Email Et(h)iquette

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 published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, I've only a 50-50 chance of ascertaining the tone of any e-mail message. The study also shows that people think they've correctly interpreted the tone of e-mails they receive 90 percent of the time.

Technorati tags: psychology, sociology

DNA from crushed bones and fossils

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

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 two-fingered stubby arms T. rex had. Scientists suspect it had feathers because related dinosaurs did.

From that I can't figure out why they'd think it's a tyrannosaur, but I'll take their word for it. I know Thomas will argue that the tyrannosaurs have two-fingered arms, but there you go. We'll have to head back to the ever increasing pile of dinosaur books, Tom.

Along with some other finds, the creature helps illustrate the sequence of anatomical changes that occurred along the way to the later, more specialized tyrannosaurs, said Philip Currie of the University of Alberta in Canada.

Technorati tags: dinosaurs, paleontology

A scientific leap, but without the faith

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 out the categorical error: A theory is a framework to explain the facts. A theory is one level up from fact, so the mantra ought to go, "Evolution is not just a fact. It's a theory."

The theory of intelligent design is not only not falsifiable; there is simply no way to test it. But that is not the main reason it is not science. The main reason is, that ID does not actually explain anything. When we ask, "Why is the world the way it is?" it answers, "Because it was designed that way." The world is the way it is because it is that way. That might be the furthest from a useful, satisfactory explanation you can get.

I almost posted the whole thing, but just head on over to the site and get educated.

[Edited an hour later] Okay, I feel that, since I've actually broached the subject on this blog I'd better, at least, point to something on the other side of the divide and...well, I think I'll just point. As we've seen on a previous entry, there's very little rational thought goes into these discussions, and I certainly am not rational when it comes to this debate. I suggest therefore, if the reader actually requires some background into the debate...google for Intelligent Design (or click on the Technorati link below), and if you find anything intelligent about it...join one of the forums.

Technorati tags: intelligent design, evolution, physics, science, philosophy of science

Discovery could lead...

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 as the frustration of trying to follow all the stuff that gets continuously thrown up by so many commentators. Kurtzweil's singularity is taking it's time and we seem to be stuck in the event horizon of "...discovery could lead...blahblahblah". Try googling for the title of this post and you'll find

Results 1 - 10 of about 46,300 for "discovery could lead". (0.16 seconds)

entries.

It is a self-appointed task of this author to follow some of these discoveries and find out if any of them do actually lead to...whatever they promised (or carefully didn't promise but definitely hinted towards.) Or at least try to trace a path into the above mentioned singularity...but that may be a bit of a...stretch. Oh dear....

Duckbill dinosaur mystery finally solved

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 of the eyes -- and, coincidentally, that's where it is in birds, crocodiles, mammals and basically all four-legged animals."

The title is a bit misleading. They only rule out one of several theories. Still, they do it quite thoroughly

Technorati tags: paleontology, dinosaurs, hadrosaurs

Politics and reasoning

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 suspicions confirmed.

"None of the circuits involved in conscious reasoning were particularly engaged," he said.

Technorati tags: neurology

Title 1 of 3

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

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. Studies suggest that even infants prefer pretty faces," Olson said.

Go figure...

Technorati tags: neurology

Social and cultural evolution

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 150 million years
• Then came mammals and they were the dominant organisms, since 65 million years ago (roughly; and I know insects have been around for most of this time, but somehow they don't get recognised as dominant organisms at any particular stage, go figure).
• Then, roughly (and I'm making a very wild stab in the dark here) 10000 years ago human culture came to dominate. Doesn't really matter when exactly, but human culture, as an organism, have certainly been the dominant and most influencial organism for the last 100 years. Surely?

Evolutionary list two of two:

• Humans are pretty unique in the evolutionary scheme of things for their adaptability (which is an attribute intricately and self-referentially linked to various other attributes, such as language, use-of-tools and culture).
• Western culture, as an organism, is very similar to humans in its evolutionary adaptability

I'm not making value judgements here, okay, so any comments on morals or ethics will probably be ignored. This is just a pattern I've noticed and anyone with some insight is welcome to comment. I'll do some more research and will have more to say about the matter in time.

Some links so long, garnered by a simple google search for "Cultural Evolution". Haven't done any reading of it yet...

• Social and cultural evolution
• Daniel Dennet:

  Cultures evolve. In one sense, this is a truism; in other senses, it asserts one or another controversial, speculative, unconfirmed theory of culture. Consider a cultural inventory of some culture at some time--say 1900AD. It should include all the languages, practices, ceremonies, edifices, methods, tools, myths, music, art, and so forth, that compose that culture. Over time, that inventory changes. Today, a hundred years later, some items will have disappeared, some multiplied, some merged, some changed, and many new elements will appear for the first time. A verbatim record of this changing inventory through history would not be science; it would be a data base. That is the truism: cultures evolve over time. Everybody agrees about that. Now let's turn to the controversial question: how are we to explain the patterns to be found in that data base? Are there any good theories or models of cultural evolution?

