Accidental Blogger

A general interest blog

about

Category: Science, Engineering & Technology

Fibonacci’s ‘Numbers’: The Man Behind The Math (Norman Costa)

July 16, 2011

Fibonacci's 'Numbers': The Man Behind The Math (Norman Costa) In 1202 Fibonacci published his "Book of Calculation." Eight centuries later we have Arabic numerals and "Quicken – Deluxe Edition." Though generations of schoolchildren have cursed arithmetic, the world was a much more inconvenient place without it. Before the advent of modern arithmetic in the 13th…
The Art of Physics, or should it be The Physics of Art ? (Sujatha)

July 10, 2011

Jackson Pollock may have been a secret physicist, judging by a recent scientific analysis of his techniques and works. Or not. How many times do we do things without stopping to examine the underlying physical principles? I'm sure that many a cake may have been put together Amelia Bedelia-style, "A pinch of this, a toss…
Move Over Barney, Here comes the Fracosaurus (Sujatha)

June 19, 2011

There's been plenty of rainbows and peaceful green fields juxtaposed with happy faces and natural gas logos and clip art on the TV ads from the Marcellus Shale Coalition. But some companies have been taking this a step further. Catch 'em young is the motto, so here comes the Fracosaurus, or actually Talisman Terry .…
Answer: Black women are unattractive. Question: WHAT!!! (Norman Costa)

May 30, 2011

Answer: Black women are unattractive. Question: WHAT!!! A research psychologist, myself, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about over the Satoshi Kanazawa article: "Why Are Black Women Less Physically Attractive Than Other Women? Why black women, but not black men?" Published on May 15, 2011 by Satoshi Kanazawa in The Scientific Fundamentalist…
A few not very memorable Memorial Day weekend links

May 29, 2011

Without further analysis from my side, the links are followed by exchanges that occurred elsewhere – in an e-mail thread among A.B. authors and my Facebook page. (Joe, see I always follow good advice!) The most complete 3-D map of the universe: (link Dean) Norman Costa: The 2MRS image is a hoax. It is actually a recently discovered, and…
Can Anyone Meditate? (Norman Costa)

April 19, 2011

The Effect of Meditation on the Brain activity in Tibetan Meditators: Frontal Lobes The Effect of Meditation on the Brain activity in Tibetan Meditators: Parietal Lobes Can Anyone Meditate? (Norman Costa) This video is an excerpt from an interview of Andrew Newberg, conducted by Robert Wright. Andrew Newberg teaches at the university of Pennsylvania both in the…
The Reach of Resonance (Dean)

March 23, 2011

A long time ago, in a coffee shop far, far away (a now defunct Diedrich's in Brea, CA), I had the good fortune of befriending one of the baristas, a young Chapman University film student and musician. Steve had taken an interest in a music magazine I was reading. (I still subscribe to the magazine,…
What Was The Machine “Thinking?”

February 17, 2011

This much hyped and watched TV event seems to be the next logical step to ponder following Sujatha's recent post on language and grammar which soon morphed into language and thought in the comments section. So, IBM's Watson beat out the humans. But what was it thinking and in what language? What is the significance of coming up with the…
biographies.google.com (Cyrus)

January 24, 2011

What would your biography look like if it was written by Google? Would Google emphasize the same aspects of your character and life story that you would? If a set of court cases currently working their way through the Spanish justice system is any indication, Google would likely select the moments in history when you…
Another hominin lineage that interbred with (some) modern human populations..(omar)

December 22, 2010

The human family tree has some additions to it: There is big news about the Denisova hominins….I will wait for Razib Khan and others to blog on it and post links to their (sure to be) interesting commentary. Until then, this is a good summary of what we know.. And here is Razib's initial comment,…
Darwin contra Diamond on Domesticability (prasad)

December 10, 2010

I’ve been reading the Origin of Species this week, because I’ve often found pre-20th Century physics unreadable (notationally), and it’s enjoyable to engage with great science in the original from time to time. Just finished the first chapter, where Darwin makes his famous case for the analogy between artificial and natural selection. This bit caught…
Gnashing White Teeth And Looking Down A Pretty Nose.

November 15, 2010

I am alluding to writer Zadie Smith, the literary fiction star whose 2000 book White Teeth became a sensation even before it was published. Ms Smith has written a review of the movie The Social Network in the NYRB. She shudders at the proliferation of internet based social sites like Facebook and their soul sapping effects on real relationships. Without declaring it in…
e-Cages (Sujatha)

November 14, 2010

We all live in ones of our own making, whether it be cellphones, or eBooks, or iPods or computer keyboards. But did you know that some could be hazardous directly to your health, not just that of the workers in Shenzhen, or the coltan miners of the Congo? I'm talking of Cellular Phones here. The…
Relativity Theory and Quantum Physics TRIVIA, For The Rest of Us. (Norman)

November 12, 2010

A trivia quiz on relativity theory and quantum physics, for the rest of us.
Through a Glass, Digitally (Sujatha)

October 2, 2010

About a week ago, I read a blogblurb raving about some new phone app, which would use the power of GPS to tell you where you were and highlight the most interesting thing in the vicinity.For instance, if you were in France, walking near the Eiffel tower, your phone could superimpose cool factoids and trivia…

Recent posts

about

Category: Science, Engineering & Technology