Clipmarks | jjsnlee's clips

Impressions of Titan

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 06:03:28 GMT

clipped by: jjsnlee

An artist’s impression of Ganesa Macula, a mountain on Saturn’s moon Titan believed to be an “ice volcano” that periodically belches “lava” containing liquid water. Research by University of Arizona graduate student Catherine Neish suggests this water may react with organic compounds in Titan’s atmosphere to create complex molecules similar to those on the early Earth.
Credit: Michael Carroll

ESA’s Huygens Probe is seen floating on a hydrocarbon lake on Saturn’s moon Titan in an artist’s impression. Research by University of Arizona graduate student Catherine Neish suggests Titan’s atmosphere may contain complex molecules similar to those on the early Earth.
Credit: NASA/JPL and Gregor Kervina, Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Tags: titan, saturn

Earth and Moon, As Seen From Mars

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 00:38:15 GMT

clipped by: jjsnlee

Clip Source: www.universetoday.com

This picture was released a couple of days ago, but since it's so special, it deserves a post on Universe Today. And besides, everyone secretly likes to look at pictures of themselves. And this is a picture of us: it's the Earth and the moon, as seen from Mars. From the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, to be exact, and it was taken by the HiRISE Instrument on board, the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment. That's the same camera that gave us the images of the avalanche on Mars, so the capabilities of this instrument are quite spectacular. This image was snapped back in October 2007, from a distance of 142 million kilometers, and if you look closely, you can make out a few features on Earth.

Time Runs Out for an Afghan Held by the U.S.

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 05:33:41 GMT

clipped by: jjsnlee
clipper's remarks: This really is horrible. If the facts bear out then this really speaks to stupid imperialist bureaucracy, the thickheaded duh of what we've become to the world.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Mr. Hekmati, the first detainee to die of natural causes at Guantánamo

Mr. Hekmati’s case, officials who knew him said, shows that sometimes the Americans do not seem to know whom they are holding. Meanwhile, detainees wait for years with no resolution to their cases.

Several high-ranking officials in President Hamid Karzai’s government say Mr. Hekmati’s detention at Guantánamo was a gross mistake.

Two of those officials were men Mr. Hekmati had helped escape from the Taliban’s top security prison in Kandahar in 1999

Both men said they appealed to American officials about Mr. Hekmati’s case, but to no effect.

Americans on his tribunal and review boards seemed unaware of how significant the prison break was

The 1999 escape was a deep humiliation for the Taliban

the men Mr. Hekmati freed, Mr. Khan and Hajji Zaher, returned to the battlefield to lead forces against the Taliban

no outside witnesses had ever been called to appear at Guantánamo

buried in an unmarked grave in Kandahar on Jan. 8

Origami spaceplane aims for space station descent

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 18:29:10 GMT

clipped by: jjsnlee

Clip Source: space.newscientist.com

The spaceplane is about 20 cm long and is made of paper, but it has passed wind tunnel tests at Mach 7 and 200 °C

A paper plane might not seem ideally suited to space travel, but a Japanese engineering professor is collaborating with origami masters to design a small paper spacecraft that could be launched from the International Space Station and survive a descent to Earth.

It will also be chemically processed to incorporate silicon in the paper structure, increasing its heat resistance, although the plane shouldn't be subjected to the fiery temperatures endured by heavier objects as they hurtle toward Earth.

When released from the International Space Station, it would be travelling at Mach 20, Suzuki says, but thanks to a large surface area and low weight it should slow considerably as it falls through the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere.

Suzuki says he would like to develop an ultra small tracking device to attach to the plane.

Tags: space, origami, iss

Space leaders work to replace lunar base with manned asteroid missions

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 23:29:18 GMT

clipped by: jjsnlee

Clip Source: www.spaceflightnow.com

Abandoning the Bush lunar base concept in favor of manned asteroid landings could also lead to much earlier manned flights to Mars orbit, where astronauts could land on the moons Phobos or Deimos.

Their goals for a new array of missions also include sending astronauts to Lagrangian points, 1 million mi. from Earth, where the Earth's and Sun's gravity cancel each other out and spacecraft such as replacements for the Hubble Space Telescope could be parked and serviced much like Hubble.

The "alternate vision" the group plans to offer would urge far greater private-sector incentives to make ambitious human spaceflight plans a reality.

The Earth-Sun Lagrangian points (also called libration points) are at the very edge of the Earth's gravitational well, and a mission would represent a first excursion to the limit of Earth's influence in the Solar System

These stepping-stones would allow for the development of a broader vision of human spaceflight than simply reinventing Apollo.

