science Archives | Page 92 of 95

Converting The Enemy

By Clifford | September 17, 2006 - 2:27 pm |September 17, 2006 environment, global warming, science

An interesting development in the world of chemistry caught my eye just now. Imagine taking that carbon dioxide that is in so many of our emissions, and that is one of the principal agents in the processes contributing to global warming, and using solar energy, converting it into fuel. Now that would really be an interesting possibility, wouldn’t it?

Well, it is possible. Whether it will ever be a viable scheme that makes any practical sense is another matter, but you’ve got to start somewhere. A team of chemists represented by Gabriele Centi of the University of Messina (Italy) presented new results on this process to the American Chemical Society meeting in San Francisco. From New Scientist:
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What’s in a Name?

By Clifford | September 16, 2006 - 9:59 am |September 16, 2006 astronomy, miscellany, planets, science

21 Comments

I forgot to tell you about this. The name Eris has been officially chosen by the International Astronomical Union for the astronomical body so many wanted to be called Xena. (Keck image, left) Eris is the goddess of discord and strife, by the way. The moon of the body, that … Click to continue reading this post →

Physics Blog Carnival

By Clifford | September 15, 2006 - 12:33 am |September 15, 2006 science

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Don’t miss out on the new physics blog carnival, Philosophia Naturalis, hosted at Science and Reason. Lots of good stuff to read there. -cvj

Categorically Not! – Apocalypse!

By Clifford | September 13, 2006 - 3:57 pm |September 13, 2006 art, entertainment, science

4 Comments

The next Categorically Not! is Sunday 24th September. I’ve posted before about the Categorically Not! series of events held at the Santa Monica Art Studios. They’re fantastic, and I strongly encourage you to come to them if you’re in the area. Have a look at the last two descriptions here … Click to continue reading this post →

Clues in the Blood Splatter Patterns

By Clifford | September 12, 2006 - 10:52 am |September 12, 2006 astronomy, planets, science

5 Comments

This is the penultimate line in an article today in the Science Times: â€œSometimes how the blood is splattered on the wall tells you more about what happened than the body,â€ It is a quote from Harold Levison of the Southwest Research Institute, in the context of understanding the origins … Click to continue reading this post →

Nerdium Perpetuus

By Clifford | September 11, 2006 - 4:00 pm |September 11, 2006 entertainment, science in drama, science in the media

11 Comments

In view of the discussion here and here, I feel I ought to remind readers of an earlier post entitled “The Rise of the Nerd” I wrote on the subject of nerds, geeks, the terminology, and the media portrayals. Somewhere in there is a serious point, which keeps getting missed … Click to continue reading this post →

Seven

By Clifford | September 11, 2006 - 1:22 pm |September 11, 2006 architecture, art, design, science

3 Comments

I’m trying hard not to think about this day, five years ago, in Manhattan. Nor the days immediately following. Those were among the worst experiences of my life, being so close (but very luckily, far away enough) to the events. But the whole thing gets replayed by the media every … Click to continue reading this post →

Epic Struggles in Mathematics

By Clifford | September 9, 2006 - 2:46 pm |September 18, 2006 mathematics, science in the media

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I have this problem: I don’t really have enough hours in each day. One of the symptoms of this problem is a huge pile of unread or partially read issues of the New Yorker. Sometimes I try to catch up. This catching up is incomplete, of course, and sometimes I … Click to continue reading this post →

The Science, Art, and Mathematics of Origami

By Clifford | September 9, 2006 - 11:33 am |September 9, 2006 art, Los Angeles, mathematics, science, science education

5 Comments

One of my hobbies for a while when I was a young ‘un was origami. It was swiftly overtaken by other arts and crafts, and these were hobbies long before I started taking apart cameras and radios, and the like, to see how they worked, and collecting pondwater and pressing … Click to continue reading this post →

Bullet Not Silver?

By Clifford | September 7, 2006 - 10:52 am |September 7, 2006 astronomy, cosmology, dark matter, science

6 Comments

I learned from New Scientist just now that various researchers working on modified gravity theories are casting doubt on the direct evidence of Dark Matter that was presented by Douglas Clowe and collaborators a few weeks ago. Recall an earlier post on it, here, and Sean Carroll’s post with more … Click to continue reading this post →

The String Doll Gang

By Clifford | September 7, 2006 - 1:44 am |September 11, 2006 humour, science, string theory

10 Comments

Actually, it’s even better than I thought! There’s a whole collection called “The String Doll Gang”. Here are some of them (click for larger): Cute aren’t they? Yes, each apparently made of onecontinuouspieceofstring. More about them, and closeups (and prices) at this site. Now, being a responsible citizen … Click to continue reading this post →

The Stampede

By Clifford | September 6, 2006 - 10:26 pm |September 7, 2006 academia, art, science

3 Comments

So this semester, at the request/suggestion of the people who bring USC freshmen the Freshman Seminars, KC Cole and I started a new course. Turned out we were brought in to replace another professor who was originally billed to do what looks to be an Art appreciation course. Looked good. … Click to continue reading this post →

Very Superstitious, Ladders ’bout To Fall

By Clifford | September 6, 2006 - 10:00 am |September 6, 2006 science, science in the media

4 Comments

Apparently, we are hard-wired for superstition and religion. This is according to Bruce Hood, of Bristol University, in the UK. I learned this from an article in the Guardian by James Randerson, which you can read here. The good professor: suggests that magical and supernatural beliefs are hardwired into our … Click to continue reading this post →

The Cosmic Hunters

By Clifford | September 6, 2006 - 8:04 am |September 6, 2006 astronomy, science, science in the media

1 Comment

The BBC’s Radio 4 starts a new programme about astronomy tonight. Called “The Cosmic Hunters”, it sounds as though it will be rather good, so do tune in. It will be on Wednesdays at 9:00pm. It will be discussing various areas of recent research, using some of the optical telescopes … Click to continue reading this post →

I Can Retire Now…

By Clifford | September 6, 2006 - 8:00 am |September 11, 2006 art, entertainment, science, science education

2 Comments

… since on Friday, our event of Thursday night, along with a photo of KC and myself in action, made the front page …of the campus newspaper, the Daily Trojan! This is a big deal, you see. Front page spots for faculty in the student newspaper…. and colour photos to … Click to continue reading this post →

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