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The Times (November 28, 1919), Einstein On His Theory:

“By Dr. Albert Einstein.
I respond with pleasure to your Correspondent’s request that I should write something for The Times on the Theory of Relativity.”

(via)

The Economist, The science of religion. Where angels no longer fear to tread:

““Explaining Religion”, as the project is known, is the largest-ever scientific study of the subject. It began last September, will run for three years, and involves scholars from 14 universities and a range of disciplines from psychology to economics. And it is merely the latest manifestation of a growing tendency for science to poke its nose into the God business.

Religion cries out for a biological explanation. It is a ubiquitous phenomenon—arguably one of the species markers of Homo sapiens—but a puzzling one. It has none of the obvious benefits of that other marker of humanity, language. Nevertheless, it consumes huge amounts of resources. Moreover, unlike language, it is the subject of violent disagreements. Science has, however, made significant progress in understanding the biology of language, from where it is processed in the brain to exactly how it communicates meaning. Time, therefore, to put religion under the microscope as well.”

Shockwave traffic jams recreated for first time (YouTube)

New Scientist, Shockwave traffic jams recreated for first time:

“Researchers from several Japanese universities managed the feat by putting 22 vehicles on a 230-metre single-lane circuit (see video).

They asked drivers to cruise steadily at 30 kilometres per hour, and at first the traffic moved freely. But small fluctuations soon appeared in distances between cars, breaking down the free flow, until finally a cluster of several vehicles was forced to stop completely for a moment.”

Edge, The Edge Annual Question — 2008:

“When thinking changes your mind, that’s philosophy.
When God changes your mind, that’s faith.
When facts change your mind, that’s science.

WHAT HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR MIND ABOUT? WHY?

Science is based on evidence. What happens when the data change? How have scientific findings or arguments changed your mind?”

BMJ, Medical myths:

“Physicians understand that practicing good medicine requires the constant acquisition of new knowledge, though they often assume their existing medical beliefs do not need re-examination. These medical myths are a light hearted reminder that we can be wrong and need to question what other falsehoods we unwittingly propagate as we practice medicine. We generated a list of common medical or medicine related beliefs espoused by physicians and the general public, based on statements we had heard endorsed on multiple occasions and thought were true or might be true. We selected seven for critical review:

• People should drink at least eight glasses of water a day
• We use only 10% of our brains
• Hair and fingernails continue to grow after death
• Shaving hair causes it to grow back faster, darker, or coarser
• Reading in dim light ruins your eyesight
• Eating turkey makes people especially drowsy
• Mobile phones create considerable electromagnetic interference in hospitals.”

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Avicenna (Ibn Sina) (980-1037) (Wikipedia)

Kalima Translation:

“Every year Kalima will select 100 candidate titles of classic, contemporary and modern writing from around the world to be translated into Arabic.”

The Guardian, Translation project to bring cream of foreign writers to Arabs:

“The first 100 are from 16 languages, including Greek, Japanese, Swedish, Czech, Russian, Chinese, Yiddish, Italian, Norwegian, Latin and ancient Greek. Half the candidate titles are English.”

The Independent, Two cultures, one language: Arabic translation of great works aims to bridge divide:

“The greatest Yiddish-language writer of the 20th century features on a list of 100 books chosen to inaugurate a daring, long-term project to bring landmark foreign works to Arabic-speaking readers.

The Collected Stories Of Isaac Bashevis Singer, by an author who was raised in Poland but for decades dominated Yiddish writing in New York, will join titles ranging from Sophocles and Chaucer to Stephen Hawking and Haruki Murakami among the first selections of the Kalima translation programme.

The Kalima (meaning “word” in Arabic) project aims to revive the art of translation across the Arab world and reverse the long decline in Arabic readers’ access to major works of global literature, philosophy, science and history.

“The choices reflect what we consider are the real gaps in the Arab library,” said Karim Nagy, the founder and chief executive of the project, which was launched yesterday in Abu Dhabi. “We shy away as far as possible from best-sellers.”"

De 100 titels zijn:
Read More →

Ben Goldacre, What’s wrong with homeopathy:

“And there is the rub. Because Winterson tries to tell us – like every other homeopathy fan – that for some mystical reason, which is never made entirely clear, the healing powers of homeopathic pills are special, and so their benefits cannot be tested like every other pill. This has become so deeply embedded in our culture, by an industry eager to obscure our very understanding of evidence, that even some doctors now believe it.”

Willem van Hoorn, Geloof strijdt met wetenschap

“Er is een onoverbrugbaar verschil tussen geloof en vrije wetenschapsbeoefening. Cees Dekker vermengt beide op ontoelaatbare wijze.”

Bovenstaande naar aanleiding van Dekker, Stel grenzen aan het gesleutel aan de mens.

Salon, Proud atheists:

“Steven Pinker and Rebecca Goldstein, America’s brainiest couple, confess that belonging to one of America’s most reviled subcultures doesn’t mean they believe scientists can explain everything.”

John Brockman:

“I recently paid a visit to the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens, London to see Swiss curator Hans Ulrich Obrist, a long-time friend with whom I have a mutual connection: we both worked closely with the late James Lee Byars, the conceptual artist who, in 1971, implemented “The World Question Center” as a work of conceptual art.

The walls of Obrist’s office were covered with single pages of size A4 paper on which artists, writers, scientists had responded to his question: “What Is Your Formula?” Among the pieces were formulas by quantum physicist David Deutsch, artist and musician Brian Eno, architect Rem Koolhaas, and fractal mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot.

Within minutes we had hatched an Edge-Serpentine collaboration for a “World Question Center” project, to debut on Edge during the annual Serpentine Gallery Experiment Marathon, the weekend of October 13-14. The plan was to further the reach of Obrist’s question by asking for responses from the science-minded Edge community, thus complementing the rich array of formulas already assembled by the Serpentine from distinguished artists such as Marina Abramovic, Matthew Barney, Louise Bourgeois, Gilbert & George, and Rosemarie Trockel.”

Edge: What is your formula? Your equation? Your Algorithm? Formulae for the 21st century.

Biologists Helping Bookstores. Reshelving pseudo-scientific nonsense since 2007.

“I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but some bookstores seem to have a little problem discerning science from non-science. I’m specifically talking about biology books vs. creationist books. Sometimes, you will find psuedo-scientific rubbish such as “intelligent design” books next to such authors as Darwin, Mayr, Gould, et al.”

New Scientist: “So for those who are not sure what to believe, here is our round-up of the 26 most common climate myths and misconceptions.”

Noorderlicht Magazine: “Waarom heeft bijna de helft van de Amerikanen een afkeer van wetenschap?”

Nature: “Hugging diffuses the tension when two bands of monkeys meet, say the British researchers who made the discovery. Without these calming embraces, the situation can escalate into aggression and even physical attacks, they report.”

Ronald Plasterk: “God in de politiek is fataal.” (via)

Marie-Jose Klaver: “De Europese Commissie wordt in de petitie opgeroepen om de aanbevelingen uit haar eigen Study on the Economic and Technical Evolution of the Scientific Publication Markets of Europe (pdf) formeel uit te voeren.”

Nature: “The science of pedestrian motion meets the annual Hajj in Mecca.”

Nature: “Of all the ingredients that make up the ideal female form, it isn’t the most obvious winner. But researchers claim that, for enduring popularity down the ages, nothing beats a narrow waistline.”