Sunday, March 31, 2013
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Judge permanently bars provisions of Indiana immigration law - latimes.com
Judge permanently bars provisions of Indiana immigration law - latimes.com:
"Two major parts of an Indiana law aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration have been permanently barred from taking effect by a federal judge."
'via Blog this'
"Two major parts of an Indiana law aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration have been permanently barred from taking effect by a federal judge."
'via Blog this'
Information, Please
Information, Please:
"If a crew of explorers could shrink to submicroscopic size and take a voyage through the innards of a computer, they would search in vain for anything resembling the ones and zeroes of binary code. Nothing but tiny currents of electricity flow through the vanishingly small pipes etched into the silicon chips. The reason computers can be used to compute is that voltages above an arbitrary threshold have been deemed by the designer to represent the digit one. Voltages below the threshold are designated as zero. Viewed this way, it seems clear that this elusive stuff called information is simply an interpretation imposed by human minds."
'via Blog this'
"If a crew of explorers could shrink to submicroscopic size and take a voyage through the innards of a computer, they would search in vain for anything resembling the ones and zeroes of binary code. Nothing but tiny currents of electricity flow through the vanishingly small pipes etched into the silicon chips. The reason computers can be used to compute is that voltages above an arbitrary threshold have been deemed by the designer to represent the digit one. Voltages below the threshold are designated as zero. Viewed this way, it seems clear that this elusive stuff called information is simply an interpretation imposed by human minds."
'via Blog this'
Physics in Mind: A Quantum View of the Brain: Werner Loewenstein: 9780465029846: Amazon.com: Books
Physics in Mind: A Quantum View of the Brain: Werner Loewenstein: 9780465029846: Amazon.com: Books:
'via Blog this'
No one can escape a sense of awe when reflecting on the workings of the mind: we see, we hear, we feel, we are aware of the world around us. But what is the mind? What do we mean when we say we are “aware” of something? What is this peculiar state in our heads, at once utterly familiar and bewilderingly mysterious, that we call awareness or consciousness?
In Physics in Mind, eminent biophysicist Werner R. Loewenstein argues that to answer these questions, we must first understand the physical mechanisms that underlie the workings of the mind. And so begins an exhilarating journey along the sensory data stream of the brain, which shows how our most complex organ processes the vast amounts of information coming in through our senses to create a coherent, meaningful picture of the world. Bringing information theory to bear on recent advances in the neurosciences, Loewenstein reveals a web of immense computational power inside the brain. He introduces the revolutionary idea that quantum mechanics could be fundamental to how our minds almost instantaneously deal with staggering amounts of information, as in the case of the information streaming through our eyes.
Combining cutting-edge research in neuroscience and physics, Loewenstein presents an ambitious hypothesis about the parallel processing of sensory information that is the heart, hub, and pivot of the cognitive brain. Wide-ranging and brimming with insight, Physics in Mind breaks new ground in our understanding of how the mind works.
In Physics in Mind, eminent biophysicist Werner R. Loewenstein argues that to answer these questions, we must first understand the physical mechanisms that underlie the workings of the mind. And so begins an exhilarating journey along the sensory data stream of the brain, which shows how our most complex organ processes the vast amounts of information coming in through our senses to create a coherent, meaningful picture of the world. Bringing information theory to bear on recent advances in the neurosciences, Loewenstein reveals a web of immense computational power inside the brain. He introduces the revolutionary idea that quantum mechanics could be fundamental to how our minds almost instantaneously deal with staggering amounts of information, as in the case of the information streaming through our eyes.
Combining cutting-edge research in neuroscience and physics, Loewenstein presents an ambitious hypothesis about the parallel processing of sensory information that is the heart, hub, and pivot of the cognitive brain. Wide-ranging and brimming with insight, Physics in Mind breaks new ground in our understanding of how the mind works.
'via Blog this'
Friday, March 29, 2013
Thursday, March 28, 2013
[1205.5823] Foreword: A Computable Universe, Understanding Computation and Exploring Nature As Computation
[1205.5823] Foreword: A Computable Universe, Understanding Computation and Exploring Nature As Computation:
"I am most honoured to have the privilege to present the Foreword to this fascinating and wonderfully varied collection of contributions, concerning the nature of computation and of its deep connection with the operation of those basic laws, known or yet unknown, governing the universe in which we live. Fundamentally deep questions are indeed being grappled with here, and the fact that we find so many different viewpoints is something to be expected, since, in truth, we know little about the foundational nature and origins of these basic laws, despite the immense precision that we so often find revealed in them. Accordingly, it is not surprising that within the viewpoints expressed here is some unabashed speculation, occasionally bordering on just partially justified guesswork, while elsewhere we find a good deal of precise reasoning, some in the form of rigorous mathematical theorems. Both of these are as should be, for without some inspired guesswork we cannot have new ideas as to where look in order to make genuinely new progress, and without precise mathematical reasoning, no less than in precise observation, we cannot know when we are right -- or, more usually, when we are wrong."
'via Blog this'
"I am most honoured to have the privilege to present the Foreword to this fascinating and wonderfully varied collection of contributions, concerning the nature of computation and of its deep connection with the operation of those basic laws, known or yet unknown, governing the universe in which we live. Fundamentally deep questions are indeed being grappled with here, and the fact that we find so many different viewpoints is something to be expected, since, in truth, we know little about the foundational nature and origins of these basic laws, despite the immense precision that we so often find revealed in them. Accordingly, it is not surprising that within the viewpoints expressed here is some unabashed speculation, occasionally bordering on just partially justified guesswork, while elsewhere we find a good deal of precise reasoning, some in the form of rigorous mathematical theorems. Both of these are as should be, for without some inspired guesswork we cannot have new ideas as to where look in order to make genuinely new progress, and without precise mathematical reasoning, no less than in precise observation, we cannot know when we are right -- or, more usually, when we are wrong."
'via Blog this'
New Aesthetic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
New Aesthetic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
"The New Aesthetic is a term used to refer to the increasing appearance of the visual language of digital technology and the Internet in the physical world, and the blending of virtual and physical. The phenomenon has been around for a long time but lately James Bridle and partners have surfaced the notion through a series of talks and observations. The term gained wider attention following a panel at the SXSW conference in 2012.[1]"
'via Blog this'
"The New Aesthetic is a term used to refer to the increasing appearance of the visual language of digital technology and the Internet in the physical world, and the blending of virtual and physical. The phenomenon has been around for a long time but lately James Bridle and partners have surfaced the notion through a series of talks and observations. The term gained wider attention following a panel at the SXSW conference in 2012.[1]"
'via Blog this'
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer: Turkey gears up to give Gulf states a run for their money
The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer: Turkey gears up to give Gulf states a run for their money:
"The Gulf states dominate headlines with Qatar’s controversial hosting of a World Cup and the high profile acquisition of European soccer teams, but they may be meeting their match in an emerging competition for being the Middle East and North Africa’s prime sports, transportation and economic hub."
'via Blog this'
"The Gulf states dominate headlines with Qatar’s controversial hosting of a World Cup and the high profile acquisition of European soccer teams, but they may be meeting their match in an emerging competition for being the Middle East and North Africa’s prime sports, transportation and economic hub."
'via Blog this'
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Monday, March 25, 2013
2008 Crisis
The historian David Priestland has some advice for our current crisis. It is not the job of historians to predict the future, but if we listen to him, we may find our way out of this one.
Good book!
Good book!
