Monday, September 28, 2009
Follow that pod
Are Magnetically Levitating 'Sky Pods' the Future of Travel?
Of course it's a good idea: it's futuristic, involves levitation, and means you can say "I'm catching the pod today". Everyone wants to travel by pod, don't they?
Of course it's a good idea: it's futuristic, involves levitation, and means you can say "I'm catching the pod today". Everyone wants to travel by pod, don't they?
Nomination for Nobel prize
I had often wondered who had invented the suitcase with wheels, as it has always seemed to me that he or she deserved fame, riches and the travelling public's eternal gratitude. Now I know: In the bag
Going up
Paul Sheehan makes some very good points which I had not realised about Australia's growing population, and the Rudd government's role in this.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Week end catch up
I haven't posted for a week, but the lure of the internet remained too strong to resist. Here are some stories I would normally have posted about:
* What on earth does it take to get Channel Nine to sack Sam Newman? I'm appalled that there aren't enough people appalled by his recent, absolutely 100% offensive "monkey" comments to achieve the end of his career. What is wrong with the people of Melbourne in particular?
* Slate ran a review of a new book on "Greek Love" and suggested that it contained lessons for the current gay marriage debate:
* Let's not get overly excited about the reports of water on the moon. The quantities are not big:
* I did the truly pointless and got involved in a thread about theodicy at the Evolution blog at Science Blogs. How does Science Blogs get to pick its members? Do they have to pass some test of anti-religious sentiment before they can join the group?
* The dust cloud in Brisbane of last night (Saturday) was nearly as unpleasant in smell and sinus irritation as the day time one on Wednesday. I can recall no precedent for these at all for Brisbane. Let's hope they do not become a regular spring feature.
* Yay! Free will seems to not have been experimentally disproved after all. Always did have my doubts about the Libet experiments. (Funnily enough, the atheists calling me an idiot at Evolution blog seemed to find the idea of free will, upon which a lot of theodicy is based, a concept also not worthy of belief. Keep them away from moral philosophy, and don't let really serious scientific materialists sit on juries, I say.)
* Finally, especially for Geoff, I thought the middle section of this comment about transhumanists was very funny:
* What on earth does it take to get Channel Nine to sack Sam Newman? I'm appalled that there aren't enough people appalled by his recent, absolutely 100% offensive "monkey" comments to achieve the end of his career. What is wrong with the people of Melbourne in particular?
* Slate ran a review of a new book on "Greek Love" and suggested that it contained lessons for the current gay marriage debate:
In short, there was no single "traditional" way to conduct same-sex relationships in ancient Greece. This fact in itself might make us leery of any claims about what a "normal" or "traditional" domestic setup might look like. Love comes in many guises and gets culturally legitimized in many ways, and that has been true since antiquity. Any claim about "the way things have always been" is liable to be false.Hmm. The only thing overlooked is that same-sex relationships have historically been "culturally legitimized" in "many" ways except marriage. See, it's not just old fuddy duddy conservative Christians saying gay marriage makes no sense, even the pagans were on side with that one.
* Let's not get overly excited about the reports of water on the moon. The quantities are not big:
So far, the water does not appear to be very abundant – a baseball-field-sized swathe of lunar soil might yield only "a nice glass of water", Pieters told New Scientist.I'm still pinning hopes on underground ice at the poles.
* I did the truly pointless and got involved in a thread about theodicy at the Evolution blog at Science Blogs. How does Science Blogs get to pick its members? Do they have to pass some test of anti-religious sentiment before they can join the group?
* The dust cloud in Brisbane of last night (Saturday) was nearly as unpleasant in smell and sinus irritation as the day time one on Wednesday. I can recall no precedent for these at all for Brisbane. Let's hope they do not become a regular spring feature.
* Yay! Free will seems to not have been experimentally disproved after all. Always did have my doubts about the Libet experiments. (Funnily enough, the atheists calling me an idiot at Evolution blog seemed to find the idea of free will, upon which a lot of theodicy is based, a concept also not worthy of belief. Keep them away from moral philosophy, and don't let really serious scientific materialists sit on juries, I say.)
* Finally, especially for Geoff, I thought the middle section of this comment about transhumanists was very funny:
Transhumanists are like the eccentric uncle of the cognitive science community. Not the sort of eccentric uncle who gets drunk at family parties and makes inappropriate comments about your kid sister (that would be drug reps), but the sort that your disapproving parents thinks is a bit peculiar but is full of fascinating stories and interesting ideas.
