The World's Fair

... Except destroy everything in its path.

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 13:13:38 -0500

Speaking of robots: you might be interested in the types of "deep thoughts" they have. Read the comments on this post...

Eulogy for the Gulf of Mexico

Sat, 05 Jun 2010 00:10:30 -0500

I've started to write a few different posts in the past few weeks, but their different topics just don't seem to matter in the face of the death of the Gulf of Mexico, especially the affectionately named Redneck Riviera - Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle - these areas are most assuredly dead. Field researchers from LSU who have been on the coast in the past few weeks say that these shorelines will be dead for decades, no question, and that we still don't know how much longer it will go on, and consequently how much farther it will extend.

There numerous excellent scienceblog posts that are closely reporting the daily progress of the murder (manslaughter is still murder, even though accidental), and reporting more of the environmental and public health aspects of what is happening - many are linked through Page 3.14's recent summary.

This post is more simply a note about the death of a good friend. The death of days spent playing in the clear waters of Gulf Shores or Ship Island. The death of shrimp, pelicans, gulls, porpoises, sea turtles, and all the other animals who, even if you clean them up, don't know not to swim back into it - not conceiving how what once was their home could now burn their skin, blind them, asphyxiate them, and slowly and painfully kill them. The death of much of south Louisiana - literally, figuratively, economically, culturally. The death of swimming in the bioluminescent waves on moonless nights off Dauphine Island. The death of watching schools of fish shimmer across the water off Orange Beach.

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to commemorate the former life of the Gulf of Mexico. Its unexpected demise, still ongoing, reminds us to cherish every day of remaining nature, before greed and stupidity shit all over all of our favorite places, our favorite friends. Alas, if it were only that BP had biodegradably shat all over the Gulf, rather than killing it with millions of gallons of poison.

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to watch how mankind can, in less than two months, destroy one of the largest bodies of water on Earth. We are gathered here today to hear Global Warming deniers continue to assert than humans cannot cause global scale climate changes. We are gathered here today to watch Louisiana legislators weeping on television, unable to finish what they were trying to say. We are gathered here today to watch corporate executives tell a room full of ex-fishermen and ex-shrimpers that BP is "sorry for the inconvenience".

But, we gather here today not to excoriate BP, but to bury the Gulf of Mexico. We gather here today not to condemn the oil industry to the deepest part of Hell, but to sit at the bedside of what once was blue water, blue sky, and salt tang. We gather here today because there is no place else to go. The stench of death draws us here. The loss of a friend draws us here. We come here today because we cannot let go, and we cannot stop watching in horror as, day by day, something we loved is poisoned (1), shot (2) , burned (3), stabbed (4), again (5), and again (6), and on (7), and on (8), and on (9), and on (10), and on (11), and on (12), and on (13), and on (14), and on (15), and on (16), and on (17), and on (18), and on (19), and on (20), and on (21), and on (22), and on (23), and on (24), and on (25), and on (26), and on (27), and on (28), and on (29), and on (30), and on (31), and on (32), and on (33), and on (34), and on (35), and on (36), and on (37), and on (38), and on (39), and on (40), and on (41), and on (42), and on (43), and on (44), and on (45)...

...till there is nothing left but a world full of our own shit.

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What if Google was evil?

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 12:25:10 -0500

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Most people know that Google's informal tagline is "Don't be evil." In fact, that phrase comes with a little background, nicely described at Wikipedia:

"Don't be evil" is the informal corporate motto (or slogan) of Google,[1] originally suggested by Google employees Paul Buchheit and Amit Patel at a meeting. Buchheit, the creator of Gmail, said he "wanted something that, once you put it in there, would be hard to take out," adding that the slogan was "also a bit of a jab at a lot of the other companies, especially our competitors, who at the time, in our opinion, were kind of exploiting the users to some extent." However, the official corporate philosophy of Google does not contain the words "Don't be evil". The statement that can be considered nearest to the supposedly 'Don't be evil' motto (so widely circulated by the media) is the 6th point of the 10 point corporate philosophy of Google which says, "You can make money without doing evil."
"Don't be evil" is said to recognize that large corporations often maximize short-term profits with actions that destroy long-term brand image and competitive position. Supposedly, by instilling a Don't Be Evil culture the corporation establishes a baseline for honest decision-making that disassociates Google from any and all cheating. This in turn can enhance the trust and image of the corporation that outweighs short-term gains from violating the Don't Be Evil principles.

