Register | Sign In


Understanding through Discussion


EvC Forum active members: 65 (9162 total)
7 online now:
Newest Member: popoi
Post Volume: Total: 915,815 Year: 3,072/9,624 Month: 917/1,588 Week: 100/223 Day: 11/17 Hour: 0/0


Thread  Details

Email This Thread
Newer Topic | Older Topic
  
Author Topic:   Quirks and Quarks
NosyNed
Member
Posts: 8996
From: Canada
Joined: 04-04-2003


Message 76 of 86 (360445)
11-01-2006 12:21 PM


Q&Q 2006 Nov 4 Geometry, a no fish future
This Week on Quirks & Quarks we feature:
"The King of Infinite Space".
What do the Internet, triangles and sunflowers have in common? They're all objects that can be described using geometry, the study of shapes.
It's one of the oldest forms of mathematics. and today, it's a central part of modern technology, especially in computing. But during the bulk of the twentieth century, geometry was scorned. Most serious mathematicians weren't interested in shapes, they preferred to work with abstractions and formulae. But standing firm against the tide was a Canadian mathematician. Dr. Donald Coxeter is often referred to as the man who saved geometry. From his office at the University of Toronto, he kept alive the field of geometry through its dark ages, saving it from obscurity. A biography of the late Dr. Coxeter has just been published, and we'll talk to the author.
Plus - a future without fish.

  
NosyNed
Member
Posts: 8996
From: Canada
Joined: 04-04-2003


Message 77 of 86 (362631)
11-08-2006 12:47 PM


Q&Q 2006 Nov 11
See Home | Quirks & Quarks with Bob McDonald | CBC Radio after about 2 pm EST
This Week on Quirks & Quarks:
Francis Crick: The Man Who Broke the Genetic Code
James Watson and Francis Crick are arguably the most famous pair of research partners in scientific history. Their combined efforts led to the now-famous discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953. Together, they ushered in the age of molecular genetics. But their partnership was so fruitful that their individual efforts are sometimes forgotten. And Watson, the more flamboyant of the two, often overshadowed the achievements of his collaborator. But now the first major biography of Francis Crick has been published, and it portrays Crick as one of the most important scientists in history, in the same ranks as Galileo, Newton and Einstein.
Plus - going batty on the Prairies.
All this and more on Quirks & Quarks, Saturday right after the noon news on Radio One, or anytime on our web page.

  
NosyNed
Member
Posts: 8996
From: Canada
Joined: 04-04-2003


Message 78 of 86 (363966)
11-15-2006 6:24 PM


2006Nov18 Backing up the Earth, Neanderthals
Home | Quirks & Quarks with Bob McDonald | CBC Radio on saturday after about 1 pm EST
"Backing Up The Earth".
No, this isn't about reversing the Earth's orbit around the sun, it's about making a backup copy of our planet.
Anyone who's ever had his computer crash while typing knows just how important a backup copy can be. Most major industries take backing up data very seriously, with complete archives stored far away from their main computers. But what would we do if there were a major disaster?
What if the entire planet were wiped out? It might sound like a concept best dealt with by science fiction, but it's a scenario some researchers take very seriously. Around the globe, scientists and archivists are working on systems for saving everything, from the smallest microbes to the biggest ideas. This week, we'll take a look at how to make a back up copy of Earth - and where to keep it.
Plus - are we on the road to resurrecting Neanderthals?
All this and more on Quirks & Quarks, Saturday right after the noon news on Radio One, or anytime on our web page.