Amazon.com: Merchant, Soldier, Sage: A History of the World in Three Castes (9781594203107): David Priestland: Books
Amazon.com: Merchant, Soldier, Sage: A History of the World in Three Castes (9781594203107): David Priestland: Books:
Noted Oxford historian David Priestland argues history is, at base, a conflict among three occupational groups, or castes: the commercial, competitive merchant; the aristocratic,militaristic soldier; the sage, or the bureaucratic, expert manipulator of ideas. Since the move of civilization into the city, merchants have vied for power with the soldier and the sage in every society. These groups struggle for power, and when one achieves preeminence, as the soldier did in imperial Germany, or the merchant did in theAnglo-American world of the 1920s, the result is cultural domination.
'via Blog this'
Noted Oxford historian David Priestland argues history is, at base, a conflict among three occupational groups, or castes: the commercial, competitive merchant; the aristocratic,militaristic soldier; the sage, or the bureaucratic, expert manipulator of ideas. Since the move of civilization into the city, merchants have vied for power with the soldier and the sage in every society. These groups struggle for power, and when one achieves preeminence, as the soldier did in imperial Germany, or the merchant did in theAnglo-American world of the 1920s, the result is cultural domination.
'via Blog this'
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Hugo Chávez, R.I.P.: He Empowered the Poor and Gutted Venezuela | Moisés Naím
Hugo Chávez, R.I.P.: He Empowered the Poor and Gutted Venezuela | Moisés Naím:
Even before his death, Hugo Chávez had joined Fidel Castro and Ernesto “Che” Guevara in the pantheon of Latin American leaders who enjoy instant global recognition. And, like Castro and Guevara, Chávez is more than controversial. He is the subject of deep admiration that easily morphs into passionate worship, and antagonism that often mutates into equally intense hatred. Chávez, 58, died Tuesday, after two years of cancer treatments, according to Venezuelan Vice President Nicolás Maduro.
'via Blog this'
Even before his death, Hugo Chávez had joined Fidel Castro and Ernesto “Che” Guevara in the pantheon of Latin American leaders who enjoy instant global recognition. And, like Castro and Guevara, Chávez is more than controversial. He is the subject of deep admiration that easily morphs into passionate worship, and antagonism that often mutates into equally intense hatred. Chávez, 58, died Tuesday, after two years of cancer treatments, according to Venezuelan Vice President Nicolás Maduro.
'via Blog this'
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Cyprus’s Bailout Plan Meets With Skepticism - NYTimes.com
Cyprus’s Bailout Plan Meets With Skepticism - NYTimes.com:
"NICOSIA, Cyprus — Lawmakers took steps late Friday to revise a formula for obtaining a bailout of Cyprus’s banks but faced strong signals that the plan would not pass muster with international lenders."
"When euro zone finance ministers negotiated the original bailout terms last weekend, Cypriot officials had resisted limiting the tax to large accounts, evidently to avoid damaging the country’s reputation as a haven for wealthy banking clients. Many of the wealthiest citizens of Russia have euro-denominated bank accounts in Cyprus, which is one reason that euro zone finance ministers have taken such a hard line."
"The Russian prime minister, Dmitri A. Medvedev, said on Friday at a joint news conference in Moscow with José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, that his country was not walking away from Cyprus.
'via Blog this'
"NICOSIA, Cyprus — Lawmakers took steps late Friday to revise a formula for obtaining a bailout of Cyprus’s banks but faced strong signals that the plan would not pass muster with international lenders."
"When euro zone finance ministers negotiated the original bailout terms last weekend, Cypriot officials had resisted limiting the tax to large accounts, evidently to avoid damaging the country’s reputation as a haven for wealthy banking clients. Many of the wealthiest citizens of Russia have euro-denominated bank accounts in Cyprus, which is one reason that euro zone finance ministers have taken such a hard line."
"The Russian prime minister, Dmitri A. Medvedev, said on Friday at a joint news conference in Moscow with José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, that his country was not walking away from Cyprus.
Instead, Mr. Medvedev said, Russia will wait until a broader bailout deal is done before extending additional help.
“Regarding our participation in this process, we haven’t shut the doors,” Mr. Medvedev said. “Of course we’ve got our own economic interests at stake.”
Additional efforts to help Cyprus will come “only after a final settlement scheme” involving the European Union, he said.
The situation in Cyprus “is very dramatic and should be addressed as soon as possible,” Mr. Medvedev added."
'via Blog this'
Friday, March 22, 2013
44th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (2013)
IRIDIUM AND OSMIUM FLUENCES ACROSS THE K-PG BOUNDARY INDICATE A SMALL
IMPACTOR.
J. R. Moore1 , H. R. Hallock2 , J. W. Chipman3 , and M. Sharma4
,
1
Dartmouth College, Department of Earth Sciences, HB 6105 Fairchild Hall, Hanover, NH 03755, email: jason.r.moore@dartmouth.edu;
2
Dartmouth College, Department of Earth Sciences, HB 6105 Fairchild Hall, Hanover, NH 03755, email: hannah.hallock@gmail.com;
3
Dartmouth College, Department of Geography, HB 6017 Fairchild Hall, Hanover, NH 03755, email: jonathan.w.chipman@dartmouth.edu;
4
Dartmouth College, Department of Earth Sciences, HB 6105 Fairchild Hall, Hanover, NH 03755, email: mukul.sharma@dartmouth.edu;
Introduction: The impact of a large extraterrestrial body with the Earth ~66 million years ago [1] led to
the global deposition of material significantly enriched in iridium, and many platinum group elements (PGEs)
which has been detected at >50 locations to date. This material was then incorporated into the sedimentary
record by a number of routes, either directly (e.g. associated with spherules that condensed out of the impact
vapor cloud [2]), or indirectly (e.g. after dissolution into the oceans [3]). These separate pathways for the
various elements that are enriched in the impactor provide the opportunity to draw together independent lines
of evidence to investigate the nature of the impactor.
Increased iridium abundances at the K-Pg boundary first allowed Alvarez et al. [4] to hypothesize an
impact at this point in geological time. They suggested that iridium peaks in measured profiles through K-Pg
boundary sediments in Gubbio, Italy and Stevns Klint, Denmark, were congruent with the impact of an asteroid of between 6 and 14 km diameter (~3 × 1014 to 4 × 1015 kg). With the description of additional K-Pg boundary iridium profiles, it became possible to estimate average global iridium fluences associated with the impact, giving rise to the most recent estimate of 55 ng cm-2 [5], that correspond to an impactor diameter of ~7 km.
Methods: Here we reexamine the global iridium fluence record and compare those data to independent
osmium fluence data calculated from perturbations of the osmium isotope composition of the oceans across
the K-Pg boundary. New iridium fluence data were calculated for all available K-Pg boundary profiles. All
profiles with insufficient resolution to calculate accurate fluences (too few or too widely spaced samples)
were discarded. These newly calculated high-quality iridium fluences vary by over two orders of magnitude
– from 8 ng cm-2 to 1087 ng cm-2 – but correspond to a global geometric mean of 53 ng cm-2 in agreement with previous estimates.
The osmium isotope ratio of oceans at the K-Pg boundary was lowered to 0.157 from a pre-impact
background ratio of 0.42 [3] (Figure 1). Using a onebox model approach that assumes a single step decrease in the seawater 187Os/188Os ratio resulting from the addition of non radiogenic osmium from the impactor [3], an isotope ratio perturbation of this magnitude requires a global impact-related boundary osmium fluence of 30 ± 2 ng cm-2 yielding an Os/Ir fluence ratio of 0.6. Given that the impactor had a composition similar to carbonaceous chondrites with Os/Ir ratio of 1.1 [e.g., 7], either Os and/or Ir fluence estimates are inaccurate.
