Why compute Pi, that pesky mathematical constant that is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, out to 10 trillion digits? Because climbing mountains is hard and plenty of people have already done that.But Pi? No one else has done this. ja0hxv wrote yesterday that he had reached that ridiculous number after starting on October 10, 2010 - but 191 days of...
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Neuroscientist Bradley Voytek recently got asked why a person can't individually control their toes. Well, I never thought about it before - I don't have great need to use individual toes in some prehensile fashion but perhaps that is only because I can't.Voytek says the primary motor cortex is the issue and shows us all about Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) to...
read moreEdward O. Wilson is arguably the world's most famous myrmecologist - he studies ants, but most people have not heard of myrmecology. They may have heard of entomology and almost certainly have heard of evolutionary biology.Wilson has long held that his study of ants can tell us about people and that hasn't been without controversy. His acrimony with paleontologist Stephen Jay...
read moreOn Halloween, your Planter's peanut butter is going to skyrocket in price; as much as 40%. I predict riots that will make this Wall Street 1% stuff pale in comparison because all of them eat peanut butter (and Ramen) and a whole lot more of us as well. Maybe not. We once thought Americans would not tolerate $4 gas either, cheap gasoline was such an American right that some claimed George...
read moreWe've all heard of politicizing science, like when tobacco companies cast doubt on the scientific evidence for a connection between tobacco and lung cancer or environmental groups try to cast doubt on the benefits of GMO foods. But in the case of Yucca Mountain, the reverse happened: Government officials "scientized" politics. They made decisions that were largely political but cloaked them in...
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