New Scientist Breaking News - Cosmic rays may prevent long-haul space travel
Maybe I'll get to be an astronaut after all. Barring major genetic modification or technical breakthroughs, space travel may be too hazardous for the young. Those past reproductive ages, perhaps only 30 years from death, might be risking only 5-10 years at the end of their life. Unfortunately dementia seems to be fairly likely, based on mouse experiments.
Space diets may yet go high fiber.
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
The latest GOP Orwellian ploy: Creationism as "social context"
Gordon's Notes: No surprise: Bush wants creationism taught in the schools
The GOP is stunningly Orwellian, and it's even infected Bush's "science" advisor:
I love social context. Let's teach it -- in a class on the history of science. Heck, let's teach Bush's favorite creation narrative in every school in America. Just don't call it science.
PS. Impeach Marburger.
The GOP is stunningly Orwellian, and it's even infected Bush's "science" advisor:
On Tuesday, the president's conservative Christian supporters and the leading institute advancing intelligent design embraced Mr. Bush's comments [advocating the teaching of creationism in science classes] while scientists and advocates of the separation of church and state disparaged them. At the White House, where intelligent design has been discussed in a weekly Bible study group, Mr. Bush's science adviser, John H. Marburger 3rd, sought to play down the president's remarks as common sense and old news.The phrase "social context" is critical here. It's the latest creationist ploy in their attack on science. We can expect to hear a great deal about it, including when we teach meteorology, geography, economics, sociology, biology, cosmology and anything else that offends the christian right.
Mr. Marburger said in a telephone interview that "evolution is the cornerstone of modern biology" and "intelligent design is not a scientific concept." Mr. Marburger also said that Mr. Bush's remarks should be interpreted to mean that the president believes that intelligent design should be discussed as part of the "social context" in science classes.
I love social context. Let's teach it -- in a class on the history of science. Heck, let's teach Bush's favorite creation narrative in every school in America. Just don't call it science.
PS. Impeach Marburger.
Is it really legal to transfer music from your CDs to an iPod?
The iTunes Music Store (Part 3)
Most of us think this is covered by 'fair use' personal copy exemptions. An extensive Macintouch posting suggests things are much fuzzier:
Update: Looks like it is legal!
Most of us think this is covered by 'fair use' personal copy exemptions. An extensive Macintouch posting suggests things are much fuzzier:
...There is also the concept of 'fair use' which allows you to republish for the purpose of review, commentary, parody, etc. The standard is fuzzy with regard to how much you can copy and where the boundaries of fair use actually apply.There's quite a bit in the post. If a user purchases a lot of FairPlay protected music, and Apple has to prevent burning/playing of non-FairPlay protected music ...
Duplication for personal use (when not using a device with SCMS) is not permitted under the copyright law, except using a loose interpretation of fair use. Same for the right to copy music to your hard drive and load into an iPod. The recording industry says that these activities are not valid applications of fair use, but it has not sued anybody for them, so the matter remains a gray area.
Update: Looks like it is legal!
No surprise: Bush wants creationism taught in the schools
Bush: Intelligent Design Should Be Taught
I wish the reporters had asked the obvious question - should we teach various versions of intelligent design, such as cyber-deities, Hindu deities, turtles, etc? Of course if they did that, they'd be journalists. At least they asked the key question.
I wish the reporters had asked the obvious question - should we teach various versions of intelligent design, such as cyber-deities, Hindu deities, turtles, etc? Of course if they did that, they'd be journalists. At least they asked the key question.
WASHINGTON -- President Bush said Monday he believes schools should discuss 'intelligent design' alongside evolution when teaching students about the creation of life.I think there's a consensus emerging in the rationalist world that Bush's strongest characteristic is not his faith in free markets or in a Christian God, but rather his deep suspicion of reason, logic, rationality and science (he's ok with technology, but not science). Not for the first time, he declares himself as 'arational'.
During a round-table interview with reporters from five Texas newspapers, Bush declined to go into detail on his personal views of the origin of life. But he said students should learn about both theories, Knight Ridder Newspapers reported.
'I think that part of education is to expose people to different schools of thought,' Bush said. 'You're asking me whether or not people ought to be exposed to different ideas, the answer is yes.'
The theory of intelligent design says life on earth is too complex to have developed through evolution, implying that a higher power must have had a hand in creation.
Christian conservatives _ a substantial part of Bush's voting base _ have been pushing for the teaching of intelligent design in public schools. Scientists have rejected the theory as an attempt to force religion into science education.
Now they shut down the terrorism web sites?!
