Gee, Google, what are we going to do tonight?
The same thing we do every night, Flavin. Try to take over the Internet!
On tonight's episode, Google releases a browser. Will they succeed in their plan of network domination? Watch and see!
(... I'm going to try it.)
Monday, September 1, 2008
Google Chrome
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Madden Curse
I just read a great article on the "Madden Curse." For those who don't know, every year a new edition of the football video game Madden NFL is realeased, and for ten or so years it has featured an NFL star on the cover. Over the years, some of the players appearing on the cover have gone on to be injured or have bad seasons. A rumor has grown that the cover brings a curse to any player on it, plaguing them with injuries, bad seasons, or other maladies.
Luke Plunkett writing on Kotaku has written a great breakdown of who's been on the cover every year and exactly what did or did not happen to them during that season. My favorite paragraph is this one:
...[the curse is] all based on hearsay, selective statistic cherry-picking and misinformation. When you look at two key factors - the NFL's injury rate and the actual performance of all twelve cover stars in the year they appeared on the box - you'll see the curse is nothing but a load of baloney.That some good skeptical thinking there, something I don't normally see crossed over from my video game sites. But, then, he's an Aussie. What else would one expect? Continue Reading...
Thursday, July 24, 2008
10 Most Scientifically Inaccurate Movies
I found this entertaining: Top 10 Scientifically Inaccurate Movies
My personal favorite is the Matrix: "Much in the way of physics in the Matrix -- like dodging bullets and running up walls -- gets a pass because it's all within a massive virtual world. But in reality, our supposed robot overlords are a bit dim. Humans are a remarkably inefficient energy source. Instead of turning the human race into Duracells, the machines would probably get more energy just setting those goopy people pods on fire."
I also think Alien should at least get a dishonorable mention.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
In Support of PZ
I'm emerging from my intermittent blogtirement to ask for a bit of advice.
You probably know of PZ Myers' recent run-in with Catholic hysteria. I'll give a brief run down anyway, more for me than for you. An undergrad in Florida went to a Catholic mass and took the Eucharist home with him rather than eating it. Catholics believe that this Eucharist becomes Jesus, so they got very upset. PZ wrote about it and tried to burst the Catholic bubble on this issue. (Note: His post is entitled "It's a Frackin' Cracker!" but you can tell he tempered his words. The URL is .../its_a_goddamned_cracker.php)
PZ's post stirred up a lot of shit. The Catholic League called for his job and organized a letter writing campaign to the UMM President Robert Bruininks to demand reprimands at the least.
PZ has asked for help in a counter-campaign to write his university President in support of his job. I'd like to write something, and I have several thoughts on what it should be about, but I'd like to have a nice, clean thesis. Any thoughts? Should I stick to the First Amendment and his rights to ridicule? Obviously I don't want to respond to the comments of the rabble, but what about Catholic League president Bill Donahue? Should I reference his arguments?
Any thoughts would be appreciated. Do you think PZ was right? Do you think he was within his rights? How do you think he should handle this situation?
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
This just in: Fools. Money. Parted.
I wish there were some details as to what people think she has done. Read here.
Continue Reading...Sunday, June 29, 2008
Ewww...
In general, I think these guys have the occasional funny comic, but this one just kind of grossed me out.
Nothing even remotely kinky should be associated with that troll.
Kudos to Robert Lancaster for handling himself perfectly when confronted by that wicked woman.
Monday, June 23, 2008
George Carlin Dies at 71
He will be missed. There is a little story here. My favorite Carlin joke was about those psychos at Waco. It's goes something like "The government and religious people shooting at each other? I'm OK with that."
Here's a classic Carlin clip for you.
Feel free to leave your favorite Carlin moment below.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Guess where I'll be tomorrow?
That's right! The 999 Eyes Freakshow at Cicero's. It starts at 8:30PM. Come on down! There is a tarot card reader. We all know how fun those are!
Continue Reading...Faith Healing Kills Another Kid
How many more times does this need to happen before they get the hint?
Continue Reading...Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Ken Miller on The Report
It's been a while since I've done this new-fangled weblogging technology, but I caught an episode of The Colbert Report last night featuring popular evolution spokesperson Ken Miller. My favorite quote not in the embedded section: "My guest Kenneth Miller is here to debunk Intelligent Design. I think he'll be surprised by my stockpiles of bunk."
Now the interview.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Teen goes to court for slandering Scientology
In London, some kid was caught protesting in one of those Anonymous protests on May 10 with a sign that just said "Cult" on it. Since England has some strict slander and libel laws, the kid is going to court. I say, of course, it is ridiculous, not so much because it's a free speech issue but because Scientology is obviously a cult. You can read about it here on Dawkin's site.
Continue Reading...Monday, May 12, 2008
I didn't know birds could be funny.
This might be the funniest headline ever written.
Continue Reading...Sunday, April 27, 2008
Huh?
Descendants of John Wilkes Boothe claim he was not shot after assassinating Lincoln. All I can say is, "Huh?" Read here. Also, tell me what a "matinée idol" is in the comments.
Continue Reading...Friday, April 25, 2008
Robotic Jellyfish
They can be found here, and here, and here! Thanks Skepchicks!
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Youngest Full-time Professor is 19 Years Old
I don't have time to type a lot about this, but I find it fascinating. I recommend reading here. Not only is she a professor, but she teaches math and physics, notoriously hard to teach. I am sure we will not get any follow-up to the story, but I would like to know how she ends up as a teacher. I always thought child-prodigies grew up to be fairly normal, but I base that on idle speculation.
Continue Reading...Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Science as Art
Click here for one of the most interestingly arranged site I have come by in a while. It is an online gallery of an art exhibit called "Design and the Elastic Mind." Here is a synopsis from their site:
Over the past twenty-five years, people have weathered dramatic changes in their experience of time, space, matter, and identity. Individuals cope daily with a multitude of changes in scale and pace—working across several time zones, traveling with relative ease between satellite maps and nanoscale images, and being inundated with information. Adaptability is an ancestral distinction of intelligence, but today’s instant variations in rhythm call for something stronger: elasticity, the product of adaptability plus acceleration. Design and the Elastic Mind explores the reciprocal relationship between science and design in the contemporary world by bringing together design objects and concepts that marry the most advanced scientific research with attentive consideration of human limitations, habits, and aspirations. The exhibition highlights designers’ ability to grasp momentous changes in technology, science, and history—changes that demand or reflect major adjustments in human behavior—and translate them into objects that people can actually understand and use. This Web site presents over three hundred of these works, including fifty projects that are not featured in the gallery exhibition.
