Charles Darwin was, among many things, an avid reader, and by the end of his life he had created his own small library. Not only did he read a lot, but he also compared his ideas with those proposed…

There was a time when I could hide my gray hairs with some strategic combing. Now, I have succumbed and describe my new hair color as “executive blond.” Of course, that also means that the important…

The Dutch translation of Ray Kurzweil's 2005 bestseller “The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology” (the title says it all!) is about to be released, so this post on 'practical PAC' will…

When TIME recently ranked Darth Vader #3 on their "Top 10 Worst Fictional Fathers" (what we call link bait, since people love numbered lists and you have to scroll through each one and see an ad…

When TIME recently ranked Darth Vader #3 on their "Top 10 Worst Fictional Fathers" (what we call link bait, since people love numbered lists and you have to scroll through each one and see an ad…

If Hollywood movies are your science guide, outer space is populated primarily by hot vampire girl aliens and time travel is not only possible, but chicks will dig you more, the same way women today…

If you have kids of a certain age, you know who Spongebob Squarepants is - if you watched the show with your kids, you probably wanted them to watch something else.  Anything else.   …

If you have kids of a certain age, you know who Spongebob Squarepants is - if you watched the show with your kids, you probably wanted them to watch something else.  Anything else.   …

Wish I could go see this exhibit! Creatures of the Abyss is on display at the Royal Alberta Museum, The exhibition’s focal point is a fibreglass model of an eight-metre long colossal squid caught in…

Jose Antonio Vargas has a good story - he is an educated, literate man with a flair for writing.  But he is also an illegal alien who, despite being 30 years old, could never figure out how to…

Jose Antonio Vargas has a good story - he is an educated, literate man with a flair for writing.  But he is also an illegal alien who, despite being 30 years old, could never figure out how to…

The great thing about being a Nobel Laureate, an Academy Award winner and not in politics is that you can speak plainly without anyone cautioning you that criticizing your own is helping the…

The great thing about being a Nobel Laureate, an Academy Award winner and not in politics is that you can speak plainly without anyone cautioning you that criticizing your own is helping the…

Bhutanese Medical System: The Bhutanese medical system goes well beyond the notion of medicine in the narrow western sense. It forms a part of their culture and tradition, in which "Buddhism" is the…

Monday brought a delightful and unanticipated opportunity -- a chance to do a little citizen science at Camp Wisdom Boy Scout Camp (http://camp-wisdom-bsa.org/).  This week's activities were…

Continued from the last post. Discounting the Bohmian song and dance, we are led to conclude that each electron does in some sense pass through both slits. But in what sense? Saying that an electron…

Calliope, like any Low Earth Orbit satellite (LEO), is going up to, well, LEO.  Space weather-- radiation and energetic particles emitted from an active Sun-- can damage satellites.  This…

The pacific northwest is becoming ground zero for anti-science hippies who are willing to believe anything if it fits their world view.   Their vaccination rates are shocking for people who…

The pacific northwest is becoming ground zero for anti-science hippies who are willing to believe anything if it fits their world view.   Their vaccination rates are shocking for people who…

The last posts in this series will discuss some of the practical issues of performing research on complex themes. Methodological Stuff: Introduction Patterns Patterns, Objectivity and Truth Patterns…