Finger points to British intelligence as al-Qaeda websites are wiped out - Sunday Times - Times Online
British intelligence shuts down some web sites:
* The Economist reported recently that the number of monitored hate organizations in America, almost all of them "christian" in a vague way, have almost doubled in the past 10 years.
British intelligence shuts down some web sites:
One global jihad site terminated recently was an inflammatory Pakistani site, www.mojihedun.com, in which a section entitled How to Strike a European City gave full technical instructions. Tens of similar sites, some offering detailed information on how to build and use biological weapons, have also been shut down. However, Islamic sites believed to be “moderate”, remain.I wonder why they left them up? I've read that the Islamic sites usually had much less accurate terrorist guidelines than American extremists sites*, perhaps more recently the Islamic fundamentalists have started cribbing from the web sites of the Christian fundamentalists.
* The Economist reported recently that the number of monitored hate organizations in America, almost all of them "christian" in a vague way, have almost doubled in the past 10 years.
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Truman and Hiroshima and Nagasaki: update to history
Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal: Hiroshima
DeLong (or Kevin Drum?) summarizes the results of new access to American intelligence archives on the war with Japan.
Truman and his advisors come out relatively better. I am glad the decision was not mine to make.
Reading this narrative, I cannot help but compare these actors to our current leadership. Perhaps there is more to Bush, Rumsfeld et al than I can imagine -- but we need people like Stimson and Truman.
DeLong (or Kevin Drum?) summarizes the results of new access to American intelligence archives on the war with Japan.
Truman and his advisors come out relatively better. I am glad the decision was not mine to make.
Reading this narrative, I cannot help but compare these actors to our current leadership. Perhaps there is more to Bush, Rumsfeld et al than I can imagine -- but we need people like Stimson and Truman.
The (Apple) mouse that squeaked
Apple - Mighty Mouse
Apple finally goes beyond the obsolete one button mouse -- and it has a tail?!
Save your money. There's got to be a Bluetooth version on the way.
Apple finally goes beyond the obsolete one button mouse -- and it has a tail?!
Save your money. There's got to be a Bluetooth version on the way.
The evanescent claustrum of consciousness
The neurology of consciousness | Crick's last stand | Economist.com
We're moving and I tossed out over 100 lbs of medical textbooks -- including 23 year old neuroanatomy notes. I don't remember much attention being paid to the 'claustrum' back then:
The Caltech connection is interesting; I have always recalled my former roommate, Armando's, intuition that consciousness was deeply connected to motor function (1978). The claustrum, I believe, is usually described as a part of the motor cortex. One might speculate that the evolution of consciousness bears the same relationship to the motor cortex as the evolution of memory bears to the neuroanatomy of scent. Such speculation is grand fun.
If indeed the claustrum has some sort of role in conscisousness, it should be possible to study it in disorders of consciousness, such as coma and autism. Of course we will invariably that some people are more conscious than others. (With great effort I resist the temptation to relate consciousness to political choices.)
Alas, bad news on another front suggests consciousness probably does not improve with age. Much of our body regenerates, but C14 data suggests most of our brain does not. Thus brain may deteriorate even more quickly than our bodies. Not good news for those who think the retirement age may be substantially extended.
So, as we age, does our consciousness thus decline?
We're moving and I tossed out over 100 lbs of medical textbooks -- including 23 year old neuroanatomy notes. I don't remember much attention being paid to the 'claustrum' back then:
... The immodesty that carried Crick to the discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953 clearly never left him. His latest paper (and his last, for he died in 2004) proposes to explain, of all things, the neurological basis of human consciousness.Crick must have known the end was near, and his fame and privilege allowed him to publish something so speculative. All the same, the claustrum does sound fascinating. I hope the proposed animal studies will not require chimpanzees to perform ...
Mechanistic explanations of consciousness are hard to come by because consciousness is so poorly understood. Indeed, it is one of the few unexplained phenomena that are genuinely mysterious rather than merely problematical. But Crick, together with his long-time collaborator Christof Koch, of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, focused on a part of the mystery that seems tractable. This is the integrated nature of conscious sensation.
As the two researchers put it in their paper, which was published this week in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, “When holding a rose, you smell its fragrance and see its red petals while feeling its textured stem with your fingers.”
The part of the brain that caught the two researchers' interest is the claustrum, a thin sheet of grey matter that lies concealed beneath part of the cortex (the outer covering of the brain that carries out the computations involved in seeing, hearing and language).
