Talk given at Sunday Seminar, United Methodist Church, Denver CO, 26 Sep 2021 I have two things I’d like to talk about today. The main one is a book by historian and sociologist Steven Shapin called A Social History of Truth: Civility and Science in Seventeenth-Century England [Bookshop.org, WorldCat]. It looks at the early history… Continue reading A Social History of Truth
Category: Science & Tech
If a star explodes and no one sees it, is it visible?
Scientists (astronomers and astrophysicists, actually) announced last week that a star in a heretofore unknown galaxy exploded about 7.5 billion years ago. The light from the explosion finally reached earth last Wednesday, about 2:12 a.m. (presumably EDT). The exploding star, situated about half way to the edge of the known universe, was the brightest gamma… Continue reading If a star explodes and no one sees it, is it visible?
Welcome to the Uncanny Valley
On the Wired blog Danger Room I found this YouTube video of a new four-legged robot designed as a transport device. I can’t put my finger on exactly why I find this so creepy. I guess it’s the “uncanny valley.”
Abstract visualizations of del.icio.us networks
The illustration below is actually a chart of links shared between eight different del.icio.us users. I confess that I do not fully understand the methodology behind the chart, not being a del.icio.us user myself, but still, I think the concept is fascinating, and the results beautiful and geeky. You can see many more such charts,… Continue reading Abstract visualizations of del.icio.us networks