Cosmic Variance
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Telekinesis and Quantum Field Theory
via Cosmic Variance by Sean on February 18, 2008
In the aftermath of the dispiriting comments following last week’s post on the Parapsychological Association, it seems worth spelling out in detail the claim that parapsychological phenomena are inconsistent with the known laws of physics. The main point here is that, while there are certainly many things that modern science does not understand, there are also many things that it does...
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And it’s accredited!
via Cosmic Variance by (author unknown) on February 25, 2008
Spotted in the Google Ads sidebar of a news article:
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Dunbar’s Number
via Cosmic Variance by Sean on February 04, 2008
I never knew this. (Via xkcd.) Wikipedia defines Dunbar’s number:Dunbar’s number, which is very approximately 150, represents a theorized cognitive limit to the number of individuals with whom any one person can maintain stable social relationships, the kind of relationships that go with knowing who each person is and how each person relates socially to every other person. Group sizes...
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The Statistical Mechanics of Political Change
via Cosmic Variance by Sean on February 05, 2008
It’s Super Tuesday, and I’m about to go cast my vote for Barack Obama. Although both he and Hillary would be enormously better for the country than anyone the Republicans have to offer, I (along with my fellow political elites) think he offers the best chance to break away from a certain kind of corrosive political mindset that characterizes our present system. As just a single example, see...
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Signaling
via Cosmic Variance by Sean on February 13, 2008
Brad DeLong disentangles the messages that a (male) professor sends by wearing a tie. (Inspired by this sad little diatribe, properly mocked here.)I have found that wearing a suit and tie is very effective if done occasionally with non-math-oriented students. It tells them that I care because it shows that I have taken sufficient time to prepare and teach the class even though I am a busy person...
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What’s the (Dark) Matter?
via Cosmic Variance by John on February 28, 2008
There really is something out there, bending the light from distant galaxies:Galaxies, and galaxy clusters, appear to be surrounded by clouds of something invisible which interacts gravitationally. It apparently also causes the rotation of galaxies to deviate from the simple prediction of Newton’s laws assuming that only the visible matter in galaxies is present.This “dark matter” makes up...
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Culture War By Proxy
via Cosmic Variance by Sean on March 12, 2008
John McCain thinks he’s hit on a good strategy for the upcoming Presidential campaign: make fun of scientists.WEST GLACIER, Mont. — If you’ve heard Sen. John McCain’s stump speech, you’ve surely heard him talk about grizzly bears. The federal government, he declares with horror and astonishment, has spent $3 million to study grizzly bear DNA. “I don’t know if it was a paternity...
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Props to Mitt Romney
via Cosmic Variance by Julianne on May 09, 2008
... — to prohibit certain less-favored strains of conscience — it may be the non-believer who is among the first to be condemned. A coercive monopoly of belief threatens everyone, whether we are talking about those who search the philosophies of men or follow the words of God.We are all in this together. Religious liberty and liberality of thought flow from the common conviction that it is fr...
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Be vewwwwy vewwwwy quiet….
via Cosmic Variance by Julianne on January 16, 2008
I have no independent knowledge of the veracity of this report, but a local TV station in the Bay Area is reporting rumors that the SETI program running at the upgraded Arecibo radio telescope has detected an anomalous signal (or in t
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Everyone’s a Critic
via Cosmic Variance by Sean on January 30, 2008
... under My Nose But if you Do I cant say I’m sorry!Sincerelya ten year old who knows a little more than some Pepeol!George Wingps. some peopl Have a little to Much time.In response, of course, to the NYT story about Boltzmann’s Brain. George’s father Michael, a high-school science teacher, was moved to send it along (and gave me permission to post it), suggesting that “maybe it is re...
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