Technorati tags: evolution, cultural evolution, philosophy

Machines and objects to overtake humans on the Internet: ITU

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, artificial intelligence

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

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 doing around here...

Technorati tags: physics, cosmology

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 interesting. Stanley, for it is the winner's name, got through the whole course without a scratch. Way to go, Stan.

More on Stan:

The Stanford Vehicle (nicknamed "Stanley") is based on a stock, Diesel-powered Volkswagen Touareg R5, modified with full body skid plates and a reinforced front bumper. Stanley is actuated via a drive-by-wire system developed by Volkswagen of America's Electronic Research Lab.

So not any old Volkswagen. There I was expecting a 1959 Beetle (four wheel drive, mind you).

All processing takes place on seven Pentium M computers, powered by a battery-backed, electronically-controlled power system. The vehicle incorporates measurements from GPS, a 6DOF inertial measurement unit, and wheel speed for pose estimation.

Now, I wonder what my Lego rover will do with seven Pentium M computers (apart from not moving under all the weight...shit...).

While the vehicle is in motion, the environment is perceived through four laser range finders, a radar system, a stereo camera pair, and a monocular vision system. All sensors acquire environment data at rates between 10 and 100 Hertz. Map and pose information are incorporated at 10 Hz, enabling Stanley to avoid collisions with obstacles in real-time while advancing along the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge route.

Technorati tags: science, robotics, artificial intelligence

'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 oh kay.

“We have experimented with amputating or damaging several different organs, such as the heart, toes, tail and ears, and just watched them regrow,” she said.

'She' being the lead scientist. The only organ that is unaffected by this pathologically self-healing gene seems to be the brain. Everything else regenerates. What's more is that when they injected cells from this mouse strain (and obviously strained mouse) into other, normal, mice, the self-healing ability was acquired.

The discoveries raise the prospect that humans could one day be given the ability to regenerate lost or damaged organs, opening up a new era in medicine.

Technorati tags: longevity, science, medical science, senescence

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 that these [stem] cells make connections with the nervous system of the mouse in a way that is appropriate … and could mediate recovery," Anderson said. "That's a big thing."

And she should know.

Within four months, mice that had been transplanted with human stem cells showed long-term recovery of motor function.

Not quite as exciting as the self-healing mouse, perhaps?

Technorati tags: senescence, stem cell research, health

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

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 generation since last year.

Damn! I'll be searching for my Lego MindStorms Robotics kit again.

This year's race shows signs of being extremely competitive. Some vehicles have logged hundreds of self-guided miles in the Southwest desert during summer practice runs. Several even tested on last year's course, which spanned the Mojave Desert between Barstow, Calif., and Primm, Nev.

And they are ambitious this year:

DARPA Director Anthony Tether hopes that a robot will be able to traverse the course in under 10 hours and snatch this year's prize. "It's going to be a long day out in the desert," Tether said.

I reckon...

Technorati tags: robotics, artificial intelligence

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

BBC NEWS | Technology | Deadly plague hits Warcraft world

An virtual plague devastating a virtual world. This is just so cool. Science fiction is charging down this way from somewhere in the future.

Many online discussion sites were buzzing with reports from the disaster zones with some describing seeing "hundreds" of bodies lying in the virtual streets of the online towns and cities.

Blizzard tried to control the plague by staging rolling re-starts of all the servers supporting the Warcraft realms and applying quick fixes.

However, there are reports that this has not solved all the problems and that isolated pockets of plague are breaking out again.

Blizzard is the company that created the online game (World of Warcraft) which was infected far more than intended by a virtual plague.

Technorati tags: virtual worlds, science fiction

SPACE.com -- Astronotes | Space Elevator Gets FAA Lift

They are actually doing something. I'm obviously too cynical and narrow-minded (insular would also be a reasonable word to use here, I think). Still, like the man said, it's a 'trillion-dollar moneymaker'. Come to think of it, what would a trillion-dollars look like in Rand?

The lifters are early prototypes of the technology that the company is developing for use in its commercial space elevator to ferry cargo back and forth into space.

The tests, which are planned for early fall, will simulate a working space elevator by launching a model elevator “ribbon” attached to moored balloon initially up to a mile high. The robotic lifters will then be tested in their ability to climb up and down the free-hanging ribbon, marking the first-ever test of this technology in the development of the space elevator concept.

I'll keep track of this - would like to see some images of these balloons and their ribbons...

When is 'early fall'? Would that be early spring in the Southern Hemisphere?

Technorati tags: space, science fiction, technology