Science news

January 2006 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31         Mar   Feb Home Who is David Harris?   Poetry index Haiku index Book list 2005 Book list 2004 Book list 2003   Other blogs I visit Cosmic Variance BookSlut tympan SpaceTramp Jen Crispin Michael Nielsen Virtual Occoquan pharyngula This Modern World cafe madbard Dr. Omed's Tent Show Revival McGee's Musings Pedro Salon home Salon Blogs: - Updates - Rankings - Start your own blog Subscribe to this blog in Radio: E-mail this blog's author, David Harris:

Friday, March 18, 2005 Symmetry - March 2005 issue And while I'm updating on latest issues of symmetry, there is another one out also. Some highlights: - a spectacular gallery of some of the best photographs of particle physics labs - a feature on why scientists want to go underground - an entertaining essay on how bad physicists are at naming things - inside a microchip used in particle detectors You know you want a fix of particle physics...   9:40:01 PM  Your views [] Symmetry - world year of physics issue I should have mentioned when it came out that we published a World Year of Physics special issue of symmetry. The cover has generated much interest with various places requesting permission to use it on posters, in magazines, and all over the place. It's not your usual science magazine cover and I was a little nervous about running with it but it has been wildly successful. We won't do that every time but we are going to stretch the boundaries of what you see in science magazines. (I should say hi to the great designers at Sandbox Studio who do the design work with us.) Some of the highlights: - a photo essay of Stephon Alexander (who is also a Quantum Diarist) (photos taken by my friend Teresa, and you can even see the back of my head in one of the shots) - a wacky essay about a non-physicist visiting my workplace, SLAC (hi Allan, I'll come and visit you down in Costa Rica soon) - a feature on the search for ultra-high energy cosmic rays in Argentina - the strange Einstein paraphenalia you can find (not all of it is mine), including the only known verse to include the phrase "Einstein porn" - E=mc^2 in 60 seconds - a page of Einstein's handwritten manuscript including the earliest known mention of E=mc^2 - a look at Einstein's papers of one hundred years ago But you're going to have to search through the issue to find the face off between Einstein and Godzilla...   9:35:17 PM  Your views [] Thursday, January 13, 2005 When particle physicists blog - Quantum Diaries Launched today is a new collaborative blog that will run for the duration of the World Year of Physics. It is called Quantum Diaries and has about 25 particle physicists from around the world blogging their lives, inside physics and out. It is well worth checking out - there are some good writers in among the group and you get a taste for what it is like to be a physicists working and traveling internationally. The bloggers contribute in English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish and Japanese that I have noticed so far but English is dominant. (I like multi-language blogs even when I can't read all the languages!)   4:29:40 PM  Your views [] Thursday, December 02, 2004 symmetry issue 2 Issue 2 of symmetry magazine is now online... Check out the cover art - a reproduction of a fantastic painting based on quantum physics. Features include the SESAME synchrotron in Jordan, 25 years of the theory of inflation. All at www.symmetrymagazine.org   7:57:26 PM  Your views [] Thursday, October 28, 2004 New physics magazine Although you might think that this blog was deep in the throes of an existential crisis since July, you are only partly right. I have been buried in my new project - launching a new physics magazine that people are receiving the first print issue of today. The magazine is called symmetry and looks at the various dimensions of particle physics and how they relate to science, policy and culture. You can read the entire contents of the magazine online or subscribe for print copies at www.symmetrymagazine.org   11:28:44 AM  Your views [] Friday, July 02, 2004 Some success in x-ray induced fusion A paper published this week in Physical Review Letters reports some success in producing thermonuclear fusion in the z-pinch machine at Sandia National Laboratories. The z-pinch essentially squeezes deuterium capsules with x-rays so tightly that fusion begins. | Abstract |   10:47:17 AM  Your views [] Finally, some action on bogus intercessory prayer study After years of inaction, a controversial study on the effects of intercessory prayer(*) on pregnancy rates is being investigated by the Journal of Reproductive Medicine, which supposedly had the study peer-reviewed before publishing it in 2001. Columbia University is also running from the story, and has removed its press release about the study. The journal editors have been elusive, as have the authors of the paper, although perhaps one author is having trouble responding because he is in prison, having been convicted of mail fraud offences. * Intercessory prayer is when somebody unknown to you prays for you without your knowledge, in the hope of having some effect. The prayer is usually just given a photograph of you, and no further information, except perhaps for the desired outcome of the prayer. In numerous well-controlled studies, it has been shown to have no effect. Read more: | Time magazine | What's New | Original paper | Original press release (c/o Internet Wayback Machine) |   10:36:23 AM  Your views [] Monday, June 28, 2004 Could laptops run on spinach? This is a very cool example of creating technology based on what nature can already do best. Could laptops run on spinach?. Solar cells turn over a new leaf. [Nature Science Update] | PDF of full paper |   2:28:44 PM  Your views [] What should me make of "Atkins 'affects conception chances'"? Are we really supposed to be able to draw any sensible conclusion from stories like these? The main thrust - that high-protein diets could reduce chances of conceiving - is seriously undermined by the revelation that the studies were done in herbivores. Without any indication of whether we can extrapolate to humans from this sort of study, does this story say anything at all? Unfortunately, the problem here is just as much the fault of the scientists/journal as the media, because of how the story was obviously promoted. Atkins 'affects conception chances'. Eating a high protein diet - such as Atkins - could reduce a woman's chances of conceiving, researchers say. [BBC News | Science/Nature | World Edition]   2:18:40 PM  Your views [] Friday, June 25, 2004 Scientists Now Need OK to Consult WHO Now specific US government scientists can't even be selected to advise international bodies without approval - the government will choose who gets to give advice. I wonder whether or not those chosen will have opinions in line with what the administration wants rather than what the science says... silly question, isn't it - we already know the answer. Scientists Now Need OK to Consult WHO (AP). AP - Government scientists must now be cleared by a Bush political appointee before they can lend their expertise to the World Health Organization, a change that a Democratic lawmaker said fits a pattern of politicizing science. [Yahoo! News - Science]   2:46:20 PM  Your views [] < % radio.macros.weblogEditBox ()%>

© Copyright 2006 David Harris.
Last update: 1/25/2006; 2:15:42 PM.

Powered by