Category Archives: Science & Technology

understanding the World and making things

3 links for the Biology and Medicine types

By Ian | January 8, 2009

or why the future of Biology is exciting, computational, and in my closet..
Ten extinct beasts that could walk the Earth again
“Tigers and Lions and Bears” or maybe “SaberTooths, Woolly Mammoths, and Dodos”. Could a charismatic megafaunal reality show be coming to a TV near you?
Why Early Detection Is the Best Way to [...]

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Arthur C. Clarke has gone to the great geostationary obrit in the sky.

By Ian | March 18, 2008

Via CBC we have the sad news that visionary Arthur C. Clarke has passed away at age 90. Best known as a Science fiction writer for the novel of the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey”, he wrote many, many, other fact and fiction novels. I am most thankful for his short stories, (in particular [...]

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The Meta Photo Album

By Ian | August 15, 2007

Via Mark Evan’s discussion of Newspapers Aren’t Doomed; It’s Their Business Models, (which is huge and juicy topic all by itself, I can across this TED video demo of Seadragon and Photosynth, by Blaise Aguera y Arcas.

It is Seadragon (acquired by Microsoft in 2006), the visualization technology that gives Photosynth its amazingly [...]

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Recent Links for August 9th : space launches using lighter-than-air vehicles ; Japanese Mottainai Furoshiki wrapping

By Ian | August 9, 2007

A vision of cheap space launches using lighter-than-air vehicles essentially balloons built specifically to carry light payloads to the stratosphere, from which a larger space-going vehicle could be launched.- first stage would use a lighter-than-air ascent vehicle to reach a stationary craft hovering above the earth at about 140,000 feet.
Remember : “slow is cheap, [...]

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ForeSight looks at Transportation Scenario’s upto 2050

By Ian | February 7, 2006

4 scenario’s for transport in Britain up to 2055

Also posted in Transportation | 2 Comments

MAXO signals and other Futures

By Ian | March 19, 2005

Via autopope, I now must scan the back pages of NATURE for the new series of back-page hard-SF stories, including Charlie Stross’s “MAXO signals”: a new and unfortunate solution to the Fermi Paradox”. It’s a short-short (only 803 words long).
They appear to be online under the “Futures” heading. We have:“Last man standing” by Xaviera [...]

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A Whole New Mind

By Ian | March 14, 2005

Yes , I need one of these! Via Many-to-Many we have a summury of daniel pink’s on book “A Whole New Mind” (March 24, 2005) as presented at the SXSW Interactive conference.

His key thesis is that the future no longer belongs to analytical professionals—the linear, logical knowledge people (the “SAT people,” he calls them, pointing [...]

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Evolution: It’s Only a Theory, But One Worth Teaching

By Ian | March 3, 2005

A very good read : Evolution: It’s Only a Theory, But One Worth Teaching.
The theory of gravitation is a powerful explanation of how objects interact in space-time. Its heritage goes back to Kepler’s description of planetary motion based upon Brahe’s observational data. It’s funny how no one argues that gravity is “only a theory,” yet [...]

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Happy Darwin Day !

By Ian | February 12, 2005

Charles Robert Darwin was born February 12, 1809; he published On the Origin of Species at age 50.
To help celebrate check the “Darwin Day Celebration” web site for an event in your area. Or you could bake Trilobite Cookies!(Via /.)

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What is the use of half an eye?

By Ian | December 21, 2004

In Where d’you get those peepers, Richard Dawkins rebutles Creationist (and intelligent design) claims that organs like eyes are too complex to have evolved naturally.
Category: Evolution

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