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Monday 31 August 2009

Personal space issues: now we know the 'where'

Caltech continues to live up to its reputation for producing some fine work.

In a recent coup (haha), they appear to have figured out the whole 'personal bubble' issue. Well, to be more precise, they've figured out which brain structure is responsible.

Fascinatingly, it's the amygdala. This is the region in our brain responsible for feelings of fear, anger, and other strong negative emotions (I'm sure it was mentioned in the last episode of Fringe, actually).


It seems that lesions or other 'damage' or dysfunctions in the amygdala mean that the person in question is comfortable at closer proximities to others than is usually the case. In fact, it appears that, for some people at least, they have no sense of personal space at all - they can feel completely comfortable standing nose to nose! Which makes me wonder: do all the people in those chewing gum ads people have dysfunctional amygdalas?

Happily, the researchers also considered the role that culture may play in perceptions of personal space: I know from personal experience that these can vary widely, and consequently cause a fair amount of unease in the person used to a larger bubble. Apparently, they think that culture and experience may, over time, affect the brain and how it responds to situations (yes, the brain is plastic and learns...). Makes sense.

xkcd: Newton and Leibniz

I couldn't resist. For the uninitiated, xkcd is a marvellous webcomic revolving around maths, physics, and, well, the human experience. In fact, its author, Randall Munroe, is even publishing a (real) book!

(subtitle: A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math and language)


So yes: the strip itself:

Wednesday 26 August 2009

Gadgets, Games and Geeks 09: The Future of Innovation, Shatter, Weta and pizza

A couple of days ago (Monday evening, to be exact), I attended GGG09 - Gadgets, Games and Geeks 09 (note: a logo would be a good thing, guys).

And yes, it was pretty interesting.

The highlight for me was Bill Reichert's talk, 'The Future of Innovation: Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital and Emerging Technologies' (if you're interested, you can find the talk and accompanying slides on the SMC's website, here). He's a very engaging speaker, and had some great pieces of knowledge to impart.

Certainly it got me all inspired again about entrepreneurship - a subject close to my heart as it forms one of my qualifications. And, while much of it absolutely seemed like common sense, there were a couple of surprises, particularly the 'change takes time' point he makes (point 9 in his talk). Essentially, he says that we've talked ourselves into believing that the pace of change is accelerating, but that it simply is not the case. We simply need to look, he says, at how long it has actually taken us to get, for example, to high bandwidths and oodles of storage or, for that matter, electric cars which aren't completely useless (or incredibly expensive). Other examples abound (really, have a look at his slides).

I also found his point about Twitter very interesting (towards the end of the session, in response to a question from the audience). He said that his issue with Twitter was simply that it gave entrepreneurs the wrong idea: that they could come up with a clever idea, get a few million 'eyeballs', and as a result make (lots of) money off it. After all, the jury is still out as to whether Twitter itself can make money, and how.

Having said that, it was definitely encouraging to hear that it's not all doom and gloom - actually, a personal belief I've heard mirrored many times is that tough times actually enhance creativity by shocking everyone out of their bubbles. So we should have lots to look forward to.


(note: as usual, clicking on the logos will take you to the appropriate sites)



I also found Sidhe's talk very interesting (I have recorded it, and can put it up if requested - the slides can be found here). James Everett did a great job of explaining who Sidhe are, why they want more game developers in Wellington (amusingly, 'because it's difficult to poach from yourself'), and where they're hoping to go in the future.

And I am definitely intrigued by there idea: shorten development times, shorten game lengths and bring down prices. Sounds like just my type of gaming. And Shatter really is very, very cool. Yes, it's pong, but it's new pong, and gosh is it pretty. If only it was available for PC...




Sadly, I found the talk by Tim Lauder of Weta Cave a little less thrilling than the previous two, although, as a lifelong fan of steampunk, I did enjoy the whole Dr Grodbert's thang (I almost bought a lapel pin!)




I think my only real complaint was that I think there could have more exhibitors. I have some theories on why there weren't (nothing I'll air, of course), but it really would have been a wonderful way to showcase some more work. For example, I know a guy up in Palmerston North whose company, Unlimited Realities, has been developing Dell's new touchscreen software...

