Intelligence

James Watson , a sus 79 años, parece ser una demostración viviente de que se puede ser muy inteligente, haber estudiado una carrera, haber sido profesor y dirigido una importante institución científica o incluso haber ganado un premio Nobel de medicina… y aun así ser un perfecto gilipollas.

Via microsiervos

Freakonomics

I liked that book (Freakonomics), specially because it demonstrates the power of data, and how the reality is at times counterintuitive and we are often deceived by our beliefs. Now I discovered a blog which follow a similar trend of analysis. Not all post are that good, but many are. I read with pleasure one about the future of the music industry and one can conclude that they are doomed. The music doesn't need them anymore. Good news. The same will happen to everyone who tries to hold something as fragile as intellectual property.

Waves

"The airwaves should belong to the people. If a TV signal comes trespassing onto my property, I should be free to do any damn thing I want with it, and it's none of the government's business."

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.08/satellite_pr.html

Ignorance in the internet age

"Those who have today readily access to the NET can not be excused for their ignorance"

The other day, I got - again - the old hoax warning about the internationalization of the Amazonia and the evil USA plans, citing a US school textbook as a proof! But the book even doesn't exist. I've been receiving this email for years, since... 2000? perhaps even before. However many people don't even bother to check whether those sources are reliable or not, even though they have readily access to Internet, the best source of information that the humanity has ever had. I mean, one doesn't have to be an expert in the topic, but with just few clicks one can get an idea of almost any topic, weight the different opinions and reach to a conclusion. One can even discuss the ideas in online forums and gets adequate feedback.

I'm optimistic. I believe that anyway the situation is better now than before, when one had to believe what the TV or the newspaper said, swallowing the ignorance and lies of the mass media. This brought me to the memory the initiative of One Laptop per Child (OLPC). I never put too much attention in this project, basically because I strongly distrust centralized initiatives, however I consider that any step that provide access to more trustworthy forms of information is a step forward. If this initiative is successful, soon millions of persons would have access to it. Even those countries where the Internet is actively censored, will be more information than before. The situation can only improve. At least is what I hope.

In the picture the model of the OLPC. Many people criticize it because is underpowered, subsidized, lacking of a business model, etc. However I find it quite well designed, with a beautiful interface (I love the theme) and more important free (of freedom) programs, which means that anybody can learn, modify, document and access them. I wish the best luck for this project. Perhaps one day I'll buy one and give another as a gift.

Such a week!

These are my lags of this time! I had a deadline today. A proposal to get telescope time, let see if this time we've better 'luck'. A lot to do and many changes during the week. Some unpleasant surprises during the endless checking throughout the data archives. Please, observatories, include as soon as possible visual tools, in something like Google Sky. So we can find out quickly and in only one place, the data we are looking for, and figure out what data are useful and what not.

But, it was a productive week. Paper finally submitted. Uff, It took a long, long time. I hope the referee won't suggest too many changes and the publication won't take so long. It can be a 'piece of crap' but it's MY 'piece of crap' and it's beautiful like a child can be for his mother. Now back to the thesis!

Abejas...

"If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more food, no more man."
attributed to Albert Einstein.

taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder

Meteorite lands in Peru

One doesn't hear news like this everyday, but according to many reports a meteorite has fallen in Peru, near to the Bolivian border.

Unfortunately the details are scant and often contradictory, both in the english and spanish newspapers. This is the best photo I was able to find.

The meteorite left a crater of 6 meters deep and 20 wide. The Peruvian seismological service reports no activity, however locals said that an earthquake was felt after a bright light was seen in the sky.

People, who have been close to the crater, fell sick afterwards due to "radiation poisoning!", according to some newspapers. Untrue, meteorites don't have more radiation than normal earth rocks. Likely, it was due to chemicals present in the meteorite or produced by the explosion.