Discussion: The observed incongruity between the two independent estimates of extraterrestrial input has
been suggested to be due to non-quantitative dissolution of osmium in seawater [3]. Osmium should, however, be oxidised during the immediate aftermath of the impact to gaseous OsO4 [8], which is relatively
easy to dissolve in seawater [9], therefore such nonquantitative dissolution is unlikely. An alternative explanation for this disjunct is that the prior estimate of iridium fluence is too high. This is suggested by the
markedly higher iridium fluences and markedly broader iridium peaks found in marine (particularly abyssal)
Figure 1 - Osmium isotope ratios across the K-Pg boundary from four sites. Gradual decrease in ratio from 0.6 to 0.42 corresponds to Phase 2 eruptions of the Deccan Traps. Rapid perturbation at ~66 Ma produced by the KPg impactor (modified from [6]).
localities in comparison to the less iridium rich, narrower profiles in terrestrial localities (Table 1).
The broadened marine peaks, some spanning several meters of sediment, are indicative of the input of remobilized iridium [10]. Consequently, these data must be discarded when estimating global iridium fluences associated with the K-Pg impact. Data from terrestrial localities provides the least biased estimator of fluence, as these sediments frequently show no evidence of postdepositional remobilization [11,12].
Calculated terrestrial iridium fluences from our new compilation range from 12 to 132 ng cm-2 with a geometric mean of 28 ± 2 ng cm-2. Combined with the global osmium fluence estimate derived from marine
osmium isotope mass balance, this gives an Os/Ir fluence ratio of 1.1 ± 0.1 – exactly that expected for a
carbonaceous chondrite.
Conclusions: The excellent correspondence of these two independent datasets strongly suggests that current estimates of global iridium fluence are incorrect, and that significantly less extraterrestrial material was added to the Earth from the K-Pg impactor than is typically assumed. Assuming typical carbonaceous
chondritic composition for the impactor, an iridium fluence of 28 ng cm -2 implies an input of 2.4 × 1014 kg
of material, corresponding to an asteroid of ~5.7 km diameter.
The estimated fluence is sensitive to a) fraction of impactor that was not vaporized and b) the loss of impactor mass to space. As there is little evidence of impactor derived Os in samples of impact melt breccias
and lithic clasts from Chixculub crater it is likely that bulk of the impactor was vaporized upon impact [13].
On the other hand the fluence is likely higher than estimated above as several studies have demonstrated that in such large impacts a portion of the impactor is completely lost to space in the impact vapor plume.
Early estimates [14] suggested that for impacts in this mass range, such loss could exceed 70% at high velocities. More recent studies [15,16], however, place mass loss for the K-Pg impactor between 11% and
25%. Taking the higher of these estimates, our iridium and osmium fluence data suggest an impactor mass of
~3.2 × 1014 kg, and increasing the corresponding asteroid diameter to ~6.2 km. This latter estimate is very
close to Alvarez’s [4] original estimate based on iridium data from the Gubbio section in Italy.
References:
[1] Schulte P. et al. (2010) Science, 327, 1214–1218.
[2] Smit J. (1999) Ann. Rev. Earth & Planet. Sci., 27, 75–113.
[3] Paquay F. S. et al. (2008) Science, 320, 214–218.
[4] Alvarez L. W. et al. (1980) Science, 208, 1095–1108.
[5] Donaldson S. and Hindebrand A.R. (2001), Meteoritics and Planet. Sci., 36, A50.
[6] Peucker-Ehrenbrink B. and Ravizza G. E. (2012) in The Geologic Timescale 2012, 145–166.
[7] Sharma M. (2011) in Handbook of Env. Isotope Geochem., 205–227.
[8] Ebel D. S. and Grossman L. (2005), Geology, 33, 293–296.
[9] Chen C. et al. (2009), PNAS, 106, 7724–7728.
[10] Lee C. A. et al. (2003), Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta., 67, 655–670.
[11]. Lerbekmo J. F. et al. (1987), GSA Bull., 99, 325–330.
[12] Baadsgaard H. et al. (1988), Can J. Earth Sci., 25, 1088–1097.
[13] Gelinas et al (2004) Met. & Planet. Sci. 39, 1003–1008.
[14] Vickery A. M. and Melosh H. J. (1990) Spec. Pap. GSA, 247, 289–300.
[15] Kring D. A. and Durda D. D. (2002), JGR, 107, 1-22.
[16] Johnson B. C. and Melosh H. J. (2012), Icarus, 217, 416–430.
44th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (2013) 2405.pdf
Treasure Island Trauma
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: March 21, 2013
A couple of years ago, the journalist Nicholas Shaxson published a fascinating, chilling book titled “Treasure Islands,” which explained how international tax havens — which are also, as the author pointed out, “secrecy jurisdictions” where many rules don’t apply — undermine economies around the world. Not only do they bleed revenues from cash-strapped governments and enable corruption; they distort the flow of capital, helping to feed ever-bigger financial crises.
Related
Mood Darkens in Cyprus as Deadline Is Set for Bailout(March 22, 2013)
Connect With Us on Twitter
For Op-Ed, follow@nytopinion and to hear from the editorial page editor, Andrew Rosenthal, follow@andyrNYT.
Readers’ Comments
Share your thoughts.
One question Mr. Shaxson didn’t get into much, however, is what happens when a secrecy jurisdiction itself goes bust. That’s the story of Cyprus right now. And whatever the outcome for Cyprus itself (hint: it’s not likely to be happy), the Cyprus mess shows just how unreformed the world banking system remains, almost five years after the global financial crisis began.
So, about Cyprus: You might wonder why anyone cares about a tiny nation with an economy not much biggerthan that of metropolitan Scranton, Pa. Cyprus is, however, a member of the euro zone, so events there could trigger contagion (for example, bank runs) in larger nations. And there’s something else: While the Cypriot economy may be tiny, it’s a surprisingly large financial player, with a banking sector four or five times as big as you might expect given the size of its economy.
Why are Cypriot banks so big? Because the country is a tax haven where corporations and wealthy foreigners stash their money. Officially, 37 percent of the deposits in Cypriot banks come from nonresidents; the true number, once you take into account wealthy expatriates and people who are only nominally resident in Cyprus, is surely much higher. Basically, Cyprus is a place where people, especially but not only Russians, hide their wealth from both the taxmen and the regulators. Whatever gloss you put on it, it’s basically about money-laundering.
And the truth is that much of the wealth never moved at all; it just became invisible. On paper, for example, Cyprus became a huge investor in Russia — much bigger than Germany, whose economy is hundreds of times larger. In reality, of course, this was just “roundtripping” by Russians using the island as a tax shelter.
Unfortunately for the Cypriots, enough real money came in to finance some seriously bad investments, as their banks bought Greek debt and lent into a vast real estate bubble. Sooner or later, things were bound to go wrong. And now they have.
Now what? There are some strong similarities between Cyprus now and Iceland (a similar-size economy) a few years back. Like Cyprus now, Iceland had a huge banking sector, swollen by foreign deposits, that was simply too big to bail out. Iceland’s response was essentially to let its banks go bust, wiping out those foreign investors, while protecting domestic depositors — and the results weren’t too bad. Indeed, Iceland, with a far lower unemployment rate than most of Europe, has weathered the crisis surprisingly well.
Unfortunately, Cyprus’s response to its crisis has been a hopeless muddle. In part, this reflects the fact that it no longer has its own currency, which makes it dependent on decision makers in Brussels and Berlin — decision makers who haven’t been willing to let banks openly fail.
But it also reflects Cyprus’s own reluctance to accept the end of its money-laundering business; its leaders are still trying to limit losses to foreign depositors in the vain hope that business as usual can resume, and they were so anxious to protect the big money that they tried to limit foreigners’ losses by expropriating small domestic depositors. As it turned out, however, ordinary Cypriots were outraged, the plan was rejected, and, at this point, nobody knows what will happen.
