Random Thoughts

Best Science Writers of 2014

How deep is science writing these days? Pretty darn deep. Way back when Science 2.0 started there were not a lot of great science writers. There were well-known ones, but not great ones. Journalism was in flux and mainstream media didn't respect it m ...

Blog Post - Hank Campbell - Jun 30 2014 - 9:48am

Going Deep With David Rees- Fun Science For The Family

"Going Deep" With David Rees premieres tonight on National Geographic Channel and if you have little time to decide whether or not to watch it, you are in luck because I can be brief- it's a good show. "Going Deep" is fun for all ...

Blog Post - Hank Campbell - Jul 14 2014 - 7:51pm

Mike Massimino, The First Tweeting Astronaut, Leaves NASA For Academia

Mission Accomplished. Now it's time to go back home. After two space shuttle missions and almost two decades, astronaut Mike Massimino has left NASA for Columbia University in New York. During the final servicing mission of the Hubble Space Telescope ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 30 2014 - 12:57am

Happy 99th Birthday To The Inventor Of The Laser, Charles Townes

Charles Hard Townes (AP Photo) Charles Townes has a lot going for him; he just saw his 99th birthday and 500 people showed up to cheer for him. He has a Nobel prize and a younger wife- Frances is 98. Oh, and he invented the laser, which just about everyon ...

Blog Post - Hank Campbell - Jul 30 2014 - 4:08pm

I'm Marvelous Now- Why I Stopped Being Awesome

George Clooney used to copy my haircuts. People who knew me in the 1990s always marveled at my classic, parted-on-the-side, immaculately coiffed style. It was retro, just like the term "marvelous' is today. Prior to that, I had a classic Caesar n ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Aug 31 2014 - 10:55am

How Chicago Almost Ended Up In Wisconsin

Given its rampant crime, corruption and money issues, a lot of residents of Illinois publicly wish they could give Chicago away. They almost never had it at all. The original proposed northern boundary of Illinois was a straight line from the southernmost ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 14 2014 - 11:30am

No Flatlanders Allowed: Haggis And Whisky Flavored Potato Chips

Mackie's at Taypack Ltd. has been around since 2009 but the joint venture between the Taylors, Perthshire potato farmers, and Mackie's of Scotland,  has finally figured out a way to differentiate themselves from Frito-Lay: they are making potato ...

Blog Post - Hank Campbell - Sep 26 2014 - 5:31pm

Brain Plasticity Tradeoffs and Sascha Vongehr Musician

This may surprise, but Ludwig Wittgenstein, for many the greatest philosopher, or anyway the most eminent exponent of analytic philosophy according to Roger Scruton, maintained that music (!) was the most important to him, not formal logic or philosophy. ...

Blog Post - Sascha Vongehr - Sep 29 2014 - 3:09am

Is Chess The New Texas Hold 'Em?

Credit: Millionaire Chess tournament When I was a kid, no one outside Texas played Texas Hold 'Em. We played Stud, we played Draw, we played Liar's, but not Hold 'Em. Like Esther Williams movies and organic food, some things just make their ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Oct 9 2014 - 12:26pm

Why You Will Never Be able to 'See' a Large System

In my latest attempt to debunk some of the nonsense that passes for analysis among Internet marketers I decided it might be worthwhile to talk about large systems theory.  The problem, of course, is that there really is no "large systems theory" ...

Blog Post - Michael Martinez - Oct 11 2014 - 9:03am