On the other hand, the enormous slices of pizza which rounded (haha) the evening off were brilliant.

So yes, here's to GGG09, and hoping that GGG10 is even better!

Tuesday 25 August 2009

Addendum to previous post

I found this delightful website (click on logo below)


JOVE, or the Journal of Visualised Experiments, is a fantastic idea. Anyone working in the biological sciences will, I'm sure, appreciate how tricky it can be to learn or duplicate a new methodology, and its this problem which JOVE aims to solve.

In essence, it's a peer-reviewed, (although no longer OA, sadly) journal where the content is all video, rather than words.

Monday 24 August 2009

The threat challenge to science publishing

An article I recently wrote for the Science Media Centre (note, there's a really cool sound recording from the WCSJ on the SMC website, here). The debate's a complicated one - this article just manages to lightly touch upon some of the issues...

The Open Access (OA) movement has been around since the 1990s – not surprising, as one of its principal tenets is that information should be freely available online. More specifically, it generally refers to scientific information, and in particular the information generally found in scientific journals. As we all know, this information is generally not freely accessible: rather, it is usually kept for access by journal subscribers, whether they be individuals or institutions.

The debate over whether scientific research should be freely accessible or not is a heated one, with very little signs of a resolution either way anytime soon. Its proponents say that freely available scientific research advances the cause and progression of science. Its detractors says that without journals (most of which are subscription-based), there would be no peer-review process, and hence no quality control. It’s not that simple, however.

Perhaps a good place to start is with the inevitable. Michael Nielsen has written a very clear article on the matter, entitled ‘Is scientific publishing about to be disrupted?’. In it, he argues very convincingly that scientific publishing (including journals) is about to experience the same upheaval that the newspaper/print industries have been experiencing. At the hands of the same phenomenon: the internet. And, just like newspapers, there is relatively little that can be done about the situation.

One of the most important, and perhaps noticeable, agents of this change is scientific blogging: blogs written by scientists about their own and others’ work.

As Nielsen writes:

“Let’s look up close at one element of this flourishing ecosystem: the gradual rise of science blogs as a serious medium for research. It’s easy to miss the impact of blogs on research, because most science blogs focus on outreach. But more and more blogs contain high quality research content.”

They differ greatly from published articles in that they allow scientists to engage in an ongoing conversation about their work and its developments, and are also a valuable means of engaging other scientists in a conversation about their work.

The movement is catching on to such a degree that numerous highly respected scientists are blogging, including Terry Tao, Tim Gowers, and Richard Lipton (list supplied by Michael Nielsen). On home ground, the New Zealand science blogging movement is also picking up pace: there are a number of blogs already in existence, and there are plans afoot to aggregate these bloggers’ work in a project called Sciblogs (based on ScienceBlogs).

“Scientific publishers should be terrified that some of the world’s best scientists, people at or near their research peak, people whose time is at a premium, are spending hundreds of hours each year creating original research content for their blogs, content that in many cases would be difficult or impossible to publish in a conventional journal. What we’re seeing here is a spectacular expansion in the range of the blog medium. By comparison, the journals are standing still.” (Nielsen)

A main feature of the Open Access movement, however, is not necessarily to dissuade scientists from publishing journals (more on that later), or to encourage them to write blogs. Instead, it aims to encourage them to deposit copies of their published papers (pre or post-prints) in repositories which do give free access. Of these, ArXiv is particularly prominent, and has a fantastic physics blog.

A recent issue of the Australian (OA) journal SCRIPTed looks at the issue in a paper entitled “Open Access to Journal Content as a Case Study in Unlocking IP’. The paper examines the accessibility of reviewed, published papers from examples of the different types of science publishers, including PNAS, Elsevier and a major division of the US NRC.