Click around and see what's there. Some works are more interesting than others. Here is one I like (mostly for its social implications). Here is one that is just goofy. Also STEAK ZOMBIES EXQUISITE CORPSE! Oh and here is one I think is the most strange/gorss (Warning: strange nudity). Continue Reading...
Why did they have to put all the sad music behind it?
Here is a time-lapsed video of a man stuck in an elevator for 41 hours. I found it interesting to watch. I think I would have acted approximately the same way. Thanks to PZ for sharing.
Continue Reading...Tuesday, April 15, 2008
John Wheeler
I'm sure by now, most of you know the famous physicist John Wheeler died two days ago. He is most famous for co-writing the "Bible" of gravitation. He is also known for coining many modern physics terms such as blackhole and wormhole. On top of all that, he was the thesis adviser of Richard Feynman and Kip Thorne. If you haven't already found it through Phil's blog, as I did, there is a wonderful story from one of Wheeler's students over on the Cosmic Variance blog. I suggest reading it if you don't mind some tugging on your heart strings.
Continue Reading...Sunday, April 13, 2008
Black Hole Sun Won't You Come...
Welcome to day two of my attendance at the APS meeting in St. Louis. This time, I remembered to bring my laptop with me. I am currently sitting in on a session entitled "Neutron Stars, Pulsars, and Black Holes. Earlier today, I stumbled into a wonderful story-telling session about the Manhattan Project which included some wonderful little anecdotes about life at Los Alamos. One of the speakers was a British physicist who had worked there at the time. I would repeat some here but I would get the details wrong. Looks like the first talk is starting. I'd better listen up.
First up is Dr. J. R. Stone of Oxford discussing the equation of state for high density matter. The main question discussed is whether or not observational or experimental data can be used to place constraints on the equation of state of neutron star matter. One of the major pieces of data necessary for these constraints is a good measurement of gravitational mass v. radius for neutron stars. According to to Dr. Stone, "That would do it for me." Sadly, technical problems have cut this talk sort of it's ten minute allowed time. My estimate is that Dr. Jones was able to present about a third of her planned talk. I think I might have had a chance of understanding her neutron-neutron scattering data if she were given a few more minutes. If is the neutron-neutron interaction that must be fully understood in order to come up with the desired equation of state.
Talk number two is also on the equation of state for neutron starts. Dr. John Friedman is talking on astronomical constraints to the equation of state. Dr. Friedman tout that neutron stars might be strange quark stars. I'll have to look into that later. So the required astronomical include mass, moment of inertia, and spin frequency. From this talk, I have learned that if you know little about the field, the 10 minute talk format is probably not to go. Yesterday, while I was in the dark matter talks, I loved the 10 minute format because I absorbed a lot of information in little time. Knowing little about determining the equation of state of neutron stars, this talk is hard to follow, but I will talk about it anyway. Overall, I have learned that determining either the mass and moment of inertial or the mass and the gravitational wave characteristics both place good constraints on the shape of the equation of state.
On to the third talk! Guess what it is about. Come on, guess. That's right, it's another talk on the parameterization of the equation of state for a neutron star. This speaker is giving the second half of the second talk. Turns out they are testing 31 different equations of state some including all kinds of exotic matter including hyperons, mesons and quarks. One of the parameters most often used to parameterize these equations of state is the maximum allowed mass of the neutron star. Also used it causality which considers the speed of sound in the star. Redshift and rotation rate are also used in this manner. Currently, measuring the mass and radius of neutron stars is quite difficult. The four parameters mentioned above can be used to determine bulk properties of nuclear matter through the determination of the equation of state and therefore would have application beyond neutron stars. As you might be able to tell, this talk cleared up the previous one a little.
I'm going to sign off now to save some battery power for the dark matter talks.
Edit: I've decided to take pen and paper notes for the Dark Matter talks. I'll tell y'all about them later.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Laptops and Bad Hair
Since I just spent a full day at the APS meeting in St. Louis, I thought I would share my impressions. I spent all day listening to talks on dark matter detectors and liquid argon purification. Amazing right? Actually, I really enjoyed it. I learned about a dark matter detector called LUX (site is still under construction)that I had not heard of before. Though it is not new in the techniques that it employs (it is a large liquid Xenon time projection chamber), it does have quite the measurement range. There are some exciting times ahead for those looking for dark matter.
One the things that really blew my mind was the number of people with open laptops, working on their presentations during someone else's presentation. I can honestly that that number if approximately 1/3 of the total audience. If I had known there was free wireless, I would have brought my laptop and done some live blogging. There is always tomorrow (or Monday or Tuesday).
The highlight of the conference was, by far, the hair of the physicists. I saw long gray scraggly ponytails, frizzy scientist puffros, and foot-long beards. It was great. I can only hope there was a correlation between beard length and academic prominence.
Tomorrow, I will listen to more talks on dark matter. This time, it looks like it will be more theoretical. Joy! Sadly, I will be missing the morning talks because of a previous engagement. I will be missing the one talk I think will be crazy. I'll link to the abstract here. It is only a 10 minute talk but I think it would be a wonderfully strange 10 minutes. I should be able to make it in time to hear a few on gravitational wave detectors or x-ray bursts as well.
Tune in tomorrow for a live blogging on dark matter, if I remember to take my laptop.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Never Gonna Give This Joke Up
Since no one likes posts with too many videos, here's a post with merely one.
You all know who the Westboro Baptist Church is, right? Fred Phelps, "God Hates Fags", the whole bit. You also know, I'm sure, of Rickrolling.
What happens when we put the two together?
Not much, it turns out.
I feel bad for the kid with the "God hates the USA" sign. How can any group, cult or no, consider that moral? Oh, and "Mourn for your sins"? I mourned for mine when they died years ago, after I realized I was creating them myself. I'm glad to be rid of them.
-Thanks to my sweetie.
Friday, April 4, 2008
One Last Meeting Reminder
Just because there has been the slightest bit of confusion in our ranks about tonight's gathering, I though I would reiterate.
The St. Louis Skeptical Society will be having a gathering in St. Louis (go figure) at Cicero's on the Loop. This will occur TONIGHT Friday, April 4. It will begin at 7:30 pm and will most likely go on until the place closes (1 am). EVERYONE who is interested is welcome to stop by and hang out with us.
