Over in Guam, researchers are dropping dead mice out of helicopters. The idea is that the mice, which have been doped up with acetaminophen, will land in trees and be eaten by snakes. The snakes will then die, because acetaminophen is poisonous to them. It's an experiment to see if this method will work at reducing the snake population, which is growing out of control. The video shows some of the mice falling from the skies. [NPR]
The idea that the universe is a hologram, initially presented in 1997, has been mathematically proven by Japanese researchers. And apparently the checked their work. So, perhaps Poe was right and 'all that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream' or to quote Churchill it's all 'a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma' on a hologram.
Posted By: Alex - Sat Dec 14, 2013 -
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Category: Science
Back in 1938, Lewis F. Richardson worked out a mathematical system for predicting war. He presented his findings at a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. His conclusion: no chance of war in Europe!
The New York Times reported his findings on Aug 23, 1938:
No Sign of War Seen
Before the section on psychology, Lewis F. Richardson of Paisley arrived at the encouraging conclusion that there is no sign of war — at least no mathematical sign. For the professor reduced to beautiful differential equations general tendencies common to all nations — resentment of defiance, the suspicion that defense is concealed aggression, response to imports by exports, restraint on armaments by the difficulty of paying for them, and, last, grievances and their irrationality. The psychologists were bewildered and amused.
Mathematically, Professor Richardson treated love and hate as if they were forces that could be designated by the usual X and Y. The forces make possible two opposite kinds of drifting, one leading to suspicion, the other leading from cooperation to united organization.
The balance of power, Professor Richardson holds, is best maintained by countries of different sizes rather than by a few countries of the same size. When he concluded from his mathematical analysis that there was no chance of war at present he remarked:
"I never would have accepted this unless I proved it to myself by mathematics."
His hearers left with the feeling that Europe's feverish preparation for war is only a declaration of peace to the knife.
It's worth noting that Richardson wasn't just some random crackpot. As wikipedia notes, he's the guy who came up with the idea of weather forecasting by solution of differential equations, which is the method used today.
It takes a huge talent for boredom to make one of the worst disasters of the past decade seem vapid. "The pressure was somewhere between high and low." Duh....
If only this fellow had been in charge of TIMBER BRIDGE INSPECTION, life would have been perfect.
Shown is Robert E. Lewis, a physicist at the Armour Research Foundation, circa 1950, who's experimenting with his "sitz" meter, a device designed to measure chair comfort. Weight sensors on the pads of the chair would turn on corresponding lights on the panels on the wall, showing how the person in the chair (Judy Blumenthal, who looks thrilled to be participating in the experiment) was distributing their weight. Lewis was trying to scientifically design a more comfortable chair.
Stanford researchers are using virtual reality gear to allow volunteers to experience what it feels like to be a cow. They're curious about whether the experience of temporarily "becoming" a cow will reduce people's desire to eat cows. If the video below doesn't work, the article is here.
"The action of certain foods in influencing the formation of the features has been watched, with highly interesting results. The growth of the chin has been discovered to bear a very striking relation to the amount of starch consumed, and particularly when the starch takes certain forms or is combined with other properties....
It has been shown, and seemingly conclusively, that a flesh or greatly mixed diet promotes angularity in the face generally, while the nourishment obtained from a single article, commonly of a starchy nature, coarsens the features. Thus we have the potato lip, the oatmeal lip, the maize lip."
This is not really a commercial for this new Rust-O-Leum product called "NeverWet", but a really cool demonstration of the many uses by some of the research scientists.
My favorites are the cardboard box beer cooler and the chocolate and mustard sliding off the white shoes; although there are also demonstrations using cell phones and toilet brushes.
It makes me wonder if you could even wash a treated shirt -- or if it would need it. Could you get it dirty or smelly?
Paul Di Filippo
Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1.