The key to the researchers' claim is that most, if not all, regions of the cortex have two-way connections to the claustrum, as do the structures involved in emotion. It is plausible that the smell, the colour and the texture of the rose, all processed in different parts of the cortex, could be bound together into one cohesive, conscious experience by the claustrum. The authors liken it to a conductor who synchronises and co-ordinates various parts into a united whole.
Thus far, this is mere anatomical speculation fuelled by the fact that very little is known about what the claustrum actually does. Crick hoped that his final paper would inspire researchers to begin to develop molecular techniques to disable the claustrum in animals to observe the aftermath...
The Caltech connection is interesting; I have always recalled my former roommate, Armando's, intuition that consciousness was deeply connected to motor function (1978). The claustrum, I believe, is usually described as a part of the motor cortex. One might speculate that the evolution of consciousness bears the same relationship to the motor cortex as the evolution of memory bears to the neuroanatomy of scent. Such speculation is grand fun.
If indeed the claustrum has some sort of role in conscisousness, it should be possible to study it in disorders of consciousness, such as coma and autism. Of course we will invariably that some people are more conscious than others. (With great effort I resist the temptation to relate consciousness to political choices.)
Alas, bad news on another front suggests consciousness probably does not improve with age. Much of our body regenerates, but C14 data suggests most of our brain does not. Thus brain may deteriorate even more quickly than our bodies. Not good news for those who think the retirement age may be substantially extended.
So, as we age, does our consciousness thus decline?
Tech obsolescence: CLIE TJ-27 and the missing stylus
An interesting lesson in technical obsolescence. Something worth considering in many different contexts.
My wife and I both have CLIE TJ-27 PDAs. They're nowhere near as satisfactory as the Palm Vx of eight years ago, but they were barely tolerable and we continue to use them. Except the stylus (styli) is exceptionally crummy. The sliding toothpick loses its internal "lock" mechanism after a few months of use, and needs to be replaced.
Except replacements are becoming very hard to find. Only Froogle.com could find anything -- and the vendor is in Canada: eBay: Sony Clie PEG-TJ27 Stylus/Styli/Pen (Retractable Repl.. (item 5790782752 end time Aug-18-05 11:00:42 PDT). The charge is $10 a stylus and $10 for shipping. That's a significant portion of the cost of a new PDA that would come with 2-3 styli. On reflection, I'll look for dusty packages in the back of PDA sales racks and I'll plan on replacing the devices.
The TJ-27s will be discarded, for want of a 'nail'. In a similar vein, I recently discovered an extended warranty on a Samsung air conditioner was essentially worthless because the nearest service center is about a 45 minute drive away (I don't get time to do that sort of thing). The lessons? Buy items that have a large enough installed base to support a healthy aftermarket.
My wife and I both have CLIE TJ-27 PDAs. They're nowhere near as satisfactory as the Palm Vx of eight years ago, but they were barely tolerable and we continue to use them. Except the stylus (styli) is exceptionally crummy. The sliding toothpick loses its internal "lock" mechanism after a few months of use, and needs to be replaced.
Except replacements are becoming very hard to find. Only Froogle.com could find anything -- and the vendor is in Canada: eBay: Sony Clie PEG-TJ27 Stylus/Styli/Pen (Retractable Repl.. (item 5790782752 end time Aug-18-05 11:00:42 PDT). The charge is $10 a stylus and $10 for shipping. That's a significant portion of the cost of a new PDA that would come with 2-3 styli. On reflection, I'll look for dusty packages in the back of PDA sales racks and I'll plan on replacing the devices.
The TJ-27s will be discarded, for want of a 'nail'. In a similar vein, I recently discovered an extended warranty on a Samsung air conditioner was essentially worthless because the nearest service center is about a 45 minute drive away (I don't get time to do that sort of thing). The lessons? Buy items that have a large enough installed base to support a healthy aftermarket.
The War on Terrorism has been called off
NewDonkey.com: Where Were You When the War Ended?
When you're losing, it's not a bad idea to redefine the game.
Update: BTW, I have long thought and written that I thought "terrorism" was a seriously stupid label. So I think the name change is overdue; "violent extremism" is a mild improvement. Despite that, I think this is a truly Orwellian move.
When you're losing, it's not a bad idea to redefine the game.
Update: BTW, I have long thought and written that I thought "terrorism" was a seriously stupid label. So I think the name change is overdue; "violent extremism" is a mild improvement. Despite that, I think this is a truly Orwellian move.
Brin alleges a 'purge' of the US officer corps
Contrary Brin: Resuming! (after a July hiatus)...
David Brin, a reasonably sober fellow, alleges a quiet and bloodless "purge" of the US military's Officer Corps:
I think if we ever figure out the genes for Stalinism, it will be interesting to run a screening test on the Bush administration.