My guess is that, in the end, Cyprus will adopt something like the Icelandic solution, but unless it ends up being forced off the euro in the next few days — a real possibility — it may first waste a lot of time and money on half-measures, trying to avoid facing up to reality while running up huge debts to wealthier nations. We’ll see.
But step back for a minute and consider the incredible fact that tax havens like Cyprus, the Cayman Islands, and many more are still operating pretty much the same way that they did before the global financial crisis. Everyone has seen the damage that runaway bankers can inflict, yet much of the world’s financial business is still routed through jurisdictions that let bankers sidestep even the mild regulations we’ve put in place. Everyone is crying about budget deficits, yet corporations and the wealthy are still freely using tax havens to avoid paying taxes like the little people.
So don’t cry for Cyprus; cry for all of us, living in a world whose leaders seem determined not to learn from disaster.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Ralph J. Greenspan to speak on Brain Activity Map at UC Riverside
Ralph J. Greenspan to speak on Brain Activity Map at UC Riverside:
"How the human brain, the most complex object in the known universe, does what it does remains a mystery. While it's true that scientists understand much about the composition of neurons (nerve cells) and how they send and receive electrical and chemical signals and how large bundles of neurons connect major areas of the brain to each other, a gap persists in our knowledge on how signals from individual neurons combine to produce activities such as walking, recognizing a melody, playing a musical instrument or understanding mathematics."
'via Blog this'
"How the human brain, the most complex object in the known universe, does what it does remains a mystery. While it's true that scientists understand much about the composition of neurons (nerve cells) and how they send and receive electrical and chemical signals and how large bundles of neurons connect major areas of the brain to each other, a gap persists in our knowledge on how signals from individual neurons combine to produce activities such as walking, recognizing a melody, playing a musical instrument or understanding mathematics."
'via Blog this'
World Focus: The eyes of the world are trained on Israel. But will there be anything to see? - Middle East - World - The Independent
World Focus: The eyes of the world are trained on Israel. But will there be anything to see? - Middle East - World - The Independent:
So will it be tragedy, farce or tourism? Obama’s a tourist, so says the Davy Crockett of the American journalistic frontier and philosopher king of The New York Times (aka T Friedman, Esq), but he’s wrong. The winner of the Nobel Prize for Public Speech-making will be at least a super-tourist – with 10,000 armed Israeli and American tour guides in Jerusalem alone. Now that, Mr President, is the wall. No, not That Wall, we’re talking about the Ottoman palisade on each side of the city’s Damascus Gate.
'via Blog this'
So will it be tragedy, farce or tourism? Obama’s a tourist, so says the Davy Crockett of the American journalistic frontier and philosopher king of The New York Times (aka T Friedman, Esq), but he’s wrong. The winner of the Nobel Prize for Public Speech-making will be at least a super-tourist – with 10,000 armed Israeli and American tour guides in Jerusalem alone. Now that, Mr President, is the wall. No, not That Wall, we’re talking about the Ottoman palisade on each side of the city’s Damascus Gate.
'via Blog this'
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Belgian Mathematician Wins Abel Prize for Shaping Algebraic Geometry: Scientific American
Belgian Mathematician Wins Abel Prize for Shaping Algebraic Geometry: Scientific American:
"Pierre Deligne netted the prize, one oft he most prestigious in mathematics and worth about $1 million, for proving a deep conjecture about algebraic geometry which has helped to transform number theory and related fields"
'via Blog this'
"Pierre Deligne netted the prize, one oft he most prestigious in mathematics and worth about $1 million, for proving a deep conjecture about algebraic geometry which has helped to transform number theory and related fields"
'via Blog this'
Amazon.com: The Empathic Brain eBook: Christian Keysers: Books
Amazon.com: The Empathic Brain eBook: Christian Keysers: Books:
'via Blog this'
Your heart beats faster as you watch a tarantula crawl on James Bond's chest in the movie Dr No, your hands sweat and your skin tingles under the spider's legs. You feel scared, tense, and finally relieved when Bond manages to escape the danger. We are essentially empathic. But what is empathy? How does your brain enable you to feel so much of what 007 is feeling? How do you connect with people in real life, people you love or even strangers? In this book, you will visit leading labs to find your own answers. The journey starts where 'mirror neurons' were discovered. The door of a lab in Parma, Italy, opens to reveal that your motor system not only controls your own body - it becomes automatically activated each time you see others move. A little later, you lie down on a bed and slowly move into the bore of a brain scanner in Marseille, becoming a subject in an experiment that will show how your own sensations and emotions are automatically triggered while you witness those of others. These experiments unravel the mirror in our brain that lets our own actions, sensations and emotions resonate with those of Bond and the people around us. By sharing their inner lives, we connect with them. We are hard-wired for empathy. By looking at autistic individuals and psychopathic criminals, by comparing men and women, by exploring empathy for robots and enemies, this book explores the multifaceted nature of empathy and evidences both its power and limits. Science begins to reveal the wisdom of why so many of the world's religions command "do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
Praise and Prizes
Praise and Prizes
- Gold Medal for Best Science Book, 2012 IPPY Book Award.
- If anyone can write about the brain mechanisms of empathy, Keysers is the man... A page turning ... authoritative read. -- Prof. Bruce Hood, 2011 Royal Institution Christmas Lecturer, Bristol University for The Psychologist
- A lively close-up at ... empathy... an exciting read for anyone interested in the gentler side of our species -- Prof. Frans de Waal, author of 'The Age of Empathy.'
- Though many have written about mirror neurons, this book outshines them all. -- Prof. Mark Hauser, Harvard University, bestselling author of 'Moral Minds').
- A masterful description of how mirror neurons turn us into social beings. -- Prof. Dick Swaab, bestselling author of 'Wij Zijn ons brein'.
'via Blog this'
The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer: Qatar broaches sensitive demography through soccer
The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer: Qatar broaches sensitive demography through soccer:
"Qatar's soccer league, in a break with a reluctance among Gulf states to give their largely expatriate majorities a sense of belonging, is next month organizing the region's first cup for foreign workers' teams."
'via Blog this'
"Qatar's soccer league, in a break with a reluctance among Gulf states to give their largely expatriate majorities a sense of belonging, is next month organizing the region's first cup for foreign workers' teams."
'via Blog this'
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Robert Fisk: The cost of war must be measured by human tragedy, not artefacts - Comment - Voices - The Independent
Robert Fisk: The cost of war must be measured by human tragedy, not artefacts - Comment - Voices - The Independent:
"What is a child’s life worth against all the antiquities of Syria? "
'via Blog this'
"What is a child’s life worth against all the antiquities of Syria? "
'via Blog this'
Monday, March 18, 2013
Why Brain-Mapping Efforts Matter – Even If They Don’t Succeed | MIND Guest Blog, Scientific American Blog Network
Why Brain-Mapping Efforts Matter – Even If They Don’t Succeed | MIND Guest Blog, Scientific American Blog Network:
In 1956, a legion of famed scientific mindsdescended on Dartmouth College to debate one of mankind’s most persistent questions: Is it possible to build a machine that thinks? The researchers had plenty to talk about – biologists and mathematicians had suggested since the 1940s that nerve cells probably served as binary logic gates, much like transistors in computer mainframes.
'via Blog this'
In 1956, a legion of famed scientific mindsdescended on Dartmouth College to debate one of mankind’s most persistent questions: Is it possible to build a machine that thinks? The researchers had plenty to talk about – biologists and mathematicians had suggested since the 1940s that nerve cells probably served as binary logic gates, much like transistors in computer mainframes.