Hope to see you there.
Perhaps some of fellow local bloggers will stop by? Hint, hint.
The previous meeting announcement is here.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Notes
Arguments against scientific misconduct one finds in the literature generally fail to support current policies on research fraud: they may not prove wrong what is typically considered research misconduct and they tend to make wrong things that are not usually seen as scientific fraud, in particular honest errors. I argue that society cannot set a rule enjoining scientists to be honest, so any such rule can only be internal to science. Therefore society cannot legitimately enforce it. Moreover, until an argument is provided to prove that lack of honesty is far worse than lack of technical competence, intentional deceit should not be punished much more harshly than technical errors.
It has the difficult title. It has a list of keywords. It has an abstract. There's an introduction: it contains a brief summary of the complex life history of these trematode parasites, which are small invertebrates that live in the internal organs of fish, and it promises something. ...
Then the paper has a materials and methods section, just like the big boys — the author extracted parasites from fish and used light and scanning electron microscopy to look at them. Finally, there's a discussion and conclusion.
Notice anything missing? Right, no results. That's a metaphor for the whole creationist movement right there.
The picture of the notes, by the way, is from a collection of Pauling's lecture notes on quantum mechanics from the 30s. It's an intro to Hamilton's equation of motion, and I'm pretty sure I learned it the exact same way about 70 years after he delivered that lecture.
Meeting Details
As stated earlier, we're having a very social meeting this week. After much deliberation, we haven't come up with anywhere better than Cicero's as a place where you can hear your neighbor talk AND had good beer. So here are the details:
When: Friday, April 4. 7:30 PM
Where: Cicero's on the Loop
Remember, all are invited. We hope this is a good opportunity to meet some like-minded people in the area. Look here for some of the people to look for (Randi will not be there. Sorry.). If you would like to go but cannot make it this week, drop us a line and we'll make sure you hear about the next one. Hope to see you there.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
I Didn't Know He Had it in Him
For a webcomic usually about people and their relationships, today's Questionable Content is... unusual. But I welcome this change.
Comic below the fold. Click to see in its native habitat.
Monday, March 31, 2008
New Gmail Feature
Go check it out for testimonials from beta users and a description of how it works.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
He Wasn't Very Skeptical of Nixon
The new Skeptics' Circle has been posted at Mike's Weekly Skeptic Rant. Normally, only Big Heathen Mike blogs there, but for this post he brought in a special guest blogger. I think you'll enjoy.
I've been a regular reader of Mike's for months now. I haven't linked to him nearly enough, so hopefully I can send enough traffic his way with this post to mean something.
Skeptics + Bar = Fun!
So we have received a few e-mail from skeptics in the area asking to be informed of our next meeting. Well...it's soon! Probably next Friday(April 4). Before we finalize the details, I was wondering how many people would interested in having a get together at a local drinking establishment in lieu of a formal meeting. I am specifically interested in those who I do not know personally but who would like to hang out with a bunch of graduate student skeptics. Anyone who could get here would be welcome. It would be in St. Louis, probably in the University City area. Leave a comment if you are interested. I would like to get a very tentative headcount. Remember, all skeptics are welcome. We'll even take non-skeptics if they're fun.
Continue Reading...Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Adorable Little Sniper Girl
I want to say up front that this isn't a political post. It does, however, contain content regarding one of our Presidential candidates here in America who was apparently caught in a lie, or at least an embellishment. Full disclosure.
Mrs. Clinton gave a speech a few days ago in which she recalled a trip to Bosnia in the '90s. She said,
I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base.Others remember the story slightly differently. You can read about it at Ed Brayton's blog or The Washington Post, or you can just watch this funny video.
Continue Reading...
Monday, March 24, 2008
Woo in India
I'm sure I don't need to point people to Pharyngula, but this post is particularly funny. It's about a Tantrik Magician trying to kill an atheist with voodoo dolls and magic chants on Indian TV. I think I would watch this if it were a reality show.
Continue Reading...Saturday, March 22, 2008
Remeber Ms. Cleo?
I sure had forgotten about her. A friend pointed me to this video. Like most things on YouTube, it's obnoxious. However, it is also pretty funny.
Steven Fishman
After the infamous Tom Cruise video of a few months ago, the 'tubes were abuzz with this and other Scientology videos. However, these videos had in common that they were only for humor, making Cruise or other Scientologists look crazy. Not all videos must be this way, however.
Courtesy of Penny Arcade I came across the Steven Fishman Deposition. As part of a lawsuit with the Church, former member Fishman recorded on video his experiences in and about Scientology. To get a peek into the mind of what Scientologists actually think, this video is an invaluable tool. Words can only do so much, so I post the videos here. They're long, and there are a lot of them, but if you've got some spare time this isn't a bad way to spend it.
Comments on video 1
16ish minutes: The jargon is maddening! When the lawyer asks about some words, Fishman laughs and starts throwing extra jargon at him, apparently on purpose.
23:30: Scientologists are like Q. They got bored being infinitely powerful and removed their own powers for fun. Also, Fishman mentions the tone scale here; boredom is 2.5.
26ish - PDCs (Philadelphia Doctorate Courses) teach you how to create your own universe. I'll have to read those.
Whether you've watched none, all, or any number in between, post thoughts in the comments below.
science on tap
Join Washington University professors the last Wednesday of the month at 7:00 p.m. at Schlafly Bottleworks and explore the latest ideas in science and technology. Enjoy 20 minutes of presentation, followed by a break for introductions and then an hour of discussion.
Continue Reading...Friday, March 21, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Any Ideas on Where to Start?
In our meetings so far, we've discussed once or twice where we want to go as a group. We came to a consensus that we'd all like to move in a direction towards making our conversations more useful, towards using our skeptical talents to analyze issues that aren't so easy. We don't want to be shooting fish in a barrel forever. What's the point in putting up articles that just tear down articles written by other people? Is anything accomplished?
Well, I was reading a post on denialism blog about how science defenders can empower the anti-science people by writing about them and their activities. The final paragraph of that article seemed to address some of the problem we at the SLSS have been having with the direction of the group and the blog.
