The 1969 movie “2001: A Space Odyssey” was a landmark science-fiction film, in many ways far ahead of its time. With the recent release of a 1080p Blu-Ray video version, home viewers can enjoy nearly the same stunning level of graphics and visual effects of the original big-screen theater release. Forty-three years later, in the . . . → Read More: “2001: A Space Odyssey”: Art versus 2012 reality
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Introduction In the past few years, modern genome sequencing and computer technology have placed enormous volumes of DNA data at the fingertips of researchers worldwide. The first complete human genome sequence was completed in 2000, after a ten-year effort that cost over USD$500 million. But genome sequencing technology is advancing very rapidly — human genomes . . . → Read More: What does the latest DNA data say about evolution? This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of famed British mathematician Alan Turing (23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954). The outline of his remarkable life and sad ending has by now become fairly well known. Turing laid numerous foundation stones of modern computing, ranging from the deepest mathematical nature of computing (using what are now called . . . → Read More: Is your mate actually a computer? Would you pass the “Turing test”? Games are as old as human society as the image below illustrates. But as with all other parts of society, games and gaming are being profoundly changed by the computing and communication revolution. Some of the changes are obvious, some are less so. © Maler der Grabkammer der Nefertari. This work portrays the ancient Egyptian . . . → Read More: Are computers playing games with us? With all the attention given lately to the tentative discovery of the long-sought Higgs boson in experiments at the Large Hardon Collider (LHC) in Europe, one would think that more attention would be drawn to Amalie Emmy Noether, a woman who made groundbreaking contributions to both mathematics and physics. Noether (pronounced “ner-ter”) was born in . . . → Read More: Emmy Noether: pillar of 20th century mathematics and physics Recent news reports and commentaries have again drawn attention to a “numeracy crisis” that threatens the economies of first-world nations. In the U.S., a 2009 report by the National Academies again highlighted the desperate need to improve mathematical education, particularly at the K-12 level, where so many otherwise talented students either fall behind or lose interest. . . . → Read More: “Numeracy crisis” threatens first-world economies Introduction In one respect, science and religion have been largely reconciled since the nineteenth century, when geologists such as Charles Lyell recognized the evidence for a very old earth, and, within a few decades, most mainstream religious denominations accepted this view as well. But much to the consternation of scientists, young-earth creationism, which holds that . . . → Read More: How old is the earth? Calculate it for yourself Given the ever-growing importance of science and technology in modern life, particularly in first world nations, why don’t we see more scientists in leading governmental positions? This dearth is particularly stark in the U.S. Among the 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, only three have bonafide scientific credentials (one physicist, one chemist, one . . . → Read More: Scientists in politics: What is the score, and what can be done? [Note: A condensed and revised version of this article was published here in The Conversation, an online forum of academic research headquartered in Melbourne, Australia.] These are painful times for those hoping to see an international consensus and substantive action on global warming. In the U.S., Republican Presidential candidates appear to be moving from open-minded . . . → Read More: Global warming denial and scientific integrity Introduction Both traditional creationists and intelligent design scholars have invoked probability arguments in criticisms of biological evolution. They argue that certain features of biology are so fantastically improbable that they could never have been produced by a purely natural, “random” process, even assuming the billions of years of history asserted by geologists and astronomers. They . . . → Read More: Does probability refute evolution? |
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