BBC 6’s Peter Serafinowicz created the Dalek Relaxation Tape for Humans (see below) as a bit of a joke, but somehow it fits. For most of my life I’ve seen the new-agey meditation and relaxation tapes and CDs. Things like “Songs up the Humpback Whale”, “Mountain Stream”, “Bird Songs”, “Thunderstorm” etc. At one point in…
It’s time to give celebrities back their privacy
A great deal of ink has been devoted over the last few days to the leaked nude photos of young female celebrities. I’m not going to devote a great deal of time here to discussing how the leak is related to rape culture. That has been covered very well elsewhere. Suffice it to say, for…
Taking away the hardware would be easy, demilitarizing the police would take some work
This week has been filled with headlines about the events in Ferguson, Missouri. I’m not going to focus here on that event specifically, there are ongoing investigations and debates among the local population and millions of words will be written before it’s all done. Instead, I’m going to focus on the deeper problem and how…
Architects in Amsterdam 3D Printing Entire Houses
Not very long ago at all, there were people who claimed that 3D printing was a very limited technology – too limited to be truly disruptive. It turns out, yet again, that there are very few limits on science and technology but many limits on people’s imaginations (at least some people). 3D printing, as this…
Watch George Takei discuss his amazing life in his “It Got Better” video
If you have somehow missed the It Gets Better project it is a series designed to “communicate to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth around the world that it gets better, and to create and inspire the changes needed to make it better for them.” For George Takei things got much better on several fronts.…
Yes, the Redskins are a racist organization to the core
Recently, the Washington Redskins lost their trademark protection because of the racist nature of their logo and name. Many fans of the football team were shocked and outraged, but I don’t know why. Sports teams should not be allowed to have openly racist names (or sexist or homophobic names for that matter). “Braves” and “Indians”…
Grab NASA’s free ebook on communicating with aliens
This eBook isn’t nearly as ‘fun’ as it sounds like it should be. It does not tell you to leave a trail of Reese’s Pieces, or teach you how to speak Klingon. The book is not even about language per se. It is a substantive look at what happens when we find intelligent, extra-terrestrial life…
AsapSCIENCE Explores the Genetic Roots of Laziness vs. Activity
Research with mice has shown that the things that motivate us and how strong that motivation is, at least in part, is genetic. Additionally what we do and don’t do – how we respond to those motivations – gets passed down to the next generation. In other words, the less active we are the less…
Join my new Facebook group on science, technology and society
It’s been a long time since I created a Facebook group. I have doubts about Facebook’s long term viability. However, it will do for now. The new group is for the discussion of emerging science and technology and its, potentially substantial, impact on us all. Rather than drag this out too much I will simply…
Discovery news says cursing is good for your fucking health
Not much to say about this except that apparently, when people say “watch your language” what they mean is curse more – at least according to science. This short video lays out the history of cursing, as well as the psychological and health benefits – including the use of harsh language as a pain killer.