Technology
Well-known jeweler Tiffany&Co. has introduced a new website and iPhone(R) App for people who fall in love and simply must see other stories about people in love. How well known is Tiffany's? There's the rather famous "Breakfast at Tiffany's", from a novella by Truman Capote that was made into a Blake Edwards film starring Audrey Hepburn, but they likely aren't showing it in the store today because Mickey Rooney's buck-toothed Mr. Yunioshi comes across as racist to a modern crowd.
Holly Golightly also says things like, "But I am mad about Jose. I…
Hank |
In 1956, science-fiction author Philip K. Dick wrote a short story for Fantastic Universe called "Minority Report", about a futuristic world where precognitive mutants can predict crimes before they can happen. The ethical concerns about encroachment of big government and the possibility of a police state are obvious in a time of the USSR and increasing government regulation in the period - how can you be guilty of a crime you did not yet commit? The argument was also whether free will existed. Tom Cruise starred in a movie based on the story in 2002.
Science often…
Hank |
Science 2.0 has gradually been colloquially Smurf'ed into meaning many different things but at its core we have always intended to reboot science for the 21st century by modernizing publication, participation, communication and collaboration. Collaboration was always known to be the tricky part and little progress has been made but groups like Mendeley are at least making it possible to better organize research. Thankfully they violate the trademarks of last.fm and iTunes rather than us doing so and it's unclear if their system is better than PubMed, for example, but I am…
I’ve now watched the second of three films in the series. To recap, the main title is:
All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace
A series of films about how humans have been colonised by the machines they have built. Although we don't realise it, the way we see everything in the world today is through the eyes of the computers.
Now we have had:
The Use and Abuse of Vegetational Concepts
This is the story of how our modern scientific idea of nature, the self-regulating ecosystem, is actually a machine fantasy. It has little to do with the real complexity of nature. It is based on…
I’ve watched the first of three films in an interesting series. The main title is:
All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace
A series of films about how humans have been colonised by the machines they have built. Although we don't realise it, the way we see everything in the world today is through the eyes of the computers.
The first episode was:
Love and Power
This is the story of the dream that rose up in the 1990s that computers could create a new kind of stable world. They would bring about a new kind global capitalism free of all risk and without the boom and bust of the…
G.D.W. |
Hello.
Well, I guess that’s a fairly appropriate word to begin my first blog post. However, it’s a specific type of ‘hello’, the careful, tentative kind that is uttered by a young child that enters a dark room after the inner battle between his (or her, no sexism here) fear and curiosity was (barely) won by the latter. And indeed, honesty commands me to confess that this simple five-letter word has caused me considerable stress. Sleepless nights, nail-biting, leg-trembling and the like, all because of this ‘hello’. (Granted this is exaggerated, but not that much.)
Why, you might ask. Because…
Whole body computerized tomography (CT) scanning has helped diagnose the earliest confirmed case of coronary artery disease in history.The Egyptian princess Ahmose-Meryet-Amon, who lived in Thebes (Luxor) between 1580 and 1550 B.C., lived on a diet rich in vegetables, fruit and a limited amount of meat from domesticated (but not fattened) animals. Wheat and barley were grown along the banks of the Nile, making bread and beer the dietary staples of this period of ancient Egypt. Tobacco and trans-fats were unknown, and lifestyle was likely to have been active.
Regardless, she had coronary…
There is always a degree of sadness in reading the obituary of a great scientist. Today, following up Bombardier Beetles, I came across this one:
Thomas Eisner dies at 81; entomologist who studied insect chemistry
Known as the 'father of chemical ecology,' Thomas Eisner turned his childhood fascination with insects into a pioneering career.
As a child, for example, Eisner observed that the bombardier beetle emitted a chemical that stained his fingers dark brown. As an adult, he used a combination of microphotography, slow-motion film and chemical analysis to show that the beetle…
Is someone sitting in the passenger seat of the car? If so, are they leaning forward and can be damage by the airbag? Did a person enter the danger zone in front of an industrial machine?
Debuting at the Sensor+Test trade fair in Nuremberg from June 7-9, 2011, researchers have now developed sensors capable of expanding, in extreme cases, to twice their original length - and they are so supple they are virtually unnoticed when sewn into clothing.
"The sensor films can measure stretch, as well as pressure," says Dr. Holger Böse, Scientific and Technical Manager of…
Newswire |
Driver safety technology is a key factor in preventing accidents and creating a crash-free future for drivers, says Andy Yeoman, managing director of Trimble Mobile Resource Management (MRM) in Europe, a provider of telematics technology.
Studies have shown the majority of road traffic accidents are a result of driver behavior or distractions but a recent study from UK road safety charity Brake suggests that the majority of drivers believe they are safer than, or as safe as, the average driver and are quick to place blame on third parties instead.
Vehicle manufacturers are…