While debunking silly nonsense is fun, and I've certainly indulged, it's not as helpful as demonstrating the fundamental dishonesty of organized anti-science. Ultimately our goal is educating people what real science is and, importantly, what real science is not and how to tell the difference. Merely showing how a given argument is silly or incorrect doesn't help a great deal. However, showing people how to tell the difference between these lies and the real deal is a far more valuable skill to impart, and I think that's what a majority of us are doing when we confront nonsense from denialists everywhere.
I've nothing to add to that. Continue Reading...
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Arthur C. Clarke Dies at Age 90
As the title said, Sir Arthur C. Clarke passed away today. I remember him most from his show Mysterious Universe and from 2001: A Space Odyssey. I also remember listening to Rendezvous with Rama on audio book and enjoying it very much. While his TV series was not the most skeptical of shows, it was very entertaining. My favorite was the one on Haitian voodoo zombies. I found a few on Netflix a few months ago and enjoyed them almost as much as I did while watching it as a kid.
Feel free to leaving some comments about what you remember most about Arthur C. Clarke.
Monday, March 17, 2008
WWZFD
What WOULD Zombie Feynman do?
Pro-science, Mythbusters, zombies, Feynman, and a shot at string theorists...I think this one just became a personal favorite.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
More Scientology Protests Today
Looks like Anonymous is at it again. This this time, there were about 50 people across the street from the Scientology Center holding signs and wearing V masks. I honked a cheery tune as I drove past and got a cheer in response. I was in Qdoba earlier and found a stack of anti-Scientology fliers on the table. Keep up the good work guys.
Here are some links to last month's protests. (1, 2)
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Mensa's 10 smartest TV shows of all time
A few weeks ago, i ran across an article that listed ten television shows that Mensa claims are the smartest of all time. I was surprised not only by how poorly the article was written, but also with some of the shows they chose.
Apparently putting a lot of science in a show makes it smart by default, regardless of how accurate or correct it might be (or how good the show is otherwise). I spent a summer in Waco, Texas with 3 seasons of CSI on my computer. Waco can be a dull place, and boredom can be great motivation to watch bad television, but i couldn't bring myself to continue watching past the episode where the lead investigator calculates the time it took a man to fall from a construction site based on the fact that his terminal velocity was 9.8 meters per second squared.
I've only seen about five of the shows on Mensa's list and disagree with about four of them. It's ok to like bad TV, but don't try to justify it to everybody else by writing an article claiming that your ten favorite shows are the smartest "of all time".
On a related note, the Freakonomics blog had a post back in January about the smart and dumb books in which they discussed the findings of a Cal Tech student who correlated popular books (from facebook) with S.A.T scores (from the averages at a particular school). The top 5 include Lolita, 100 Years of Solitude, Crime and Punishment, Atlas Shrugged, and Freakonomics (surprised?). The two things I like most about this list are 1)it's objectiveness and 2)Fahrenheit 451 is among the dumbest books. I think it'd be interesting to do something similar with television.
Skeptics' Biblical Circle
This fortnight's Skeptics' Circle has been posted at Happy Jihad's House of Pancakes. It's chock full of goodness.
Phil Plait, the Bad Astronomer [who is actually a good astronomer], has put up a list of "Ten things you don’t know about the Milky Way Galaxy." I don't want to ruin the list for you, but one fact caught my eye. The consensus is that at the center of our galaxy is a supermassive black hole. However, new research suggests the galactic center is actually full of creamy nougat. Interesting stuff.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Skepticism in Art
A recent trip to the St. Louis Art Museum, combined with a recent read-though of Neil Gaiman's American Gods (available on the web for free for the rest of March), have gotten me thinking about art, mostly of the visual sort. I won't say much about what I've been pondering, because if I start talking about art I'll show exactly how little I know about it. But I do want to broadcast a few thoughts.
I want to see more art about skepticism or skeptical ideas. I'm not sure how much currently exists, and in what form, but wherever it is I want to see it. If it doesn't exist, I hope people will start making it. If no one does, I can try it myself, but I don't think anyone will like the result. That includes me.
Take, for instance, my photoshopped picture at the top of the page. It's something I did in about twenty minutes after seeing a perfect picture for the joke. It's not art, it's a gag. But that's what we can expect from me. Don't leave this in my hands.
Send me some links to skeptically-themed art and I'll be grateful. You will be too, if James Randi, Ace Attorney has anything to say about it.
-Thanks to the Skepchick for her picture of Randi on flickr, which I shamelessly stole.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
We met Randi!
As posted earlier, James Randi spoke at UIUC. Four of us Gateway Skeptics were able to make the 3 hour (each way) road trip and were rewarded with the chance to meet Randi and ask him a few question. He was even kind enough to pose for a photo (contrary to his expression). Afterwards, we went out for some great deep dish pizza with a few fellow bloggers. Click below for a synopsis of the evening.
The lecture was sponsored by the Atheists, Agnostics and Freethinkers organization from UIUC. Apparently, the president of the club was inspired by The Amaz!ng Meeting to start the organization on his campus and was dedicated to getting Randi on campus. It seems like he succeeded. Unbeknownst to us, they also invited Nobel laureate Dr. Richard J. Roberts to speak about atheism.
The introduction to Dr. Roberts lecture was strange to say the least. The student in charge knew (and admitted to knowing) very little about Dr. Roberts research and it did not seem like he was going to take the time to lern about it. Also, the student's cell phone went off no fewer than three times while he was at the podium. It was funny yet sad.
Dr. Roberts talk on atheism focused mostly on the lack of scientific questioning in religion. He also touched on contradictions in religious teachings, the uselessness of prayer, why there is evil and several other topics that would be typical in a Richard Dawkins lecture. This included claiming that indoctrinating children into a particular religion is a form of child abuse. Unlike Dawkins, however, Dr. Roberts did not seem to be an authority on the topic. When asked in the Q & A session after lectures, Dr. Roberts admitting to only studying comparative religions for a handful of semesters while in school. I think it showed.
On of the most curious aspects of his talk was his discussion on schizophrenia. Dr. Roberts claims that many personal religious experiences can be attributed to schizophrenia. Since I have heard similar claims elsewhere, that did not strike me as a strange claim. What did was when he claimed that those who are intelligent and schizophrenic are most often diagnosed as having bipolar disorder while those of lesser intelligence are deemed schizophrenic and crazy. He claimed that the intelligent individuals are able to separate their hallucination from reality while others cannot. It was a strange tangent that I'm not sure is factually correct.
