Practical Advances In Everyday Living Blog : Self-Description September 7, 2010 — Jon McLoone, International Business & Strategic Development I am a big fan of Randall Munroe’s web comic strip xkcd. (Apparently I am not alone.) A while ago, Randall posted a strip with a self-referential chart of the amount of black ink in the image. If you have read my past blog items, you know I like recursive pictures. The pie chart: The bar chart: The ink location chart: Next, I solved the equation f[x]=x, where f is the function that generates an analysis report on the ink in an image and x is the image of the report. If the equation is substituted into itself, it also solves f[f[x]]=x, and for that matter f[f[f[f[f[f[f[x]]]]]]]=x. If f meets certain convergence criteria, then this problem can be solved iteratively just by working out f[f[f[...f[x]…]]] for some random initial guess at x. This is exactly the numerical analysis task that every bored schoolchild has done at some point by pressing the Cos button on a calculator repeatedly.
Extinct woolly mammoth could be brought back to life: report - m.NYPOST.com The long-extinct woolly mammoth could be brought back to life within four years after a breakthrough in cloning technology by Japanese scientists. Researchers have tried unsuccessfully in the past to recover nuclei in cells from the skin and muscle tissue of mammoths found frozen in permafrost, The (London) Daily Telegraph reported late Thursday. The attempts failed because the cells were too damaged by the extreme cold. However, a technique pioneered by Dr. Akira Iritani, a professor at Kyoto University, said the same technique could be used to resurrect the woolly mammoth, which died out about 5,000 years ago. “Now the technical problems have been overcome, all we need is a good sample of soft tissue from a frozen mammoth,” he said. The woolly mammoth would be conceived by inserting the nuclei into the egg cells of an African elephant, which will act as a surrogate mother. Iritani said the first cloned woolly mammoth could be born in about four years.
Not Even Wrong I’ve just replaced the old version of my draft “spacetime is right-handed” paper (discussed here) with a new, hopefully improved version. If it is improved, thanks are due to a couple people who sent helpful comments on the older version, sometimes making clear that I wasn’t getting across at all the main idea. To further clarify what I’m claiming, here I’ll try and write out an informal explanation of what I see as the relevant fundamental issues about four-dimensional geometry, which appear even for $\mathbf R^4$, before one starts thinking about manifolds. Spinors, twistors and complex spacetime In complex spacetime $\mathbf C^4$ the story of spinors and twistors is quite simple and straightforward. While spinors are the irreducible objects for understanding complex four-dimensional rotations, twistors are the irreducible objects for understanding complex four-dimensional conformal transformations. Real forms In this case the conjugation acts in a subtle manner. Some philosophy
Science - News for Your Neurons The Hidden Message in Pixar’s Films | Science Not Fiction I love Pixar. Who doesn’t? The stories are magnificently crafted, the characters are rich, hilarious, and unique, and the images are lovingly rendered. Without fail, John Ratzenberger’s iconic voice makes a cameo in some boisterous character. Even if you haven’t seen every film they’ve made (I refuse to watch Cars or its preposterous sequel), there is a consistency and quality to Pixar’s productions that is hard to deny. Popular culture is often dismissed as empty “popcorn” fare. Buried within that constant and complex goodness is a hidden message. Now, this is not your standard “Disney movies hide double-entendres and sex imagery in every film” hidden message. What if I told you they were preparing us for the future? Before we begin, I ask you to watch the video below. People love these films. To understand Pixar films, one must first to go back to Disney before Toy Story was released – to be precise, The Lion King. The Lion King gives us a clean slate. Non-humans are sentient beings.
The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences is the title of an article published in 1960 by the physicist Eugene Wigner.[1] In the paper, Wigner observed that the mathematical structure of a physical theory often points the way to further advances in that theory and even to empirical predictions. The miracle of mathematics in the natural sciences[edit] Wigner begins his paper with the belief, common to all those familiar with mathematics, that mathematical concepts have applicability far beyond the context in which they were originally developed. Based on his experience, he says "it is important to point out that the mathematical formulation of the physicist’s often crude experience leads in an uncanny number of cases to an amazingly accurate description of a large class of phenomena." He then invokes the fundamental law of gravitation as an example. The deep connection between science and mathematics[edit] Responses to Wigner's original paper[edit] 1. 3. 4.
The Top 5 Astronomical Events to Witness Before You Die | Fun Lists - Top 10 Lists In the age of internet, television, and Lady Gaga, it’s easy to ignore the dazzling displays the sky gives us every night. In ancient times, however, human civilizations based their entire calendar, and thus their way of life, upon what they saw in the cosmos. While humanity’s interest in astronomy has diminished over the centuries, the sky remains nonetheless spectacular. Few people have the time to go stargazing every night, but here are 5 celestial events so awe-inspiring, everyone must see them in their lifetime. 5. Next Occurrence: August 9-14, 2011 Every August, the night sky lights up with a dazzling display known as the Perseid meteor shower. 4. Next Occurrence: June 15, 2011 in Africa Ever get bored with the predictably drab hue of the moon? 3. Occurrence: Year round More commonly known as the Northern Lights, Aurora is a fantastic light display that occurs at extreme Northern or Southern latitudes. 2. 1. Top 10 Amazing Stars in the Universe (toptenz.net) Shortlink:
The Skeptical Teacher The Selvedge Yard [Infographic] Combating Mass Incarceration - The Facts June 17, 2011 The war on drugs has helped make the U.S. the world's largest incarcerator. America’s criminal justice system should keep communities safe, treat people fairly, and use fiscal resources wisely. But more Americans are deprived of their liberty than ever before - unfairly and unnecessarily, with no benefit to public safety. Download the graphic here » View the plain-text version » Learn More: Safe Communities, Fair Sentences: Combating Mass Incarceration Recent coverage: Breaking the Addiction to Incarceration: Weekly Highlights References
Loco by Rudy Rucker,Bruce Sterling You can’t just morph a federal scientist into a giant invertebrate that catches fire. That’s not an acceptable protocol. And the feds aren’t going to fund you anymore. Not when your boss is a self-flattening radioactive pancake.” This story was acquired and edited for Tor.com by Tor Books editor Patrick Nielsen Hayden. “Waverly’s dead?” “You hear that rumbling outside?” “What kind of bodyguard are you anyway? Gordo rubbed his chapped hands. “This means we’re on a hit-list,” said Becka. “Lighten up,” said Gordo, his voice echoing in the unheated room. “Was it Yellco who got Waverly?” “Not likely,” said Gordo, blinking at her. The contents of Project Loco’s offices had been manhandled by forklift robots and crammed into their hideout: a derelict McMansion in dismal Middleburg, Virginia. During the seven weeks of their increasingly uneasy confinement, Gordo and Becka had passed the time by piling the federal debris against the walls. Eight or nine species of leeches. “Was he writhing at all?