It's a great tag line. Mainly because it does effectively paint a vivid picture of what Google is, and/or what Google wants to be. But today, I've been thinking a little more about my "what if" question, a question largely spurred by two separate things.

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Not sure why it is, but Hummers really tick me off.

Mon, 31 May 2010 13:30:53 -0500

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A while back, I was trying to think of phrases that "sound pleasant but are actually maybe bad" and I remember one of the silly ones I thought of was:

Hummer coming through.

Get it? "Hummer," as in a person who hums (yes, I know - kind of lame). Just for the record, this post is about the car not people who make sounds with their mouths closed.

Anyway, this subject came up because recently I read that the Hummer will be discontinued, and also I was surprised at how seeing a Hummer (the car) on the road really kind of bothered me. In fact, I could not help but assume the driver was of a certain sort - you know, someone who craved attention and was self centred enough to drive such a huge car. Some might even go so far as to assume the driver is a "idiot," noted because when you search the word "hummer" in Youtube, an significant number of videos have the word "idiot" in the title.

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The Phylo project has a set of rules and close to 100 cards ready for beta testing.

Sat, 22 May 2010 10:50:17 -0500

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Happy Biodiversity Day!

Well, it's been about 5 weeks, and the Phylo project is close to 100 cards, all ready for free printing. As well, a set of rules is now available that is polished enough to go through some beta testing.

Today, we even have an "Oil Spill" card, and I'd like to invite people to leave comments on what text should go on this particular card. Is it too lenient right now, or too harsh? We're really hoping that as the project progresses, the comments on the site will ultimately guide what needs to go on (or off) the cards.

In fact, while I'm making requests, I'd like to suggest the possibility of looking into funding a mobile app that could work with the project. Wouldn't that be cool?

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Tomorrow is International Biodiversity Day. If there's one single thing you should do...

Fri, 21 May 2010 13:45:10 -0500

... You should go outside. Seriously.

And if, for today, you've forgotten how graceful our planet can be, I'd invite you to take a mental break, put some headphones on, and watch these three lovely videos.

Iceland, Eyjafjallajökull - May 1st and 2nd, 2010 from Sean Stiegemeier on Vimeo.

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Venter's synthetic organism and the London Olympic mascots released within 48 hours of each other. A coincidence? I think not!

Fri, 21 May 2010 11:59:14 -0500

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Yesterday I noticed that the web was a buzzing over two things in particular. One being the news of Craig Venter's work on a proof of principle example of producing a synthetic organism, and the other being the unveiling of London's 2012 Olympic mascots.

Venter's work certainly is an achievement - particularly in the technical realm. The accomplishment of synthesizing a piece of DNA that big (nevermind that the code was derived from digital infomation) and then putting it inside a DNA-less cell, in manner where all appears well is actually quite the kudos. Add to that, the ethical implications of where this sort of thing might eventually lead, is also news worthy (read the NYT's measured take on the work here).

However, I feel a little uncomfortable about the whole affair, because I think the timing is a little too conspicuous. It's just too close to the introduction of the two olympic mascots, themselves looking very much the part of an organism born of synthetic DNA (a badly designed one at that). I smell a conspiracy...

Plus, I managed to get my hands on the "original abstract" for the Science paper below, and compare it to the finalized abstract - see any differences?

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How do folks react when you say, "I'm a scientist..."

Thu, 20 May 2010 12:29:41 -0500

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I recently read this great post on the Terry blog, whereby Elysa talks about preconceived notions of success and how a person's profession may relate to that. In particular, she used the example of Anne Wintour, the celebrated editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine, who by any measure is "successful," but because that success is rooted in "fashion," there are many who may not acknowledge her work as significant.

