Geoff Manaugh, over at BLDGBLOG, adds his thoughts on an article in the New Scientist about the effects of rising sea levels. I note that the article also has a map showing the possible outline of the Benelux countries 100 years from now. There’s not much of The Netherlands left in this scenario, although our corner of the country still has its head above water…
Year: 2007
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Atom
The BBC seems to have hit its stride again with some excellent science documentaries. After the appalling decline of Horizon, once the flagship of BBC science documentaries into dumbed-down crap produced by meeja-studies graduates, it comes as something of a relief to be able to say that the Science You Can’t See season on BBC Four is shaping up very well. After two reasonable programmes on the quest for Absolute Zero, I’ve just seen the first of three programmes on the science of the atom.I’m impressed. Presented by Professor Jim Al-Khalili, this is science that is not dumbed-down in the slightest. And we didn’t have any of those appalling "reconstructions", with actors hamming it up. Instead we got documentary footage of the real people involved – most memorably of the amazing conference at Solvay, with Einstein and Bohr representing the opposing sides, and duking it out with their theories.The fifth Solvay conference formed the climax of the first of Al-Khalili’s programmes, and he literally walked us through the famous photograph of the attendees at the conference, to great effect. Then we suddenly cut from the conference building in Brussels to the good professor standing in an Alpine meadow. For one dizzy moment, I felt sure that he was about to do a Julie Andrews and burst into song, but no; he simply set up the next episode, which I can’t wait to see. Very good stuff indeed. It clearly helps to have someone who knows his stuff, and who is a great communicator, to front up a science programme like this.I’m also greatly looking forward to another programme in the season: Dangerous Knowledge, which will include the life and work of Alan Turing. -
Talking of Birds…
Here’s a snippet from Dawn Chorus by Marcus Coates… -
Feeding Time
A couple of days ago I spotted a pair of young barn swallows perched on the pergola. Their parents were still feeding them. I suspect that it’s high time they learned to fend for themselves…
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You Couldn’t Make It Up…
Sorry, I feel a Victor Meldrew coming on over this tale-of-political-correctness-gone-horribly-wrong from Chris Applegate over at qwghlm.co.uk. Durham City Council clearly has more wankers in it than you can shake a stick at. Tracy Ingle, the council official in question, is by all the evidence, in need of a clue or three. And she’s the head of "Cultural Services". What in gawd’s name is that? -
It’s All Our Fault
Following on from Professor Somerville’s concern over same-sex marriage, I think her rationale has about the same intellectual respectability as this piece from Oded Gross: It’s All Because. The difference is that Oded’s tongue is firmly in his cheek, and he knows it. -
Other Ways Of Knowing
Sean Prophet, over at the Black Sun Journal, blows apart an opinion piece by Margaret Somerville on "other ways of knowing" Worth reading.I notice, from Somerville’s Wikipedia entry, that she’s also an opponent of same-sex marriage. It doesn’t surprise me; neither does the "quality" of her evidence for her stance. She appears to believe that marriage is simply a "societal institution that represents, symbolizes and protects the inherently reproductive human relationship". This seems to be an extraordinarily limited view of the multi-faceted, and constantly evolving, institution that is marriage. As the Wikipedia article on marriage states: The reasons people marry vary widely, but usually include one or more of the following: legal, social and economic stability; the formation of a family unit; procreation and the education and nurturing of children; legitimizing sexual relations; public declaration of love. Procreation is just one of the reasons, professor Somerville, not the be-all and end-all, as you seem to want it to be. -
Hammering the Radio
Mo, over at Neurophilosophy, tells the history of the rise and fall of prefrontal lobotomy. Scary, scary stuff. -
It Wasn’t The Rib
PZ Myers, over at Pharyngula, draws attention to a startling thought: it wasn’t a rib that God took from Adam to make Eve, but a bone from lower down in the body – the baculum. It’s perfectly true that, unlike most mammalian species, the Homo sapiens male does not possess a baculum, which is a bone inside the penis. Perhaps the original writers of Genesis were a bit too embarrassed to write the truth. -
Badges of Honour
I see that the Girl Guide organisation is thinking about introducing courses for some new badges. Apparently, it’s going to introduce sessions on how to practise safe sex, manage debt, and reduce the size of one’s carbon footprint. They’re probably more relevant to today’s world than the badges for learning how to iron and how to milk cows (1910), or the Homemaker and Commonwealth badges of 1957.The organisation has polled 1,000 of its members to come up with the subjects for the new courses. The need for knowing how to practise safe sex or manage debt I think is perfectly understandable, and laudable. I am much more perturbed by the fact that apparently large numbers of those polled felt the need for a badge for learning how to assemble flat-pack furniture. The engineer in me finds it difficult to appreciate that people do not have this capability as an innate skill. I shudder to think how I would cope without it. -
The Inner Life of the Cell
I’ve mentioned this visualisation of the processes that go on inside each and every one of our cells before. It was made for the biology courses at Havard University. The version that I originally came across was this edited version with a music soundtrack. That emphasises the beauty and wonder of these microscopic processes, but does not explain what’s going on. Take, for example, the kinesin molecule at about 1:17 minutes into the video. It’s an extraordinary image – a tightrope walker pulling a huge balloon – but how does it work? I’ve now come across another video that explains the processes that power the kinesin molecule; it’s the second video in this post. Finally, I’ve found the original visualisation video, restored to its full eight minutes, shorn of the music soundtrack, and with the explanatory voiceover restored. That’s the third video embedded in this post. Wonderful to see. -
What Is a Cause of Misanthropy?
A strong case is made by J. Carter Wood, over at Obscene Desserts, that a major factor is the phenomenon known as Oprah. I cannot disagree. -
Ouch!
Her entrance is enough to bring tears to the eyes, but there’s more! Camp and tacky as hell, but strangely wonderful…(hat tip to Lyn David Thomas over in the haunted wing that is Usenet for the link) -
To Be Dishonest Is To Be Human
Here’s a fascinating article by Simon Baron-Cohen on the human characteristic of dishonesty, and the fact that the only people incapable of being dishonest are autistic. By the way, I don’t mean to imply from my somewhat tongue-in-cheek title that I don’t think people with autism are not human…(hat tip to The Mouse Trap for the link) -
Sunset At Peel Castle
This stunning photo makes me quite jealous. My snaps never seem to reach such dizzying heights. Ah well. -
Justin Feels Sick…
…And I find it perfectly understandable. The meaning of the word education has clearly been redefined beyond anything that I could recognise and still have hope for the future. -
The Power Of Narrative
Michael Bérubé has a terrific article on the effect Harry Potter has had on his teenage son. Absolutely worth reading. -
Wine Bottle Grotto
Now, there’s an idea for our empties… Considering we generally polish off a bottle a day, it should take us less than fourteen years to complete it, assuming we don’t die of liver cirrhosis beforehand…
Geoff Coupe's Blog 