  
NosyNed
Member
Posts: 8996
From: Canada
Joined: 04-04-2003


Message 79 of 86 (368656)
12-09-2006 2:07 PM


Q&Q Dec 9
Home | Quirks & Quarks with Bob McDonald | CBC Radio will allow downloads of this.
Topics:
How a Bat Holds its Licker
There are several species of nectar-eating bats in Ecuador that have developed unusually long tongues to slurp up the sweet goodness of tropical flowers. The flowers supply the nectar generously because the bats spread their pollen. Nathan Muchhala, a Ph.D. candidate in the Biology department at the University of Miami, has discovered the champion tongue among bats. He discovered that a 60-mm-long bat called Anoura fistulata has a tongue 50 per cent longer than its body, specifically adapted for reaching deep into flowers for nectar. The tongue is so long that to retract it, the bat has to pull it back all the way down into its throat.
Forest Fires and Mercury
Serendipity can make for the best science discoveries. Erin Kelly can attest to that. Ms. Kelly, a doctoral biology student at the University of Alberta, was measuring mercury levels in lakes at different elevations in the Canadian Rockies, when one of the lakes she was looking at was suddenly encased in a forest fire. With archived samples of fish from the lake available from Environment Canada, she could compare post-fire mercury levels to pre-fire levels. The differences were dramatic, with mercury levels being as much as five times higher after the fire, raising concerns for the health of the fish, and the health of those who might eat them. While forest fires are part of a natural, cyclical process, prescribed burns have been suggested as a means of curbing the destructive spread of the mountain pine beetle. This new research suggests that deliberately increasing the number of forest fires could have implications for animal and human health that need to be taken into consideration.
Magic and the Mind
We all know that magic is just someone playing mind tricks. But simple as that sounds, being able to call the magician on his bluff is a different matter. Thats why Dr. Gustav Kuhn, whos both a magician, and a psychology research fellow at the University of Durham, decided to do a study on visual perception and magic tricks. He has demonstrated how the key to a magic trick is to manipulate what the audience is expecting to see, and how that expectation of seeing can override the actual visual input. Take, for example, the trick commonly known as the "vanishing ball". The magician pretends to throw a ball up in the air, and fools the audience into thinking the ball was actually thrown, by the magician looking in the direction the ball would have gone. This kind of trick shows that vision for perception and vision for action can be dissociated in the brain. This is the same phenomenon that's at the core of the debate over the reliability of eyewitness accounts.
Brotherly Love among Crayfish
The life of the Red Swamp Crayfish is a complicated one. Living in the streams and swamps of the Southern United States, these lobster-like creatures are always in close contact with their neighbours. So, a hierarchy of who's who is very important. If you're much bigger than the crayfish next door, you're the boss. But, if your neighbour is about your size, you're going to have to compete to figure out who's in charge. Most of the time, this is going to involve fighting, but some male crayfish have a different strategy. They prefer to make love, not war, literally. Dr. Donald Edwards, a Regents' professor of biology and physics at Georgia State University, studies these animals and has discovered that one form of conflict resolution is through what he calls pseudo-copulation. The activity resembles what happens when a male and female crayfish couple, including the depositing of sperm by the dominant animal. Dr. Edwards believes this developed as a safe alternative these crustaceans use to sort out their social ranking.
This is Your Brain on Music
Dr. Daniel Levitin has gone from being a session musician and music producer working with world-famous recording artists to an academic career in neuroscience. The connection between the two is his fascination with the way that music works in the brain. In his new book, This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession, he explores how humans seem to be adapted specifically for music. Music activates the pleasure centres in ways similar to drugs, food and sex. The patterns and features of music are also perceived in special ways by our brains, distinct from ordinary sounds. This explains some of what we find attractive in things like the patterns of notes in an octave, musical harmony and complex rhythm. Dr. Daniel Levitin is a professor in the department of Psychology, and Bell chair in the Psychology of Electronic Communication at McGill University.
Water on Mars
Running water has almost been spotted running on Mars. Images from the Mars Global Surveyor, which has been orbiting the planet for a decade, show white streaks on the side of a hill that look remarkably like water seepage out of the side of a cliff. Features like this have been seen before on Mars, but these particular marks could have formed as recently as last year. This could be the closest weve come to finding the holy grail of Mars exploration: running water on the Red Planet. Or Mars might have pulled a fast one on us again.

