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Engineering complex systems | Nature |
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| Topic: Science |
8:11 pm EST, Feb 28, 2004 |
Could there be laws governing complex systems? Advances will require the right kinds of tools coupled with the right kind of intuition. However, the current engineering courses do not teach about self-organization, and few cover computer modelling experiments. Despite significant recent advances in our understanding of complex systems, the field is still in flux, and there is still is a lack of consensus as to where the centre is -- for some, it is exclusively cellular automata; for others it is networks. However, the landscape is bubbling with activity, and now is the time to get involved. Cowboy Up. Engineering complex systems | Nature |
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Critical Mass: How One Thing Leads to Another |
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| Topic: Science |
4:22 pm EST, Feb 28, 2004 |
Are there any "laws of nature" that influence the ways in which humans behave and organize themselves? Today, physics is enjoying a revival in the social, political and economic sciences. In "Critical Mass", Philip Ball shows how much we can understand of human behavior when we ... look to the impact of individual decisions -- whether in circumstances of cooperation or conflict -- on our laws, institutions and customs. This book will be published in June. Critical Mass: How One Thing Leads to Another |
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| Topic: Science |
2:17 pm EST, Feb 21, 2004 |
Steven Johnson's new book is on sale now. Amazon says: Mind Wide Open both satisfies curiosity and provokes more questions, leaving readers wondering about their own gray matter. Publishers Weekly says: It's the rare popular science book that not only gives the reader a gee-whiz glimpse at an emerging field, but also offers a guide for incorporating its new insights into one's own worldview. Johnson does just that in his fascinating, engagingly written new survey. Booklist says: Spreading a gospel to be curious about one's own mind, Johnson will snare even those unfamiliar with brain science. The book cover says: To read Mind Wide Open is to rethink family histories, individual fates, and the very nature of the self. Mind Wide Open |
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Restoring a Red Rover's Spirit |
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| Topic: Science |
9:46 am EST, Jan 25, 2004 |
The computer on Spirit started crashing on Wednesday, and the problem has been traced to part of the computer memory, said Mr. Theisinger, the project manager. It will still take some time for the problem to be fully diagnosed and for the engineers to devise procedures to work around it. "I think we're probably like three weeks away from driving," Mr. Theisinger said. The troubles began Wednesday, as controllers were testing one of the instruments. Spirit's computer crashed, and over the next two days, a cycle of rebooting and crashing repeated more than 60 times. The rover also did not shut down at night. Suspecting that the problem might be with the flash memory, flight controllers radioed instructions for Spirit to start up in what Mr. Theisinger called the cripple mode, using only the RAM and not the flash memory. For the first time since Wednesday, the rover's software did not crash. This is the first clear explanation I've read of the problems with Spirit. Restoring a Red Rover's Spirit |
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Mars Rover Falls Silent, Fraying Nerves at NASA |
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| Topic: Science |
12:14 am EST, Jan 23, 2004 |
Flight controllers were worried yesterday about their inability to have intelligible communication with the Mars rover Spirit since early Wednesday, an ominous radio silence that engineers could not explain but that they feared was caused by a software or hardware failure. With each passing hour and no clear message, concern grew that the mission of the robotic spacecraft might have come to an abrupt end, just as it was getting started ... "We have had a very serious anomaly on the vehicle." ... They may not know yet what its problem is, or if it is correctable, but they said they were sure that the rover was still alive. Tonight will be another long (Martian) day for our friends at JPL. A press release at the official web site adds, on a hopeful note, that Spirit did successfully respond, via Global Surveyor, to a 'ping' sent from Earth. However, engineers have still not determined why Spirit is seemingly unable to transmit mission data to Earth. Mars Rover Falls Silent, Fraying Nerves at NASA |
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Biological Confinement of Genetically Engineered Organisms |
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| Topic: Science |
3:35 pm EST, Jan 17, 2004 |
A new report from the National Research Council looks at how biological techniques such as sterilization can be used to keep transgenic plants and animals from mating or competing with wild relatives, or from spreading novel genes to other species. The report will be released at a one-hour public briefing on Tuesday, January 20, 2004 at 1 pm Eastern. The briefing will be available via live webcast and on demand from the archive. Biological Confinement of Genetically Engineered Organisms |
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NASA Cancels Trip to Supply Hubble, Sealing Early Doom |
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| Topic: Science |
2:35 pm EST, Jan 17, 2004 |
Savor those cosmic postcards while you can. NASA decreed an early death yesterday to one of its flagship missions and most celebrated successes, the Hubble Space Telescope. In a midday meeting at the Goddard Space Flight Center, two days after President Bush ordered NASA to redirect its resources toward human exploration of the Moon and Mars, Sean O'Keefe told the managers of the space telescope that there would be no more shuttle visits to maintain it. "This is a pretty nasty turn of events, coming immediately on the heels of W's endorsement of space exploration." Fly him to the moon, then, if it's so damned important. This is foolish. NASA Cancels Trip to Supply Hubble, Sealing Early Doom |
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Farmed Salmon, Pro and Con |
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| Topic: Science |
2:16 pm EST, Jan 17, 2004 |
No sooner had we started fretting about the risk of mad cow disease in our hamburgers than a new report indicated that the salmon raised on fish farms were laced with far more toxic chemicals than their wild brethren. Just what this may mean for human health is murky, given that the risk appears to be small and the health benefits of eating salmon, whether farm-raised or caught in the wild, are thought to be considerable. But the message to fish farmers, the dominant suppliers of salmon in this country, was unmistakably clear: stop feeding your penned-up salmon the fish meal that seems to be causing the problem. This looks like a case where risk estimation has outrun common sense. The probability may be very low, but the consequences are so severe that extreme preventive measures are warranted, even if it means giving up something basic, fundamental, or essential in the process. Where have I heard this before? It's deja vu all over again. Farmed Salmon, Pro and Con |
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Across Sands of Time and Oceans of Space |
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| Topic: Science |
9:31 am EST, Jan 5, 2004 |
The first 100 years of powered flight have taught us how much American ingenuity can accomplish. By continuing to make use of the unique capabilities of the space shuttle in the context of a balanced and forward-looking space program, we refuse to abandon the promise of exploration and innovation in the next century of flight. In today's Los Angeles Times, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe argues for a renewed manned space program. Across Sands of Time and Oceans of Space |
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