Yes, if you find out where in the brain feelings of fear are stored then you can design treatments for people who suffer from extreme anxiety. I’m pretty sure you can also use it for other things as well. Who needs to waste time torturing people when a quick tweak of the brain can make them terrified?
Science
Aboriginal Astronomy
As I’m in Australia at the moment it seems entirely appropriate to link to this post by Jennifer Ouellette which suggests that some Aboriginal people created a astronomical observatory at Wurdi Youang, a stone circle near to Melbourne. Obviously a lot can happen in an investigation in a year, and the whole thing may have been disproved by August 2010, but when I get back to the con today I shall seek out Sue Ann Barber and suggest to her that an email to the Melbourne Planetarium might be a good idea. I’d love to see some discussion of this at Worldcon.
The Mountains of Madness
Buried deep beneath the Antarctic ice is a vast range of mountains. Modern imaging techniques are finally beginning to reveal their shape and extent, but global warming may yet cause them to emerge from their hiding place.
When that happens, of course, scientists will marvel at the unimaginably ancient buildings that are uncovered, and the bizarre alien technology contained therein…
Making Wrinkles Go Away
What do stains on furniture, scratches on cars and wrinkles on faces have in common? We all want to get rid of them, and doing so often involves tricks of physics. Want to know how your foundation works? Diandra at Cocktail Party Physics has an explanation.
“Hobbit” Debate Rumbles On
The debate amongst anthropologists as to whether the “hobbit” skeletons found on an Indonesian island constitute evidence of a separate human-like species, or are just a few deformed individuals, has been given a big boost recently by some articles in Nature. The basic argument is that the “hobbits” had legs that were more chimp-like than human, allowing them to walk upright but not run as well as we do. As is the way of things, those on one side of the debate are hailing this as absolute proof that the question is settled, while those on the other side are busy raising doubts.
Darwin: A Graphic Biography
One of the things I picked up at P-Con was a free graphic novel. The author is an old friend of mine, Eugene Byrne, and the book is free because it has been produced as part of the Darwin 200 celebrations here in the UK. It is, of course, an unashamed piece of pro-science propaganda, and a fine job it does too. Illustrated by Simon Gurr, who has worked with Eugene on other projects, it tells the life story of Charles Darwin through the eyes of a production crew from APE TV who are making a documentary about the famous human. As well as being educational, the book is very amusing in places.
You can see a review of the book by Joe Gordon here, and an interview with Eugene and Simon here. As the book is meant to be given away where it will do most good, I am taking it to Montreal with me so that Kevin can have it and spread the Good Word amongst the people of California.
#ALD09 – The Story So Far
Things, as they say, are going swimmingly. I have two posts up. I may have another, but it is being posted elsewhere and I can’t guarantee it will go up today. I’ll link to it as and when it appears.
In the meantime we have been featured in The Guardian, and on the BBC news this lunchtime. If you want to see what has happened so far, there is a web site here where people have been registering links to their posts, and you can follow the Twitter activity through Tweetizen here.
Changing Sex is Evolutionary Advantage
My but the fundies are going to hate this: sex changes and evolution working together. Well, that’s what the New Haven Independent says anyway. It is from this article about gender-bending fish which says:
Using mathematical modeling they discovered that the ability to change sex is usually at an evolutionary advantage, prompting the question: Why aren’t more animals sex-changers?
The original paper is available online here.
The Sea Is Not Flat
And I don’t just mean waves. What with things like planetary rotation, prevailing winds and marine currents, “sea level” is by no means the same everywhere in the world.
Why does this matter? Well, global warming is going to change a whole lot of things. Yes, in general, sea level is going to rise, but also currents and even wind patterns will change. As a result, the actual increase in sea level will be different in different parts of the world. I’m relieved to note that London and San Francisco look like they’ll do OK. If you live in New York, don’t look. (And I suspect something similar applies to Boston.)
