New (and apparently controversial) genetic evidence that dinosaurs (and particularly T. Rex) were closely related to birds.
Category Archives: General Science
A Brief Tutorial
…on centrifugal force.
Are We Real?
A Potential Breakthrough?
A new class of high-temperature superconductors:
According to Steven Kivelson, a theoretical physicist at Stanford, “[there exist] enough similarities that it’s a good working hypothesis that they’re parts of the same thing.” However, not everyone hopes the mechanism is the same. Philip Anderson, a Nobel Laureate and theoretical physicist at Princeton, says that an entirely new mechanism of superconductivity would be far more important than if they mimicked the current understanding of superconductivity. “If it’s really a new mechanism, God knows where it will go,” says Anderson.
Let’s hope.
Caught In The Act?
Some rapidly evolving lizards have been discovered on an Adriatic island:
The transplanted lizards adapted to their new environment in ways that expedited their evolution physically, Irschick explained.
Pod Mrcaru, for example, had an abundance of plants for the primarily insect-eating lizards to munch on. Physically, however, the lizards were not built to digest a vegetarian diet.
Researchers found that the lizards developed cecal valves–muscles between the large and small intestine–that slowed down food digestion in fermenting chambers, which allowed their bodies to process the vegetation’s cellulose into volatile fatty acids.
“They evolved an expanded gut to allow them to process these leaves,” Irschick said, adding it was something that had not been documented before. “This was a brand-new structure.”
Along with the ability to digest plants came the ability to bite harder, powered by a head that had grown longer and wider.
It will be interesting to see not only if there is a genetic basis for this change, but if they can still interbreed with the original species. If not, that’s called a “new species,” folks.
Expelled
Darwin And Hitler
Derb has some thoughts:
As so often with creationist material, I’m not sure what the point is. Darwin’s great contribution to human knowledge, his theory of the origin of species, is either true, or it’s not. Is David saying: “When taken up by evil people, the theory had evil consequences. Therefore the theory must be false”? Is he asserting, in other words, that a true theory about the world could not possibly have evil consequence, no matter who picked it up and played with it, with no matter how little real understanding? Does David think that true facts cannot possibly be used for malign purposes? If that is what David is asserting, it seems to me an awfully hard proposition to defend. It is a true fact that E = mc2, and the Iranians are right at this moment using that true fact to construct nuclear weapons. If they succeed, and use their weapons for horrible purposes, will that invalidate the Special Theory of Relativity?
If David does not think that Darwin’s explanation for the origin of species is correct, let him give us his reasons; or better yet, an alternative explanation that we can test by observation. That a wicked man invoked Darwin’s name as an excuse to do wicked things tells us nothing, nada, zero, zippo, zilch about the truth content of Darwin’s ideas.
I always have to scratch my head at conservatives who are perfectly comfortable with Adam Smith’s invisible hand when it comes to markets, but can’t get their heads around the concept of emergent properties in the development of life. And of course, the opposite is true for liberalsfascists.
[Evening update]
Jonah Goldberg has more defense of Darwin (and Einstein). Bottom line, with which I agree:
Nazism was reactionary in that it sought to repackage tribal values under the guise of modern concepts. So was Communism. So are all the statist and collectivism isms. The only truly new and radical political revolution is the Lockean one. But, hey, I’ve got a book on all this stuff.
He does indeed
He’s Beyond The Event Horizon
John Wheeler has died:
Unlike some colleagues who regretted their roles after bombs were dropped on Japan, Wheeler regretted that the bomb had not been made ready in time to hasten the end of the war in Europe. His brother, Joe, had been killed in combat in Italy in 1944.
Wheeler later helped Edward Teller develop the even more powerful hydrogen bomb.
The name “black hole” — for a collapsed star so dense that even light could not escape — came out of a conference in 1967. Wheeler made the name stick after someone else had suggested it as a replacement for the cumbersome “gravitationally completely collapsed star,” he recalled.
“After you get around to saying that about 10 times, you look desperately for something better,” he told the Times.
He was a giant in physics, and inspired a lot of great science fiction. RIP.
He’s Beyond The Event Horizon
John Wheeler has died:
Unlike some colleagues who regretted their roles after bombs were dropped on Japan, Wheeler regretted that the bomb had not been made ready in time to hasten the end of the war in Europe. His brother, Joe, had been killed in combat in Italy in 1944.
Wheeler later helped Edward Teller develop the even more powerful hydrogen bomb.
The name “black hole” — for a collapsed star so dense that even light could not escape — came out of a conference in 1967. Wheeler made the name stick after someone else had suggested it as a replacement for the cumbersome “gravitationally completely collapsed star,” he recalled.
“After you get around to saying that about 10 times, you look desperately for something better,” he told the Times.
He was a giant in physics, and inspired a lot of great science fiction. RIP.
He’s Beyond The Event Horizon
John Wheeler has died:
Unlike some colleagues who regretted their roles after bombs were dropped on Japan, Wheeler regretted that the bomb had not been made ready in time to hasten the end of the war in Europe. His brother, Joe, had been killed in combat in Italy in 1944.
Wheeler later helped Edward Teller develop the even more powerful hydrogen bomb.
The name “black hole” — for a collapsed star so dense that even light could not escape — came out of a conference in 1967. Wheeler made the name stick after someone else had suggested it as a replacement for the cumbersome “gravitationally completely collapsed star,” he recalled.
“After you get around to saying that about 10 times, you look desperately for something better,” he told the Times.
He was a giant in physics, and inspired a lot of great science fiction. RIP.