Interestingly, the paper finds that the lack of access to published papers is not, as one might assume, solely the fault of publishers. Instead, it found that the publishers’ copyright restrictions were (relatively) liberal, in many cases allowing researchers to place their work in repositories of one form or another. The primary reason for the lack of forward momentum was due to the researchers themselves. In the paper’s conclusion:

“The exploitation of the opportunity has lagged, because of impediments to adoption, especially the lack of any positive incentive to self-deposit, and downright apathy. The outcomes to date are disappointing for proponents of OA and Unlocking IP…OA and Unlocking IP in the area of journal articles are at serious risk of being stillborn’.

No doubt, this last sentence is one which would thrill many journal publishers. However, the OA movement and blogging are not the only movements which threaten journals. These previous examples have opposed journals in a relatively passive way – they are (generally) quite happy to co-exist.

There is a far stronger movement which is lining up against journals. This movement, written about in Times Higher Education’s recent article ‘A threat to scientific communication’ talks of growing unhappiness with publishing papers as the measure of a scientist’s success. An increasing number of (well respected) scientists, including the former editor of the British Medical Journal, says the influence of being published in the ‘major’ journals is far too powerful, and that journal metrics such as the Journal Impact Factor are actually an impediment to scientific progress.

“"(Journal metrics) are the disease of our times," says Sir John Sulston, chairman of the Institute for Science, Ethics and Innovation at the University of Manchester, and Nobel prizewinner in the physiology or medicine category in 2002.

“Sulston argues that the use of journal metrics is not only a flimsy guarantee of the best work (his prize-winning discovery was never published in a top journal), but he also believes that the system puts pressure on scientists to act in ways that adversely affect science - from claiming work is more novel than it actually is to over-hyping, over-interpreting and prematurely publishing it, splitting publications to get more credits and, in extreme situations, even committing fraud.”

A further comment:

“Noting that the medical journal articles that get the most citations are studies of randomised trials from rich countries, [Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet] speculates that if The Lancet published more work from Africa, its impact factor would go down.

“"The incentive for me is to cut off completely parts of the world that have the biggest health challenges ... citations create a racist culture in journals' decision-making and embody a system that is only about us (in the developed world)."”

(Another problem cited is that the JIF, because it focuses only a few years, actually gives no indication of the long-term importance of scientific work.)

Embargoes are also coming under attack (see the recording at the bottom of this page), as it makes science seem more like an event than a linear series of incremental advances. This reminds me quite a lot of Professor Sir Peter Gluckman’s recent comments on the NZ media: what he said very closely matches this criticism, in that he feels that the New Zealand media fails to show science as a gradual process, instead showing it as a series of leaps forward. Which gave me cause to think: is it, then, actually the media’s fault? Particularly here in New Zealand, where many journalists are not able to specialise in science issues, and thus gain an understanding of scientific research’s continuity?

But I digress. In answer to the journals’ primary defense of their existence, the peer review process itself, there is also increased questioning of its use. Journal publishers maintain that the peer review process is the only real means of quality assurance for scientific research. The reactions to this include the following:

  • That peer review itself is generally undertaken for free, meaning that journals are taking free work and, essentially, selling it back to scientists.
  • The peer review process itself needs to have some of the following questions asked about: who actually does the reviewing? How appropriate are they? How strenuous is the process? And, of course, timing is also an issue (the process can take months, greatly slowing the speed at which research becomes known about).
    • In fact, this latter point brings to mind the recent debate over a paper published recently by well-known climate change skeptics, which attributes over 70% of climate change to the El Nino/Southern Oscillation weather patterns. While the paper was peer-reviewed, there have since been rebuttals (including this, yet-to-be-published paper) saying that the maths used was incorrect, and bringing into doubt the quality of the peer review undertaken on the original paper (I’m not commenting on either, please note).
    • [for more on peer review, have a look at this post, about the recent results of a survey into the matter)

Deep thought also has to be given to the tremendous amounts of research lost because it doesn’t come up with a result. There are two types of experiments which have no end results (and I speak from personal experience here): they were poorly set up, performed or analysed, or there simply are no results to be had.

While the first group should absolutely be ignored, the second can be very important to scientists. We used to say (in the market research consultancy at which I worked for a time) if our analysis turned up nothing that “it’s a learning in itself’. And it often can be, either to prevent other scientists duplicating the same research (a huge waste of time and resources), or because there really is nothing there to see, which suggests that effort be focused in another direction.

