Leaving home

This is brilliant!


via Christian Pwnage, great site BTW. Grow into these trousers... >>

What do mathematicians do?

Judging by this they make impressive videos presentations. Credit to: Étienne Ghys of the École Normale Supérieure in Lyon, France. See Science News for a good article on this video.

Dimensions
Great graphics and big maths fit together so well.

Starting with projections of the spherical Earth onto a flat plane, that's 3 dimensions displayed in 2, the video takes you through the steps to visualising 4 dimensional objects by projection into 3.

Later, in part 5, they move on to complex numbers, which are just like normal numbers but with an imaginary bit, a multiple of the square root of -1, this adds extra dimensionality to all numbers (the imaginary part is at 'right angles' to the normal number line, this gives the complex plane).

On to fractals where the easiest way to think of them is in the complex plane.

Through topology, described by intersecting complex planes. Doughnuts seem popular here.

Finally they consider the work of Bernhard Riemann some of whose geometries paved the way for the young upstart, Albert Einstein.

Happy viewing.

via Jim Downey at Unscrewing the Inscrutable.
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I was just recovering from learning overload when I found they are planning 'Dimension II' - whoah!!!

Consider a spherical cow... Grow into these trousers... >>

Jethro Tull - Locomotive Breath

Oh Yes...
Live 1978:
Grow into these trousers... >>

I should never talk about work

So I won't; but I jumped on the bus home tonight and who was there but my office senior from work. No probs, she's a top Yorkshire lass, we live nearby to each other and there's one best way home.

We said hello and I took the seat in front. It was free and I just wanted a snooze...

But something in the situation reminded me of this:

O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
It wad frae monie a blunder free us
An foolish notion:
What airs in dress an gait wad lea'es us,
An ev'n devotion!

From To a Louse by Robert Burns

<grin> Hi Boss! Grow into these trousers... >>

You Scratch Your Back, I'll Scratch Mine

Now here is one to keep an eye on, BBC News reports:

A devout Shia Muslim has been convicted of child cruelty after forcing two boys to beat themselves during a religious ceremony, in an unprecedented case.

The jury at Manchester Crown Court found 44-year-old Syed Mustafa Zaidi guilty of two counts of child cruelty.

The boys, aged 13 and 15, were forced to beat themselves with a zanjeer whip, with five curved blades.

It seems these two young guys knew what was expected before this ceremony, they had seen it before. Add in a bit of teenage bravado and yes, they agreed till they saw the reality of what Zaidi had in mind for them. Not like this wimp here, no blades for him!

More like this -->

Then the guys bottled it and quite rightly.

Zaidi admitted he had asked the boys if they wanted to beat themselves and allowed them to use the bladed whip.

"allowed them", WTF, like it's in any way sensible to flay the skin off your own back. They were being intimidated.

He denied his actions were wrong, saying: "This is a part of our religion."

Right. Oh, sorry, that makes it OK then - NOT.

I hope these young gentlemen have learned just how batshit insane some of their elders really are. Keep thinking for yourself guys, you will get there. Just don't let the braindead bastards like Zaidi suck you in again.

Zaidi told the court: "It was an emotional time and the children were happy, they asked for it. No one forced anyone.

"If I'd known this would be the result of breaking the law I would never have done it."

Yeah, sure.

Note for diary:

Zaidi will be sentenced on 24 September.

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Update: Zaidi convicted. Grow into these trousers... >>

Your Inner Fish

Back in 2006 Neil Shubin, Professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy (try saying that after you've had a drink) University of Chicago, rocked the paleontology and evolution scene with his team's unearthing of a fossil revealing the transition between aquatic and land animals. Named Tiktaalik for reasons you'll see if you watch the vid, it's one of the most important discoveries in understanding the origins of terrestrial animals.

Shubin talks about his science and his recent book, Your Inner Fish.

Part 1

Part 2 is below the belt.

Part 2


There's also a flash slideshow at Chicago Uni.
Grow into these trousers... >>

Sunday Heroes

I hadn't seen any of these clips before, but Ahhhhhhh...

Judas.

More below the belt:

The Last Supper.

Check out oldgregg23 for more.
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The caress of a tentacle to PZ Myers.
Grow into these trousers... >>

The Genius Of Charles Darwin

Richard Dawkins presents a 3 part series on the life, works and legacy of the 19th century naturalist Charles Darwin.

Broadcast August 2008 on C4.

Richard Dawkins' Genius Of Darwin - Episode 1 - (Part 1/5)


Here are playlists for each episode:
Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3
Much more below the belt:

Not covered in Dawkins' series is the emerging science of epigenetics which just goes to show that the Theory of Evolution is itself, err, evolving.

The Ghost In Your Genes - BBC Horizon (2006)


NOVA ScienceNOW have a shorter video (introduced, surprisingly, by Neil Degrasse Tyson) and there is more here.

There's also some good reading in the blogosphere from Pharyngula and erv, or watch them in discussion on Bloggingheads.

Finally, just to 'teach the controversy' as many ardent followers of the Abrahamic religions demand these days, here are creationist Christians Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron with their demolition of evolution.


You just can't make this shit up!
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PS look up Cavendish banana, the most commonly eaten banana in the world. It's a cultivar which has to be propagated by farmers because it is seedless, ie sterile, so without mankind to take cuttings it would not fucking exist!
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PPS the quote from Darwin about the evolution of the eye (~4:50) is taken out of context to the point of untruth.
Grow into these trousers... >>

Robot controlled by rat neurons

Gosh, this is doing the rounds of the intertubes just now.

Kevin Warwick, a cyberneticist, and Ben Whalley a pharmacist both from the University of Reading in the UK have interfaced rat brain cells with electronics to control a simple robot. Reading Uni has a press release, and this article from New Scientist magazine has the low down.

NS have a short video:

More below the belt:

Here's another clip with a bit more substance from Reading Uni:


And ITN take note when you make posts on YouTube...


Put things in the right category.

Sci-tech is not comedy. Wankers.
Grow into these trousers... >>

The Bible Unearthed

Here's a fascinating documentary on one of the most important subjects in modern culture.

Prof. Israel Finkelstein of Tel Aviv University and Neil Silberman of the Ename Centre of Public Archaeology in Belgium explore the archaeology of the Levant casting doubt on the historical accuracy of the biblical Old Testament.



It's in 10 chunks of about 10mins each but here's a playlist for the whole programme.
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While surfing around for background to this broadcast I found the Atheist Media Blog, yet another site I will have to visit regularly. This lead me to The Atheist Jew who has a longer article. From there I found KafirGirl who is effing awesome. Read along with her from the Koran. Yes, that's right, just do it OK! Grow into these trousers... >>