The Channels of Mars

Posted Tue, 04/22/2008 - 18:47 by Nick Winterhalter

The myopic and colour blind Schiaparelli (neither of which, in all seriousness, hampered his renown as a meticulously observant astronomer) included in his map -- which he continued to augment all through the 1880s, and which served as the cartographic authority on the Martian landscape in planetary astronomy for two decades -- linear features that he saw criss-crossing the surface of Mars, which he referred to as 'canali'. This Italian word translates to English as either 'channels' or 'canals', and although Schiaparelli was implying the more naturalistic descriptor, 'channels', somehow 'canals' became the accepted terminology.

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Via Bibliodyssey

Would A Rose By Any Other Name...

Posted Thu, 04/17/2008 - 19:03 by Nick Winterhalter

Smell as sweet? Not if it comes from today's commercial nurseries. Commercially produced flowers are no longer as redolent as they once were. I believe this dramatic change is a result of breeding programs that focus on resilience and shelf-life over aroma.

Beyond color, breeders have been targeting improvements in flower longevity, shape, size, disease resistance, and other traits likely to improve the growers' bottom lines.

Link to Science News Online article.

But we still have wildflowers, right? Everything from crops to clover relies on pollination, a large part of which is facilitated by insects like bees and butterflies. Unfortunately, air pollution is turning wild blossoms invisible:

Scents that could travel for more than half a mile in the 1800s now probably travel less than about 600 feet, according to Jose D. Fuentes, professor of environmental sciences at the university and a co-author of the study.

"This makes it increasingly difficult for pollinators to locate the flowers," Fuentes said.

Link to ABC News article

The Difference Engine: World's Shiniest Heaviest Calculator

Posted Fri, 04/11/2008 - 10:57 by Nick Winterhalter

When Charles Babbage invented a massive calculating machine in 1849, he probably didn't count on the 150 years it would take to actually get the thing built.

Babbage's Difference Engine No. 2 was a precursor of modern computers, capable of performing complex mathematical calculations with 31 digits of precision, all using Victorian-era rods, gears, levers and linkages.

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Photo: Jonathan Snyder
Link to Wired article

Our Perception of Security

Posted Tue, 04/08/2008 - 15:47 by Nick Winterhalter

Bruce Schneier makes some astute observations about our perceptions surrounding personal and public security. I appreciate the way he clearly lays out the implications of "are we secure" versus "do we feel secure".

If we make security trade-offs based on the feeling of security rather than the reality, we choose security that makes us feel more secure over security that actually makes us more secure. And that's what governments, companies, family members and everyone else provide. Of course, there are two ways to make people feel more secure. The first is to make people actually more secure and hope they notice. The second is to make people feel more secure without making them actually more secure, and hope they don't notice.

The key here is whether we notice. The feeling and reality of security tend to converge when we take notice, and diverge when we don't. People notice when 1) there are enough positive and negative examples to draw a conclusion, and 2) there isn't too much emotion clouding the issue.

Link to Wired article: The Difference Between Feeling and Reality in Security

Amazing Animated Short: Shane Acker's "9"

Posted Mon, 04/07/2008 - 18:31 by Nick Winterhalter

This amazing short has been picked up by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov (Night Watch) for reinvention as a full length feature film. They will most likely add voice actors to the feature which, in a way, is a shame. The emotion is palpable without dialogue. However, I suppose most audiences wouldn't sit through ninety minutes of begoggled burlap mimes.