'via Blog this'
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Noam Chomsky: Can Civilization Survive Capitalism? | Alternet
Noam Chomsky: Can Civilization Survive Capitalism? | Alternet:
"The term “capitalism” is commonly used to refer to the U.S. economic system, with substantial state intervention ranging from subsidies for creative innovation to the “too-big-to-fail” government insurance policy for banks."
'via Blog this'
"The term “capitalism” is commonly used to refer to the U.S. economic system, with substantial state intervention ranging from subsidies for creative innovation to the “too-big-to-fail” government insurance policy for banks."
'via Blog this'
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Friday, March 15, 2013
Obama Seeks to Use Oil and Gas Money to Develop Alternative Fuel Cars
By JOHN M. BRODER
Published: March 15, 2013
ARGONNE, Ill. — Warning that the United States risks falling behind in the international race to develop alternative energy,President Obama on Friday proposed diverting $2 billion in revenue from federal oil and gas royalties over the next decade to pay for research on advanced vehicles.
Mr. Obama toured a vehicle research facility at Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago and then spoke to employees about his plan, first proposed in his State of the Union address last month, to use oil and gas money to find ways to replace hydrocarbons as the primary fuel for cars, trucks and buses.
The president said the nation was experiencing one of its regular spikes in gasoline prices, in effect a tax on every American household.
“The only way to really break this cycle of spiking gas prices, the only way to break that cycle for good, is to shift our cars entirely — our cars and trucks — off oil,” the president said. “It’s not just about saving money. It’s also about saving the environment. But it’s also about our national security.”
“It’s not a Democratic idea or a Republican idea,” he added. “It’s just a smart idea.”
Perched on a platform behind Mr. Obama as he spoke were three alternative fuel vehicles now for sale in the United States: a Chevrolet Volt and a Ford C-Max Energi, both plug-in electric hybrids, and a Honda Civic outfitted to run on natural gas.
He spoke inside a building housing a giant X-ray chamber known as the Advanced Photon Source, described by Argonne officials as the brightest source of X-rays in the Western Hemisphere. The facility allows scientists to explore materials on a nanoscale and to study ways to improve engine combustion.
The idea of devoting some oil and gas royalties for alternative energy research has somesupport from both parties and from business leaders, but it is likely to encounter strong resistance from Congressional Republicans, who have been critical of Mr. Obama’s spending on nontraditional vehicle technologies. The White House says that the money will come from growth in royalties from leases on offshore oil and gas fields over the next decade, and that it represents a tiny fraction of the overall federal research and development budget.
Mr. Obama said he was seeking to build as broad an energy portfolio as possible for the country, with expanded oil and gas development; favorable tax treatment for nonpolluting sources like wind, solar and geothermal energy; loan guarantees for new nuclear plants; increased emphasis on energy efficiency; and research into long-term alternatives to fossil fuels.
Mr. Obama has given up on moving comprehensive climate change legislation through Congress and has ruled out a carbon tax as a way to finance the development of alternative energy sources, so he is pursuing smaller projects that do not require new sources of revenue. The Energy Security Trust, as he calls his proposal to shift oil and gas royalties to alternative energy research, is one of those projects.
The money will support research on a range of cleaner means of powering vehicles, the White House said, including electricity, biofuels, fuel cells and produced natural gas.
The president’s proposal to add $200 million a year to the research budget of the Energy Department’s office of renewable energy would represent about a 10 percent increase in the office’s overall spending, or 25 percent of its spending on transportation research, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists.
But David Friedman, the group’s deputy director for clean vehicles, said the plan could have the unintended effect of increasing pressure on the administration to open new public lands and waters to stepped-up drilling to ensure the revenues for the program.
He noted that Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, had proposed a similar mechanism for financing alternative energy research, but had explicitly tied it to new drilling, including in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The president has vowed to make addressing climate change a priority in his second term, but he has provided only scant details on how he intends to act. The White House gave a hint of the breadth of his ambition in its annual Economic Report of the President, issued on Friday.
“Policies to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases include market-based policies; encouraging energy efficiency; direct regulation; encouraging fuel switching to reduced-emissions fuels; and supporting the development and widespread adoption of zero-emissions energy sources such as wind and solar,” the report says. “And, as the country reduces emissions along this path, it also needs to prepare for the climate change that is occurring and will continue to occur. Together these policies pave the way toward a sustainable energy future.”
Also on Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency released its annual survey of the fuel efficiency of cars and light trucks sold in the United States. The agency found that the 2012 domestic fleet was the cleanest and most fuel-efficient ever, with an overall average of 23.8 miles per gallon. Under regulations issued last year, that number is expected to double by 2025.
Argonne National Laboratory, which has done groundbreaking research in vehicle battery technology that has helped jump-start the electric car industry in the United States, received a significant amount of Mr. Obama’s stimulus money. But it is now facing reductions under the mandatory budget cuts known as sequestration. The laboratory’s director, Eric D. Isaacs, who led the president on his tour, warned this week that the spending cuts would have a devastating impact on scientific innovation now and far into the future.
In an article in The Atlantic written with the directors of two other Energy Department labs, Dr. Isaacs said that the cuts would force all new programs and research initiatives to be canceled, probably for at least two years.
“This sudden halt on new starts will freeze American science in place while the rest of the world races forward, and it will knock a generation of young scientists off their stride, ultimately costing billions of dollars in missed future opportunities,” Dr. Isaacs wrote.
The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer: Egyptian crackdown on soccer fans likely to unite militants
The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer: Egyptian crackdown on soccer fans likely to unite militants:
"Egypt’s judiciary and security forces appear posed to crack down on militant, highly politicised and street battle-hardened soccer fans in a bid to exploit internal differences among them.
"
'via Blog this'
"Egypt’s judiciary and security forces appear posed to crack down on militant, highly politicised and street battle-hardened soccer fans in a bid to exploit internal differences among them.
"
'via Blog this'
How to Get Your Children to Cooperate | GoNannies.com Blog
How to Get Your Children to Cooperate | GoNannies.com Blog:
"From your toddler touching everything in sight to your teenager ignoring everything you tell her, children who don’t cooperate can be frustrating. More than that, they can make you go crazy. Here are a few simple rules to follow to increase the amount of cooperation you get from your child."
'via Blog this'
"From your toddler touching everything in sight to your teenager ignoring everything you tell her, children who don’t cooperate can be frustrating. More than that, they can make you go crazy. Here are a few simple rules to follow to increase the amount of cooperation you get from your child."
'via Blog this'
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Like a Dagger to Bloggers' Hearts, Google Just Killed Google Reader - Adam Clark Estes - The Atlantic Wire
Like a Dagger to Bloggers' Hearts, Google Just Killed Google Reader - Adam Clark Estes - The Atlantic Wire:
"Journalists and geeks united in exasperation on Wednesday evening when Google made a very sad announcement: The company is shuttering Google Reader. We should've seen this coming. And those that didn't see the inevitable death of Google's RSS feed organizer and reader might've easily missed the news, since Google buried it halfway down an official blog post about a bunch of other stuff. But it is true. The search giant will pronounce Reader dead on July 1, 2013. Based on the somewhat storied history of Google killing Reader features, though, we're pretty sure someone will start working on an alternative within the next few hours."
'via Blog this'
"Journalists and geeks united in exasperation on Wednesday evening when Google made a very sad announcement: The company is shuttering Google Reader. We should've seen this coming. And those that didn't see the inevitable death of Google's RSS feed organizer and reader might've easily missed the news, since Google buried it halfway down an official blog post about a bunch of other stuff. But it is true. The search giant will pronounce Reader dead on July 1, 2013. Based on the somewhat storied history of Google killing Reader features, though, we're pretty sure someone will start working on an alternative within the next few hours."
