doubleplusgood

Real science

2012-04-06T00:00:00-07:00

Real science is a revision in progress, always. It proceeds in fits and starts of ignorance.

Stuart Firestein's wonderful definition of science from his new book, Ignorance: How It Drives Science. In it he argues for a return to focussing on what we don't know, to exploring our ignorance.

Working scientists don’t get bogged down in the factual swamp because they don’t care all that much for facts. It’s not that they discount or ignore them, but rather that they don’t see them as an end in themselves. They don’t stop at the facts; they begin there, right beyond the facts, where the facts run out.

Via: Brain Pickings. I feel a little guilty quoting from a book I haven't read, but the passages were too good to pass on.

Tautologies and pleonasms

2012-04-05T00:00:00-07:00

However many times I look up the difference between a pleonasm and a tautology I always forget it. Perhaps writing it down here will help. A brief introduction: both are ways of defining unnecessary use of words.

Tautologies say the same thing in different words.

They arrived one after the other in succession.
A huge great big man.

Pleonasms are the use of unnecessary words to convey a meaning.

safe haven
mass exodus
huge giant
free gift

A haven must be safe, otherwise it wouldn't be a haven. An exodus is by definition the departure of lots of people. A giant is…you get the idea.

If the words or phrases mean the same independently ("they arrived one after the other" or "they arrived in succession") it's a tautology. If once separated the words or phrases can have different meanings (not everything that is free is a gift) it's a pleonasm.

Max Shon's dream setup

2012-04-04T00:00:00-07:00

Max Shon's answer to the question "what would be your dream setup?" sounds perfect.

Someday perhaps I will go around carrying only a book, a change of clothes, a pen, a water bottle, a folding umbrella, and a little capsule that turns into my livelihood when opened. Rollable hi-res screen and keyboard, tiny computer the size of a cell phone or smaller but as light as a pen, with high-speed satellite connectivity anywhere on the globe. In this world, my sleeping bag, pad and windproof hammock weigh only a pound put together. For half of the year I travel the world, alone and with companions, with a small bag slung over my shoulder like Kwai Chang Caine. We sleep outdoors, travel on trains, and a few days of the week sit some place cozy and create beautiful software or solve interesting problems that improve the world.

Surrounded by Mirrors

2012-03-17T00:00:00-07:00

You're standing in a room whose every surface is mirrored. There is one source of light, a candle set on a table near you. Will this candle illuminate every part of the room, regardless of the room's shape?

Orininally posed by German-American mathematician Ernst Straus in the 1950s, the Illumination Problem outlined above is a fun one. Surely, you think, surely if the light bounces around for long enough it'll find every possible space. Right?

Not if it's shaped like this.

In this 24-sided room devised by D. Castro in 1997 a person standing at point B will not see a reflection of the candle at A any where around them. You can see an animated demonstration of this effect in George Tokasky's 26-sided room, the precursor to Castro's.

Source: Futility Closet.

Flying like Ironman

2012-03-11T00:00:00-08:00

One day we'll all go to space. The monetary and technological barriers will fall and humankind will flock to experience the joy of unaided flight in zero-g. And we'll all suck at it. We dream of being able to fly, of pushing off and nimbly zipping around, it's just sadly not something we are naturals at. Flying is a skill to be learned like any other.

To give you a boost astronaut Don Pettit - whose blog is a treasure trove for those looking to experience life in space vicariously - shares the two dominant modes of weightless movement. First, the more functional of the two.

Fly-walking looks like normal walking with the body “standing upright” and motion perpendicular to the chest. In fly-walking your motion is controlled by the legs through tactful forces exerted through the feet when hooked under a deck mounted handrail. This motion does not seem possible, however; when pressed into a new environment, humans readily discover, learn, and adapt. Fly-walking offers a real advantage because it frees your arms for carrying loads.

Proper A-to-B flight where speed and agility are the goals sounds significantly more fun.

