Category: Zeitgeist

Quantum computing 101with D-Wave’s Vern Brownell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq-mRNaV-sc I found this to be an interesting primer on quantum computing.  One take away for me is that quantum processors will be useful for specific purposes, not necessarily as general purpose devices.  This implies to me that we might someday have computers with separate quantum processors with specific jobs delegated to it by the classic … Continue reading Quantum computing 101with D-Wave’s Vern Brownell →

New NASA images highlight U.S. air quality improvement

As something of a balance against the environmental issues we've been discussing, here is an encouraging sign of progress: New NASA images highlight U.S. air quality improvement -- ScienceDaily. Anyone living in a major U.S. city for the past decade may have noticed a change in the air. The change is apparent in new NASA satellite images … Continue reading New NASA images highlight U.S. air quality improvement →

Find alien civilizations by their pollution?

There's been speculation that advanced telescopes may be able to find hallmarks of alien life by looking for oxygen in the spectrum of light reflected off of exoplanets, but this article suggests using the James Web Space Telescope to look for pollution: Pollution on other worlds may show advanced alien life - space - 27 June … Continue reading Find alien civilizations by their pollution? →

Neanderthals ate their veggies

We know this because: Found: Oldest Known Poop From a Human Ancestor | RealClearScience. Archaeologists in Spain have dug up the oldest known feces from a human ancestor. Their find is detailed inPLoS ONE. Retrieved from El Salt, an open-air site near Alicante, Spain, the samples date back around 50,000 years, firmly trouncing the previous record of … Continue reading Neanderthals ate their veggies →

“The Universe Should Not Have Lasted for More than a Second”: The limitations of scientific theories

Stan Hummel called my attention to, and asked for my thoughts on this article: Big Bang Theory Challenged --"The Universe Should Not Have Lasted for More than a Second". British cosmologists are puzzled: they predict that the universe should not have lasted for more than a second. This startling conclusion is the result of combining the … Continue reading “The Universe Should Not Have Lasted for More than a Second”: The limitations of scientific theories →

Fluid tests and quantum reality

The other day, I mentioned that I had some sympathy for the deBroglie-Bohm interpretation of quantum mechanics, namely an interpretation that there isn't a wave-function collapse as envisioned by the standard Copenhagen interpretation, but a particle that always exists but is guided by a pilot-wave. It turns out that there are some people doing experiments with … Continue reading Fluid tests and quantum reality →

How life transformed the planet – Robert Hazen – Aeon

In my post on how similar or dissimilar life might be if evolution started over, I observed that much of the environment that life operates within is itself generated by other life.  It turns out that goes deeper than I imagined.  I knew that things like oxygenated atmosphere and soil were products of life, but it turns … Continue reading How life transformed the planet – Robert Hazen – Aeon →

The Paleo delusion, and a delusion about that delusion

Today at lunch I listened to the latest Point of Inquiry podcast, which was an interview of Marlene Zuk about her new book on common delusions about evolution and the paleolithic life style.  These misconceptions usually run along the lines of assuming that since we evolved to be hunter gatherers, that we should live like those … Continue reading The Paleo delusion, and a delusion about that delusion →