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November 28, 2007
Universal Digital Library
Carnegie Mellon University has scanned over 1.5 million books and they are available to the public online.
October 03, 2007
September 12, 2006
Soon, it will all be at our fingertips!
And you can see the beginnings of it here
The waybackmachine even had old Memphilter pages. I'm still checking this all out, but it seems like it will be an awsome resource. If I had only had the internet in college, all those damn trips to the library!
February 23, 2006
Randomness and Cumulative Selection
The Blind Watchmaker by Oxford professor Richard Dawkins is a fascinating defense and explanation of natural selection and evolution that is refreshingly readable. While this book will never silence Darwin's critics, it provides the lay person with an understanding of how evolution combines genetic randomness with cumulative natural selection to create such fantastically complex creatures like us. Dawkins invents a biomorph program that you can use to create your own complex forms that arise from the interaction of random mutation with non-random (human) selection. While you are the non-random element in the computer model, death and mate selection are the primary non-random elements in the natural world. There is also a really cool program based on the same randomness/cumulative selection model you can use to grow your own music.
February 22, 2006
Explaining Ice
So chemists and physicists don't know why ice is slippery, but they do know that what we've always been told is wrong. The latest explanation "rests on the idea that perhaps the surface of ice is simply slippery."
Also interesting is that Ice IX really exists (that's Ice IX, not Ice-Nine).
August 12, 2005
The Globe really is warming!
No shit
April 11, 2005
Brad Schaefer on The Connection today
Brad Schaefer, the physics professor who rediscovered Hipparchus' catalogue of constellations, was interviewed on the radio show The Connection today, and it is worth a listen (real media). In response to a caller who was trying to place the exact date of the Jesus' resurrection via astronomical happenings, Schaefer mentioned the work of Michael Molnar, an equally fascinating astrophysicist. Molnar believes he has pinpointed the precise day of Jesus birth by interpresting the Star of Bethlehem as an astrological alignment of planets rather than as an astronomical super event. The Magi were, after all, astrologers and not astronomers.
January 19, 2005
Brad Schaefer, Hipparchus, and the Farnese Atlas
It is not often that one hears of world-changing educational triumphs coming from my once-again home state. That makes LSU Professor Brad Schaefer's discovery of Hipparchus's long lost (the last example is thought to have been destroyed in the great fire of Alexandria) star catalog doubly exciting. Mr. Schaefer found an ancient replica of Hipparchus's constellation chart on the Atlas Farnese, which had been hiding in plain view for, oh, about 1800 years. Although the piece had been studied by art historians for centuries, no astronomer had researched the globe atop the statue. Schaefer used procession--the shift of the earth's axis, ironically, discovered by Hipparchus--to date the globe according to the depictions of constellations. The dating virtually assures that the map opf constellations is the work of Hipparchus. More info and hi-res pics can be found at the LSU Pysics Dept site.
January 06, 2005
Attack of the Robot Blogs
Well, now that Asimo is on the verge of being able to run as fast as I can (streaming video link), it is only natural that personal robotics blogs have stepped in to chart advances in the science and business of robots. OnRobo and the Robotics section of BreakingNewBlog seem to be decent places for the casual observer to catch up on things robotic, as is Robots.net. The robot categories at both Engadget and Gizmodo, likewise, will help you keep up with the progress of the artificially intelligent, which is a good thing, because you never know when our silicon-brained friends are going to make us obsolete. Or, maybe not.
November 21, 2004
Patent of the Day
The ass bra.
October 11, 2004
June 03, 2004
Futurama πk
Though currently it appears to be slashdotted, when you are able check out this site detailing the mathematics behind-the-scenes in the animated show Futurama.
These same folks have also analyzed the Simpsons; click here.
May 14, 2004
"It's a [Keg] Wrap"
Finally, some useful technology for the everydayman on the possible horizon. A Case Western Reserve University graduate student has recently been granted $20k by the NCII to pursue a thermal blanket for kegs, potentially eliminating those messy tubs leaking beer sludge all over your porch, causing slippery surfaces not so congruous with gassed guests.
February 13, 2004
Moving Image of the Day
Zero G fun!
January 20, 2004
Ignorance = Maglev = Bliss
The title was almost more catchy than the article itself, but still interesting is this Popular Science article about magnetic levitation. Just goes to show how ignorance of current theories of physics can sometimes help you get the job done. Cheers, Roy Harrigan.
