Friday, April 11, 2003

We're Number 2: The Battle for Amercian Science (Oliver Burkeman and Alok Jha) Creationists, pro-lifers and conservatives now pose a serious threat to research and science teaching in the US, according to this Guardian unlimited article: "Welcome to the new battlegrounds of American science. No conspiracy, nor even one political agenda, links the incidents above. But US scientists say they are indicative of a new climate that has emerged under the Bush administration: one driven partly by close relationships with big business, but just as much by a fiercely moral approach to the business of science. The approach is not exclusively religious, nor exclusively rightwing, but is spreading worry as never before through the nation's laboratories and lecture halls." <>  <>  <> "Critics speak with similar alarm about other theories that have been getting a new airing recently, on Aids and abstinence and global warming, for example - theories presented as rival scientific ideas asking only for a "fair hearing". "It's a very good rhetorical strategy, because it appeals to the very American sense of openness and fair play," says Miller. "But there's something called the scientific process, you know - involving open publication, criticism, and rejection of things that aren't convincing. We don't teach both sides of the germ theory of disease and faith-healing. Evolution isn't in the classroom because of political action or court decisions. It's in the classroom because it made it through, it stood up to scrutiny and became the scientific consensus. It fought the battle and won." 11:28:10 PM    comment [] Novadreamer Lucid Dreaming Device Lucid dreaming means dreaming while knowing that you are dreaming. With practice, some people can apparently have some varying degrees of control over the content of the dream, from mere awareness that all is dream to control over the form and content of that dream. The ultimate mind toy. The first trick is to become aware of when you're dreaming, pretty hard to do because, duh, you're asleep. That's where the Lucidity Institute's NovaDreamer comes in. It is a sleep mask that tells you (via lights or sounds) when you are in REM sleep and that therefore you are in a dream state. There is more information on lucid dreaming on the website. The NovaDreamer costs $325. 11:24:48 PM    comment [] Now Playing: Robert Rich: Sunyata, from his Trances and Drones double CD on Release Records. 11:18:52 PM    comment [] ART ALERT: Asianart.com Links to galleries, exhibitions, articles and associations. Oh man! I just lost a half hour between sentences looking at links from this site. Look at this sculpture of Vishnu from this gallery, or this one of Bhurkumkuta from this exhibit. And it's not all ancient art; there is modern work here as well. Great site, thanks to metafilter for the link. 11:16:05 PM    comment [] Robots Gone Wild Dancing prancing robots! Romancing robots! This page contains video links to footage from Robodex 2003 held in Tokyo. It is frightening eerie how lifelike some of these little rascals are getting. Sure hope they will be benevolent overseers when they finally do take over the earth. 11:12:51 PM    comment []

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