Tags: space, apollo, earth, lagrange points

War & Peace & War by Peter Turchin

Sat, 29 Dec 2007 20:51:12 GMT

clipped by: jjsnlee
clipper's remarks: This is from a review of "War & Peace & War" by a professor of ecology and evolutionary bio. I believe the full article requires a subscription to read, but it brings up several interesting points on top-down vs. bottom-up approaches of looking at history. Invoking complexity theory is an interesting middle ground -- though it may appear to be aligned heavy on the top-down side, it can be a means to reconcile the mass of individual perspectives in a comprehensible (albeit mathematical) way. Still, this too may be a bit too abstract, and a bit top heavy.

Clip Source: www.newscientist.com

"WRITING history," Gustave Flaubert once remarked, "is like drinking an ocean and pissing a cupful."

Empires rise and fall, he suggests, because of "competition and conflict between groups, some of which dominate others".

Experiments over the past decade or so have established that most individuals aren't the greedy, rational machines of neo-classical economics

such "irrational" tendencies point to a process of cultural group selection that looks surprisingly like Turchin's historical dynamics - competition between groups of greater or lesser cooperative skills, with the more cooperative tending to win out.

But if high levels of internal cooperation lead to the rise of great empires, what leads to their ultimate demise?

A key discovery of so-called "complexity science", and the physics of systems that are out of equilibrium, is that growth often leads to a "rich get richer" phenomenon

Even so, his infusion of science into an area that too often ignores it is surely admirable.

Tags: history, complexity, group dynamics, empires

Friending, Ancient or Otherwise

Sun, 02 Dec 2007 04:52:50 GMT

clipped by: jjsnlee

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Academic researchers are starting to examine that question by taking an unusual tack: exploring the parallels between online social networks and tribal societies.

“Oral communication,” as he put it, “unites people in groups.”

In other words, oral culture means more than just talking. There are subtler —and perhaps more important — social dynamics at work.

“In tribal cultures, your identity is completely wrapped up in the question of how people know you,” he says. “When you look at Facebook, you can see the same pattern at work: people projecting their identities by demonstrating their relationships to each other. You define yourself in terms of who your friends are.”

Still, the sheer popularity of social networking seems to suggest that for many, these environments strike a deep, perhaps even primal chord. “They fulfill our need to be recognized as human beings, and as members of a community,” Dr. Strate says. “We all want to be told: You exist.”

Tags: social networking, culture, communication, humanity, facebook, friendship

This is no way to save the whales

Sun, 02 Dec 2007 02:56:11 GMT

clipped by: jjsnlee

Clip Source: www.newscientist.com

The Japanese fleet kills hundreds of minke whales each year under the guise of "scientific whaling". This is allowed under the moratorium despite the fact that no reputable scientist backs the notion that the practice contributes anything of value to our understanding of minke ecology.

Even more audacious is Greenland, which this year raised the possibility of taking some of the world's most endangered whales, the eastern Arctic bowhead.

The whaling nations argue that we need to kill more whales because they are eating our fish.

This argument recalls the bizarre proposition that seals were to blame for the collapse of the North Atlantic cod. What supporters of such arguments forget is that predators and prey maintained some kind of equilibrium for millennia before factory fishing fleets came along.

There is another argument against whaling: it's cruel.

Just as politics and economics drive one side of the debate, emotion drives the other.

Tags: environment, whaling, conservation, industry, human short-sightedness

Got Milk?

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 06:36:03 GMT

clipped by: jjsnlee

Clip Source: technology.newscientist.com

In Shrek, some say the most difficult shot to produce was that of a small glass of milk.

In the first Shrek, it was modelled as an opaque fluid, which meant the light bounced straight off its surface, making it look like paint.

To build a realistic model of milk, in 2001, Henrik Wann Jensen at the University of California, San Diego, and colleagues added reflections from light scattering beneath the milk's surface.

Now Flemming Møller, a researcher at Danish food-ingredient company Danisco, is borrowing Jensen's technique to help determine particle sizes in drinking yogurt and to measure the size of air bubbles and ice crystals in ice cream - important for quality control and standardisation.

By measuring how pollutants, plankton, minerals and algae affect the optical properties of seawater, a model similar to the milk model could be used to monitor and interpret changes in the oceans, he says. And a model of the atmosphere might allow changes in its composition to be tracked.

Tags: science, graphics, cgi, modeling, software

MIT launches contest to fire up energy entrepreneurs

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 05:59:13 GMT

clipped by: jjsnlee

Clip Source: www.news.com

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is kicking off a competition to award $200,000 to entrepreneurs in the green-energy field.

The MIT Clean Energy Entrepreneurship Prize, announced Wednesday, combines two existing prizes and increases the prize money.

The revamped contest pulls in sponsorship from the U.S. Department of Energy and NStar, an electric and gas utility based in Massachusetts. In addition to receiving cash or services, competitors will also get mentoring from experts as they develop their business plans.

Sponsors hope the competition will accelerate the pace of innovation and energy.

But the field is still trying to pull in a steady flow of entrepreneurs and experienced business managers, with many people trying to make the jump from the IT industry to clean energy.