I learned the best way to fly is head first with arms at your side like “Ironman”. Pushing and pulling from this position goes nearly through your center of mass, thus does not impart rotation. On space station Ironman becomes your role model for flying, leaving Superman for the comic books.

The Music of 2011

2012-01-05T00:00:00-08:00

A few years ago, inspired by a post by Khoi Vinh, I started keeping track of my favourite new music - stand out tracks I came across throughout the year, by both new artists and known. The first year was retrospective, but since then it's been an ongoing project. At first it was just for fun - a chance to make a playlist with a range of genres - but now I enjoy looking back to see when I first listened to an artist, and watch as my music tastes change.

It would be nice if Last.fm could do something like this automatically; sadly it doesn't currently provide an easy way to single out music you've found (or gone back to) over a given period. What it is good for, though, is pulling out the past 12 months of listening history. So, before I launch into a personalised mixtape, here's what Last.fm thinks I enjoyed most last year. The list is a bit odd - I've tried to include my ten most played tracks too, bear with me.

The Top Artists and Tracks of 2011

Emancipator — 1242
- First Snow (1)
- Soon It Will Be Cold Enough To Build Fires (3)
- Nevergreen (7)
Ludovico Einaudi — 863
The National — 818
- Wake Up Your Saints (10)
Beirut — 652
- Santa Fe (8)
Bon Iver — 591
- Perth (9)
Bonobo — 551
Iron & Wine — 535
- Jezebel (5)
Andrew Bird — 534
Nujabes — 528
- Reflection Eternal (4)
Tycho — 509
- PBS (2)
Radiohead — 452
Ólafur Arnalds — 436
- Erla's Waltz (6)

Of these Einaudi, Bonobo, Andrew Bird, and Radiohead stand out: clearly I listened to them a lot, but no single track was compelling enough to listen to repeatedly. Unlike Emancipator who I apparently fell in love with. To give you an idea of how much I listened to Emancipator, here's a snapshot of the first few months of 2011 rendered by LastGraph —

For just under a month I listened almost solely to Emancipator. This isn't uncommon for me: after being introduced to a new artist I like I'll listen to them at the expense of all other music. The rest of the graph (not shown) highlighted other external influences I'd forgotten about - there are two lulls in my listening when a) I was on holiday, and b) when my laptop got stolen. You can also spot surges where new albums were released (Bon Iver, The National, Fleet Foxes, Beirut). Enough of that though, here's the playlist.

The 2011 Mixtape

Radiohead — Supercollider
King Creosote & Jon Hopkins — John Taylor's Month Away
Evenings — Still Young
Bon Iver — Minnesota, WI
Souleye — Predestined Fate
Sam Amidon — How Come That Blood
King Seven — Hidden
Fleet Foxes — Helplessness Blues
Iron & Wine — Jezebel
Nujabes — Reflection Eternal
Explosions in the Sky — Postcards from 1952
Beirut — Santa Fe
Tycho — PBS
Ólafur Arnalds — Erla's Waltz
Emancipator — First Snow

The Humble Octopus

2011-12-30T00:00:00-08:00

Octopuses (or octopodes, if you're feeling particularly pedantic) have long caught people's imagination: they squeeze through tiny gaps, occassionally display bizarre behviour, and change the colour of their skin. The latter, which I've taken for granted since childhood, appears to be more complicated than previously thought:

But how does an octopus decide what animal to mimic, what colors to turn? Scientists have no idea, especially given that octopuses are likely colorblind.

But new evidence suggests a breathtaking possibility. Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory and University of Washington researchers found that the skin of the cuttlefish Sepia officinalis, a color-changing cousin of octopuses, contains gene sequences usually expressed only in the light-sensing retina of the eye. In other words, cephalopods—octopuses, cuttlefish, and squid—may be able to see with their skin.