They occasionally take themselves too seriously and it's the sort of sci-fi philosophy that has few practical implications but it's enormously good fun and is great for making you re-evaluate your assumptions.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Warning issued: blog to be ignored
Now that I have again warned you all about the (possible) end of the world, I have to go for a while and meet with the time travellers from the future who will help prevent this disaster.
The other possible explanation is that I have to stop wasting time on the internet and get serious about raising money at work.
You may choose the explanation that gives you the most satisfaction. I know which I would prefer.
See you soon. (A week should do it.)
The other possible explanation is that I have to stop wasting time on the internet and get serious about raising money at work.
You may choose the explanation that gives you the most satisfaction. I know which I would prefer.
See you soon. (A week should do it.)
Revisiting micro black holes from the LHC
On the potential catastrophic risk from metastable quantum-black holes produced at particle colliders
I have been meaning to link to this for some time, but keep forgetting.
In August, physicist Rainer Plaga put out a revised version of his paper (see above) in which he raised a possible scenario via which the LHC could create a dangerous mini black hole. Basically, it's the original paper with another couple of appendices to it, responding to criticism by the physicists who had done the earlier papers giving reasons why the LHC could not do that.
It is hard for me as a lay person to read papers at this level and understand their maths and arguments. However, again I have the impression that Plaga is arguing in a reasonable fashion, and appears to be making points which are not receiving much attention.
He is apparently no longer working in astrophysics, and his attitude to criticism, and past changes of opinion, have been noted here.
However, the tone of Plaga's paper and response to its criticisms does not sound unreasonable to this lay reader. I just wish there was someone who could go through all three or four papers relevant to the issue, and tell me if my feeling is accurate.
Given the technical problems with getting the LHC running, my concern about this have been somewhat diminished lately. But I would still like to know the answer, as they are likely to get the thing working correctly some time or other.
I have been meaning to link to this for some time, but keep forgetting.
In August, physicist Rainer Plaga put out a revised version of his paper (see above) in which he raised a possible scenario via which the LHC could create a dangerous mini black hole. Basically, it's the original paper with another couple of appendices to it, responding to criticism by the physicists who had done the earlier papers giving reasons why the LHC could not do that.
It is hard for me as a lay person to read papers at this level and understand their maths and arguments. However, again I have the impression that Plaga is arguing in a reasonable fashion, and appears to be making points which are not receiving much attention.
He is apparently no longer working in astrophysics, and his attitude to criticism, and past changes of opinion, have been noted here.
However, the tone of Plaga's paper and response to its criticisms does not sound unreasonable to this lay reader. I just wish there was someone who could go through all three or four papers relevant to the issue, and tell me if my feeling is accurate.
Given the technical problems with getting the LHC running, my concern about this have been somewhat diminished lately. But I would still like to know the answer, as they are likely to get the thing working correctly some time or other.
Spotted in the newsagent today
As much as I like being around airports, I remain surprised that there is a magazine devoted to them: Airports of the World: Today's Gateways to the World
Why can't I get the New York Times?
For a good few days now, I have not been able to get onto the New York Times website, either via my bloglink, or a Google search, or even links from other websites. Is there any obvious reason why that should be?
Saturday, September 19, 2009
A good line
You, Too, Can Write a Bestseller
Dan Brown, who is to history what Rasputin was to anti-coagulant therapy, has a new book out.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Scant attention
Gulfnews: More than 80 civilians killed in Yemen air raid, witnesses say
I've noticed for quite a while, via my visits to Gulf News, that there has been a lot of internal turmoil within Yemen. Now we get this alleged incident:
I've noticed for quite a while, via my visits to Gulf News, that there has been a lot of internal turmoil within Yemen. Now we get this alleged incident:
Details have emerged from a government air strike on a refugee camp in the Yemeni province of Amran on Wednesday, leaving more than 80 civilians dead.Yet it seems that the Western mainstream media is paying scant attention. Given that it borders Saudi Arabia, I would have thought we should hear more about it.
Many of the victims were women and children according to witnesses on the ground.
There has been no government comment yet on the strike. Yemen has entered its fifth week of fighting between the government and the Shiite separatist rebels in the northern provinces.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Chips cashed in
BBC NEWS | Americas | US 'shelves Europe missile plan'
I thought the idea was that the US would pull back on the missile plan in return for Russia changing its tune on Iran.
Instead, apart from getting entertainment from this oddly graphic metaphor:
We'll have to wait and see, but if the world takes it as a sign of US weakness, I wonder if this may be seen as the start of a re-run of the Carter presidency.
I thought the idea was that the US would pull back on the missile plan in return for Russia changing its tune on Iran.
