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A journal exploring science, technology, business, and health.

The dawn of the 21st century is an exciting time to be alive. The world is changing and we could very well be at the dawn of the birth of a new civilization that every one of us has a chance to help build. The possibilities are exciting; the dangers are unsettling.

"One of the definitions of sanity is the ability to tell real from unreal. Soon we'll need a new definition." --Alvin Toffler

--My personal journal can be read at http://sleepyaardvark.livejournal.com
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May. 12th, 2006 @ 03:24 pm (no subject)
Current Mood: contemplative
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General relativity predicts the existence of gravity waves in places where gravity is very strong, such as when two black holes merge. Many aspects of general relativity and gravity waves remain largely untested. But that may all be changing.



Skeptics of global warming would have us believe that man-made global warming is all one big hoax and that there is some controversy in the scientific community. While skeptics concede that the earth is getting warmer (since we have solid data that proves that), they claim that it is due to natural changes and not man-made causes. I was shocked that today's Wall Street Journal, of all sources, actually published an article explaining why it is very unlikely that natural changes alone can account for global warming.



With the conflict between democracy and religious fundamentalism, changing corporate structures, and other challenges, human decision making seems to be having problems these days. But can bees teach us how to come up with something better?



The peer review system has long been a staple of science. But with so many recent cases of studies that have had to be retracted and outright fraud, there is reason to wonder if the system is breaking down. Maybe its time to start thinking about another alternative.
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May. 11th, 2006 @ 12:01 pm (no subject)
Current Mood: contemplative
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There's something futuristic and surreal about little robots racing through the desert. For those unfamiliar with the DARPA grand challenge, CNET provides excellent coverage. Some might take issue with the event being sponsored by DARPA, a research arm of the Department of Defense, but keep in mind that the Internet was originally a DARPA Cold War-era project as well. In any event, the field of robotics has clearly made a lot of progress, since in the 2004 race, none of the entries managed to finish.



Banana Joe's or Joe Banana's? An interesting article on the implications of the globalization of business and trademark law. James Gleick explored this issue further in a New York Times magazine article exploring the implications of patents and trademarks being applied to ideas and thoughts. Perhaps The Onion was on to something when they wrote about Microsoft patenting ones and zeros.



In another controversy related to intellectual property, Google CEO Eric Schmidt explains the point of Google Print, a program designed to scan in books in order to make them searchable.. Of course, the publishing industry is raising all kinds of hell about this and claims to be concerned about people pirating their copyrighted books. But authors seem to be siding with Google on the grounds that they are more worried about obscurity than theft.



Personally, I think a lot of these trademark and copyright laws are being ridiculously applied. Remember that the whole reason our Constitution recognizes copyrights and trademarks is to foster creativity. Too often, the bizarre manner in which these laws are applied tends to do just the opposite. Human history shows that progress is most often made in any area by building on the ideas of others. And if someone uses Google Print to search for information, finds it in a book that they likely would not have otherwise heard of, and then goes out and buys the book, is that not to everyone's benefit?

Authors are right to worry about obscurity. Its not just a matter of the vast number of books that come out every year, although that in itself would present quite a challenge to any individual book getting wide notice. But there is also an increasing amount of new media where people can get information--magazines, websites, blogs, and so forth. In addition to the challenge of books being noticed, there is a challenge for users to find the information they are looking for within the vast amount of information that is out there. Without powerful search tools like Google, finding exactly what you need could become nearly impossible amid all the clutter. To say that the information in the world's books should be excluded from sophisticated search tools is short-sighted to say the least and could prove a serious handicap to research and access to information.



OK, quick, how many planets are there in the solar system? Nine, right? Well, maybe not. It all depends on how you define a planet, which turns out not to be so easy to do after all.



One of the overriding conflicts in computing has been between the component-centered model championed by Microsoft and the end-to-end model championed by Apple. To put this in plain English, the big question is whether different companies should manufacture hardware and software or if it should all be integrated into one device. In the first round of this conflict, Microsoft Windows won decisively. But now the focus is shifting beyond PC's into devices such as game consoles, music players, and cellphones. And in this new era, Apple's end-to-end device model might make more sense.



And finally, to give everyone more of an idea of what this blog is about, an eye-opening interview with futurist Alvin Toffler, author of Future Shock, The Third Wave, Powershift, and War and Anti-War, among others.
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