Before I leave Dr. Roberts for The Amazing Randi, I would like to share one of his quotes from the Q&A session. Dr. Roberts was discussing why he became a scientist. He attributed his curiosity to being able make fireworks as a child. He then made the following comment:I know why terrorists like explosions. Everyone likes a good explosion.
Call me strange, but I don't think that's the reason terrorists blow things up.
Overall I think Dr. Roberts did a mediocre job selling atheism. However, he was talking to a audience who was mostly non-religious so little harm was done.
After Dr. Roberts talk, the president of Atheists, Agnostics and Freethinkers got up to introduce Randi. While he was better than the student who introduced Dr. Roberts, he wasn't much better. I won't go into details but I will say that it is a good thing Randi needs no introduction.
Randi's talk opened with a video montage chronicling some of his achievements as a skeptic and debunker. After the video, Randi came on stage to a healthy applause from the few hundred in the audience.
Randi focused the beginning of his talk on how people are fooled by others and how they fool themselves. This was accomplished by a few anecdotes and a few magic tricks. Randi then went on to explain the Million Dollar Challenge. This of course led to the story of Sylvia Browne accepting the challenge and never following through with the testing. This discussion included some impersonations of Sylvia by Randi and his looking for the proper name to call her regarding her insatiable money lust [Flavin reminds me this was regarding Montel William's money lust indicated by his having Slyvia on so often]: What do they call that in the media business? Oh yeah, a whore.
Randi then moved on to discussing how smart people are fooled while making a few despairing comments regard those with PhDs. There were in jest of course. The talk then turned to homeopathy and how ridiculous the dilutions are. This led to a discussion of faith healers, and we were treated to two video clips of Randi on the Tonight Show with Carson where Randi exposed Peter Popov (this clip is similar but not the same) and psychic surgery. This pretty much concluded Randi's lecture. It was quite wonderful as the crowd's standing ovation implied.
The Q & A session, however, was not as great. Sans one or two questions, those asked were neither insightful nor new. They ranged from simple questions about religion to asking Randi if he believes in ghosts. One question, however, stood out among the others as ridiculous. I'll try to tell it slow so you can enjoy it.
An Asian student stepped up to the microphone and told a story about a car accident he was in. Apparently, he was involved in a hit and run where he did the running. He claimed he was scared and did not know what to do so he left the scene of the crime. When the cops later came to his door, he denied having anything to do with the collision so he was promptly cuffed and hauled off and rightfully so. The kid was eventually let off the hook by the judge and what the kid described as "the grace of Jesus". Why Jesus would bother with this kid and his traffic violations, I do not know. Anyway, this story went on for a good two minutes before some in the audience started shouting "Get to the question!" The kid stuttered and then asked is science can explain love. There was an awkward silence as the audience dealt with the non sequitur. Randi and Dr. Roberts responded with a curt "No." This was not good enough for the kid at the mic as he continued by rambling about the saying of Jesus which Randi promptly questioned the validity of. Eventually the kids mic was turned off after being booed by the audience. The kid proceeded to stand behind the dead microphone for approximately 10 minutes, waiting to speak again. Eventually, he must have realized where he was and sat back down. Again, funny yet sad.
After the lecture, we were able to get a picture with Randi and ask him a few questions one-on-one. We then met up with the Action Skeptics, Tom, and two of his friends. (1, 2, 3). We grabbed some pizza and talked religion, blogs, comics and video games, as young skeptics often do. As the picture illustrates, it was an enjoyable end to the night.
Here's suggesting we invite Randi to speak in St. Louis.
Monday, March 10, 2008
And My Wife
I saw this very funny video today on Swift. How have I not heard of this guy, Tim Minchin, before?
Thursday, March 6, 2008
More info on the Randi Lecture
Since I'm sure that many of you don't go searching through the comments, I'll repost Akusai's comment here.
Just up on Randi's site:Let's hope Randi comes through on the meet-up. Also, let me know if you want to go so we can car pool. It looks like we can leave at about 3:30 and make it in time (it's about a 3 hr 10 min drive). Continue Reading...
Monday, March 10 2008, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Randi will be speaking at the Lincoln Hall Theater located in Lincoln Hall in the main quad at the University of Illinois at 7pm in a lecture entitled, "Science, Magic, and Belief."
And convenient directions from all points on the compass.
I kindly requested in an e-mail to Randi that he might consider a meet-up after the lecture if time permits, but no word either way on that. Michael Shermer said yes a couple of years ago to the same question (and that was a lot of fun) so maybe Randi will, too...
Monday, March 3, 2008
It May Be 8 PM, But I Think I Need More Coffee
I'm too bogged down with homework to make this post anything like what it should be, so I apologize ferociously. In fact, I can't even spare the time to read the paper I found. I'm lobbing it to you, dear reader.
So can someone please tell me what The Nonequilibrium Nature of Culinary Evolution is about, and why it's on the physics arXiv?
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Natural Male Imprisonment
On this day, I urge everyone to remember the reason anyone knows about Enzyte at all: their commercials. A discussion of the epistemological status of Enzyte and other "natural enhancement" pills commences below, but first let us watch some funny videos.
According to the manufacturer's website, Enzyte "includes Korean red ginseng, ginkgo biloba, zinc, and octacosanol." According to Enzyte's Wikipedia entry, no clinical effect has been proved.
I'm feeling a lot of guilt right now for putting off my homework, so rather than take the time to thoroughly go through the ingredients and claims and so forth, I'll refer you to sage advice given by the Federal Trade Commission in 1998.
Thanks to Ed Brayton.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Road Trip!
The Amazing James Randi will be lecturing at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign on Sunday Monday, March 10. It is about 2 1/2 hours from St. Louis. I think we should go if it is open to the public. Who's with me? Perhaps we'll see one of the Action Skeptics there.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Further Proof Science is Sexy
Dr. T. Stuart Meloy has developed spinal implant to treat bladder and pain problems that has the sexy side effect of causing orgasms in most women. According to an LA Times article:
Women who have used the device say they feel as if their clitoris and vagina are actually being stimulated, to quite realistic effect. ("One woman asked me, 'Would it be considered adultery if I gave the remote control to someone other than my husband?' " Meloy says.)Dr. Meloy is now looking for FDA approval to use the device to treat female orgasm dysfunction.
