25 MAY 2015 by ideonexus
Laura Betzig: Culture
What if the 100,000-odd year-old evidence of human social life—from the arrowheads in South Africa, to the Venus figurines at Dordogne—is the effect of nothing, more or less, but our efforts to become parents? What if the 10,000-odd year-old record of civilization—from the tax accounts at temples in the Near East, to the inscription on a bronze statue in New York Harbor—is the product of nothing, more or less, but our struggle for genetic representation in future generations?
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notes13 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Columbus As An Example of the Scientific Method
The role of hypothesis in research can be discussed more effectively if we consider first some examples of discoveries which originated from hypotheses. One of the best illustrations of such a discovery is provided by the story of Christopher Columbus' voyage; it has many of the features of a classic discovery in science. (a) He was obsessed with an idea—that since the world is round he could reach the Orient by sailing West, (b) the idea was by no means original, but evidently he had obtai...
1 His hypothesis, his observations, his search for funding, his experiment, his refusal to give up certain preconceptions, and his meager life and failure to be the first.
02 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Herschel Compares Scientific Discovery to Columbus' Explo...
Herschel prophetically implied that electricity and electro-magnetism still hid many secrets, and that their investigation would become the leading science of the new age. This would indeed be Faraday’s coming field of triumph. He summarised (paragraph no. 376) this pursuit in the image of a great and noble sea voyage of exploration. ‘There is something in this which reminds us of the obstinate adherence of Columbus to his notion of the necessary existence of the New World; and the whole ... 1 notes
notesThrough analogies and parallels the scientists finds branches to connect fields of knowledge.
01 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
We Will Retrieve Pioneer 10
Pioneer 10 is the first interstellar spacecraft launched by mankind. It was also
the fastest spacecraft launched, to the date of its departure. But it will take eighty
thousand years for Pioneer 10 to reach the distance of the nearest star. Because
space is so empty, it will never enter another Solar System. The little golden
message aboard Pioneer 10 will be read, but only if there are interstellar voyagers
able to detect and intercept Pioneer 10.
I believe that such an interception may occ...Folksonomies: space exploration astronomy
Folksonomies: space exploration astronomy
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notesAs it has 80,000 years until it reaches the nearest star, we will overtake it, which will be like Columbus being overtaken by an aircraft carrier.
29 OCT 2011 by ideonexus
Government Maps the Terrain for Private Enterprise
There is fundamentally no business case for private enterprise to advance a space frontier. When you advance a frontier, you are making mistakes that the capital markets choose not to value. You have to create patents to enable things that you don't know will work. Anytime you are the first person to do something on that scale, the history of human civilization has demonstrated that the only funding available to do that via governance.
And so what then happens is the patents get issued. The ...
1 Neil deGrasse Tyson explains how government explores and maps out the terrain before private enterprise comes along behind after the costs and risks have been determined.
