Promoting Science and Critical Thinking
It’s the scientific equivalent of the 639-year-long recital of John Cage’s “As Slow As Possible” (a performance of which in Germany is currently in its 11th year and with a new note due on 5 July). In 1927, … yes, 1927 ….Professor Thomas Parnell, the first physics professor at Australia’s University of Queensland, decided to … Read more
The rumors are circulating, and it looks like we get official confirmation tomorrow. The expectation is that CERN will announce the discovery of Higgs tomorrow … in terms of a “four-sigma confidence interval”, or to be precise 4.4. Huh? OK, let me explain, it is all about what the numbers tell them. four-sigma = 1 … Read more
There is a really interesting article on the BBC site today, (interesting for me anyway). It asks the question – “What do you need to do to live beyond 100?”. Yep, I have a skeptics hat on, and so I am wondering if it is just the usual “eat your veg and take plenty of … Read more
Concerned that developments in human technology may soon pose new, extinction-level risks to our species as a whole, Astronomer Royal Martin Rees, Cambridge University philosopher Huw Price, and Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn have formed The Cambridge Project for Existential Risk … “These dangers have been suggested from progress in AI, from developments in biotechnology and artificial … Read more
The exciting thing about topics such as dark matter and dark energy is that it very strongly highlights how little we really know. We do of course now understand a great deal, but there is still much that is simply not known. Look up and you see the stars, so exactly how many stars are … Read more
The news is that Lonesome George, the last remaining tortoise of his kind and a conservation icon, died on Sunday of unknown causes, the Galapagos National Park said. He was thought to be about 100 years old. New Scientist reports … The rarest animal in the world is no more. Lonesome George, the last of … Read more