Pure mathematics often involves numbers. Pure mathematicians, unlike applied mathematicians, generally do not care where the numbers came from, or whether they correspond to anything that is (in the non-mathematics sense) real. A September 8, 2004 Newsweek report quotes a US government official about the use of pure math: “It was meaningless when they said […]
Month: July 2007
How to pour ketchup
Robert Allgeyer‘s “Pouring Ketchup — The full technical explanation” explains exactly that. (Thanks to investigator Charles Manus for bringing this to our attention.)
Beth Snow joins LFHCfS
Beth Snow has joined the Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists. She says: I currently coordinate a research training program in gender and addictions and am a Scientist in Residence with the Vancouver School Board in Vancouver. Beth Snow, B.Sc.(Hons), MSc, PhD, LFHCfS Program Coordinator Integrated Mentor Program in Addictions Research Training BC Centre of […]
Research: Why does the chicken cross the road?
Progress comes slowly on the question “Why does the chicken cross the road?” But come it does. The answers (for there seem to be many) strut in jerkily from different directions. A new study explains that magnetic fields play some sort of role, at least sometimes, in chickens’ decisions to navigate hither or yon. The […]
PSYCHOLOGY LESSON: “I’m frequently found to be a liar”
The question for psychologists is: How does one identify a liar? The following psychology text appears in a July 10, 2007 Associated Press report: “In 32 years of service in courtrooms, as a prosecutor, as a defense attorney and now as a judge, I have quite frankly never confronted such a brazen situation of an […]
Cleanliness near the lava
Rangers at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park are launching a program to stop people from leaving religious offerings at the summit of Mount Kilauea – including food they say attracts rats and cockroaches. So says an April 21, 2007 Associated Press report. (Thanks to investigator Kristine Danowski for bringing this to our attention.)
PHYSICS LESSON: How a door became ajar
While he is not the most scientifically-minded of people, he has a sufficient grasp of basic physics to know that the door did not fly off its hinges and hit him independent of human agency, but rather that the blow to his face was causally connected to your precipitous exit from the ladies’ room. Every […]
The British right to light
“Ancient lights” is a colloquialism for the “right to light,” guaranteed under English law, whereby windows that have seen twenty years’ worth of “uninterrupted” daylight cannot be blocked by the construction of new buildings… “[i]n the center of London, near Chinatown and Covent Garden, particularly in back alleyways, signs saying ‘Ancient Lights’ can be seen […]
An active guide to writing passively
UNSCIENTIFIC I did this experiment several times. Each time I got the same results. After the last time, I was convinced that I was right. The new bacteria must have caused all the problems we found in our patients. SCIENTIFIC The procedure was repeated until there was certainty regarding the results. The problems encountered by […]
Anatomy lesson: fruit is not not fruit
A stark anatomy lesson appears in a June 29, 2007 Associated Press report: A janitor found what appeared to be a human fetus in a Dallas middle school locker Thursday afternoon, but upon examination the contents turned out to be rotten oranges, according to authorities. Initially, police were unsure what was in the trash bag, […]