1. Python: What can it do for us scientists? | MESA The answer is A LOT! Let me clarify.. Though Python is a programming language, in the recent years it has emerged as an extremely powerful tool for a variety of scientific applications: from data analysis to simulation and complex visualisations to interfacing with instruments. Let’s take a cyber tour of various web pages that illustrate the capabilities of Python in science. A basic tour Interactive infographics Three dimensional visualisation using Mayavi A whole plethora of two dimensional plotting using the matplotlib package Interactive two dimensional plots using Chaco (including a cool visualisation of audio coming from your microphone at the bottom) Fitting data using scipy Interpolating data using splines Using python for bioinformatics PyVISA for interfacing with lab instruments using GPIB, RS-232 or USB More Python resources Software Carpentry: Beautifully simple video lectures on Unix and Python. Dive into Python: Free e-book for those wanting to dive right into Python right now!
August 27, 1883: The island of Krakatoa blows up Today, August 27th, marks the grim anniversary of one of the most devastating volcanic eruptions in recorded history: the final explosion of the island of Krakatoa in 1883. The eruption — and the tsunami that was generated by it — is estimated to have killed some one hundred thousand people, and it has even been speculated in Simon Winchester’s 2003 book Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded that the eruption led to the political downfall of the Dutch Indonesian colonies. An 1888 lithograph representing the eruption of Krakatoa (source). On his Scientific American blog History of Geology, David Bressan has relayed some of the eyewitness accounts of the devastation. The first article appeared in the September 6th issue of Nature, and was reprinted in the October 5th issue of Science*. THE details which have reached us during the past week, of the terrible seismical manifestation at Java, prove it to be one of the most disastrous on record. The narrative continues: The emphasis is mine.
matplotlib: python plotting — Matplotlib v1.0.1 documentation “Should I switch to Python?” | Programming for Scientists November 17, 2009 – 6:34 pm Logo owned by the Python Software Foundation Rich has recently been considering switching to the Python programming language. But of course things are not quite that straightforward. Why Python? What do I need it for? Library support For scientific programming, having the right libraries is vital. Usability This is always tricky to assess without using the language, but the perceived wisdom on the Web, backed up by the opinions of some of our colleagues, is that Python is extremely user-friendly. Speed For prototyping scientific code, computational speed is a bonus rather than a necessity. What does everyone else use? A tranferable skill… It’s always prudent to be developing transferable skills and experience with Python would certainly count as that, because it’s widely used in industry and the commercial world. What about Octave? No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Python for Scientists In reaction to several colleagues asking about Python , I thought a webpage would be more useful than giving an exhaustive rundown on Python verbally. Python is a script based language that allows programmers/scientists to get their algorithms and functions working in little or no time. A large number of modules and wrappers are being built for Python, like RPy and Scipy , to allow advanced tools and faster processing speeds to be implemented. Plotting modules and programs are also in wide use among Python users. Getting to Know Python If you're not too familiar with Python, the links below will help you learn the Python language. How to Think Like a Computer Scientist Detailed tutorial on Python Instant Python Installers for Extras This section is primarily for people who use OS X as their main environment to work in. Fink MacPorts Easy Install Enstaller Programming Environments IPython is an interactive "enhanced Python shell." IPython TextMate General Modules and Wrappers Scipy Numpy RPy PyRAF Sage
design | The World by National Geographic is live Aug 18, 2011 The World, Stamen's first iPad app and our first project with the National Geographic Society, is available for download from Apple's app store today. Yeah! The heart of the app is a globe of (you guessed it) the world, with overlays of National Geographic's unmistakable cartography available for the different parts of the earth. National Geographic has their act together in the map department, as you can imagine, and it was a great pleasure working with some of the best cartographers around (and classy too: I got a yellow border pin for my suit lapel as part of the deal). NG's mapping style also allows for some really wonderful cartographic moments, like this example of Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu spilling out into Hawke's Bay: It's easy to lament the move to online and digital mapping as being a move away from the tactility of paper maps; to pine for a time when decisions about line weight and printing layers mattered.