The contest begins February 15 on MIT's campus in Cambridge, Mass. In addition to the grand prize, there will be three secondary prizes of $20,000 each. Winners will be announced in mid-May.

Tags: green, technology, environment, sustainability, contests, market forces, economy, business

Greenpeace hands game industry low score

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 03:34:37 GMT

clipped by: jjsnlee

Clip Source: www.news.com

Greenpeace on Monday issued its quarterly "Guide to Greener Electronics," which ranks consumer electronics manufacturers and their policies regarding toxic chemicals and recycling.

At the bottom of the heap are Nintendo, Philips, and Microsoft.

Nintendo managed that by scoring zero in the five categories related to the use of harmful chemicals, including offering no list of banned or restricted substances and no policy regarding the use of vinyl plastic or brominated flame retardants. It also scored zero in the four categories related to recycling.

However, no company received a perfect score.

Regulations to reduce electronic waste are taking hold, including the European Union's Restriction on Hazardous Substances Directive and the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive. But the electronics and computer industries remain one of the biggest generators of toxic waste and consumers of energy.

Tags: environment, sustainability, electronics, recycling, waste, pollution

Global warning

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 20:26:51 GMT

clipped by: jjsnlee

Clip Source: newhumanist.org.uk

Between the right to act and the deed, there is a distance that one should traverse only after taking into account the eventual consequences of the act in a given context.

The media today wield enormous power which, unlike other forms of power, does not originate with the will of the people. To gain legitimacy it must, as Montesquieu said, impose limits upon itself. To put it in the terms of Max Weber, it is not enough to act in the name of an ethics of conviction; it is an ethics of responsibility that is needed, one that considers the probable consequences of acts.

In my opinion, the source of current tensions is more political than theological; it is situated more on earth than in heaven. This does not mean that a new war between religions is inconceivable; all it would take is a fanatic influential minority, since the masses – that is, you and I – will follow passively.

Tags: politics, religion, humanism, freedom of speech, social responsibility

'Thirst For Knowledge' May Be Opium Craving

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 03:24:42 GMT

clipped by: jjsnlee
clipper's remarks: Article's a bit old but I thought worthwhile...

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Neuroscientists have proposed a simple explanation for the pleasure of grasping a new concept: The brain is getting its fix.

The brain's craving for a fix motivates humans to maximize the rate at which they absorb knowledge, he said.

Biederman hypothesized that knowledge addiction has strong evolutionary value because mate selection correlates closely with perceived intelligence.

Biederman also found that repeated viewing of an attractive image lessened both the rating of pleasure and the activity in the opioid-rich areas. In his article, he explains this familiar experience with a neural-network model termed "competitive learning."

"The system is essentially designed to maximize the rate at which you acquire new but interpretable [understandable] information. Once you have acquired the information, you best spend your time learning something else.

Without thinking about it, we pick out experiences that are richly interpretable but novel."

Tags: brain, learning, neural stimuli, evolution of mind, neural feedback, novelty, experience

Mind of a Rock

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 00:50:27 GMT

clipped by: jjsnlee

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

We are biological beings. We exist because of self-replicating chemicals.

As a byproduct, we have developed brains that, we fondly believe, are the most intricate things in the universe. We look down our noses at brute matter.

Take that rock over there. It doesn’t seem to be doing much of anything, at least to our gross perception. But at the microlevel it consists of an unimaginable number of atoms connected by springy chemical bonds, all jiggling around at a rate that even our fastest supercomputer might envy.

Its existence, unlike ours, doesn’t depend on the struggle to survive and self-replicate. It is indifferent to the prospect of being pulverized. If you are poetically inclined, you might think of the rock as a purely contemplative being. And you might draw the moral that the universe is, and always has been, saturated with mind, even though we snobbish Darwinian-replicating latecomers are too blinkered to notice.

Tags: rocks, perception, consciousness, interpretations of reality, jedi mind tricks, the universe and self

How a dog solves the mind-body problem and shows us to be monkeys

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 05:45:05 GMT

clipped by: jjsnlee

Clip Source: blog.sciam.com

As part of his distinction between mind and brain, Descartes asserted that only humans have minds. Thus he gave us mind as a purely cognitive entity, a rational tool unsullied by affective or emotional dimension -- and unstained, as it were, by animal urges, which he assigned to the body. A consequence of these attitudes has been an emphasis in much neuroscientific research on real-time human brain function -- how the two hemispheres work now -- in purely rational operations rather than on how both sides of the brain got to where they are by evolution of integrated mind-body packages. But the work described above joins other strands from ethology in insisting on a more evolutionary model, one in which the skills and capacities we've long thought most "human" -- tool use, language and analytical thought, as well as complex affective and emotional responses -- rise from neural structures and specializations that go deep into the evolutionary past.

Tags: brain, cognition, science, evolution