"they find what I do very amusing." Anna goes on to describe her siblings and their respected career paths- a brother who works to find housing for those who can't afford it, a sister who defends the rights of farmers in Latin America, and her brother, the Political Editor of The Guardian. Anna calls her siblings 'geniuses' but, clearly hurt, she is explicit that they do not hold the same acknowledgment of her work. Why not?

Add to that, a great comment in the post that details a personal experience:

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Introducing the Science Scout Badges Free Market Economy (or SSBFME - another worthy acronym)

Mon, 17 May 2010 12:12:07 -0500

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Original article can be found at our Science Scout site. - - -

(Acronyms used: SSBFME = Science Scout Badges Free Market Economy)

So... It's been a few years since the Science Scouts were born, and (at last count) we have received over 300 emails from various Indian or Chinese Embroidery companies looking to "offer their badge making services." Finally, we're now of mind to finally lay out a game plan for the selling and obtaining of these Science Scout badges, physically.

And basically, we're going with the free market model - specifically the SSBFME.

In other words, if you want to make them, you are more than welcome to make them and then sell them as you see fit. You can even change the look of the badge, because we figure if you do a good job, then who are we to say that what you're doing is wrong. Likewise, if you want to make badges with gold leaf and sell them for thousands of dollars, make scratch and sniff badges, or provide badges embedded with LCD screens that twinkle annoyingly, then who are we to stop you? This is, after all, about community, and science, and (of course) badges.

We do, however, like to say that we are not, ourselves, responsible for any of the shenanigans involved in this science scout badge economy. In other words, we'll take an arms length approach, happy to just look on, with amusement and a bit of pride as well.

In fact, here is the fist batch.

Don't they look wonderful? In fact, they are lovingly crafted by Rachel Newlin, and you can get them at her Etsy link (better hurry actually: being hand made, they are in limited supply)!

All to say, that we are thankful to Rachel for providing the proverbial catalyst for this market, and also hopeful that others will join in too. Anyway, if you do plan on becoming part of the SSBFME, then do make sure you leave a note on the Science Scout site - maybe at the actual badge post - and we'll also try to do our best to showcase your endeavors.

Happy collecting!

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The myopia of energy production: "Nothing will go wrong"

Sun, 16 May 2010 14:30:00 -0500

Me again. I once put up a post on the problems with trusting the safety of energy producing systems. The post was not well received; I see as I re-read the comments that I was particularly irritable about it. But I find the point I was trying to make way back when captured better in the editorial cartoon below:

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Northern Voice 2010. Interesting topics, some great connections, and (of course) a bit with a Wookiee.

Tue, 11 May 2010 12:38:36 -0500

Last Friday and Saturday, I went to Northern Voice 2010, a gathering of 500+ individuals intent on absorbing everything that a "Personal Blogging and Social Media Conference" can muster.

And I must say, that it was a treat to be there - not only because it had a nice friendly, informal vibe which makes for great learning opportunities, but also because I was fortunate enough to be a speaker.

My first slide

Specifically, I had a chance to tell folks about the phylo project; the awesomeness of mutualistic relationships (a.k.a. the squid and the bacteria); the beauty of the scientific method; as well as road test an analogy about science literacy that involved getting the audience to growl like a clan of enthusiastic wookiees (BTW, you can thank the 5 or so people who tweeted me to "Let the wookiee win" when I asked about whether I should try to incorporate Chewbacca into my talk).

Now if I managed to get that all in within 30 minutes - just try to imagine what this 2 day,14 hour, or 840 minute conference in its entirety would deliver!