Instead, apart from getting entertainment from this oddly graphic metaphor:
there doesn't seem to be any trade off from Russia.Russia's ambassador to Nato, Dmitry Rogozin, said the move was "a breakthrough" for US-Russian relations, although they were waiting for official confirmation from the US.
"It's like having a decomposing corpse in your flat - and then the mortician comes and takes it away.
"This means we're getting rid of one of those niggling problems which prevented us from doing the real work," he said.
We'll have to wait and see, but if the world takes it as a sign of US weakness, I wonder if this may be seen as the start of a re-run of the Carter presidency.
Unhelpful thinking
Lightning kills five Cameroon children - Yahoo!7 News
But belief that accidental death and illness is almost always initiated by your enemy or rival is a different kettle of fish entirely: presumably such thinking is only destined to cause never ending cycles of disputes, fighting, bloodshed or torture in societies where the idea is widespread.
To the extent that Christianity does not have a particularly strong biblical basis for belief in the personal control of supernatural powers for evil purposes, its adoption is presumably an advance in such societies.
Of course, excessive belief in possession, which does have a strong basis in scripture, can be harmful in its own way. I would still think it an improvement for society overall to have some unfortunates mistreated for possession rather than a semi-permanent state of fighting between clans, etc.
Belief that natural disaster can have a supernatural origin in God is one thing; it may be completely mistaken, but if the belief is in a fundamentally good God, surely the most likely result is self examination as to what sin the person or community has committed so as to deserve punishment.A lightning bolt killed five children at their school in northwest Cameroon as they were preparing to begin their school day, a local doctor said on Wednesday.
Some 58 others were taken to a hospital near the small village of Bamali, which is some 460 kms northwest of the capital, Yaounde....
Several witnesses, including a prominent traditional ruler, said they believed the event had mystical roots. Belief in witchcraft is common in the West African nation, and a thunderbolt is traditionally seen as a way of settling disputes.
But belief that accidental death and illness is almost always initiated by your enemy or rival is a different kettle of fish entirely: presumably such thinking is only destined to cause never ending cycles of disputes, fighting, bloodshed or torture in societies where the idea is widespread.
To the extent that Christianity does not have a particularly strong biblical basis for belief in the personal control of supernatural powers for evil purposes, its adoption is presumably an advance in such societies.
Of course, excessive belief in possession, which does have a strong basis in scripture, can be harmful in its own way. I would still think it an improvement for society overall to have some unfortunates mistreated for possession rather than a semi-permanent state of fighting between clans, etc.
Jungian thoughts
Carl Jung and the Holy Grail of the Unconscious - NYTimes.com
I was interested in Carl Jung for a time and read a couple of his books. Certainly, some of his ideas are at least culturally significant, and his conflict with Freud (in which an allegedly paranormal - or at least highly co-incidental - event featured) is pretty important in the history of the ways to think about the mind.
Yet, he didn't exactly lead an exemplary life himself, and some of his self reported dreams (a gigantic God defecating on a church for example) tend to just make the eyes roll.
What's more, he became a popular figure amongst new age nuns and others who want to just talk vague spirituality instead of facing the rigours of morality that traditional religion expects. I expect he was popular for a time amongst those at St Mary's in Exile, although I get the impression liberal Catholics have moved on a bit from him.
Anyhow, this is all preamble to referring readers to the long article in the New York Times Magazine about the release of a journal he kept during his (somewhat early) mid life crisis. Apparently it's full of lurid art and accounts of his hallucinations, and reader's reactions will probably depend on whether they are already an acolyte or not.
An interesting read anyway.
I was interested in Carl Jung for a time and read a couple of his books. Certainly, some of his ideas are at least culturally significant, and his conflict with Freud (in which an allegedly paranormal - or at least highly co-incidental - event featured) is pretty important in the history of the ways to think about the mind.
Yet, he didn't exactly lead an exemplary life himself, and some of his self reported dreams (a gigantic God defecating on a church for example) tend to just make the eyes roll.
What's more, he became a popular figure amongst new age nuns and others who want to just talk vague spirituality instead of facing the rigours of morality that traditional religion expects. I expect he was popular for a time amongst those at St Mary's in Exile, although I get the impression liberal Catholics have moved on a bit from him.
Anyhow, this is all preamble to referring readers to the long article in the New York Times Magazine about the release of a journal he kept during his (somewhat early) mid life crisis. Apparently it's full of lurid art and accounts of his hallucinations, and reader's reactions will probably depend on whether they are already an acolyte or not.
An interesting read anyway.
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