Category Archives: Science

“The good news is the void is there.”

NPR The Two-Way: Scientists Say They’ve Found Hidden Space In Great Pyramid Of Giza.

“Tayoubi explains that his team installed sheets of muon-detecting film in a lower-level room of the pyramid known as the Queen’s Chamber. The goal was to test whether they could use muons to accurately discern two well-known rooms located above: the King’s Chamber and Grand Gallery.

They saw those rooms but, to their surprise, they found an additional large space as well.”

Deutsche Welle: Hohlraum in Cheops-Pyramide entdeckt. “Seit zwei Jahren durchleuchten internationale Forscherteams mit Strahlungsdetektoren die Cheops-Pyramide. Jetzt feierten sie den Durchbruch: Sie entdeckten einen riesigen Hohlraum in der größten Pyramide in Gizeh.”

Ecology meets Art

“Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (16 February 1834 – 9 August 1919) was a German biologist, naturalist, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biologist, and artist who discovered, described and named thousands of new species, mapped a genealogical tree relating all life forms, and coined many terms in biology”. He was heavily influenced by Alexander von Humboldt, about whom I recently read a book called The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf (highly recommended, by the way).

Haeckel is most well-known for his incredibly detailed and beautiful drawings of radiolarians and other Kunstformen der Natur (art forms in nature). Recently, a new book with his drawings was published:

The Guardian: Ernst Haeckel: the art of evolution – in pictures.

“The influential evolutionary scientist, who coined such terms as ‘stem cell’ and ‘ecology’, was also a virtuoso illustrator. The editor of a new book celebrating this work introduces some highlights.”

Creative Review: Feast your eyes on the art of Ernst Haeckel. “A new book from Taschen compiles 450 drawings, watercolours and sketches of living organisms by artist and biologist Ernst Haeckel.”

The book is fairly costly, but if you prefer a cheaper, sort of do-it-yourself version, there’s always the Art Forms in Nature: Coloring Book. ;-)

Und für Menschen, die der deutschen Sprache mächtig sind, existiert eine HTML-Version von Kunstformen der Natur (vollständige elektronische Faksimile-Ausgabe). Dort kann man sich einzelne Tafeln anschauen oder zum Ausdrucken herunterladen. Es gibt auch eine tar-Datei mit allen Tafeln (16MB) sowie das komplette Buch als PDF (272MB).

Most links via MetaFilter.

Is it 1984 yet?!

NPR: Aexa, Are You Safe For My Kids?

“Earlier this month, the toy-giant Mattel announced it had pulled the plug on plans to sell an interactive gadget for children. The device, called Aristotle, looked similar to a baby monitor with a camera. Critics called it creepy.

“Aristotle […] was designed to “displace essential parenting functions, like soothing a crying baby or reading a bedtime story,” says Josh Golin, executive director of the advocacy group Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. “So that the children would form an attachment to it.” […]

But some of the concerns with Aristotle apply to Alexa and Google Home. In terms of privacy, both Alexa and Google Home are always “listening” to conversations. Once they hear a trigger word — such as “Ok Google” or “Alexa” — the device starts recording the conversation you’re having with it. Then it uploads the conversation to the cloud so it can learn better how to understand you and help you. Both Alexa and Google Home allow you to listen to the conversations, and the companies say you can delete them.”

Call me paranoid, but I would never in a million years install such a device in my home.

How to train your kitty to stop waking you up in the middle of the night

NPR Fresh Air: Who Says You Can’t Train A Cat? A Book Of Tips For Feline-Human Harmony. (36:53min, transcript)

“The common wisdom about pets is that you can train a dog, but you can’t train a cat. Today’s guest says you can train a cat, but it takes an understanding of how cats learn. Sarah Ellis is the co-author with John Bradshaw of the book, “The Trainable Cat,” which is now out in paperback. Among the things she’s trained her cats to do is come when she calls, voluntarily walk into the cat carrier to go to the vet, take medicine and be friendly to her dog and her baby.”

The last of Earth

The Economist: Joseph Schmitt died on September 25th.

“He was there when Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in 1947; when Alan Shepard made America’s first manned space flight, in 1961; when John Glenn first orbited Earth, in 1962; when Apollo 8 went round the moon in 1968, and when Apollo 11’s module landed on it in 1969, for him the most mind-boggling moment of all. The team had never worked so hard at anything. But he went on for many years yet, to suit up men for the first Skylab flight and the first Shuttles, before in 1983 he left to get on with all the stuff at home that needed fixing.”