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Tony Stark Could Use a Science Consulting Sidekick

Sun, 09 May 2010 18:21:01 -0500

Going to a party at Tony Stark's house would be awesomely fun, and Iron Man 2 has its fair share of highly enjoyable scenes, though not as many as Iron Man 1, but it definitely could have used some science consulting help. Despite Tony Stark's apparently scientifically flawless use of a soldering iron in #1, here in #2 he constructs what appears to be a cross between a laser and a small synchrotron (which shot light in the wrong direction, inward instead of outward - or possibly looked like it might have been diverting the whole beam, which wouldn't work for more than about a nanosecond - and no matter what kind of light it was emitting, that's no way to make a new element, it needed to be an atomic particle beam). Then he uses a freakishly large plumber's wrench (if you can't use the right tool, always use a bigger one) to steer a coherent blue light onto a small piece of metal and create his new element. Wow! Now the synchrotron-accelerator-cyclotron-laser do-hickey is one thing, but creating a new element to stick in his chest piece is another. I believe that a scientific consult from almost any high school chemistry class could have helped with this part.

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Hawking's hawks didn't fly through the Astrobiology 2010 Conference

Mon, 03 May 2010 00:18:52 -0500

While driving to the Astrobiology 2010 Conference last week, I and a graduate student from my lab briefly discussed Stephen Hawking's recent declaration that humans should try to avoid contact with what would surely be hostile aliens. It seemed odd to be attending a conference where a primary aim is finding extraterrestrial life while the news media and the blogosphere was reverberating with Hawking's hawkish alien opinions. What really made the whole situation even more odd, however, was the almost total absence of any reaction to, or even general acknowledgement of Hawking's remarks at the conference. Here were 500 scientists who are in some fashion or another actively involved in the truly exciting field of astrobiolgy, and it seemed that Stephen Hawking's somewhat paranoid remarks simply didn't register as anything important. It was as if Mel Gibson warned against hostile aliens. He's not an astrobiologist. He's a celebrity, and celebrities get media attention when they say apparently controversial things. It was as if Paris Hilton had warned against disturbing the inhabitants of underground cities on Mars. I was listening for conversations about Hawking in the hallways, but didn't hear any. I brought it up with several attendees. Everyone I spoke to acknowledged that they had heard about it, and then shrugged it off with something like "kind of funny, huh?" There were three different "open topic" sessions at the conference, where anyone could say anything they wanted for 5 minutes. I didn't go to all 3, but at the 1.5 of them I did go to, no one was talking Hawking. I really liked that. Everyone was going about their business, reporting on new species of extreme life on Earth, or on attempts to understand how life originated, or on designing new hardware or assays for detecting life on other planets, or debating on where and why life might be found on Titan or Europa, et cetera, and no one seemed to be even remotely concerned about the impending invasion.

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Looking for a great illustration of a horseshoe crab (a special request)

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 10:31:00 -0500

Specifically, I'm trying to see whether we can engage folks into the PHYLO card process by seeing if they work with requests. And we're going to start with a special one - coming from a luminary in the science plus art arena, this is from Margaret Atwood, who notes that her favourite organism is the horseshoe crab (or if we're being a little more precise, Limulus polyphemus).

In case, you're not sure what Ms. Atwood is talking about, it's one of these:

(Image by iloew)

Curiously enough, we have an image already in the PHYLO illustration pool. It's great too, but let's see if we can get a few more?

Anyway, just to clarify - hoping to see if anyone will submit some great illustrations of the horseshoe crab, for contention for use as a PHYLO trading card. Any takers?

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Happy Earth Day! Now go outside, and if the weather is crummy, why not play PHYLO?

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 10:43:54 -0500

Seriously, if there's a day to enjoy the outdoors, then that would have to be Earth Day. If, however, you find yourself stuck inside due to poor weather, volcanic ash plumes, or some other reason, then go check out the Phylo game (http://phylogame.org).

It's been up for about a week and a bit, and is already gaining some steady traffic (it's creeping up on google and giving the Greek pastry a run for its money!). Normally, we only put up one new card per weekend, but because it's a special day, we're putting up 6 new cards, and with a variety of different art styles to boot.

As if that wasn't enough, check out this picture:

THAT'S RIGHT! We have some working rules to play around with! Go check them out here, and enjoy your Earth Day!

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