January 19, 2004
Greetings Extraterrestrials!
This guy actually gets paid to come up with ideas concerning how to make first communication with extraterrestrials. This would be my dream job. So far the message is not verbal, but musical, and is based on a Fibonacci sequence, which is mathematical. So much for Esperanto.
December 01, 2003
The not-so-silent herring
Cutting edge biologists just made an amazing discovery: Fish FRTs! (Courtesy of Dave Barry.)
November 29, 2003
He's been "effecting" people ever since
Today would be the 200th birthday of Johann Christian Doppler,who is best known, of course, for his Effect. Not only is the Doppler Effect used daily in the course of forecasting the weather, it is also used by astronomers to calculate the expansion of the universe. As Doppler himself knew, it can also be used to tell which way trumpeters on traincars are going.
November 05, 2003
Antique Automatons
Here's an interesting site on the history of robots in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. The robots ranged from the very useful, such as everyone's favorite Boilerplate, to the just plain weird. (Courtesy of MetaFilter.)
September 16, 2003
Galileo Dies
"Following eight years of capturing dramatic images and surprising science from Jupiter and its moons, NASA's Galileo mission draws to a close September 21 with a plunge into Jupiter's atmosphere."
The September 21 end of mission event will be webcast live at
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/webcast/galileo/
September 12, 2003
Creation Science Fair
The always-interesting memepool informs us today of a different kind of science fair.
August 28, 2003
Mars Attacks!
Is it just me, or did the Earth's proximity to Mars last night seem to coincide with particularly bloody outbreaks of localized violence that have occurred over the past few days? Respected authorites apparently support this observation.
August 26, 2003
Slide Rules R Us
Thank God I was born in at a time when slide rules were already obsolete. However, the brilliant old nerds at The Oughtred Society pine for the good old days. Actually, it's interesting to see the different types of slide rules that were invented for specialized purposes since the 17th century. My rather grim occupation sometimes requires the use of a mortality calculator, for which I have a circular slide rule. My favorite, though, is the Nuclear Weapons Effects Computer that was a product of Manhattan Project physicists. I can hear it now-- "The nukes are on their way! Where is my Nuclear Weapons Effects Computer so I can figure out what percentage of my ass is about to be blown off?" (ripped off from a Discover magazine article)
July 03, 2003
Miracles of the Next Fifty Years
From fifty years ago, that is. You know, things like jet-propelled planes, insect repellents, electric suns suspended from arms on steel towers 200 feet high, rayon underwear converted into candy...
July 02, 2003
Why I'm not a morning person.
I've always been a little night owl, since I was a baby. Similar to my father, waking me up early is like raising a bear from its cave. My sister and my mom, however, are little sprites, waking us up at 6 or 7 am on Saturday to chit chat or plan all these things they want to do. Now I can see there's a genetic reason why. Apparently height isn't the only thing I inherited from my father! (Ahh, if only I'd inherited his very Italian ability to tan.)
June 29, 2003
Tech tip for the Memphilterati
If you are one of those people who have yet to realize that Mozilla can make your surfing much, much easier (and Pop-up free!) and insist on using Internet Explorer, you should at once go and grab the new Google Toolbar 2.0 beta. Besides being a handy Google search bar, it blocks pop-ups in IE 5.5 and above. Now if Google could implement tabbed browsing to IE, it would have a similar feature set to the Mozilla of a year ago.
June 20, 2003
First, the widget. Now, the bubbles.
rneff3 pulled back the curtains on the mystery of the widget. Science has now answered the age old question: Which way do Guinness bubbles go? (via MeFi)
June 11, 2003
Cool mouse-driven clock
This is not as cool as the one I posted here while back with the hands writing on paper, but still fun in its own way.
May 30, 2003
Use for Your Old Monitor
Here is a creative way to turn that old computer monitor sitting in the closet (you have two or three, right?) into a new ecosystem.
Just remember that when you are digging around the internals that you're risking exposure to several hazardous materials such as lead, phosphorous, cadmium, barium, arsenic, mercury, and flame retardants.
