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| Topic: Science |
6:31 am EDT, Aug 15, 2002 |
Gene explains dumb apes; Great apes lack nuts and bolts of language gene. Chimpanzees lack key parts of a language gene that is critical for human speech, say researchers. The finding may begin to explain why only humans use spoken language. More importantly, now we know how to make talking apes! Gene explains dumb apes |
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Sept. 11 Strikes at Labs' Doors |
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| Topic: Science |
6:16 am EDT, Aug 13, 2002 |
University officials and leading scientists are warning that new government regulations on biological research adopted in the wake of Sept. 11, and simultaneous efforts to inhibit publication, threaten to undermine the fundamental openness of science and campus life. "This has the potential for changing the definition of science, the way people do science, and even what we mean when we say science." Under the new laws, only researchers with a "legitimate need" may have access to "select agents." If research could prove useful in making biological weapons, does it belong in the public forum, or should it be suppressed by scientists or the government? Sept. 11 Strikes at Labs' Doors |
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Strange Matters: Undiscovered Ideas at the Frontiers of Space and Time |
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| Topic: Science |
9:00 pm EDT, Aug 12, 2002 |
Scientists studying the universe find strange things in two places -- out in space and in their heads. This is the story of how the most imaginative physicists of our time perceive strange features of the universe in advance of the actual discoveries. This book speaks for the scientific theorists who are bold enough to imagine and predict the impossible. New ideas are percolating in their heads every day. One physicist may dream of subatomic particles that could resolve a variety of cosmological conundrums while another may study the likes of "funny energy," which may explain how rapidly the universe is expanding. This is the stuff of Strange Matters. Click on the image of the book cover to read the full text online. Strange Matters: Undiscovered Ideas at the Frontiers of Space and Time |
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Scholarly Reviews Through the Web |
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| Topic: Science |
8:49 pm EDT, Aug 12, 2002 |
Pet food stores weren't the killer app for the Web, but peer-reviewed scholarly journals might be. "Journals sink or swim based on whether they attract the top authors. Journals that don't embrace electronic tools to speed their processes will ultimately be at a competitive disadvantage. Scholarly Reviews Through the Web |
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Envisioning Science: The Design and Craft of the Science Image |
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| Topic: Science |
10:10 am EDT, Aug 2, 2002 |
A crucial element of science and engineering communication is visual. In Envisioning Science, science photographer Felice Frankel provides a guide to creating dynamic and compelling photographs ... ... from the large to small ... capturing new material and biological structures at the microscopic level. Full-color illustrations, many side-by-side comparisons, an extensive gallery of fine science photography. Benoit Mandelbrot: "In the beginning were the image and the eye. Then man-the-scientist became enamored of the word and neglectful of the image. Now the small group of those who fight back welcomes Felice Frankel as a marvelous addition, both as skillful performer and as experienced and patient teacher. Her book is priceless." Eric Lander, Director at the Whitehead Institute: "Felice Frankel's work conveys the tremendous beauty and excitement of science." At the site, you can read an interview with the author and view pages from the book. Do you like Escher, and the fusion of art and science? Envisioning Science: The Design and Craft of the Science Image |
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A Call for Restraint on Biological Data | _Science_ |
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| Topic: Science |
8:04 pm EDT, Aug 1, 2002 |
Two events last week are prompting a public debate about whether unclassified research that might conceivably help bioterrorists should be openly published. A congressional resolution called on journals, scientists, and funding agencies to take more care about releasing such information, and, separately, the American Society for Microbiology sent a letter to the National Academy of Sciences 22 July requesting a meeting of biomedical publishers to discuss whether and how to publish research results that might be co-opted by terrorists. A Call for Restraint on Biological Data | _Science_ |
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| Topic: Science |
7:08 pm EDT, Jul 26, 2002 |
[A great transcription of Richard Hamming's 1986 talk on what it takes to do great work. All I can say is: wow. I'm doing lots of thinking on this now, having read this. Speaks very deeply to my mind of things involved in the work I do. Brilliant paper. - dnm] [I highly recommend this paper as well ... it's very cool. (of course..I am a researcher, so it speaks to me....and it may very well speak to you too) - Nanochick:)] Yes! Excellent. Outstanding. Superb. "More, please." You and Your Research |
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Scientists Worry Journals May Aid Terrorists |
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| Topic: Science |
6:55 am EDT, Jul 26, 2002 |
The president of the American Society for Microbiology has sought the advice of the National Academy of Sciences on whether scientific journals should withhold information that may aid bioterrorists or countries contemplating biological warfare. He wrote, "We are now being asked to allow authors to withhold critical information because of concern that significant data could be misappropriated or abused." Don Kennedy, editor at _Science_, argues against such a proposal. Scientists Worry Journals May Aid Terrorists |
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Replication at the speed of thought | Memes in _Nature_ |
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| Topic: Science |
8:58 pm EDT, Jul 24, 2002 |
Nature reviews Robert Aunger's new book, _The Electric Meme_, which I already recommended earlier this month. (Have you read it yet?) The reviewer writes: The 'm-word' is regarded by many in polite intellectual society as belonging to that other set of four-letter words. It isn't clear whether there is a single fact of life that memes, rather than other mental constructs, have successfully explained so far. ... There are either zillions of memes, or none at all. Aunger considers neural memes rather than abstract memes. I agree with many of his ideas, and consider some of them to be truly novel and fascinating. To my mind, memes are phenotypic replicators, reconstructed in other minds by conversion from pre-existing memes. Replication at the speed of thought | Memes in _Nature_ |
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Scientists and Terrorists |
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| Topic: Science |
1:10 pm EDT, Jul 20, 2002 |
To the Editor: Terrorists and torturers read the scientific literature in order to learn new ways of inflicting pain and avoiding prosecution. The scientists who created polio virus in their laboratory and published the results (front page, July 12) have played into the hands of state-sponsored perpetrators who have the intention of developing instruments of mass destruction. The United States and the international community need a system of governance and public debate to monitor, curtail and punish those scientists who engage in this type of reckless behavior. RICHARD F. MOLLICA, M.D.
Boston, July 14, 2002
The writer is director, Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma, Massachusetts General Hospital. Is that Bill Joy I hear applauding? Scientists and Terrorists |
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