The remedy for science publishing's woes is unclear. While everyone agrees that there is a problem, or at the very least a challenge, nobody is sure what shape the future of science publishing will take.

Michael Nielsen says that scientific publishers need to become technology-driven if they are to survive (he mentions Nature as one of the few publishers trying this), and that they must do so even if it means fundamentally changing the way they currently work.

“In ten to twenty years, scientific publishers will be technology companies. By this, I don’t just mean that they’ll be heavy users of technology, or employ a large IT staff. I mean they’ll be technology-driven companies in a similar way to, say, Google or Apple. That is, their foundation will be technological innovation, and most key decision-makers will be people with deep technological expertise. Those publishers that don’t become technology driven will die off.”

And while it seems that the peer review process is likely to stay, it will no doubt change in form. It might well imitate what PLoS's policy is, which is to check that the results can be substantiated by the methods and data, but not to worry about whether it is original or even important – this should be up to the world at large to decide.

Of course, something else to consider is this: if a paper is published in a repository or on a scientist’s own website/blog, and is then commented on by his peers…Is this not exactly what the peer review process is anyway? In that case, why be concerned with publishing?

However one looks at it, the industry is in for a massive upheaval: while it is uncertain just how, we can be sure that those trying to innovate to stay ahead of it may survive, but those that stand still will, like their newspaper counterparts, face extinction.

Note: The Royal Society of New Zealand conducted some research in journal use/publication in 2004. The results are here.

Further note: the original title has been changed to include 'challenge' after some commentary about whether 'threat' was, in fact, the correct word (I admit, it probably wasn't the best)

Friday 21 August 2009

Global warming warning

I've just come across this and, frankly, my first reaction was to burst out laughing.



Not, I hasten to add, because I think it's funny in and of itself. And the article itself is very calm and cogent about things. It's simply that the headline reads somewhat like an old, retro doomsday prediction.

And no, I'm not a denier. I'm not even a skeptic (although I would definitely say I'm a pragmatist). To be honest, it's not something I feel that I am nearly well-informed about to comment on.

Happily, a number of other people are doing very fine jobs of commenting on the issue: Hot Topic is a great example, and the Science Media Centre tracks what's happening in the coverage.

Tuesday 18 August 2009

Gamma-ray bursts get even more sci-fi

Gamma-ray bursts really are the stuff of science fiction. And something of a mystery.



They're the most impressive explosions the universe has been able to offer after the tremendous effort of the Big Bang. If one happened anywhere near Earth (and by near I mean within a thousand light years or so, so 'near' only a cosmic scale) and and was pointed at us, the radiation would kill all life here. Even the cockroaches (probably).

Up until now, prevailing thought had it that they were formed by the collapse into a black hole of a supermassive star. Now, however, a new theory is being considered (again): that they occur as the result of a black hole burrowing into the middle of a star and then consuming it. A sort of cosmic Alien, if you will.

Happily for us they're directional, and it seems that they're more likely to happen on the outer edges of the universe. Scientists have posited that this is because that's where the older stars are, and the differences in chemistry between older stars and newer stars means newer ones are more likely to be prosaic about the matter and avoid the huge effort involved in producing a gamma-ray burst. Maybe. Another theory says they occur in regions with low metallicity (not a feature of the Milky Way, happily).

Either way, they're fascinating beasts and something to keep an eye on (possibly one wearing sunglasses). For those of you interested, we apparently pick up about one a day...

More evidence that cockroaches may be the pinnacle of evolution

..Sorry, those of you who thought it was humans. (As a side note, Terry Pratchett is particularly hilarious on the subject in The Last Continent)



Alright, for those of you who prefer accuracy in your statement: no, they're not really the pinnacle of evolution, for after all the theory somewhat precludes such a notion. But they are remarkably resilient. I had a few doozies in the kitchen of an ancient house I inhabited at one point in Cape Town, and I can confidently say that they're well-nigh unstoppable, particularly if they're big and old.

