Al Gore’s follow up talk at the TED conference on climate change is available to watch via video podcast from the iTMS. Well worth watching. The video of Sir Ken Robinson’s talk is very good as well. In fact, I’d recommend subscribing to the podcasts via iTMS and watching them all.
Archive | Science
YAPT update
It’s been a while since I posted about YAPT. I said I was going to release early and often. Not much has happened on the often front…
I’ve decided to develop this using Cocoa rather than REALbasic. This means that there will not be a Windows or a Linux version. I’m doing this for fun and recreation, and as such I want to use the Xcode and Cocoa so I learn how to use them.
Sign the People’s Petition
If you feel that UK based scientists should be able to continue using animals in medical research, under strict rules to make sure there is no unnecessary suffering, then sign the People’s Petition.
YAPT
I’m developing a MacOS X and Windows application to use in the chemistry courses I do with the Open University (OU). It shows the long form of the Periodic Table of the Elements and displays information about the elements that I need when doing the courses. It’s pretty rudimentary at present but it’ll get better. Working on the “release early, release often” principle I’m making it available for download for anyone who wants to use it and also shape the direction it goes in the future. Here is a screen shot from the Macintosh version.
The colours used in the application are taken from the periodic table used in several Open University chemistry courses, like S205. At present only Hydrogen, Helium and Lithium have any data for the few fields that are available. All the rest of the elements will just display their name when clicked. You can copy the fields that are populated and paste the data into other apps. This’ll be one of the main uses for the app for me. If I’m writing, in Word for example, I’ll be able to cut a needed piece of data from YAPT and paste it into Word. All of the elements have a tool tip that shows the Name, Symbol and Relative Atomic Mass when you hover the mouse over them.
BTW the name YAPT is an acronym for Yet Another Periodic Table. There are loads of periodic table applications out there after all. This one will be focused on providing the data I need when doing the OU chemistry courses in particular and other OU science courses in general.
A box of jewels
Saw this on the Bad Astronomy blog. Some pictures of the open star cluster NGC290 which is in the Small Magellanic Cloud. Beautiful.
Cassini pictures from Saturn
The Cassini imaging team have released some raw images sent back by the Cassini space probe. They are amazing.
Towards 2020 Science
This weeks Nature journal has a series of articles on the future impact of computers on science. The articles are all free for non-Nature subscribers. This access is sponsored by Microsoft Research who have a site on the Towards 2020 Science project.
You can download the 2020 report from the site or request a print copy. It’s a weird paper size so requesting a print copy might be a good idea. The Nature Podcast this week also includes info on ion channels and Towards 2020 Science. Available via the Apple iTMS (you need iTunes installed for this) or at the Nature site directly.
The 2020 stuff is really good if you are interested in the interface between computing and science.
Archbishop of Canterbury against creationism in schools
Credit where credit is due. Kudos to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, who has said in an interview with The Guardian, that creationism and ID should not be taught in schools. Bleedin’ obvious of course, but good that the head of the Anglican Communion is willing to say it publicly.
Good book review
There is a good review of Daniel Dennett’s Breaking the Spell, and also Lewis Wolport’s Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast. I like this section:
But what really troubles us, and what is not really tackled by either author, is the fact that a belief in the existence of deities invariably comes with an intense urge to shove that conviction down everyone else’s throats and to proselytise. This can lead to tensions, to put it mildly, a point succinctly made by my old friend, Katharine Whitehorn, the former Observer columnist. As she once wrote: ‘Why do born-again people so often make you wish they’d never been born the first time?’
Daniel Dennett Interview
There is a good interview with Daniel Dennett it today’s Observer. It’s based around his new book, Breaking the Spell. I like this quote:
“Of course I’m going to hurt people’s feelings,’ he says, ‘but I don’t want to offend people casually. I really want to do it on purpose.”
Yep. If people are believing idiotic ideas, then call them idiots.