Archive for November 2007
The Physics of Christmas
Posted by: ozymandias1 on: November 28, 2007
Related Links, courtesy of the PTNC forum
Is Santa Real?
A scientific debate which looks at both sides
Star of Bethlemen
What are the possible explanations? (in swf format)
Noradsanta
Ian Robertson has provided the following nugget:
At xmas every year for some 24 hours by far the busiest website in the world far is Norad Santa . Here the men and women [...]
Science and Religion
Posted by: ozymandias1 on: November 18, 2007
Today Mr Dungan’s Leaving Cert Religion class joined our Applied Maths class for a discussion on Religion and Science. It started off very slowly but got a little heated before too long and the feedback was fairly positive with most students hoping we would repeat the exercise later in the year, but possibly in a [...]
Uncertainty in Science
Posted by: ozymandias1 on: November 14, 2007
Possibly one of the most important concepts that should come out of a Science Education course is that Science does not provide certainty – it simply can’t. It’s all about probability.
The experiment we do in school to ‘prove’ that solids expand when heated, does nothing of the sort. We take one metal ball and show [...]
What’s the story with poor pay for science-related jobs?
Posted by: ozymandias1 on: November 11, 2007
Last Friday’s Irish Times (9/11/07) did a special supplement on “Jobs in Science”. They included the results of a survey carried out last month of salaries in the pharmaceutical and medical devices market. The results were (to my mind at least) surprising.
They listed thirteen categories and looked at the lower, mid and top entry level.
The [...]
It’s Science Week again! wa bloody hay
Posted by: ozymandias1 on: November 4, 2007
Science Week (or should that be Leo Enright Week?) tends to bring out the cynic in me.
For a full week we get bombarded with media-bytes about how great Science is, how much fun it is, and how the drop in the number of students taking up Science is nothing short of a national tragedy.
It fact let’s [...]
Latest videos from New Scientist
- Gorillas at playGorillas at play
- Tricked octopusOctopuses have been tricked by HDTV
- Robot upgradeA baby robot is being redesigned to look and act more like a 2 year-old child.
- Wave powerSea creatures are inspiring systems that harness wave power.
- Tongue actionSee chameleons capture prey in different temperatures.
- Growl distinctionWatch dogs distinguish one type of growl from another.
- Far flung physicsFind out about a physicist's journey to the ends of the Earth.
- Volcano monitoringRobots inside Mount St Helens can communicate without routing data through a base station.
- Migrating brainA team of robots with one brain that migrates into different bodies will soon live with humans.
- Signing computerBy watching TV shows with subtitles and a signer, a computer has mastered sign language.
