Understanding the Voynich Manuscript #1 Tom, Dick and Harry explain a statistical method. The mysterious Voynich Manuscript. A simple analysis of a sufficiently large text can reveal much about the topic of that text, if the language is known. If the text, as in the case of the Voynich Manuscript, is written in an unknown script, then the same simple analytical method can point the way to the underlying language, or language group.
The Third Player HypothesisEver since our first ancestor had enough brain cells to ponder something more than the flavor of roast dinosaur, we have pondered over the why of our world: the real causes of observed effects.At one time it was thought that most ordinary events in our lives were caused for the amusement of gods. Thor throws a hissy-fit and we poor mortals get zapped for no good reason. Today, in the 21st century, we laugh at such nonsense. But if we examine our own beliefs, are we all that different today?
Science Fun With A Hot DrinkHere is a most enjoyable physics experiment that anyone can do almost anywhere.You will need:1 hot drink,1 comfortable chair,1 table or desk.You will not need:1 thermometer.Having made yourself a nice steaming hot drink, sit in the chair and put the cup on the table.You may, if preferred, put the cup on the table and then sit down. This will in no way affect the validity of the results. However, if you sit on the table and put the chair on the cup you are likely to invalidate the entire experiment, so stop being so silly!
Spaceship Earth: Entropy Factor #1We travel together, passengers on a little space ship, dependent on its vulnerable reserves of air and soil; all committed for our safety to its security and peace; preserved from annihilation only by the care, the work, and, I will say, the love we give our fragile craft.Adlai Ewing StevensonGlobal Energy Consumption
UK Libel Law Reform - A First StepA UK Parliamentary committee has today 24 February 2010 published online its report on press standards, privacy and libel.The committee's conclusions will give some cheer to those of us who believe that current UK libel laws are bringing British jurisprudence into disrepute.
How to sell a broken hockey stickIf there exists a scientist who can prove to the satisfaction of the world's leaders that global warming - anthropogenic or not - is a myth, he or she will get a Nobel prize and a medal from every government on Earth. Why? Because it will stifle all opposition to the 'business as usual' economic model. Sorry, but I don't think that person exists.How plausible are AGW theories in general?I will address that question using the sort of logic that can be programmed into a computer to simulate human intelligence: semantic logic.Question:
Getting More Bang Per Buck In The Steam AgeOnce the physics of steam engines began to be understood, engineers were able to focus their minds on how to get more power for the same fuel, or the same power from less fuel.A simple way to get more useful power from a steam engine is to lag the boiler. Coal which was used to produce waste heat could be used to produce more steam. This gives more miles per ton of coal. Of course, the railway engineers knew that they could carry on using the same amount of coal over the same mileage and go for higher speed. Which they did. And then some.
A Personal Belief Tester : Batteries Not IncludedWe all have our personal beliefs; it's a part of being human. Mostly, we can believe just about anything we want at a purely philosophical level. But when we interact with others and with our environment, our beliefs may well cause harm to us, to others or to our environment.
Pushing The Moon Away With Victorian MachineryThis is a further article in my occasional series about coal, engines and energy, heat and thermodynamics. In this article I am going to show you how to push the Moon further away using some very basic machinery invented by 19th century scientists and engineers. Yes! Really!This Earth of ours is so huge in scale compared to our puny bodies. How could it be possible that by our ordinary actions we could alter the whole Earth climate system?Let me try to give you a perspective on that, at the scale of a classroom globe:
Where Science Meets PoetryCaveat: it may strike the reader from what follows that I have an agendist stance against modern poetry. I have no quarrel with that assessment.Quite obviously, science meets poetry in the field of linguistics. But what if scientists could embrace poetry? What if a paper in, say, oceanography, were rendered in the media as poetry? Would the public more readily grasp the core concepts?As moontide drags her weary waythrough ocean, sea, and gulf, and bay ...I think you see my drift1.
Boring Science Produces Awesome resultsThe simple scientific observation that you can't use the same energy twice is absolutely awesome!This is a further article in my occasional series about coal, engines and energy, heat and thermodynamics.What is 'hot'; what is 'heat'?
Marc Morano - Global SuperheroIn one of the most philanthropic gestures ever from a mere political journo-lobbyist, Marc Morano has taken upon his own shoulders the entire burden of global climate change.Marc_Morano does not think global warming is anything to worry about. He is utterly convinced that it is the greatest scam in history, a fraud, a pack of lies, etc. etc.
Pegasus - A Load Of Horse Feathers?Evolution proceeds by producing variants of a life-form which may, or may not, thrive in their current environment. An interesting question arises: "In an alternate history of Earth, could horses have evolved feathers?" Image source: Wikimedia, public domain.
