Community blog entries

Absolute Maximum

August 30, 2004 by maglev

Energy (E) can be expressed as a function of temperature. absolute zero is a theoretical lower limit of temperature (just above which we see interesting things happen to physical particles, such as bose-einstein and fermi-einstein condensates) at which, hypothetically speaking, the properties of the fabric of the spacetime reach a dimensional limit.

let's speculate then--with sporting disregard for any research evidence or theory that heretofor suggests otherwise--that this limit is the point at which temperature can be reduced no further without "tearing" or "reducing" the dimensional properties of the continuum.

Human Drones?

August 11, 2004 by pekingman

As the Olympic Games approach, there is considerable concern about doping to enhance physical performance. But what about for us mere mortals? Could employers create human drones that work consistently all day long, without slacking off towards lunch time or the end of the day? Some recent research indicates that blocking dopamine receptors might just do that.

Procrastinating monkeys were turned into workaholics using a gene treatment to block a key brain compound. Blocking cells from receiving dopamine made the monkeys work harder at a task -- and they were better at it, too. Dr. Barry Richmond and colleagues at the National Institute of Mental Health used a new genetic technique to block the D2 gene, which makes a receptor for dopamine, a key brain messenger.

Man or Mouse?

August 6, 2004 by pekingman

Have we over-estimated the importance of genomes (and by implication the Human Genome Project)? Is epigenesis a more fruitful field for understanding human disease and behavior? Is the rush to patent genes equivalent to seeking patents for each word in the dictionary?
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Matt Ridley in an article titled "Humans have no more genes than mice, but don't feel small" points out that the more we find out about genomes, the more humiliating the news they bring us. He says, "the human genome turns out to be profoundly ordinary. We have known for decades that human beings have one fewer chromosome than chimpanzees, which should have been ample warning. We have known for years that grasshoppers have three times as much DNA per cell as we do, deep sea shrimps ten times, salamanders 20 times and African lungfish a staggering 40 times. But we still kidded ourselves until just the last few years that human beings would prove to have more genes, arranged in a more sophisticated way, than most other creatures. How else to explain our exquisite brains?"

Biology Poised to Lose its Innocence?

August 1, 2004 by pekingman

The following article describes creation of a polio virus cobbled together from bits bought over the internet. Britain’s Astronomer Royal, Sir Martin Rees thinks we only have an even chance of making it to the end of this century (Rees 2003). He adds together the remote possibilities of nanobots running amuck and strangelets escaping from a heavy ion collider, to the more familiar threats of an asteroid impact, global warming, nasty pandemics, and environmental degradation. He does not like the resultant odds. He sees new opportunities from science and technology as well as threats. Civilization is now at threat of death by misadventure as well as by deliberate design. He believes that scientists have a special responsibility to make sure that he is wrong. Could the desire to make new forms of life be the ultimate fatal mistake?

Leapfrogging Technology

July 29, 2004 by pekingman

Leapfrogging was how the Thailand’s Prime Minister described his vision of Thailand moving up the manufacturing value chain. Thaksin Shinawatra named the country’s auto assembly and auto parts industries as candidates for this ambitious undertaking (The Nation Editorial - 10 June 2004).

“If the frog is to jump a long distance, it needs to leap from hard ground. This is supposed to be food for thought, for now,” he was quoted as saying to a group of reporters at Government House.

The editorial writer responded by using the boiling frog analogy. “For the frog – by which Thaksin means Thailand – to take this proposed leap of faith, it will need to be rescued from the heated-up water in the pan, by which we mean the government’s manipulation of the population’s unprincipled wants and needs with its populist policies, chief among them the oil price controls which are cushioning both industry and consumers. Like the frog, Thais cannot be expected to get strong or competitive by staying in the “comfort zone” forever. If Thaksin wants it to leap, he should avoid boiling it.”

Mmmm ... ancient beer

July 27, 2004 by smazsyr

"Ancient Peruvians made chicha with local grains and fruit, which is quite different from today's commercial beers typically made with barley and hops." Prediction: Trader Joe's will have a version of this on the market within 18 months. Also, this does nothing to dispel the notion that beer=civilization

Update: Chicha de Maní recipe (Peanut Beverage)

Ancient brewery discovered on mountaintop in Peru - [Science Blog]