David Brin, a reasonably sober fellow, alleges a quiet and bloodless "purge" of the US military's Officer Corps:
... and make no mistake, things are getting VERY bad, boys and girls. The Officer Corps is being assaulted from both ends.This would seem somewhat implausible, save for the recent GOP interrogation of climate scientists and the loyalty tests at Bush campaign appearances.
While radical congressmen are stocking the military academies with young fanatics, filling the pipeline with extremist zealots...
...those at the other end - generals and admirals who are the competent, brilliant and mature heirs of George Marshall - are being chased out. Subjected to political litmus tests. Cauterized in dead-end jobs....
... while middle-grade officers stare in dismay, worrying about their careers, their families, and their nation.
A majority of these guys are lifelong republicans, so this re-evaluation is hard on them. And it would be unwise to make of their despair more than it is. For example, they are not sudden-converts to Hillary Clinton! (Though, ironically, she is one of the few democratic officeholders who has taken a stand on this issue, stepping forward on their behalf.)
Still, these guys can tell that this is not the GOP of their fathers, nor of Barry Goldwater, nor even Billy Graham.
I think if we ever figure out the genes for Stalinism, it will be interesting to run a screening test on the Bush administration.
Monday, August 01, 2005
Personetics: the morality of cyber deities
My wife and I stopped by a book store last night. That's most unusual, it was a birthday celebration and it wasn't a chain bookstore -- so we indulged. There I happened upon an an anthology, The Mind's I (Hofstadter and Dennett). I know of the authors and in particular I like Dennett's thinking on consciousness, so I leafed through it.
It turns out the biggest contributor to the anthology is a Polish writer (he yet lives) named Stanlislav Lem. I'd heard of Lem, but despite a lifetime interest in science fiction (he does not describe himself with that term) I don't recall reading his work. I dimly recalled a reputation for a ferocious intellect and a harsh manner.
The piece I scanned, Non Serviam , was written in 1971, when cybernetics was the study of machines and AI was thought to be at most 20 years away. Non Serviam is as a book review from the future; the imaginary book concerns the controversial science of personetics:
I can't think of an equivalent writer today. Vernor Vinge is brilliant and quite entertaining, but Lem is a far more demanding author.
It turns out the biggest contributor to the anthology is a Polish writer (he yet lives) named Stanlislav Lem. I'd heard of Lem, but despite a lifetime interest in science fiction (he does not describe himself with that term) I don't recall reading his work. I dimly recalled a reputation for a ferocious intellect and a harsh manner.
The piece I scanned, Non Serviam , was written in 1971, when cybernetics was the study of machines and AI was thought to be at most 20 years away. Non Serviam is as a book review from the future; the imaginary book concerns the controversial science of personetics:
(Personetics): A “world” for personoid “inhabitants” can be prepared in a couple of hours... A specific personoid activity serves as a triggering mechanism, setting in motion a production process that will gradually augment and define itself; in other words, the world surrounding these beings takes on an unequivocalness only in accordance with their own behavior... From four to seven personoids are optimal, at least for the development of speech and typical exploratory activity, and also for 'culturization’... It is possible to 'accommodate' up to one thousand personoids... Many different philosophies (ontologies and epistemologies) have arisen among them... I can enlarge their world or reduce it, speed up its time or slow it down, alter the mode and means of their perception; I can liquidate them, divide them, multiply them, transform the very ontological foundation of their existence...Lem anticipates a great deal of the past 35 years of speculation about simulated worlds, the nature of our reality, the fealty owed by the created to their creator, and the nature of deity. Along the way he condenses the theological debates of the past 1000 years. He concludes by the way that the created owe nothing to their creator; he's relatively ambivalent about what the creator owes His creations, but he has little faith in the Creator's devotion and reliability.
I can't think of an equivalent writer today. Vernor Vinge is brilliant and quite entertaining, but Lem is a far more demanding author.
Bianchi makes a bike for old folks -- the return of the touring bike
Bianchi USA 2005: Volpe
Aging boomers need forgiving bikes that are still fun to ride. Old folks are even willing to use fenders when that makes sense. Even Bianchi has joined the trend:
Aging boomers need forgiving bikes that are still fun to ride. Old folks are even willing to use fenders when that makes sense. Even Bianchi has joined the trend:
For 2005, this extremely popular go anywhere road/trail bike has been further refined. It's equally at home on paved or dirt roads; on a fast, short ride; fully loaded for long-distance touring; or anything in between. Lightweight Bianchi CrMo MegaPro frame and Bianchi CrMo fork. Shimano cantilever brakes with STI levers. 27 speed wide range gearing, fat 700x32C tires and bomb-proof 36 hole eyeletted touring rims. Rack and fender eyelets. WTB Rocket V Race carbon saddle on a plush suspension seatpost.I'm going to check it out. Maybe time to sell my old Trek touring bike ...