Back to the point of the post, though: it's come to light (unlike the creatures themselves) that not only are they capable of withstanding nuclear fallout, but that they could also survive climate change. Apparently, they are able to hold their breath in order to conserve water loss - a particularly useful trait in Australia, where the research was conducted.

I'll happily admit I quite admire them. They're a brilliant example of how 250 million years of evolution can give one, if not backbone, then at least a pretty remarkable exoskeleton.

Sunbed silliness

I will admit to being slightly biased on this one, having heard many, many years ago about the entirely legitimate concerns about the cancer risks through UV exposure associated with their use.



And it's become a rather heated (haha) issue here in New Zealand, particularly as it's now been confirmed that sunbeds are, well, synonymous with cancer causation. The IARC is behind the research and they tend to know what they're talking about (in fact, they're the WHO's agency committed to looking into human cancer).

Some countries have legislated around this, either by banning their use altogether, or by requiring that it is confined to adult use. In other cases, they allow teenagers to use them, but only if there has been adult consent.

But in New Zealand, none of this is the case. The sunbed industry here operates under a voluntary code (generally code for 'pays lip service to'), which precludes people under 18 using the service. In addition, a spokesperson has said that people are aware of the risks, but choose to use the treatments anyway.

Now, however, an article on Stuff has shown that this isn't the case at all. The investigation carried out as part of the article showed that most of the sunbed operators looked into showed no signs of abiding by the voluntary code: they allowed underage clients to use them, and in many cases did not tell people about the associated health risks or even warn them to use the goggles provided.

Not OK, guys, not OK at all. After all, having your clients die is generally accepted, even in our gung-ho world, as bad (or at least unsustainable) business practice.

Friday 14 August 2009

Biomimicry and AskNature

Biomimicry is big right now. Or small. Or waterproof. Or able to run at full tilt (haha, considering the angle of activation is 10 degrees) across walls and even ceilings.



It's a fascinating subject, and one of those which, like many great brainwaves, has that 'well, duh' component to it. Study nature's designs to see how its been doing things before trying to reinvent the [insert item here]. Well, of course!

Still, apparently it's something that has not been part of design dogma for some time. Silly us.

The gecko is definitely getting a fair amount of attention (see here and here, for starters) at the moment over its climbing ability, but nature abounds with brilliant things, and we're learning more and more from then, as this talk shows.

But now, there's this: AskNature, the site Benyus is working on. Because, of course, it's one thing to say 'well, study Nature before you design something', but it's an entirely different matter to attempt to first figure out what to study, and then how to access the data on it. Particularly if it's academic data and you are not, frankly, an academic. The site is another fine example of how freeing information up, not shutting it away, benefits everybody.

PopSci's Future Of...

I really do hope that they show it here. I'm not hopeful, as it were, but I hope...Hell, I'd be curling all the available digits if I didn't think I'd be hobbling, and unable to work, for, well, quite some time.

Failing actual broadcast, streaming it would also be acceptable.

What is it, you ask? Why, this! PopSci's Future Of... And it's even getting good write-ups.



Of course, Popular Science is, itself, pretty cool, so we should have high hope for the programme anyway...

Intermission: engineering photo contest

These are gorgeous.

Of course, as our imaging techniques grow in ability, so do the number and quality of photo competitions devoted to using them. (I remember submitting a couple of photos when I was doing my Honours degree).




They include
Visions of Science and Photography (UK)
click on logo for link


And, of course, National Geographic Nikon's 'Best Science Images'

Then there's Nikon's Small World competition (and brilliant website), dedicated to everything one can see with the use of a microscope.


Compact disc case detail (5x), by David Walker (2008)

And I have no doubt that there are legions of others. In fact, if anyone knows of any more, please post a comment about it - I might just start keeping a library of them...

Monday 10 August 2009

Emissions target 2020

At 4-ish pm today, Climate Change ministers Nick Smith and Tim Groser announced government's emissions reduction target for 2020. 10% - 20%. This neatly encapsulates the 15% which was widely expected (although the ministers did say that no such thing had been implied), but is nonetheless a pretty broad range. Here's a more detailed graphic of it, as well.