Cavity magnetron Magnetron with section removed to exhibit the cavities. The cathode in the center is not visible. The waveguide emitting microwaves is at the left. The magnet producing a field parallel to the long axis of the device is not shown. A similar magnetron with a different section removed. Construction and operation[edit] A cross-sectional diagram of a resonant cavity magnetron. The sizes of the cavities determine the resonant frequency, and thereby the frequency of emitted microwaves. The magnetron is a self-oscillating device requiring no external elements other than a power supply. Where there are an even number of cavities, two concentric rings can connect alternate cavity walls to prevent inefficient modes of oscillation. The magnetron is a fairly efficient device. Applications[edit] Magnetron from a microwave oven with magnet in its mounting box. Radar[edit] Several characteristics of the magnetron's power output conspire to make radar use of the device somewhat problematic. Heating[edit]
Crop circles | Physics Stop This post is syndicated from Physics Stop – Original Post There’s a great article in Physics World on crop circles. Not a discussion about man-made / weather-made / UFO-made – any sensible interpretation would be man-made – but just HOW do you make such intricate and vast patterns so quickly and leave almost no traces behind. There’s some evidence that the crop-circle makers are really very scientifically based and have moved beyond the rope, peg and stomping board and are armed with magnetrons and other secret techniques by which they carry out their art. Read the article and see what you think. And why are there so few crop circles in NZ?
Steve Jobs stands down as CEO of Apple Computer Breaking news is that Steve Jobs, CEO and co-founder of Apple Computer, has resigned his post. Press reports are citing his resignation letter, To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. Steve Jobs, diagnosed and treated for pancreatic cancer in 2004 has been on medical leave since January. Further reports and commentary can be found at at the Wall Street Journal and ArsTechnica. Readers are welcome to share there thoughts. (Updated to add links below.) Other articles on Code for life: Mac OS X dreams Mac OS X — quickly inspecting the contents of a file Haemophilia — towards a cure using genetic engineering Finding platypus venom Developing bioinformatics methods: by who and how Research project coding v. end-user application coding
Brewing A Designer Beer A new discovery has unlocked the secret story of lager beer’s South American origins, and is letting scientists piece together the genetic history of the domesticated microbe that keeps lager cool. This final piece of the yeast’s genetic family tree could one day help brewers create custom-made designer brews with carefully selected characteristics. The modern-day lager yeast is a hybrid, born from an ancient hookup between a Saccharomyces cerevisiae--a popular ingredient for brewers and bakers--and another yeast that Diego Libkind and his company have identified and named Sacchyromyces eubyanus. They published their study in a recent issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers surmise that at some time after the 16th century, S. eubayanus hitched a ride from South America to Europe with the traveling tradesmen, and fused with S. cerevisiae to create the lager yeast. “We're trying to see if we can generate a local project,” Libkind tells Fast Company.
Kass: Of moon men and red cucumbers - chicagotribune.com August 25, 2011|John Kass Of all the hoaxes in American history, my favorite involves the first "scientific" proof of life on the moon: The winged humanoids called Vespertilio-homo, or man-bat, written 176 years ago this week in the New York Sun. The Vespertilio-homo had copper-colored hair. They prayed in a sapphire temple. And when they weren't flying high above the lunar surface, they gorged on fruit that looked like red cucumbers. They shared the moon with other creatures, great white stags with ebony antlers, horned bears, blue unicorns and beavers without tails. It was all published as scientific fact in a six-part series that began in the Sun on Aug. 25, 1835. The amazing findings were possible because of the giant telescope built by the famous and distinguished (and all too real) astronomer Sir John Frederick William Herschel. There was just one thing wrong with the story. Did they keep records in their temples detailing the collapse of past bat-man civilizations? Make no mistake.
PyBrain Room-temperature brown dwarf spied just 9 light-years off 3 Big data security analytics techniques you can apply now to catch advanced persistent threats Scientists perusing data collected by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) have spotted some really cool stars – brown dwarfs with an atmospheric temperature as low as an agreeable 25°C. Dubbed "Y dwarfs", these objects have hitherto eluded astronomers hunting them at visible wavelengths, although WISE has finally nailed six examples within a distance of around 40 light-years from our own Sun. Jon Morse, Astrophysics Division director at NASA's Washington headquarters, explained: "They are 5,000 times brighter at the longer infrared wavelengths WISE observed from space than those observable from the ground." Brown dwarfs are stars whose lack of mass prevented a sustained nuclear reaction at their cores, condemning them to fade and cool instead of shining proudly in the heavens. The NASA boffins are also excited about the Y dwarfs because of their relative proximity to Earth. Bootnote
Scientists find weakness in deadly Ebola virus