May 29, 2003
Tufte on the Columbia disaster
Edward Tufte, guru of communicating with statistical graphics, is reknown for showing how one simple chart should have kept the Challenger from flying on that fateful, frigid Florida day. The detailed analysis of failure of the engineers to communicate their concerns regarding the Challenger is found in Tufte's highly recommended Visual Explanations. Now, Tufte has taken on a similar failure of Boeing engineers to communicate just how grave the debris damage to the shuttle Columbia's left wing could be. In an essay entitled The Cognitive Style of Powerpoint, ostensibly about the horrors of presentation software, Tufte points out that the primary information needed to make a better decision about the degree of danger to the spacecraft and crew can be found in one of the slides Boeing presented to NASA. Here is the analysis of that slide. Note how difficult it is to glean from the slide that the debris that hit the wing during liftoff apparently made contact while traveling at a velocity 640 times greater than the tile damage test used to make the decision to attempt reentry and landing.
What Next? Robot Chili Cookoffs?
Slashdot today informs us of something that is sure to be of interest to many Memphilter readers: KiRo the foosball robot.
May 16, 2003
Another one of life's great questions...
...answered.
Introduction of the Hybrot
 A robot controlled by rat brain cells in a dish? Welcome to the creation of a Hybrot (hybrid-robot) created by a team at Georgia Tech headed by Steve Potter (no relation to Harry).
NY Times Article
(registration req'd. user=memphilter pass=memphilter)
You can buy one such base robot for 3 G's from k-team.com but I assume the package contains the notice "Rat brain not included."
May 15, 2003
Journey to the Center of the Earth
No, really. David Stevenson at Caltech has a plan. New Scientist calls it--in the strictest scientific parlance--a "wacky scheme." Alas, this is designed to be an unmanned probe, so Hilary Swank will not be going.
May 02, 2003
A Beautiful Day in the Solar Neighborhood
Taking its place in the nether regions between Mars and Jupiter alongside famous rocks like 1 Ceres, 2363 Mark Twain, 11020 Orwell, 12465 Perth Amboy, 4221 Picasso, 4372 Quincy, 12426 Racquetball, 16912 Rhiannon, 12820 Robinwilliams, 4550 Royclark, 2822 Sakajawea, 2709 Sagan, 9179 Satchmo, 13070 Seanconnery, 2985 Shakespere, 2669 Shastakovich, 25930 Spielberg, 23990 Springsteen, 25399 Vonnegut, 4457 Van Gogh, 1996 Adams, 2001 Einstien, 9777 Enterprise, 1421 Esperanto, 9499 Excalibur, 10937 Ferris, 9965 GNU, 3595 Gallagher, 16074 Georgekaplan, 9341 Gracekelly2658 Gingerich, 11098 Ginsberg, 16452 Goldfinger, , 19631 Greensleeves, 9000 HAL, 2003 Harding, 2436 Hapshepsut, 6371 Hienlein, 3130 Hillary, 12050 Humecronyn, 7088 Ishtar, 6542 Jacquescouteau, 9007 James Bond, 17744 Jodiefoster, 9618 Johncleese, 3412 Kafka, 7083 Kant, 17942 Whiterabbit, 9340 Williamholden, 7707 Yes, 5326 Yoko, 16745 Zappa (plus 3834 Zappafrank), 8425 Zirankexuejijin, 3325 TARDIS, 2244 Tesla, 16157 Toastmasters, 2675 Tolkien, 9387 Twedledee, 17681 Tweedledum, 6000 United Nations, and 11506 Toulouse-Lautrec is 26858 Misterrogers.
April 22, 2003
Mars Update
Space.com has 14 bitchin' Mars Global Surveyor images up today. Enjoy.
April 21, 2003
Yet another use for duct tape.
Removing warts. Brought to you by the researchers at Cincinnati's Children's Hospital, who probably have too much time on their hands.
April 19, 2003
Burt Rutan Makes a Run for the X-Prize
Burt Rutan, who--along with his brother Dick--designed the Voyager, the first aircraft to fly around the world without stopping or refueling, now has his sites set on an even loftier (sorry!) goal: to win the X-Prize, which offers $10 million to the first team to send 3 people to the edge of the atmosphere twice within two weeks and in the same aircraft. It looks like they are getting pretty close. Be sure to check out the photos of this strange bird. More info here.
April 05, 2003
Mars Global Surveyor
This is a great site with over 120,000 images of Mars taken by the Mars Orbital Camera.
March 31, 2003
Transactions of the Important Tree Scientists
Answers to age old questions are sought in the Department of Philosophical Biology, The University of North Dakota at Hoople.
