Apparently, this seemingly simple question doesn’t have easy answers. That’s what I conclude after reading a fascinating article by Kenneth Chang in the New York Times on the subject. I also learned that there are different forms of ice, characterised by different arrangements of the water molecules. Rather worryingly, scientists have so far discovered twelve forms, and it is suspected that there is at least one more form. I say worringly, because Ice Nine is the eponymous title of a doomsday story by Kurt Vonnegut (the story also goes under the title of Cat’s Cradle). Could Ice Nine be for real?
Year: 2006
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Echoes of a Bomb
When you’ve been involved in an extreme event, it takes time for the impact echoes to die away. Sometimes they never do. Rachel is someone who has been involved in an extreme event, and this posting clearly shows the impact that it continues to have. But, small step by small step, I hope it gets better for her. -
Heartfelt Rant
Mike Fullerton is having a little difficulty with his Toshiba laptop. I know what he means – I’ve had the misfortune to use machines like that. There are times when a little simplicity and a well-designed user experience would not go amiss. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been happening for Mr. Fullerton. -
Department of the Blindingly Obvious
This study doesn’t really tell me anything that I hadn’t suspected already… -
Eroding Liberties
I’m becoming increasingly alarmed by what I view as the erosion of civil liberties that appears to be happening in the UK, driven by fear of terrorism – both real and imagined. The atmosphere of suspicion is getting thicker, and this has a negative impact on the way in which the authorities treat the citizen.For example, take the case of the actors and others returning from the Berlin Film Festival after a showing of their film The Road to Guantánamo. They were detained by police at Luton airport and questioned under the anti-terror laws. The disturbing thing to me was the manner in which they were questioned. Read the account by one of the actors of the incident, and reflect on it. Is this the sort of political police force that is emerging in the UK?Update: and then there’s this… -
The Touch of Things to Come
Interesting research video of a touch-sensitive screen. The harbinger of things to come? -
Dumbing Down
The Guardian reports today on worrying evidence that the brain-eating virus of creationism is on the increase in British universities and colleges.A 21-year-old medical student and member of the Islamic Society, who did not want to be named, said that the Qur’an was clear that man had been created and had not evolved as Darwin suggests. "There is no scientific evidence for it [Darwin’s Origin of Species]. It’s only a theory. Man is the wonder of God’s creation."Ah, the "it’s only a theory" meme again… So is gravity, so perhaps this student would care to step off a cliff to demonstrate the fact.At another London campus some students have been failed because they have presented creationism as fact. They have been told by their examiners that, while they are entitled to explain both sides of the debate, they cannot present the Bible or Qur’an as scientifically factual if they want to pass exams.What a surprise… But apparently the students won’t let sticking to stories get in the way of passing exams; they’ll simply follow the advice of creationist David Rosevear:"I’ve got no problem with an all-powerful God producing everything in six days," he said. He said it was an early example of the six-day week. Students taking exams on the subject should not be dogmatic one way or the other. "I tell them – answer the question, it’s no good saying it [creationism] is a fact any more than saying evolution is a fact."Are we heading back into the Dark Ages? -
Self-loathing
What a sad person Ronald G. Lee must be, judging by the content of this article that he has written. Still, Sadly No! has managed to see the humour in the piece, and gleefully points it out for the purple-prosed pile of tosh that it is.Note: declaration of interest – I have visited Lobo’s in Houston several times over the years. Somehow, I managed to avoid the magnetic pull of the pornography in the back that exercised such a fascination on Mr. Lee, and have purchased a number of well-written novels and biographies there. I have even bought a coffee and a slice of carrotcake in the bookstore’s coffeeshop, and consumed them whilst reading my purchases in a state of calm. Even though there were other – gasp – homo-seks-uals on the premises, we somehow managed to exist in a state of clothed decorum and equanimity. -
Brave New World
Dr. Crippen adds another entry to his blog, detailing his concern over the increasing readiness to diagnose ADHD in children. He also feels uncomfortable about the response of the drug companies, which, to cynics like me and him, seems to be one of recognising a promising new market, ripe for exploitation.I must admit, when I see statistics that show that in some areas of the US over 10% of children have been diagnosed as having ADHD, then I start to wonder what we are doing. Mind you, even here in the Netherlands, the incidence of ADHD is at 5%. -
Sarah Morris – L.A. 2004
Yesterday I paid a visit to Rotterdam’s Boymans van Beuningen museum. One thing that caught my eye was a temporary exhibition of work by Sarah Morris. As well as producing large, geometrically abstract paintings, she has also produced some films. I saw her film of Los Angeles 2004 – a hypnotic look at L.A. in the days leading up to the Oscars ceremony. The film is without dialogue – the soundtrack is music only – and the end result is something like the films of Godfrey Reggio. A hypnotic look at the denizens of Tinseltown primping and preening themselves under the watchful eyes of thousands of cameras. The end result (for me) was a glimpse into the inner hell of Hollywood; a town where image is all, filled with beautiful people with empty souls. -
Emma Meets a Good Egg
There’s a good interview (by Emma Brookes) of David Attenborough in the Guardian today. Attenborough is one of my personal heroes. A gentleman and a scholar. -
Hungry?