'via Blog this'
10 Things Moms do That Could Get Them in Trouble with the Law | Nanny Background Check
10 Things Moms do That Could Get Them in Trouble with the Law | Nanny Background Check:
"Parenting is a tough job under the best of circumstances, but there are things that can get mothers into legal trouble today that wouldn’t have been frowned upon at all in previous generations. While some of the transgressions on this list are far more serious than others, all of them can lead to trouble with the law if you’re discovered behaving in such a manner."
'via Blog this'
"Parenting is a tough job under the best of circumstances, but there are things that can get mothers into legal trouble today that wouldn’t have been frowned upon at all in previous generations. While some of the transgressions on this list are far more serious than others, all of them can lead to trouble with the law if you’re discovered behaving in such a manner."
'via Blog this'
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Preventing an Arctic Cold War - NYTimes.com
Preventing an Arctic Cold War - NYTimes.com:
"JUST a quarter-century ago, and for millenniums before that, the Arctic Ocean was covered year-round by ice, creating an impregnable wilderness that humans rarely negotiated. Today, as the effects of global warming are amplified in the high north, most of the ocean is open water during the summer and covered by ice only in the winter."
'via Blog this'
"JUST a quarter-century ago, and for millenniums before that, the Arctic Ocean was covered year-round by ice, creating an impregnable wilderness that humans rarely negotiated. Today, as the effects of global warming are amplified in the high north, most of the ocean is open water during the summer and covered by ice only in the winter."
'via Blog this'
Cardinals Elect Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina as New Pope - NYTimes.com
Cardinals Elect Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina as New Pope - NYTimes.com:
"VATICAN CITY — With a puff of white smoke from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel and to the cheers of thousands of rain-soaked faithful, a gathering of Catholic cardinals picked a new pope from among their midst on Wednesday — choosing the cardinal from Argentina, the first South American to ever lead the church."
'via Blog this'
"VATICAN CITY — With a puff of white smoke from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel and to the cheers of thousands of rain-soaked faithful, a gathering of Catholic cardinals picked a new pope from among their midst on Wednesday — choosing the cardinal from Argentina, the first South American to ever lead the church."
'via Blog this'
In Manifesto, Mexican Eco-Terrorists Declare War on Nanotechnology | Danger Room | Wired.com
In Manifesto, Mexican Eco-Terrorists Declare War on Nanotechnology | Danger Room | Wired.com:
"Over the past two years, Mexican scientists involved in bio- and nanotechnology have become targets. They’re not threatened by the nation’s drug cartels. They’re marked for death by a group of bomb-building eco-terrorists with the professed goal of destroying human civilization."
'via Blog this'
"Over the past two years, Mexican scientists involved in bio- and nanotechnology have become targets. They’re not threatened by the nation’s drug cartels. They’re marked for death by a group of bomb-building eco-terrorists with the professed goal of destroying human civilization."
'via Blog this'
The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer: International sanctions: Iran feels the psychological impact
The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer: International sanctions: Iran feels the psychological impact:
"Struggling to maintain its place in Asia’s top tier, Iranian soccer is a reflection of a country laboring under the burden of a repressive political regime and not only the economic but increasingly also the psychological effect of international isolation and punishing sanctions.
"
'via Blog this'
"Struggling to maintain its place in Asia’s top tier, Iranian soccer is a reflection of a country laboring under the burden of a repressive political regime and not only the economic but increasingly also the psychological effect of international isolation and punishing sanctions.
"
'via Blog this'
21 Blogs with Creative Ideas for Making a Reading Nook for Your Kids | Aupair Jobs
21 Blogs with Creative Ideas for Making a Reading Nook for Your Kids | Aupair Jobs:
"With many years of schooling to come for children, reading will play an important part in their education. Finding a way to make reading fun for your kids will encourage a love of reading in them. A child can read a book anywhere, but it’s more enjoyable if she has her own special place where she can go and read. You may be thinking that you don’t have the space to create a reading nook for your kids, but you might be surprised when you see all of the different ways that these 21 bloggers have come up with to create a little nook. You can take an awkward architectural feature in a room and turn it into a window seat or a bench. If you have a closet that you aren’t using, you can turn that into a nook too. The possibilities are endless, so read on and see if any of these ideas will work for you."
'via Blog this'
"With many years of schooling to come for children, reading will play an important part in their education. Finding a way to make reading fun for your kids will encourage a love of reading in them. A child can read a book anywhere, but it’s more enjoyable if she has her own special place where she can go and read. You may be thinking that you don’t have the space to create a reading nook for your kids, but you might be surprised when you see all of the different ways that these 21 bloggers have come up with to create a little nook. You can take an awkward architectural feature in a room and turn it into a window seat or a bench. If you have a closet that you aren’t using, you can turn that into a nook too. The possibilities are endless, so read on and see if any of these ideas will work for you."
'via Blog this'
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Monday, March 11, 2013
How to Reinforce School Lessons at Home | Part Time Nanny
How to Reinforce School Lessons at Home | Part Time Nanny:
"Kids can learn a lot at school when they pay attention, but that learning can also go by the wayside if it’s not reinforced at home. Think of all the lessons you learned in school, but have long since forgotten because there was nothing to anchor them in your mind. While you can’t quite expect your child to retain every bit of information she’s given at school, there are a few things you can do to boost her retention and reinforce the lessons she’s learning every day."
'via Blog this'
"Kids can learn a lot at school when they pay attention, but that learning can also go by the wayside if it’s not reinforced at home. Think of all the lessons you learned in school, but have long since forgotten because there was nothing to anchor them in your mind. While you can’t quite expect your child to retain every bit of information she’s given at school, there are a few things you can do to boost her retention and reinforce the lessons she’s learning every day."
'via Blog this'
Sunday, March 10, 2013
15 Websites to Help You With Rhyming Words | Blog | Kenney Myers
15 Websites to Help You With Rhyming Words | Blog | Kenney Myers:
"Rhyming words are fun, but some words will leave you tongue-tied trying to find a suitable partner. Anyone who has ever dabbled in poetry will tell you that meter is a refined art that requires the poet to have a comprehensive understanding of how the rhythmic structure of words, sentences and verses ebb and flow. A rookie mistake when dealing with rhyming words is assuming that every word has to be an exact match. A close match is often sufficient to convince the ear that it rhymes without breaking the rhythm of the verse of rhyme. These 15 websites are designed specifically to help you find rhyming words, synonyms and other forms of creative word play."
'via Blog this'
"Rhyming words are fun, but some words will leave you tongue-tied trying to find a suitable partner. Anyone who has ever dabbled in poetry will tell you that meter is a refined art that requires the poet to have a comprehensive understanding of how the rhythmic structure of words, sentences and verses ebb and flow. A rookie mistake when dealing with rhyming words is assuming that every word has to be an exact match. A close match is often sufficient to convince the ear that it rhymes without breaking the rhythm of the verse of rhyme. These 15 websites are designed specifically to help you find rhyming words, synonyms and other forms of creative word play."
'via Blog this'
12 Reasons Weathermen Aren’t Always Right « House Sitting Jobs
12 Reasons Weathermen Aren’t Always Right « House Sitting Jobs:
"No one is perfect, but no profession gets a rap for being consistently wrong like weathermen. If they don’t predict the weather perfectly when your plans rely on it, things tend to get a bit hairy. However, you should consider the following before condemning your meteorologist for saying there would be sunny skies while there’s a storm raging overhead."
'via Blog this'
"No one is perfect, but no profession gets a rap for being consistently wrong like weathermen. If they don’t predict the weather perfectly when your plans rely on it, things tend to get a bit hairy. However, you should consider the following before condemning your meteorologist for saying there would be sunny skies while there’s a storm raging overhead."