Some volunteers also report fleeting episodes of clenched foot muscles, Meloy says, probably a result of electrical pulses leaving the spine and stimulating nearby motor nerves. (He wonders if the phenomenon might somehow be related to a common orgasm description: "My toes curled.")
And when the device's pulse intensity is cranked up to maximum, Meloy says, some women find their vaginal and rectal muscles squeezing rhythmically in time with the pulses, even before the orgasmic finale.
But that's not all!
Meloy says he has also implanted two impotent men with the device. Both volunteers were able to achieve an erection, he says, and reportedly had powerful ejaculations.
As soon as the good Doctor finds a way to bring the price down from a steep $12,000, perhaps we'll see a slightly less frustrated America. And some say science is boring...
Read more here and over at Skepchick. Here is the LA Times article. Continue Reading...
Graduate Students are Good for Something
Put this in your "Cool Gadgets" notebook. I know you all keep one. Clay Moulton, a student from Virginia Tech, has invented a gravity lamp, as in a lamp powered by gravity. You can read the full article here. The lamp is powered by a slowly falling weight which spins a rotor to light an LED, and as a result, a weight must be lifted to the top of the lamp every four hours. The lamp puts out 600-800 lumens (enough to light the den), and the machinery of the lamp is estimated to last upwards of 200 years. Way to go Clay.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Pentagon + Lasers = Scary
"A recently unclassified report from the Pentagon from 1998 has revealed an investigation into using laser beams for a few intriguing potential methods of non-lethal torture. Some of the applications the report investigated include putting voices in people's heads, using lasers to trigger uncontrolled neuron firing, and slowly heating the human body to a point of feverish confusion - all from hundreds of meters away."
Read the full article here.
On a lighter note, I think that transmitting music directly to your head would be pretty cool. Imagine an ipod without those damned headphones. I wonder how good the bass is.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Kotaku on JT's NIU Claims
School shootings are horrible tragedies. I want to be clear right from the start that no one should be made to endure a loved one's murder or suicide, particularly in such a painful and public manner.
In the aftermath of such an event, we all want to know why it happened. But speculating about motives before we have concrete information is foolish in the least and can be harmfully misleading. Mere speculation, though, can be forgiven. Using a tragedy to advance a wholly unrelated agenda cannot.
It is with this in mind that we watch a video of one infamous Florida attorney, whom we followers of video game culture sometimes call He Who Must Not Be Named. Inexplicably, this man is allowed on Fox News to throw out his claims that major tragedies are caused by video games. The shooting at NIU on the 14th was no exception.
An analysis of the claims in this clip has been made by Brian Crecente of Kotaku, which I will reproduce for you here.
Wonderful skeptical analysis of an opportunist. Kudos to Crecente, and I wish I had wrote it myself.
Verdict: False
Evidence: While the study of adolescents by Harvard and Indiana university researchers found that video games can spur "emotional arousal" and lower self-control it never made that final leap. In fact David S. Bickham, a research scientist at the Center on Media and Child Health at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, told the Washington Post that the study, while interesting, wasn't conclusive.
Verdict: False
Evidence: Va Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho only had a passing interest in gaming years before the shoot[ing]. A lawyer tried to draw a connection between the game Doom and Columbine shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, but that was tossed out by a federal judge. Paducah shooter Michael Carneal also played Doom, but that was found to not be connected to the shooting. Video game as murder simulator and training tool just doesn't hold any water.
Verdict: Not exactly true
Evidence: While it is true that Steinhauser and Cho both played Counter-Strike at some point in their lives, with more than a million copies sold, that could probably be said of a lot of college students. Saying that Cho "trained on" the game is a bit of a stretch.
Verdict: Likely false
Evidence: The description by those present don't make it sound like he had a flat affect. One person said "It looked like a theatrical thing the way he walked onto the stage." Others described his behavior leading up to the shooting as erratic. Not surprising of a man who had recently been dumped by his girlfriend and had stopped taking his medication, possibly anti-depressants. Simply wearing black doesn't mean he was dressing up like the "hero" from Counter-Strike.
Verdict: True
Evidence: Jack did indeed write a book, and I think he lost his train of thought about two decades ago.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Python v. Alligator: Draw
Those of you stuck in our lovely office know that there has been talk about which animals would defeat others in a fair fight. I think you wold all agree that this result is a little surprising...
In Florida, a 13-ft Burmese python took on a 6-ft alligator. The results were disastrous. It looks like the python was able to swallow the entirety of the alligator but then burst. Perhaps the alligator decided to claw its way out. Both animals died in the process. The picture above shows the alligator's tail bursting through the side of the python. The head of the python is missing. In retrospect, I think it might be fair to give the python a point for effort.
Now if only nature will provide us with a gorilla v. bear war. Until then, we'll just have to go with what we have on film.
Tip of the hat to PZ for pointing out something that I should have learned about 3 years ago when it happened.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
We're #1! We're #1!
Skeptic's Circle número ochenta is up at Bug Girl's Blog. Our very own Flavin was crowned with first mention.
Continue Reading...Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Valentine's Day Special: Scientific Lovers
Those of you in the Boston/Providence area can avail yourselves of a service that will match you with a partner based on your own DNA! It's science! Yes, on ScientificMatch.com you can find a mate who is genetically compatible with you. Based on what criteria, you ask? What genes are examined? These questions and more will be answered in this Gateway Skepticism Valentine's Day Special: Scientific Lovers.
The site is actually very forthcoming with information. They've got a long page detailing their claims and the evidence for them. The first question they tackle is about the genes. What kind of analysis can they perform on genes to match you with a potential relationship?Physical chemistry is based on the immune system. When we analyze your DNA, we look exclusively at your immune system genes. So, quite literally, when we say that two people have “chemistry”, we’re saying that their immune system genes are perfectly matched with each other.
That's what they do: look at genes in the major histocompatibility complex, MHC, and see how many you share with a potential mate. The fewer you have in common, the better matched you are with each other. It seems a rather simple metric considering the... well, rather sexy claims being made for the service.
By perfectly matched, we mean different.
After we analyze your DNA, we match you with other people who have different immune system genes from yourself.