As fascinating as I find this, perhaps you shrug and brush it off as an interesting but unremarkable physiological trait. Perhaps behaviour is more your thing —

Occasionally an octopus takes a dislike to someone. One of Athena’s predecessors at the aquarium, Truman, felt this way about a female volunteer. Using his funnel, the siphon near the side of the head used to jet through the sea, Truman would shoot a soaking stream of salt water at this young woman whenever he got a chance. Later, she quit her volunteer position for college. But when she returned to visit several months later, Truman, who hadn’t squirted anyone in the meanwhile, took one look at her and instantly soaked her again.

Either way, it appears octopuses are not to be underestimated.

Source: Orion Magazine.

A recipe for Moroccan lamb

2011-10-30T00:00:00-07:00

What follows is a recipe that should be in everyone's cookbook. The short version is: take a shoulder of lamb, rub some tasty Moroccan spices all over it, cook for six and a half hours, gorge yourself. The slightly more verbose version goes something like —

Preheat your oven 220°C/gas mark 7. Put a large shoulder of lamb in a baking tray.

In a dry frying pan toast

1 tsp cumin seds
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns
1/2 a cinnamon stick

It'll take around 4 minutes for them to cook at medium heat, their smell will tell you when they're done. While they're toasting add to a bowl

1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp sweet paprika
2 large sprigs of rosemary, leaves picked and finely chopped
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil

Once the seeds are toasted grind them to a powder in a pestle and mortar. Add that to the bowl and mix well. Rub half the mixture over one side of the lamb, making sure to get it in all the crevices. Put the lamb on a high sided tray and then in the oven. After 30 minutes use the back of a wooden spoon to rub the remaining spices over the lamb. Add around 100ml of water to the baking tray (take care not to wash any of the spices off the meat), cover the tray with tin foil, and stick it back in at 120-130°C/gas mark 1-2. Return in 6 hours to claim your prize.

The lamb works well with warm pittas, salad (shredded red cabbage and Greek yogurt is good), houmous, a couscous-mint-raisin mix, and baba ghanoush.

I'm inclined to think the tastiest food is that which takes the longest to cook and prepare: bread that you've let rise three or four times, a stew that's been bubbling away all afternoon, or a roast like this one that takes the best part of a day. Something about the anticipation, or the effort that's gone into it (certainly that's the case with bread), makes it better.

No Off Switch

2011-04-28T00:00:00-07:00

There is a danger North Korea is letting its 1984 fascination get carried away.

Televisions are set to receive only government stations. International radio signals are routinely jammed, and electricity is unreliable. Freestanding radios are illegal. But every North Korean household and business is outfitted with a government-controlled radio hardwired to a central station. The speaker comes with a volume control, but no off switch.

Source: The Atlantic.

Elephant Death Ritual

2011-03-07T00:00:00-08:00

Most people know that elephants are smarter than your average bear, but I didn't realise this:

Elephants ... show a keen interest in the bones of their own kind (even unrelated elephants that have died long ago). They are often seen gently investigating the bones with their trunks and feet and remaining very quiet.

To the extent that relatives of a shot elephant moved bones from the discarded carcass back to where they were killed.

51 Hours

2011-03-06T00:00:00-08:00

Currently floating to the top of Reddit is an 'IAmA' post from someone with 51 hours left to live, offering to answer any questions people might have.

As part of my preparations I've ended my pain medication and am trying to regain what little dignity and clarity I can. Who I was doesn't matter. I'm in pain, I'm tired and I'm finally being granted a small shred of respect. Feel free to AMA if you're so inclined.

Regardless of whether it's true or not, perhaps the most tearjerking part of the thread is this set of comments. Hundreds and hundreds of people chose to check in from their place of residence, letting the original poster know they were thinking of them.

The more time I spend on Reddit the more I am impressed by the community that frequent it. Often I come across heartwarming stories or, better yet, heartwarming comments to stories. It's very rare that I come across something genuinely abusive or offensive.