, slowing down. And I'll tell you what, if it had hit any of the speed bumps here in Grahamstown you can bet it'd be standing still. Which, come to think of it, time is certainly

2005-10-10T10:35:00.000+02:00

Reuters | Stanford team clinches top spot in robot desert race So they did it! In a Volkswagen, nogal. Or should I say, with a Volkswagen, since no-one was actually driving it. No-one I know, anyway. Well done! Damn, last time these guys couldn't get beyond 10km and now they did 132 miles (what's that in real units?) in 7 hours. Go to Grand Challenge and click on the Win webcast. Very

2005-10-04T21:06:00.000+02:00

'Miracle mouse' can grow back lost limbs - Health news - Times Online Original date of this post: August 28, 2005 A fascinating development (something I'm sure you'll find is quite common on this blog). Scientists have created a self-healing mouse. The things they did to this mouse! And yet, it regenerated limbs, organs, it healed holes, perforated ears and who knows what else. It came through

2005-10-04T10:35:00.000+02:00

Stem Cells Repair Damaged Spinal Cords in Mice Similar to the previous post. The things they do to these mice! In this case they are looking at regenerating spinal cord neural cells. Injecting human stem cells into mice, after damaging the mice' spinal cords. The human stem cells develop into neural cells (of various types) and establish connections, such that the damage is reversed. "We show

2005-10-01T07:57:00.000+02:00

Photos: Robot racers tune up for Darpa Challenge | CNET News.com A couple of photos of the challengers. I like the motorbike entry, but I'm not sure if it's in the 20 that will take part. Technorati tags: robotics, artificial intelligence

2005-09-26T11:12:00.000+02:00

AP Wire | 09/25/2005 | Robots to face off for $2M Pentagon prize Things are starting to happen, and this time it sounds like they may even break that 8 mile barrier... Newcomers have joined a handful of last year's teams to form a motley mix of garage tinkerers, academia and corporations. All hope that their machines - fitted with the latest sensors, cameras and computers - have aged a

2005-09-26T10:16:00.000+02:00

Nanogirl Dermal Display Windows getting under your skin. 'Pixel bots' and 'programmable dermal display'. On the back of your hand. Perhaps this will be the future of cell phones. Or tattoos? Animated tattoos, perhaps. Anyway, your health first... Technorati tags: nanotechnology, medicine