The theory is that nature wants us to breed with other people who have different immune systems because it creates babies with a wider variety of immune system genes, and therefore, more robust immune systems—in other words, healthier babies.When you share chemistry with someone, you significantly increase your chances of realizing these amazing benefits:
To me, these claims appear outlandish. However, my opinion counts for naught when references are provided for each claim. Yes, you read that correctly: it's a dating site that relies on published scientific research. Some of you might be pulling your credit cards out already, but let's examine in more detail first.1. Chances are, you’ll love the natural body fragrance of your partner--they’ll smell sexier than other people
To back up this assertion, they cite an experiment in which women were asked to smell sweaty t-shirts worn by men. The relative rating by the women of pleasure of the smells was correlated with the difference in MHC genes between smeller and smelly smellee. A handy overview is given at the Wikipedia article for the author, Claus Wedekind.
This claim is actually pretty well established. It's a little weird, but could be true. If someone is matched to you by this service, you might like the smell of their sweat better than someone more similar to you in MHC genes—unless you're on the pill, in which case it's opposite. I wouldn't say it's enough to base a relationship on, so what about the other claims?2. You’ll probably have a more satisfying sex life
You may have noticed I presented three claims together—and what amazing claims they are!—and were wondering why. Well, as their primary support, these three wonderful sexy claims cite one and the same paper. That's right, on the same page that cites over 40 primary research papers and books, fully half of the amazing benefits of this DNA-matching service are resting on one published report. Let's read, shall we?
3. If you’re a woman, chances are you’ll have a higher rate of orgasms
4. There’s a lower chance of cheating in your exclusive relationships when your DNA is matched properly
The paper (full reference below) can be found here. It approaches this question from a psychology perspective, administering a questionnaire about sexual satisfaction, cheating, etc. Honestly, I don't know enough about psychology research or statistics to know if there are any weaknesses in the study, save a few things.
First, the study involved only 48 couples. For such broad results, I would like to see something larger. Second, the participants were taken from a college campus and had mean ages 20.5 and 21.3 years for men and women, respectively. Hardly a representative group, especially for satisfaction in relationships and sexual behavior. Are 20-year-olds likely to be using a dating website? Third, I haven't seen any replication. Only three papers have cited this one (it is from 2006, after all) and none have checked the results.
None of these perceived-by-me weaknesses are deal-breakers for the accuracy of the study. It could be true that all three benefits of MHC-matching based on this paper and advertised by scientificmatch.com will come to you with a properly matched partner. But I wouldn't start a business around it, myself.5. As a couple, you're probably more fertile
This is based on a few studies demonstrating that couples with dissimilar MHC genes have a lower rate of "spontaneous, unprovoked abortion." The studies appear pretty legit, but is having a lower rate of "spontaneous, unprovoked abortion" really the same thing as being "more fertile" as was claimed? The site is a little shifty about this point.To be clear, they don’t show a correlation between chemistry and the ability to get pregnant. That wasn’t investigated in these studies, so they don’t disprove the correlation, either.
Riiiight. They don't say it'll happen, but they don't say it won't happen, do they?6. Your children have a better chance of being healthy
This claim is extensively documented in humans and in other species. It seems obvious to me as a non-biologist who has scanned these papers that having many different haplotypes of the MHC genes will help prevent against some diseases and will possibly make the immune system better in general. This hypothesis has been tested and seems to be correct, again from a non-biologist's perspective.
I don't know about you, but I wasn't too convinced. The evidence for the good, fun stuff was a little shaky. Sure, having a slightly higher chance of healthy babies is great, but I'd really like to know more about the "more orgasm" thing. Can we get another study on that?
For those of you who have used or do use dating websites, maybe this one tickles your fancy. It certainly can't be any less scientific than some popular dating sites out there. I don't think it could hurt to give it a shot.
There's my Valentine's Day special skeptical gift: scientific analysis, tentative conclusions, and weak recommendations. It isn't romantic, it isn't a cure-all for your love problems, and it probably doesn't make blood flow to your naughty bits.
But it is the best thing I can give you: reality.
Full reference: Garver-Apgar, Christine E, Steven W Gangestad, Randy Thornhill, Robert D Miller, & Jon J Olp (2006) “Major Histocompatibility Complex Alleles, Sexual Responsivity, and Unfaithfulness in Romantic Couples,” Psychological Science, vol 17, no 10, pp 830-835.
What's the harm?
Here is a site keeping track of those harmed by pseudoscience and dangerous beliefs. Categories include Scientology, exorcisms, homeopathy, vaccine denial, acupuncture, UFOs and many others. I recommend taking a look.
Thanks to the Bad Astronomer for sharing.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Nutating?
I love to see scientists, particularly physicists, interacting with the broader culture. And vice versa, of course. That's why I was tickled to flip on Conan last Friday and see MIT physics professor Peter Fisher entertaining the crowd with science and wit.
No, I'm not joking; he was actually funny. See for yourself.
[EDIT: See bottom]
From this we can conclude:
Oh, and nutating is a cool word.
UPDATE: Well, NBC has asserted its right to not have its videos hosted on YouTube. That's fine: they do hold the copyright to these recordings and if they decide their property should not be hosted on a popular website then the videos should be removed. I just wish they would do a little better about allowing an approved legal way to embed videos.
If you're so inclined, you can go the the Conan video site, choose Friday, February 8, and watch the second chapter of the episode. I know it's cumbersome, but for now that's the way it has to be. I knew these videos would be removed eventually (and verification that I predicted this is borne in this page's url), but I didn't think it would happen within a few hours of me posting them. Perhaps if someone hadn't put them on his wildly more popular site, they'd still be enjoyable by us all (but probably not).
Thanks to commenter PJ.
UPDATE 2: Thanks, Blake, for pointing the way to new videos. Those didn't exist when I looked, but the shifting sands of the interweb have tricked and confused many men before me so it's no shame I missed them. That's what I'll keep telling myself.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Scientology Protest Update
I have scavenged the internet for more information on the protests. Here is news of protests in Australia (a video, and more); Los Angeles (more); Boston; Clearwater, Florida (Scientology Headquarters: more); Detroit; and Hollywood. I will keep my eyes peeled for more. Feel free to either e-mail me (slss.ben at gmail dot com) more news stories from other areas if you come across them or leave links in the comments. I am finding this way too interesting.
Update: Chris Hoofnagle of the Denialism Blog protested in San Francisco.
Here is some info on London's protests (more); Buffalo, NY; Arizona; the CNN building (LA again, with video), ST. LOUIS; Canada; more on Clearwater, Florida; and Pittsburgh.