'via Blog this'
30 Blogs Featuring Recipes with Lemons that You Can Enjoy Today | Summer Nanny
30 Blogs Featuring Recipes with Lemons that You Can Enjoy Today | Summer Nanny:
"When it comes to seasonal produce, winter is the season for lemons and other citrus fruits. Using fruits and vegetables when they are in season allows you to save money and enjoy them at their peak flavor. Lemons are a highly versatile fruit, and can be found in recipes for everything from appetizers to side dishes to drinks. These 30 blog entries will share some tangy lemon recipes for your culinary pleasures."
'via Blog this'
"When it comes to seasonal produce, winter is the season for lemons and other citrus fruits. Using fruits and vegetables when they are in season allows you to save money and enjoy them at their peak flavor. Lemons are a highly versatile fruit, and can be found in recipes for everything from appetizers to side dishes to drinks. These 30 blog entries will share some tangy lemon recipes for your culinary pleasures."
'via Blog this'
New Mom’s Guide to Childproofing Your Baby’s Bedroom | GoNannies.com Blog
New Mom’s Guide to Childproofing Your Baby’s Bedroom | GoNannies.com Blog:
"Bringing a new baby home for the first time is an exciting moment in any woman’s life. In the weeks leading up to the grand arrival, however, the sheer volume of baby-preparation items on your to-do list can be staggering. One of the most important things on that list is making sure that your baby’s room is properly childproofed so that it’s truly the soothing sanctuary a nursery is intended to be."
'via Blog this'
"Bringing a new baby home for the first time is an exciting moment in any woman’s life. In the weeks leading up to the grand arrival, however, the sheer volume of baby-preparation items on your to-do list can be staggering. One of the most important things on that list is making sure that your baby’s room is properly childproofed so that it’s truly the soothing sanctuary a nursery is intended to be."
'via Blog this'
The Changing Art of Teaching a Child to Ride a Bike with Pam Cosgrove of Joovy | eNannySource
The Changing Art of Teaching a Child to Ride a Bike with Pam Cosgrove of Joovy | eNannySource:
"As a mom to a soon to be three-year-old, teaching him to ride a bike is next up on the agenda. But, like with many things in the parenting world, how you teach a child to ride a bike is changing. More and more parents are opting to start their children off on a balance bike instead of a traditional bicycle with training wheels. Being a mom who likes to be in the know, I decided to give the balance bike a try too, so I reached out to my friends at Joovy to learn more about the growing trend of balance bikes and asked them to send over their new balance bike, the Bicycoo, for me to review. Here’s what Pam had to say, and you can scroll down to the bottom to see my thoughts on the Joovy Bicycoo."
'via Blog this'
"As a mom to a soon to be three-year-old, teaching him to ride a bike is next up on the agenda. But, like with many things in the parenting world, how you teach a child to ride a bike is changing. More and more parents are opting to start their children off on a balance bike instead of a traditional bicycle with training wheels. Being a mom who likes to be in the know, I decided to give the balance bike a try too, so I reached out to my friends at Joovy to learn more about the growing trend of balance bikes and asked them to send over their new balance bike, the Bicycoo, for me to review. Here’s what Pam had to say, and you can scroll down to the bottom to see my thoughts on the Joovy Bicycoo."
'via Blog this'
How to Get Your Kids to Behave in a Restaurant - Find A Babysitter
How to Get Your Kids to Behave in a Restaurant - Find A Babysitter:
"After news of a Poulsbo, Washington restaurant manager’s surprising “well-behaved children” discount for a family of five with three young children made national news, more parents began to sit up and take notice of how important ensuring their kids’ good behavior while dining out really is. As those same parents know, however, conquering the battle of good table manners and indoor voices in a high-end restaurant isn’t always easy. If you have dreams of having a top-notch dining experience with your brood in tow, there are measures you can take to help ensure that they behave well."
'via Blog this'
"After news of a Poulsbo, Washington restaurant manager’s surprising “well-behaved children” discount for a family of five with three young children made national news, more parents began to sit up and take notice of how important ensuring their kids’ good behavior while dining out really is. As those same parents know, however, conquering the battle of good table manners and indoor voices in a high-end restaurant isn’t always easy. If you have dreams of having a top-notch dining experience with your brood in tow, there are measures you can take to help ensure that they behave well."
'via Blog this'
Advantages and Disadvantages of Keeping Your Teens Super Busy | Babysitting Jobs
Advantages and Disadvantages of Keeping Your Teens Super Busy | Babysitting Jobs:
"The wide number of extracurricular activities and clubs available to today’s teen paired with the parental urge to keep teenagers as busy as possible in a bid to prevent misbehavior has led to an intense debate amongst parents and parenting experts regarding the quality of life available to an over-scheduled teen. As with so many other hot-button topics in the parenting world, there are a collection of pros and cons for keeping teens on a tightly-packed schedule."
'via Blog this'
"The wide number of extracurricular activities and clubs available to today’s teen paired with the parental urge to keep teenagers as busy as possible in a bid to prevent misbehavior has led to an intense debate amongst parents and parenting experts regarding the quality of life available to an over-scheduled teen. As with so many other hot-button topics in the parenting world, there are a collection of pros and cons for keeping teens on a tightly-packed schedule."
'via Blog this'
15 of the Best Cupcake Hacks for Kids’ Birthdays | Nanny Websites
15 of the Best Cupcake Hacks for Kids’ Birthdays | Nanny Websites:
"Making sure that your child’s birthday party goes off without a hitch requires plenty of planning and preparation time, something that today’s busy parents aren’t likely to have a surplus of. These 15 cupcake hacks can save you a significant amount of time in the kitchen, ensuring that at least one aspect of the party is pulled off perfectly without an entire day of baking and stress."
'via Blog this'
"Making sure that your child’s birthday party goes off without a hitch requires plenty of planning and preparation time, something that today’s busy parents aren’t likely to have a surplus of. These 15 cupcake hacks can save you a significant amount of time in the kitchen, ensuring that at least one aspect of the party is pulled off perfectly without an entire day of baking and stress."
'via Blog this'
Taking science to the masses
Neil Shubin and Neil deGrasse Tyson work in pop mainstream to make the universe easier to grasp
University of Chicago's Dr. Neil Shubin, a palentologist and author of "The Universe Within." (Keri Wiginton/Chicago Tribune / March 7, 2013)
|
Neil Shubin has the wide, happy eyes of a Muppet and the casual, ingratiating prattle of a car salesman. His thick, graying hair lends gravitas. He has written a new book, and on a bitter afternoon in Hyde Park he is explaining to me how he writes.
The windowpanes above his desk whomp with each blast of wind. Because Shubin is not saying anything special, this sound is the only thing keeping me alert. “I am having a conversation,” he said, " ... trying to engage you without seeing you ... which is interesting because ... "
No, it's not.
- Neanderthal DNAFind Out About Your Neanderthal Ancestry. Order a 23andMe DNA Test.23andMe.com/NeanderthalDNA
It's writerly piffle. But, on the other hand, Neil Shubin is not expected to be “having a conversation” or “trying to engage you” or set you at ease. He is not really expected to be relatable.
He is an evolutionary paleontologist, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, an esteemed professor of organismal biology and anatomy at the University of Chicago and the celebrated discoverer of Tiktaalik (pronounced tic-TAH-lick), the 375 million-year-old crocodile-looking fossil he unveiled in 2006, considered the missing link in the evolution of certain fish from swimming to walking creatures.
He should intimidate.
And yet, on a wall outside his office in the Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy is evidence that Shubin is in fact interesting and that he is also a member of a much rarer species — the contemporary scientist with a cultural presence.