Then why not pay a visit to Beijing’s Guolizhuang restaurant? You’ll forgive me if I don’t join you, won’t you? I’ll just stick to fish and chips if you don’t mind. -
A Modest Proposal…
Is Charlie Brooker training to become the new Jonathan Swift? On the strength of today’s modest proposal in the Guardian, it would seem so. Methinks there is much to commend it…
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The Great British Design Quest
The BBC’s Culture Show and the Design Museum are currently running a quest to find the public’s favourite British design icon. From a list of 25 choices, the first stage of voting by the public has now narrowed it down to 10.There are some obvious, and (to my mind) well-deserved, contenders there, for example, Giles Gilbert Scott’s K2 Telephone kiosk, Douglas Scott’s Routemaster, Harry Beck’s map of the London Underground, and Percy Shaw’s Catseye.There are also some bizarre choices: two video games have made it into the top ten: Tomb Raider and Grand Theft Auto – the latter seemingly a game that glorifies killing people, stealing cars and vandalising property. Charming. No wonder society is going to the dogs.Be that as it may, for me there can be only one choice, and that is Tim Berners-Lee’s World Wide Web. It strikes me that this candidate has a handicap compared with most of the others in the list – it’s not a physical object. It’s actually two complementary specifications – one for describing how web pages are constructed, and one describing how that information is carried over the Internet. An analogy would be with the DNA that forms the underpinning of all life on earth – whether the end result is a cat, a monkey, a human, a fly or a bacterium, all those organisms rely on DNA for their existence. Similarly, the specifications at the heart of the World Wide Web are the DNA behind all the information contained in the World Wide Web. And these specifications are the DNA of digital darwinism – the driving force behind the continuing and relentless evolution of the Web. I think that puts Berners-Lee’s invention into a category of its own. Other design icons have (mostly) had their day – but the WWW will continue to evolve and affect the lives of billions of people. Vote for the WWW today! -
Wine Regions of the World
If you’ve got Google Earth running on your PC or Mac, and you’re interested in wine – then take a look at this: a set of Google Earth placemarks for Wine Regions of the World. It’s a labour of love by António Rocha Graça, a winemaker and enologist from Portugal. Great stuff.(hat tip to Frank Taylor at Google Earth Blog) -
A Night At The Movies
Martin was away tonight, so I decided to watch a couple of DVDs.First up was Hellboy. It’s the sort of movie that Martin hates, but that I love – a comic-book perfectly translated to film. Lot’s of brilliant little touches that made it work for me. OK, the hero is large, red, and short-tempered, but he’s still a dutiful son who tries to get on with his adopted father, and is tongue-tied when in the presence of his girl. Ron Perlman is perfect as Hellboy, and the rest of the cast make their characters come alive.Next up was Contact – a film I think I’ve seen about eight times now. The magisterial opening: a long reverse zoom shot from the earth out to the farthest reaches of the universe (with the radio static of mankind’s broadcasts dying away into nothingness), resolving into the glint in the eye of an eight-year girl. The wonder of astronomy – the seed planted in that little girl, coming into flower in the adult. The debate between science and religion (and perhaps it’s me, but I think that science trounces religion in this film, as for me in life). The passion of Ellie – and it’s not "faith" – it’s her clear-eyed wonder of nature and of the world around her that makes her what she is, and which is so much more admirable to me than the bathetic, pathetic Palmer Joss, the shallow David Drumlin or the amoral Michael Kitz.And in both films – the marvellous presence of John Hurt. In Contact, he has a line that summarises for me the very attraction of film; his wonderful, sly voicing, not so very far removed from satan himself, of the essence of movies: "Wanna take a ride?"… -
Earning Your Stripes
Flea, over at One Good Thing, writes another of her posts that have the effect of reducing me to tears. I don’t think I would have the patience of Job that appears to be necessary to raise a child such as Alex. The rewards must be all the greater for being so hard-earned. -
Glen or Glenda?
Lyle Zapato, over at Zapato Productions Intradimensional, suspects that someone in the FBI is a fan of a certain film by Ed Wood Jr. He could be right.
Geoff Coupe's Blog 