Science & Technology – Page 5

Gut instincts

2014-08-22 2021-05-15 Animals & BIology / Science & TechnologyLeave a comment

A story on Science Daily says research suggests our so-called “free will” may be less free than we ever imagined. We may, instead, be meat puppets ruled by the desires and cravings of the smallest symbiotes we carry: our gut bacteria. The story opens: It sounds like science fiction, but it seems that bacteria within us — which outnumber our own cells about 100-fold — may very well be affecting both our cravings and moods to get us to eat what they want, and often … click below for more ↓

The First Dark Age

The causes of the first “Dark Age” have long been the topic of debate among historians and archeologists. Many ideas and theories have been put forward; none have found universal agreement. It’s commonly referred to in scholarly circles as “The Catastrophe.” Earthquakes, drought, migrations (or the more popular single-people migration theory), volcanoes, barbarian raiders, climate change and systemic collapse have all been blamed for the sudden collapse of civilizations in the eastern Mediterranean over a short period of time. While any one of these may account … click below for more ↓

Testing a Homeplug-Powerline Network

2014-08-14 2021-05-15 Personal Reminiscences / Science & Technology / Technology & GadgetsLeave a comment

I’ve had some wireless issues for quite some time now. There are dead spots in the house – a central wall has metal ducts and a gas fireplace, which are beside the laundry room with its metal-enclosed washer and dryer. About 5-6m of metal interfere with the wireless signal. The modem is attached to the cable, which comes through the north side of the house, and there are no other active cable outlets in other rooms (there are outlets for cable, but they’ve never been … click below for more ↓

Chasing storms on Saturn

2014-08-11 2021-05-15 Astronomy & Cosmology / Science & Technology / Technology & GadgetsLeave a comment

There’s a beautiful video about the Cassini mission and its images of the storms on Saturn at the New York Times website. It’s amazing to see what images and information science has given us about a planet 886 billion miles (1.4 billion kms) away and its odd collection of rings and 60 moons. Saturn’s storms Saturn takes 30 years to orbit the Sun and in January, 2014, began its first spring in 15 years. Until then, the northern hemisphere was shrouded in darkness and the rings tilted away … click below for more ↓

Neolithic site dig uncovers sophisticated structures

2014-08-01 2014-08-01 Critical Thinking / Culture / England and Britain / History & Biography / Media Issues / Places & Geography / Science & TechnologyLeave a comment

A Neolithic site in the Orkney Islands shows our ancestors had sophisticated building skills more than 5,000 years ago. According to a story in The Scotsman, A groundbreaking excavation of a 5,000-year-old temple complex in Orkney has uncovered evidence to suggest that prehistoric people were a great deal more sophisticated than previously thought. The archaeological dig at the Ness of Brodgar, which is still in its early stages, has already thrown up discoveries that archaeologists say will force us to re-evaluate our understanding of how … click below for more ↓

Gangs of Feathered T-Rex

2014-07-25 2014-07-25 Animals & BIology / Evolution & Paleontology / Science & TechnologyLeave a comment

Imagine, if you will, an early morning scene in the late Cretaceous. The air is quiet as the day warms. At the edge of a large forest a plain of ferns ripples in the light breeze (grass would not evolve for another 20 or so million years). Under the canopy of the ancient beeches and maples, there is movement. Nothing fast, just a hint. A flash of mottled colour against the background. A glint of light off an eye. A soft snuffling. A feather falls silently … click below for more ↓

The Strange World of E-Writers

2014-06-18 2014-06-18 Books & Reviews / E-books & E-readers / Literary pretensions / Technology & GadgetsLeave a comment

There’s always been a place for amateur or new writers to present their efforts and hope to see print: publications where you could submit your work and hope the editors found it good enough to print in an upcoming issue. That’s how some famous writers got their start, in the pulp magazines of the 1930s and 40s: Robert Howard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Isaac Asimov and many more. But all of these depended on getting past the gatekeeper, someone like John Campbell: an editor who set standards … click below for more ↓

When good people do bad things in groups

2014-06-13 2014-06-13 Behaviour & Psychology / Philosophy / Psychology & Sociology / Science & Technology / Social Order & DisorderLeave a comment

The headline is taken from a piece on Science Daily on a study about how groups change personal behaviour and morality. The study is reported on the MIT website. I’ve seen that change myself, many times over the years, and most recently locally. The study adds intelligence on the neurology of how such group activity changed people. The report itself is called “Reduced self-referential neural response during intergroup competition predicts competitor harm,” which of course would have most people’s eyes glazing over. But the authors of the … click below for more ↓

E-readers: worth the investment?