On that wall is a framed poster of the 1980 comedy “Airplane!” It's signed by co-director Jerry Zucker, who wrote: “I think it's great you have a whole lab devoted toorgasmal biology.” Shubin and Zucker met a couple of years ago at the filmmaker's California home, where Shubin was a guest of Seth MacFarlane, who was hosting a meeting there between scientists and entertainment professionals.
Shubin was a must-have, a natural invite. His discovery of Tiktaalik had led to an acclaimed best-seller, “Your Inner Fish,” which led to Shubin becoming a regular guest on “The Colbert Report.” Next spring, “Your Inner Fish” will be a PBS series, hosted by Shubin (it's shooting in Chicago). And when I saw him speak in February at the Harold Washington Library, even more remarkable than his lecture, which began with the Big Bang and explained how the origin of the universe is contained within our DNA, was his audience: 100 or so people. Mostly young.
And hip.
And it was a Monday.
Turns out Shubin, venerable fossil hunter, is also a born entertainer, funny, warm. A hand at your back, leading you to a subject you didn't think you cared about. When someone asked about digging for fossils, he said he looks close to the surface, and that as a young professor lacking in research funding, he would tag along behind state highway excavation crews, which would (wink, wink) provide him with all the digging he needed. Indeed, when I met him at his office, the first thing he said, playfully, was that his corner of U. of C.'s Culver Hall once held cadavers, and sometimes you can still smell the embalming fluid.
He had the grossed-out grin of a 12-year-old and stood beside the “Airplane!” poster. I nodded to it and said it looked so random here. He told me there's a lot of randomness in science when you start talking to the outside world.
Climate change, robotics, the effect of technology on our bodies (and minds), DNA and privacy — if ever there was a moment we needed the Neil Shubins of the world to help us better understand science around us, the time is now. Which may be why for the past couple of weeks I haven't been able to keep my hands off the wonderfully eclectic “The Where, The Why, and The How,” a science-art book from Jenny Volvovski, Julia Rothman and Matt Lamothe, partners in Chicago-based design firm ALSO. They had the fantastic idea of pairing clear, brief essays from savvy scientists (“Can evolution outpace climate change?” “What causes depression?”) with illustrations from graphic designers and cartoonists.
That need to feel grounded may also be why, when I heard about the meteor that recently hit Russia, my first thought was:
Neil deGrasse Tyson.
He's been advocating for killer-asteroid awareness, seriously and thoughtfully, for years.
He is the New York-based yin to Shubin's yang, an astrophysicist and arguably the most pop-culturally literate egghead of his day, director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History and such a frequent guest on “The Daily Show” that he's appeared on the show in a bathrobe. Like Shubin, he claims the Apollo space program and science-centric TV as his twin influences, he's been invited to MacFarlane's showbiz-and-science mixers, and next spring he's hosting a major pop event, an update of Carl Sagan's landmark “Cosmos,” executive produced by MacFarlane, who's shepherding the series to Fox.
Another thing they share: bad book titles. Shubin's latest is “The Universe Within,” and the title of Tyson's is surprisingly calcified “Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier,” which sounds like everything he's not. When I mentioned this to Tyson during a phone interview, being a savvy scientist with genuine pop credibility, he sounded wounded and chagrined: “I know! I wanted something cooler and imaginative. I wanted ‘Failure to Launch,' but I was told not to use the word ‘failure' in a book title. Plus, there is a bad movie with that title.”
That he could effortlessly reference a bad Matthew McConaughey vehicle helped.
As does, frankly, his appearance. I grew up with the turtlenecks of Sagan, the mutton chops of Isaac Asimov, the funky electronic speech of Stephen Hawking. Tyson, on the other hand, looks like a slightly chubbier Billy Dee Williams. Not to mention his writing and manner are about as far from the “As you know, Bob …” tradition of bad pop-science education as you can get, said Gary Wolfe, a humanities professor at Roosevelt University who recently edited the Library of America's excellent two-volume set of classic 1950s science-fiction novels.
“You know the ‘As you know, Bob' thing,” Wolfe explained, “that moment when a scientist in a novel or movie makes an info dump, just unloads a bunch of facts and unexplained ideas with an ‘As you know, Bob…'”
What also separates Shubin and Tyson from that earlier generation of savvy, high-profile scientists is this: They don't see their role as winning converts or even necessarily inspiring a new generation of scientists.
They just want to convey.
Shubin, who is 52 and grew up outside Philadelphia, the son of mystery writer Seymour Shubin and a fan of the very '70s PBS series “The Ascent of Man,” says: “I don't see my audience as a particular age or even science-minded, just well-read and curious, even intimidated by science.”
Tyson, who is 54 and was born in the Bronx the same year NASA was founded, is more blunt. In his new book, he says he “has given up on adults. They've formed their ways: They're the products of whatever happened in their lives; I can't do anything for them. But I can have influence on people who are still in school. … So I'm working on the next generation.”
He told me in our phone interview: “My brain is wired in a pop culture fashion, I suppose, just from being a citizen of the world, so I find it my responsibility to meet people on their own terms, to consider the demographics who we should reach, and do the opposite of just lecturing at them.” Which means, partly, he loves Twitter: He has 1 million followers, and during the Super Bowl, when the lights went out, his tweets about how many watts of energy a dancing Beyonce could generate (500) were retweeted 15,000 times.
It's important to note that Shubin and Tyson are not alone here: Those parties hosted by MacFarlane were organized by the Los Angeles-based Science & Entertainment Exchange, a wing of the National Academy of Sciences, created with the ultimate purpose, said director Rick Loverd, “of getting kids interested in science by fostering a few more Tony Starks (of ‘Iron Man' fame) in the culture, stuff that generates sparks in a new bunch of kids, the way Apollo program and Sagan did for the two Neils (Shubin and Tyson).”
Closer to home there's the amazing Illinois Science Council — amazing, if for nothing else, because it was created by Monica Metzler, a former lawyer and policy wonk who hasn't studied science since high school and “just thinks this stuff is superinteresting when the right person finds a clever way to explain it.” The group, whose motto is “Science for the Curious,” sponsors cultural science events around chocolate and beer.
“I have this rant I deliver to scientists who think I want to dumb down our understanding of science,” Metzler said. “I kind of yell: ‘You might have a Ph.D., but when you go to a mechanic, sorry, but your mechanic, he's dumbing down what's wrong with your car so youcan understand it, so maybe get over yourself, OK?'”
Good for her.
Luckily, she doesn't stand to lose a dime from funding cuts brought on by sequestration. She can't lose anything because the nonprofit gets no federal, state or city funding. Tyson, on the other hand, he's a big proponent of NASA, which could lose more than $700 million. Shubin? Research funding at University of Chicago could lose $17 million. Remember, these are people who can explain the mysteries of the universe to you.
“Other fields, disciplines, they should know better by now that they have to reach a wider culture, even pop culture, to stay in business,” Tyson said. “I hear from them, they call — geologists, neuroscientists — for tips.” Other than envy, he said he rarely hears anything negative from fellow scientists.
But Shubin, when I asked if he gets any push-back, sighed: “Because you are assuming nothing, you do occasionally get criticized for fostering, in my case, ‘Paleontology for Dummies.' I assume people have the curiosity, not the background.”
That's just lucidity, I said.
He nodded. “Yes, but every field has its culture. That culture crystallizes at its jargon. Remove the jargon, you remove the safety net,” he said. “Scientists may find they have to distance themselves from their own knowledge, though really it's just about putting yourself in someone else's shoes. That's how you find your audience.”
cborrelli@tribune.com
Twitter @borrelli
Twitter @borrelli
Copyright © 2013 Chicago Tribune Company, LLC
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)