The fruit fly war
I think I’m winning. For now. It all started with an event so ordinary as to be unremarkable: a couple of fruit flies (or their larva) came in with some purchase or other. After I spotted them, I was very … Continue reading →
Category Archives: Science
Which goes first, the chicken or the egg?
It’ll be the egg that will become obsolete (perhaps even illegal some day, like old-fashioned lightbulbs?) if Hampton Creek Foods (founded by Bill Gates) has anything to say about it: In its food lab, biochemists grind up beans and peer … Continue reading →
Oh boy, now we have to worry about…
…the destruction of the human race by artificial intelligence: In 267 brisk pages, Barrat lays out just how the artificial intelligence (AI) that companies like Google and governments like our own are racing to perfect could — indeed, likely will … Continue reading →
Men’s and women’s brains are different
Well, duh. It’s the connectivity, stupid: Researchers found that many of the connections in a typical male brain run between the front and the back of the same side of the brain, whereas in women the connections are more likely … Continue reading →
The drones of Amazon
Fantasy? Soon-to-be reality? Then again, you could just go to a nearby store if you need something that quickly. Will people be tempted to shoot them down? How will Amazon avoid landing a drone on someone’s head? What about apartment-dwellers? … Continue reading →
“Daisy Daisy” actually was one of the first computer vocalizations
Yesterday on the “Gravity” thread we were discussing that trailblazing (and, IMHO, superior) movie, “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Who can forget that memorable moment when astronaut Dave was forced to dismantle the malfunctioning and paranoid (hey, you’re not crazy if … Continue reading →
Obamacare: it’s lies all the way down*…
…and all the way up, as well. If these dismal enrollment figures for Obamacare so far are correct, the situation would be bad enough. But even those low figures are probably inflated by some numbers shenanigans on the part of … Continue reading →
Research proves lab rats are just like humans
That is, they’re addicted to Oreos, and they like to eat the insides first. I kid you not. I wonder if, given the opportunity, they also would do what I used to do when I was a little girl: break … Continue reading →
Annals of myth-shattering: so Flipper’s a dunce?
Say it isn’t so, Flipper. If you could talk, that is.
Continue reading →Lobsters and longevity: who knew?
Here’s an article entitled “Lobsters may hold the key to eternal life.” I don’t know that “eternal” is quite the right word for it. But certainly “very long” would seem to fit. Apparently it’s all in the telomeres: Although they … Continue reading →
After a 19-year wait…
…a baby is born. The wait, by the way, was the baby’s.
Continue reading →Islam, algebra, Nobel prizes, and our PC sensibility
Richard Dawkins has created a bit of a stir by tweeting: All the world’s Muslims have fewer Nobel Prizes than Trinity College, Cambridge. They did great things in the Middle Ages, though. And when the usual uproar ensued, and someone … Continue reading →