More Updates:
USA Today article; Washington D.C.; Austin; Seattle; Portland, OR; Dallas, Houston; Scotland ( quite a great article); Chicago; Dublin (video); here is another good summary.
Scientology Protest in St. Louis
I don't have much information on the specifics, but I drove by the Scientology center today to see approximately 50 protesters across the street holding signs that said things like "Cult of Scientology". There were police on the Scientology center's side of the street, but it seemed a fairly innocuous protest. The protesters seemed to be in good spirits and waved as I drove by. It was quite a wonderful sight. Kudos to those braving to cold to tell it like it is!
This protest is part of the recent announcement by the hacker group Anonymous of their intention to bring down Scientology. Here are some more links. (1, 2). Here, I found the itinerary of today's protest. The overall organization of the protests seems non-violent and quite amazing. I hope the protests around the globe go well today.
Hail Xenu!
Thursday, February 7, 2008
New University in Saudi Arabia
I have been meaning to write about this for several days, but with classes settling into a clipping pace and with research/TA duties, posts may be a little more spaced out than usual. Anyway, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has donated $10 billion (that's right, billion with a b) of his own pocket change to create the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology or KAUST for short. (I won't make the obvious pun about the kaust of the university. Oops, I just did.) This endowment is one of the 10 largest ever. It's funding will be similar to that of top schools like Harvard and MIT.
What is amazing about this university is exactly how much effort is being put into making it a great center of learning. Instead of being divided into departments in the traditional way (Chemistry, Math, Biology, English, Drama, etc.), KAUST is divided into interdisciplinary institutes which focus on working with industry and solving important global problems. So far, there are four institutes listed: Resources, Energy and Environment; Biosciences and Bioengineering; Materials Science and Engineering; and Applied Mathematics and Computational Science.
To increase the amount and efficiency of research at the new university, the science faculty will be provided with grants totaling $1 billion over ten years (that's total, not per scientist). This will help the scientists focus on their research instead of continuously digging up money to support their projects.
There is a similar incentive for students. Besides the several scholarships available to undergraduate students, all juniors, seniors, and graduate students will be provided free tuition for the next ten years.
You can seen the layout of the new university here. Hopefully the real campus will be as amazing as the 3D models.
This is an exciting time to be a student in Saudi Arabia. Education is the solution to so many of the world's social problems. Here's hoping it turns out as amazing as it sounds on paper.
You can read some more about his through Scientific American or from Bob Novella at The Rogues Gallery.
Monday, February 4, 2008
More on Plastic Bags
Ireland has joined China and others on the banning of the free distribution of plastic bags. You can read a short article here. You can also read my and Adam's previous thoughts on the banning of plastic bags from last month. Check out the comments for most of the discussion.
Update: There is a much better article about the situation in Ireland here. Turns out, it is more socially unacceptable than banned.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Noise and Fluctuation
Remember The Inner Life of a Cell? I've mentioned it before. Every time I see it, I think that the molecules seem a bit too anthropomorphic for my taste; they're all running around very purposefully and directly. Does anything about that strike you as being strange? It does me.
It strikes PZ Myers as being strange, too. He recently wrote a criticism of this video that captures very well the essence of its nonphysicality.
The feature that's missing from the video is noise. Every molecule in this video should be moving randomly at each moment, but with an average motion in some particular direction. I think PZ gets it right when he says,For purposes of drama and minimizing complexity and confusion, though, the animators of that video have stripped out one of the most essential properties of systems at that scale: noise, variability, and the stochastic nature of chemical interactions.
Not only can thermal or chemical fluctuations not be ignored, there is evidence that for some systems noise can be important (PDF) to their functions.
The reason I wanted to link this was to put up a cool animation of single-molecule-imaging of a protein binding to DNA and exhibiting stochastic motion. Sadly, I couldn't find it online—here's the reference, though. Instead I'll show an also-cool animation of a simulated actin fiber pushing an obstacle. Actin generates cellular motion, basically by converting thermal fluctuations into mechanical work. Each monomer is small and can sneak in under the fluctuating obstacle to make the actin fiber longer. Slowly, eventually, gradually things move in more or less the needed direction. It's awesome but overlooked by the Inner Life video. So enjoy this low-tech animation, pilfered from Anders Carlsson.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Funny. Very Funny.
Mark Crislip over on the Science-Based Medicine blog is calling for alternative aviation since medicine has had such luck supporting alternative medicine. I highly recommend it.
Here is one of my favorite passages:
Quantum mechanics demonstrates that an electron takes many simultaneous paths to go from point a to point b. Only when the wave function is collapsed does the electron reach its destination. We have a prototype quantum airplane what will be able to simultaneously transport a passenger to all their destinations and with a simple collapse of the wave function the passenger will be at their destination of choice. With quantum aviation one can take the path less traveled and make a difference. In the quantum realm, our mind makes both our reality and our travel destination.
Aviation based on principals of homeopathy is especially promising. Airplanes, once they have flown their route, remember the route due to the principals of quantum complementarity. Then by making the planes smaller and slower by repeated factors of 10, planes can carry more passengers, go faster and farther with each aeronautic dilution.
Enjoy! (By the way, this is post #100. Woohoo!) Continue Reading...
Prime Time
New Skeptics' Circle, the 24*5 - 1 edition.
I guess we submitted a little over the wire. Ah, well, next time will be our time. Interpret that as you will.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Are fractions obsolete?
In a USA Today article titled, Professor: Fractions should be scrapped, Dennis DeTurck argues that, "Fractions have had their day, being useful for by-hand calculation, but in this digital age, they're as obsolete as Roman numerals are."
i couldn't disagree more.
According to DeTurk, after he publicly made his "Down with Fractions" proclamation, "There were blogs and rants, and there were some critical e-mails, they'd always boil down to: 'What would we do in cooking and carpentry?' "
It turns out fractions are pretty important for things like ratios and rates (to name a few). What i think the proposition actually boils down to is something more along the lines of: 'What would we do in science and engineering?' If your idea of math is to put some numbers in and get a number out, then DeTurk may be right...as long as you have a calculator (try doing 9.33*.429 in your head...now try (28/3)*(3/7)). But you can't even do simple algebra without a fairly good understanding of fractions...much less trigonometry or calculus!
DeTurk goes on to attack long division, the calculation of square roots and by-hand multiplication of long numbers. It looks like 90% of what i learned in math after 3rd grade isn't really that important after all.
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