Self-driving cars have clearly reached a level where they are no longer the stuff of science fiction but are now a reality, and we should soon be seeing them on streets everywhere. Once people get over the spooky aspect of it, we can expect to see an explosion in their numbers. Watch this demonstration of such a car driving itself to see how it can be a real boon to some people. [Read more…]
Academics tend to be respected because of their reputations for having expert knowledge and some level of objectivity. As a result they are often sought as endorsers for various positions. I have written many times before of the danger that exists when that esteem is abused. This danger seems to be most present in the field of economics and medicine, not coincidentally because there is a lot of money at stake there. [Read more…]
I have been fascinated by the fact that evolution tells us that if we could journey back in time, then all of our ancestors start to merge, with some surprising results. I wrote a series of posts exploring this topic some years ago and pointed out some surprising (to me at least) results. [Read more…]
People who are perceived to be overweight according to the norms set by society have a tough time. We live in a media-saturated world in which thinness is not only treated as a desirable marker of good looks and good health, it is also seen as somehow virtuous and hence people who are above the norms in weight are seen as being somehow morally weak and lacking in will power to control how much they eat. This is despite the fact that it is not at all clear what a person’s optimum weight should be, how much it is affected by distribution and body shape and age, what causes some to be heavier than others, and even whether being overweight is as extremely unhealthy as it is sometimes made out to be. [Read more…]
These wind-powered sculptures by Theo Jansen are amazing to behold. I have shown them before but they are so beautiful that I wanted newcomers to this blog to see them. [Read more…]
This paradox is a popular one that seems to have no resolution since the existence of one seems to deny the possibility of the other. After all, if you have an unstoppable force that must mean that there can be no such thing as immovable object and vice versa. [Read more…]
Via Maggie Koerth-Baker, I obtained this video of astronaut Sunita Williams giving us a quite detailed tour of the International Space Station. Although the ISS has been around for a while, it was only while watching it that I realized that I really did not know much about it. The video is pretty interesting, especially for its details of daily life there. [Read more…]
Today January 20th is on average the coldest day in Cleveland and so I look on it as mid-winter. From now on, the days get warmer as we approach spring, and so this is a day which puts a song on my lips and joy in my heart, even though it is actually very cold and windy outside today. [Read more…]
Via Machines Like Us I came across this demonstration by Audi of a car that will, by itself and without a driver, find a parking space in a parking garage and park itself and then return to you at the entrance when you call it. [Read more…]