It's also somewhat below what Greenpeace had been vying for with it's 'Sign On' campaign (although we won't even get into that particular debate between Greenpeace and government...).



The reduction target is going to be tabled at tonight's talks in Bonn, Germany - for those not clamped in fascination to the workings of the UNFCCC, these are one of a number of meetings being held in the run-up to Copenhagen at the end of this year. Copenhagen should be very interesting, although I've heard mutterings saying that we shouldn't be too hopeful about the talks...after all, climate change and emissions reduction is a thorny issue for, well, everyone.

And it's a very tricky issue, not only internationally, but intranationally (my fancy way of saying 'here'). New Zealand certainly has a clean, green image, but this hasn't been borne out by fact recently, so there's a great deal of work to be done. Costly work. We're also an agricultural nation, and methane is not exactly the least important of the greenhouse gases.

So there's a great deal of push and pull between economic and environmental concerns. Then again, one could always argue that, as with most things, there is a middle way. With appropriate R&D funding, means of being green could become sources of income. Forestry. Windmills. GM cows and their gut bacteria...

For some (far more) expert commentry on today's announcement, mooch on over to here.

South Africa in space...?

This just in (well, sort of). South Africa has plans to become a regional centre for space technology! A quiver of, well, I'm not sure, but possible pride, runs through the ol' veins. Hooray for my country-folk!



It seems that investment in space is all the rage these days. Well, apart from America - perhaps a case of 'been there, done that, have the rusting Saturn Vs'. (I am being flippant, I realise, and I know that far more complex excuses than this have been used).

Australia is also investing heavily (some $88 million) in space research, although they admit they have somewhat missed the boat in terms of world leadership, having done, well, not very much since they were instrumental in the broadcasting of Apollo 11's famous landing. Anyway, a large part of the decision is because they want the contract for the SKA, which they have already started building...

Even New Zealand also has its own burgeoning space industry. Small, yes, but pert (to copy shamelessly a local, but amusing, ad). In fact, our first space mission is imminent. And very exciting. Oh, to see it...

To get back to the SA situation, though: while it's laudable, and definitely heart-rate-increasing for those of us who still get dewy-eyed at the thought of the whole space thing (blame too much Star Trek, if you will), it doesn't seem, well, appropriate.

South Africa has many problems. Many of them centred around health and education. And I just don't know that spending money on a space programme is entirely the right course of action or, for that matter, terribly useful, for a country with as many other problems as South Africa. I think back to my own experience working in Africa's only neural regeneration lab - a lovely idea, but really, it simply wasn't a priority there. As a result, of course, we battled.

Add to that the fact that the SA government is not terribly good at managing projects. Ideas, yes. Practicalities, not really. We will simply have to see whether they can, and will, follow through on their sweeping statements of intent.

And finally: it's competing against Australia for the SKA...

Saturday 8 August 2009

Clever doggie!

This fresh out: dogs are quite a bit more intelligent than we thought. Not a surprise for those of us with border collies, but still...



A leading expert in dogs has determined, apparently, that dogs are, in many ways, similar to 2-2.5yr old human children. This means a vocabulary of up to 150 words, the ability to be deceptive, and basic arithmetic skills.
(This actually describes quite a few more adult people I've come across, too)

But I digress... These skills are, of course, on a sliding scale - border collies at the top (as seeing dogs), and labs somewhere down the bottom (with obeying dogs). All of which makes a lot of sense: after all, 'herd those sheep this way' requires a bit more of the proverbial than 'sit, Ubu, sit'. As it were.

His report was presented at the APA's 117th Annual Convention - marvellous.

And, perhaps, a strong message to those who think that abusing animals because they're 'just animals' is ok...

Wednesday 5 August 2009

Universal snacks

Well, the title might be a misleading. This is mostly an excuse to post this, which I thought was funny. After all, what better way to enjoy your next handful of peanuts (particularly when sitting on a plane, of course) - than by expanding for your fellow passenger the central tenets of physics and how they apply to universe shape.



Or not.