2014-06-11 2014-07-31 E-books & E-readers / Science & Technology / Technology & Gadgets / What I'm Reading NowOne Comment

I have a passionate, somewhat obsessive, relationship with books. Real books: paper, ink and glue. Not digital books. I have a lot of books and I treasure each one like an old friend. I love reading – I read books at least an hour every day, and usually much more. The feel of a book in my hands is a comfort and a delight. I worked in book publishing – a dream job for anyone with a passion for reading. I’ve never been seduced by an e-reader … click below for more ↓

Is silver safe as a medicine?

2014-06-03 2014-06-03 Critical Thinking / Health & Medicine / Pseudoscience & QuackeryOne Comment

The short answer to that headline question – based on everything I’ve read of late – is no. It’s not that silver has no medical uses – one form has been used in dressings and bandages as an antiseptic (not, as is sometimes claimed, an antibiotic). Silver nitrate is sometimes used to treat warts and corns. However, the benefits and long-term risks of silver in any form – especially an ingested form – have been not been fully researched. It’s not that colloidal silver – an entirely different … click below for more ↓

Confused Science

2014-05-11 2014-05-12 Behaviour & Psychology / Evolution & Paleontology / Science & Technology / What I'm Reading NowLeave a comment

In his book, The World in Six Songs, Daniel Levitin posutlates the ability to make or participate in music may have conferred an evolutionary advantage to early humans. It’s a reasonable hypothesis based on both archeological and anthropological evidence. And some paleontological finds, too. We know from remains of bone flutes and other instruments, that humans made music at least 40,000 years ago. What that music was like, what role it played in primitive culture and society, what ceremonial or bonding purposes it had, will always be speculation … click below for more ↓

Seeing evolution in action

2014-04-28 2014-04-28 Evolution & Paleontology / Science & TechnologyLeave a comment

The pop-science notion is that evolution takes a long time. Millennia, many millennia; even millions of years. But is that always true? Can one actually see and measure evolution in action? Can it happen in such a short time as to be recorded? Peter and Rosemary Grant say they have. And it’s the subject of a new book they co-authored based on their research. Their story was reported in the April 23 issue of the Princeton Alumni Weekly. It’s a terrific read if for nothing more … click below for more ↓

What do we know about Bell’s Palsy?

2014-04-17 2014-04-17 Health & Medicine / Personal Reminiscences / Science & TechnologyLeave a comment

Bell’s Palsy is one of those rare ailments, and one that annoys more than threatens, but can be difficult and socially awkward for sufferers. It’s also one that still baffles researchers as to its cause. And also for an effective treatment. According to facialpalsy.org, The name ‘Bell’s palsy’ comes from 19th-century Scottish anatomist and surgeon Sir Charles Bell, who discovered that severing the seventh cranial (or facial) nerve causes facial paralysis. It has no vaccine, no known method for prevention, and the treatment is still … click below for more ↓

The dangerous idiocy of the anti-vax movement

2014-04-08 2014-04-08 Conspiracy Theories / Critical Thinking / Pseudoscience & Quackery / Science & Technology2 Comments

Measles is on the rise in Canada. There have already been many cases in 2014: in PEI, London, Ottawa, southern Alberta, Regina, Qu’Apelle, Calgary, Fraser Valley (320 cases), Hamilton, Halton, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Waterloo, Nanaimo and other locations. Eleven cases in Ontario this year alone. Nine in Alberta. That ancient, deadly foe we recently believed we had conquered, is coming back. And it’s going to kill children again, this time with the complicity of their parents. Fifty years ago, science found the cure and made a … click below for more ↓