Time Isn’t What It Used To Be
Those of you who enjoy reading books on weird cosmological issues by the likes of Stephen Hawking and Brian Greene will probably enjoy the forthcoming From Eternity to Here: The Origin of the Universe and the Arrow of Time by Sean Carroll. Michael Bérubé has a review up at Crooked Timber which is full of lovely stuff like:
Carroll’s larger idea is that ours is one of many not-merely-possible but actually existing universes, that the Big Bang is not the origin of them all, and that in some of them, time may run backwards, forwards, sideways, or not at all.
The post itself appears to have fallen through an event horizon and been partially cloned as a result, but there’s plenty in there to whet the appetite. And if that isn’t enough to get you to buy the book I should add that Mr. Carroll is better known as the “spousal unit” of the very wonderful Jennifer Ouellette so he comes pre-approved, so to speak.
Stem Cell Breakthrough
I’m generally a bit wary of science stories in newspapers, but this one sounds like very good news. According to The Guardian, scientists from Edinburgh and Toronto universities have developed a means of making stem cells without destroying embryos. Doubtless there will be some fundies who will continue to oppose any research simply because it is science, but most of the opposition to stem cell work should now melt away.
Um, assuming that the report is accurate. Anyone an expert on this stuff?
The Un-Goth Gene
It seems that there is a gene for everything these days, including being happy. According to The Guardian, psychologists at Essex University claim to have discovered a gene that helps people have a positive attitude to life. I must admit that this is one of those occasions when I am deeply suspicious of science reporting in national newspapers, but a gene that helps the body resist whatever chemical malfunction results in depression doesn’t appear impossible.
I don’t think I need to comment further because I can just refer you to Amanda Palmer, who has thought about such things.
Arriving Late to the Party
I have managed to miss out on this story, largely because when Ben Goldacre first posted about it last week it seemed like a storm in a teacup. I should know by now how such little perturbations can quickly grow into a full-fledged Internet storm. I’m sorry, Michael Fish, I should learn my lessons better.
Anyway, having been prompted by Neil Gaiman, who was prompted by Stephen Fry, you all need to pay attention to yet another dose of quackery on the part of anti-vaccination scare-mongers. Especially if you have children, because it is their lives that are being put at risk by these irresponsible idiots. Ben’s post is here, and for a full update on the story so far, here’s Dave Aaronovitch at The Times.
Singularity Slapdown
PZ Myers on why Ray Kurzweil is full of it.
All About the Data
Fans of Ben Goldacre may enjoy this update from danah boyd on the issue of fear-mongering over the Internet. It is all very impressive for politicians to crow about 90,000 sex offenders being removed from MySpace, but unless you understand the data you really don’t know whether that is good or bad or simply irrelevant.
Sexism Starts Early
Researchers in the US find that high school students have a low opinion of female science teachers, despite the fact that they are equally effective at getting students to pass exams:
The importance of these findings is that they make it clear that students have developed a specific sense of gender-appropriate roles in the sciences by the end of high school
No wonder girls don’t study science in university.
Forward Planning
The Bath Literature Festival is taking place at the end of the month. As expected, there is not a trace of SF, but I am tempted to go and see Ben Goldacre.
All About the Numbers
Here’s a lovely post by Oliver Morton on how people are unclear on the concept when it comes to carbon emission reduction. Sadly, because this does involve politicians and journalists having a basic understanding of science and math, I suspect we are going to see a lot more of this.
Evolution in Action
Via Jay Lake I find this:
Long legs and skittish behavior are recently evolved traits that allow fence lizards in the southeastern U.S. to co-exist with lethal and invasive fire ants, according to a new study.
See the whole article here. By “recently” they mean “in the last 100 years”. That’s pretty quick going for evolution.
Bizarre Gender Science
Who would have thought it? Apparently estrogen makes you susceptible to finding babies cute. And you can check for that by including post-menopausal women in your test sample, including some on HRT and some not. Amazing. But I suspect the research may also be in line for an IgNobel.
Just for the record, I thought the differences in the photos were blindingly obvious, and yes, I am under the influence of estrogen.