Accidental Blogger

A general interest blog

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Category: Science, Engineering & Technology

Do You Resist Science?

May 30, 2007

If you do, your distrust may have its roots in your early years – what ideas you were exposed to and from whom. So say Yale psychologists Paul Bloom and Deena Skolnick Weisberg. For those who may not wish to read the detailed article, I will…
Budding Scientists, Brilliant Artists

May 24, 2007

John Bianchi of Discover magazine sent me the following email. "DISCOVER Magazine has just announced a nationwide contest, open to students grades three through eight, to create the cover of its October 2007 issue. Participants are asked to submit artwork capturing their vision of "The State of Science in America" to the magazine editors. This…
Law, Science, and Sex (Dean)

May 21, 2007

A post today on Out of the Jungle, a legal information blog, has me thinking. It refers to this AP article in the Boston Globe (and elsewhere) regarding the growing numbers of students arriving at law school after a detour through the sciences. Their obvious target is patent law, the practice of which requires prospective…
Monday Morning Links

May 14, 2007

My co-author Anna (who has been missing from the blog for a while), recently said in an email, "Your tireless effort on the blog never ceases to amaze me." I assured her that the tireless effort is actually exhausting. Which is why I am woefully out of blogging ideas this morning. Unlike my usual practice…
Of Bots and Books (Sujatha)

May 12, 2007

Having always been fascinated by the near-human characteristics of Isaac Asimov’s robots and his Three Laws of Robotics in his science fiction novels and stories, I was intrigued to see an article about the interactions of computer generated ‘chatbots’ Alice and Jabberwocky in this Discovery magazine article. Are we getting a step closer to an…
Get Smart – Get Along With Women

May 10, 2007

Just came across two stories – one a study in the New Scientist on the effect on primate brains of socialization between genders and the other a report in the Christian Science Monitor about rural Indian women’s co-operative business ventures raising the ire of some men folk. It may be that there is no connection between…
Superhero, Common Mineral

April 26, 2007

Superman and his mythical powers will forever inhabit the world of comic books, movies and our imagination. But Kryptonite, the green mineral he so feared (stolen by Lex Luther) may have a more mundane origin and non-lethal characteristics. A newly discovered mineral mined in Serbia, after being subjected to chemical analysis was found to closely resemble…
A Place Like Home?

April 26, 2007

Scientists may have found the first habitable planet outside the solar system. The earthlike planet orbits a red dwarf star in the constellation, Libra. Although much closer to the star which it orbits (in thirteen days), it appears to have a temperate climate – red dwarf stars are much cooler than our own sun. The…
Plug It In, Blow It Up?

April 8, 2007

A curious story (link: Sujatha) from the automotive section of Detroit News Online. Plug it in, fire it up, Mr. President The Detroit News Credit Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally with saving the leader of the free world from self-immolation. Mulally told journalists at the New York auto show that he intervened to prevent…
No Laughing Matter (Dean)

March 15, 2007

Ruchira and I have been volleying e-mail messages behind the scenes regarding a cluster of recent articles dealing with "science and …"—fill in the blank with a miscellany of topics you might not have expected to find associated with science just a decade or two ago: mens rea and "neurolaw," laughter, the weather of the…
Informed Choice or Dawkins’ Deluded?

March 7, 2007

The recent article in New York Times magazine, Darwin’s God looking into the debate over religion and evolution has sparked energetic discussions on several science blogs. The question being asked by scientists (evolutionary biologists, cognitive scientists, anthropologists among others) revolves around two central points. Is human religiosity, superstition, belief in the supernatural and "hope beyond…
Theory of Evolution: A Jewish Conspiracy

February 17, 2007

So says a Texas lawmaker. While Kansas has cried uncle and joined the rational world after a wild spree into the realm of the befuddled, one Texas state representative would like to drag our state into the never-never land of creationism and fixed earth theory. Warren Chisum, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee of the…
Friday Frivolity

January 12, 2007

I have no good ideas for a meaningful post. I also have to report for jury duty today. So here are a few links to some stories that caught my eye in the past couple of days. I think there is something for everyone here. What’s in your wallet? : That pocketful of change you…
What Are You Optimistic About?

January 2, 2007

Although today is just another day, culturally we are trained to think of the new year as a stepping stone to something new and hopeful. The science / philosophy magazine Edge is asking its readers what they feel optimistic about at the start of 2007. Thoughts of some 160 scientists, philosophers and thinkers are listed.…
Speaking Out of Turn?

December 28, 2006

Following up on our recent discussion here on science and religion and a couple of links to reviews of Richard Dawkins’ book, The God Delusion provided by Shunya, I point readers to a lively post by Razib on Gene Expression. Razib argues that Dawkins has every right to debate theology (I believe we all do)…

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Category: Science, Engineering & Technology