And then, just as we had narrowed the possibilities down (they also include, theories that it might be dodecahedral, although I have yet to find a snack shaped like that - possible new product angle, anyone?), someone went back and relooked at our assumptions.

Which is wonderful. Super. Very scientific. And, often, a stunningly good way to upset not only the apple cart, but the entire market with repercussions all the way back to the farm.

You see, it's been realised that dark energy (the black sheep of physics, hngh hngh) might have far more of an effect on the shape of the universe than we thought. Which makes sense. But it really does confuse the matter even more.

And, in a wonderful chicken and egg scenario, this lack of knowledge about the size and shape of the universe, in turn, makes it very difficult to further explore (i.e. find/work out anything, at all, about) dark energy.

Fun, non?

Lunar billboards

Ah yes, science and marketing have come together yet again, in pursuit of selling things to us.



According to this, Moon Publicity has a patent pending for a new robot which will, wait for it, get sent to the moon, and have fun with its friends building mini sand ridges. Of course, said ridges cast shadows, and will therefore form (if properly planned) giant line drawings.

This revolutionary technology is up for sale, and the starting bid for one of the 44 lunar regions is, well, really low at some US$46,000, although I have no doubt that this will skyrocket. Literally.

But still: is this cool? Inevitable? A mockery of all that makes us human? A travesty, even?

I don't know. I do have a strong 'geek' element which, having read too much Transmetropolitan, thinks this is great.

On the other hand - we have been defined, for countless centuries, by our ability to look up at the moon and stars and use them as a launchpad for our imagination and desire for exploration. How might this change when, upon gazing skywards, we are greeted with a giant 'I'm loving it'? Will we really?

On a more pragmatic note: how is anyone actually going to achieve this? Firstly, you have to get the robots, intact, to the moon's surface. This is not, to date, something which we've had oodles of success. Certainly not regularly.

Also, and as a friend pointed out while I was leaping around exclaiming at the hilarity of it, are the logos meant to be seen with the naked eye? That's going to require an amalgamation of some of those 44 lunar regions, and if that's the case, then a lot of ground has to be transformed. It sounds like one of those school maths problems:
A giant logo measuring ([insert silly number]km2 has to be constructed. Assuming each robot can cover [y]km2 per day, calculate how many robots, and how much money will be burned on, potentially, creating logos only people with telescopes can see.

Finally, they claim that this would spur space travel, but I battle to see how. Robots trundling around in the sand aren't sufficiently interesting for a thriving tourist industry.

Monday 3 August 2009

Little houses...(on the hillside?)

As promised, some architecture (I am simply trying to catch up, here). In fact, I wrote this almost a year ago (aeons in blog terms), before travelling across half the world and being distracted thereby.

Enough: now the post (reproduced below). I promise more up-to-date content in future. Faithfully.

architecture pr0n article #1.
Ooooh, there will be many of these...gird your loins. make steadfast your shoelaces. tame your wayward and feckless bonnets with the power that is hairpins.


I love small houses. little. mini. diminutive (although preferably never dinky, and certainly never incommodious or mean).

Small, however, does not have to mean cramped. That's something I've found in the UK (or at least London and surrounds). While houses vary in size, they invariably feel cramped. It's something about small rooms, low ceilings, and inappropriate furniture. The fact that adults (single or not) have to houseshare well into their adult years doesn't help either. Barbaric. Icky. Certainly not heightening general levels of happiness, contentment, or even just mimbling alongness.

No, by small, I simply mean, well, "fitting". I come from Africa, where space is never at a premium, and houses, flats and gardens reflect this. We're used to oodles of space, both personal and public.

And yet, somehow, I've always preferred the idea of a space that fits me perfectly. Not for me hallowed halls and echoing rooms between which I can bounce endlessly. No. Instead, well-designed spaces which cater to my needs, but (and this is important, folks) never feel cramped. I can't abide cramped or cluttered surrounds. They depress me, and fetter my mind.

And, don't even mention the whole "green" thing.
"What green thing?", you say. To which I reply "I said, don't mention it". (Aaah, Spike Milligan, and thank you, Robert Rankin)

So I continue to watch closely the increasingly innovative ways in which people are making small spaces...fitting spaces. Hooray for the scandinavians (again).