March 27, 2003
That Blowed Up Real Nice
The universe is very large and contains many things. Some of these things explode spectacularly. Some things explode with such violence that they can be seen billions of light years away, making supernovae look like mere fireworks. Even the sun periodically seethes with violence. The good news is that all of these huge explosions are far enough away to keep us safe. All, that is, except for Eta Carinae, which could someday fry us like bugs.
March 26, 2003
Explore Mars Now
This website is kickass! I love stuff about Mars. I like Mars candy bars too. I used to have a girlfriend named Dana Mars, but she sucked.
March 19, 2003
Hey Xupid!
Since everyone in here is so concerned about privacy issues, I just wanted to say XUPITER SUCKS!!! But at least you can beat it. Everytime I try to access giappino's home page, I get Xupiterized.
March 16, 2003
From the "Bad Ideas in Transportation" Dept.
 Based on the enormous success of unicycling as a form of transportation, I suppose, engineers have throughout the years tried to bring the simplicity of one-wheeled transport to a more robust platform. The website Monowheels collects their efforts. I find it inspiring to view the work of people who, in the face of the problems of steering, ergonomics, and visibility inherent in such a machine, come up with something like this.
March 04, 2003
Dome Sweet Dome
The New York Times reports today that the hearty folks at the South Pole are getting a new home to replace their aging but stylish geodesic dome. With a huge kitchen, private rooms, and lots of windows to view the aurora australis, the new digs sound pretty spiffy, but some are sorry to see the old dome go. After all, the dome has been the site of numerous parties and 300 Club induction ceremonies.
March 01, 2003
Can you stump the computer?
Think of an object. Got it? Now click here and answer 20 questions. The computer will attempt to guess what you are thinking. I guessed anteater and it got aardvark. Amazingly close. If it guesses wrong, it might even argue with you about it!
February 17, 2003
Space Elevators (Revisited)
"Perth is one of two spots in the world being considered for development of a space elevator, a new concept in space travel which it is claimed would make possible tourism on the Moon."
New concept? No. But it is interesting to see it come up again.
February 12, 2003
NOAA Weather
Current conditions:
Solar Wind - speed: 395.3 km/s, density: 8.5 protons/cm3
X-ray Solar Flares - 6hr max: B8, 24-hr: C2
Forecast:
Geomagnetic Storms: Probabilities for significant disturbances in Earth's magnetic field (active level): 0-24 hr - 15%
Not to mention Potentially Hazardous Asteroids, Coronal Holes, the Interplanetary Magnetic Field, and more.
February 10, 2003
The Deal with Wind Chill
What is this wind chill the weatherman keeps talking about? For starters, it is a complex equation that describes the effect of the wind removing the small pocket of heat that emanates from the skin and surrounds a person in still air. Originally devised by Antarctic expeditioners in 1941, the wind chill index was revised in 2000. If you can't handle the math, you can consult the chart, or simply plug in the numbers. Despite the revisions in the formula, some people just are not buying it.
February 06, 2003
"Mars by 1965, Saturn by 1970"
At a time when the U.S. was struggling to put a single man into orbit aboard a modified military rocket, Theodore Taylor and Freeman Dyson were developing plans for a manned voyage of exploration through much of the solar system. "Our motto was 'Mars by 1965, Saturn by 1970'", recalls Dyson.
Something about this seems like it came from a Bradbury story. Perhaps that's because the design is over forty years old. But some are calling for its return.
January 28, 2003
A new breed of science
Can a human being gain thirty pounds in thirty days? What flesh eating bugs live on the floor of the YMCA showers? These and other interesting questions are answered in the science section of The Spark, a website that professes the following strategic plan:
TheSpark.com seeks to integrate large-scale thinking and small-scale personnel (dwarves) to achieve "shrink-to-fit" results on the Internet. We firmly believe that as computers advance beyond our wildest dreams and destroy mankind, the wee ones will be spared.
Be sure to check out The Stinky Feet Diaries. Once you've worked you way through it, you may be ready for The Date My Sister Project, The Fat Project, and Stinky Meats I & II.
January 24, 2003
USGS Updates New Madrid Earthquake Forecasts
"The chances of a devastating earthquake in the region have risen," said USGS scientist Eugene Schweig. Great news for those living in the New Madrid Seismic Zone.
January 22, 2003
Pictures of Home
What does a Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer do? It takes pictures. Be sure to check out the close-ups.
January 21, 2003
Rapture Fever - Catch It!
"After the rapture, there will be a lot of speculation as to why millions of people have just disappeared." This should clear things up.
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