The evolution of medication
BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Grubs fight parasites with food
I've always been curious about the evolution of plant products that have pharmaceutical properties. Here we get a not unexpected clue as to how this happens:
I wonder how the anti-evolution people deal with this kind of discovery? Ahh, no puzzle really. They just come up with another angle ...
I've always been curious about the evolution of plant products that have pharmaceutical properties. Here we get a not unexpected clue as to how this happens:
Tiger moth caterpillars have been seen medicating themselves to treat a nasty influx of parasites.What is particularly interesting, of course, is what's in it for the plants? I would not be surprised if it turned out the caterpillars in some way actually benefitted those plants -- normally caterpillars are not friends of plants!
Scientists found the caterpillars' sense of taste actually changed when they became infected with parasites.
Instead of avoiding certain alkaloid plants, the caterpillars actually developed a fondness for them.
I wonder how the anti-evolution people deal with this kind of discovery? Ahh, no puzzle really. They just come up with another angle ...
MacTel: when everyone says it's not about the digital rights management ... (OS X on Intel)
MacInTouch: timely news and tips about the Apple Macintosh
... then it's about the digital rights management:
Intel invested a lot of money in the hardware components of 'Palladium' and they've doubtless numerous related patents. Apple has made a deal with the devil, but there really wasn't much choice. DRM is coming -- like it or not.
This is about entertainment and the home video systems, and they need DRM. It's also about corporate security, hospital security, governmental security, eCommerce, authentication, controlling encryption, etc, etc. Everyone wants very powerful DRM -- except consumers, but they they don't have a clue about what's going on. (Question to ask: When you get married, do you get rights to view your spouse's videos? What about when you divorce?)
If you want to copy a movie in future, it will be by videotaping the projector output and recording the sound -- probably using black market or aging equipment. That will work until 2030, when experiencing VR entertainment will require splicing a DRM chip into the retinal nerves (your grandkids will think this is a perfectly reasonable thing to do).
Intel's DRM will work. My G5 iMac may be worth more in 3 years than it is now -- because it can't support Palladium. In ten years, of course, it may be illegal ... :-).
Update: more details on Slashdot. The commentary is largely rather dull however.
Update 5/12/07: Thus far the Intel/DRM connection hasn't shown up. Terrible thought - could I have been wrong?
... then it's about the digital rights management:
Cory Doctorow writes a potentially huge issue with content control in Apple's upcoming systems: "People working with early versions of the forthcoming Intel-based MacOS X operating system have discovered that Apple's new kernel makes use of Intel's Trusted Computing hardware. If this 'feature' appears in a commercial, shipping version of Apple's OS, they'll lose me as a customer -- I've used Apple computers since 1979 and have a Mac tattooed on my right bicep, but this is a deal-breaker. [...]"Somewhere in my posts on the MacTel conversion is a note of mine that I thought this was really about the DRM (though I think the stated explanation of energy efficiencey was important too). When almost every commentator on the MacTel conversion said "it's not about the DRM", I became ever more convinced that it was about the DRM.
Intel invested a lot of money in the hardware components of 'Palladium' and they've doubtless numerous related patents. Apple has made a deal with the devil, but there really wasn't much choice. DRM is coming -- like it or not.
This is about entertainment and the home video systems, and they need DRM. It's also about corporate security, hospital security, governmental security, eCommerce, authentication, controlling encryption, etc, etc. Everyone wants very powerful DRM -- except consumers, but they they don't have a clue about what's going on. (Question to ask: When you get married, do you get rights to view your spouse's videos? What about when you divorce?)
If you want to copy a movie in future, it will be by videotaping the projector output and recording the sound -- probably using black market or aging equipment. That will work until 2030, when experiencing VR entertainment will require splicing a DRM chip into the retinal nerves (your grandkids will think this is a perfectly reasonable thing to do).
Intel's DRM will work. My G5 iMac may be worth more in 3 years than it is now -- because it can't support Palladium. In ten years, of course, it may be illegal ... :-).
Update: more details on Slashdot. The commentary is largely rather dull however.
Update 5/12/07: Thus far the Intel/DRM connection hasn't shown up. Terrible thought - could I have been wrong?
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