For those interested, the images (and general architecture pr0n, can be found here:
http://www.designboom.com/contemporary/tiny_houses.html
http://www.smallhousestyle.com/2007/07/23/the-mill-house-by-wingardhs/

Alliterative intermission: giant japanese jellyfish

Madness. Utter madness. Giant jellyfish are turning up ever more often off Japan's shores and, while intriguing in a very 'sphere' kind of way, they do pose a substantial problem for fishers and vessels.


Photo from National Geographic, who got it courtesy of Kyodo via AP


Then again, the jellyfish edibles market has been floating along very happily...

Seriously, though - the alarming rate of increase of these giants has scientists a-twitter trying to figure out what has caused the sudden upsurgence in incidence - any takers for climate change as a factor?

TED science talks

TED is, by far, one of my favourite websites. As it should be yours. For those of you not familiar with it (gasp), TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design. Each year, it brings together some of the most interesting people in the world, puts them on a stage, and challenges them to talk about why they're so interesting.

As usual, click on the image to go the site...


Their talks are fascinating, and far-reaching in their content, from Ray Kurzweil and his Singularity University to The Raspyni Brothers' juggling act, and everything in between.

Since this blog is devoted to all things sci-tech (and I'm going to be including architecture in this, I must warn you), I would point you, dear reader in this direction: 5 TED talks devoted to science which are, well, brilliant.

Marvellous stuff.

A dream, certainly, would be to attend this illustrious event in person. To fall at the feet of the other delegates only to whisper 'you're quite, you know, cool'. Who knows, even to give a talk (topic TBA).

As a sidenote, and for those of you fond of filling out long, long forms, a TEDx event is being held in Auckland in October. TEDx is a sort of franchised TED event aimed at spreading the word, and events are being held all over the world. Yes, I would love to go...

Sunday 2 August 2009

Memories aren't priceless, after all

According to this marvellous post, a British (yes, the Brits feature again) brain has actually worked out a formula able to place a precise, sterling value on one's memories.

It factors in elements such as how vividly you recall it, its perceived importance, and a host of other interesting factoids. It's also available here, if you'd like to try it out...

It's all part of his research into how, essentially, to use neuroscience to enable companies to tailor their marketing even more. And this is where it gets sticky, I think.

I will, quite freely, admit to not being a mathematician, and so will refrain from any pithy comments related to the formula.

As a former market researcher, I am generally not overly concerned by companies' efforts to tailor their efforts to us. I would probably rather have my time wasted by ads I might be slightly interested in, than not. Probably. Certainly, I can understand the companies' point of view.

Then again, people have varied levels of resistance to marketing messages, which is where some of my friends' misgivings come in. They worry that such tailoring makes it more and more difficult for people to say 'no' to marketing messages. Particularly, well, the so-called 'mass market' (an ever more inaccurate phrase, frankly). No, this does not, sadly, paint a picture of humanity as reasonably able to make decisions for themselves. Nonetheless.

Personally, I find myself sitting uncomfortably on the proverbial fence with mixed feelings about this development and what it heralds. I'm amused, yes. It's funny, after all.

I'm also slightly worried by it - it does seem that companies' are increasingly looking for the edge in their messages, and are quite happy to manipulate us at levels where, frankly, the ability to filter messages is not longer an option.

Mostly, though, my overriding emotion is this: fantastic, we've managed to attach a monetary value to yet another integral part of the human experience...

Sixty Symbols

Wow, so, I've been promising to start this up for ages.

Ah well, here goes. Our first link will be to Sixty Symbols (click on the logo below), kindly brought to us by the University of Nottingham (nice one, chaps)



60 symbols is brilliant: it's perfect for those of us with an interest in physics, but not, perhaps, the ability to read and comprehend the often dense physics textbooks (or the accompanying lectures, for that matter).

The fact that the concepts are presented by people clearly expert in them's even better, and I've found I've learnt some brilliant new things, including concepts with which I already thought myself familiar.