  
NosyNed
Member
Posts: 8996
From: Canada
Joined: 04-04-2003


Message 80 of 86 (369535)
12-13-2006 1:16 PM


Q & Q 2006 Dec 16
Home | Quirks & Quarks with Bob McDonald | CBC Radio for download
"Quirks Holiday Book Show".
What do Mars, cryptology, and oxygen have in common? There all subjects of new science books featured on this year's edition of the Book Show.
First, we'll examine a new book of stunning panoramic photographs from the Mars Rovers, and find out what it would be like to stand on the Red Planet. Then we'll hear about a controversial new theory that claims oxygen is the reason why dinosaurs were so big, and insects are now so small. And finally, a scientific novel about two of the great mathematical minds of the past century, Alan Turing and Kurt Godel, which explores their extraordinary achievements and their tragic demise.
Plus - secrets from the Stardust mission.
Stardust under the Microscope
The scientists analyzing the cometary dust returned by the Stardust mission released their first formal results this week. The big surprise is that while comets form in the most distant, coldest parts of our solar system, the dust included minerals that could only have been forged by the heat of a nearby sun. Scientists are trying to understand this result, and how material from near the sun could have migrated out to the farthest reaches of our system. Dr. Don Brownlee is professor of Astronomy at the University of Washington and Principal Investigator on the Stardust Mission, and he and his colleagues published their results in the journal Science.
A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines
Dr. Janna Levin, a professor of Physics and Astronomy at Barnard College of Columbia University in New York City, was interested in writing a book about two of the great figures of 20th century science: Alan Turing and Kurt Goedel. They fascinated her because of their brilliance, their influence, their great but disturbed minds and their tragic ends. Working with the material surprised her though, and so instead of a book of science and history, she wrote a fictionalized exploration of their exotic personalities. The result is a departure of considerable imaginative power which is riveting and occasionally disturbing. The book is called A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines and it's published by Knopf Canada.
Postcards from Mars
For almost three years now, the Mars Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity have been traveling across the surface of the Red Planet. As they travel they're sending back huge amounts of data, largely in the form of images. Many of these images are taken by the Rovers panoramic cameras. The best of these images have been collected together by Dr. Jim Bell. He's the team leader for the cameras, and a professor of astronomy at Cornell University. His collection of images were recently published as Postcards from Mars, by Dutton Press.
Out of Thin Air
No one would deny the importance of oxygen for life. We can go for hours without water, days without food, but only minutes without oxygen. Dr. Peter Ward, from the University of Washington, takes the importance of oxygen one step further. Not only does he believe oxygen is essential for life, he thinks it's the major driving force behind life's evolution on the planet. He says changing oxygen levels through the planet's history have led to innovation, and the diversity we see today. It's what allowed the dinosaurs to become the dominant form of life on the planet for millions of years, and what keeps insects small today. Dr. Ward outlines his theories in the book, Out of Thin Air, published by Joseph Henry Press. And Dr. Ward's theories got some experimental support recently from Dr. Guy Narbonne, a professor at Queens University. Dr. Narbonne's study of fossils shows that large animals appear on the planet at the same time as the level of oxygen starts to rise, confirming one of the basic ideas in Dr. Ward's book.
Edited by NosyNed, : added details

Replies to this message:
 Message 81 by NosyNed, posted 12-16-2006 2:06 PM NosyNed has not replied

  
NosyNed
Member
Posts: 8996
From: Canada
Joined: 04-04-2003


Message 81 of 86 (370206)
12-16-2006 2:06 PM
Reply to: Message 80 by NosyNed
12-13-2006 1:16 PM


Re: Q & Q 2006 Dec 16 -- bumped
added details of the show

This message is a reply to:
 Message 80 by NosyNed, posted 12-13-2006 1:16 PM NosyNed has not replied

  
NosyNed
Member
Posts: 8996
From: Canada
Joined: 04-04-2003


Message 82 of 86 (371429)
12-21-2006 4:08 PM


Q&Q 2006 Dec 30
Available at Home | Quirks & Quarks with Bob McDonald | CBC Radio on Saturday
This week on Quirks & Quarks:
The Holiday Question Show.
Yes, it's another edition of our Annual Award-Winning, Audience-Pleasing, Brain-Teasing, Head-Scratching, Mind-Bending Holiday Question Show. Find out if fish get itchy; how long viruses can live on a doorknob; why airplanes aren’t dimpled like golf balls; and whether hot water freezes faster than cold water.
All this and more scientific puzzlers on Quirks & Quarks, Saturday right after the noon news on Radio One, or anytime on our web page.

  
NosyNed
Member
Posts: 8996
From: Canada
Joined: 04-04-2003


Message 83 of 86 (376158)
01-11-2007 9:54 AM


Q&Q 2006 Jan 13
Go to Home | Quirks & Quarks with Bob McDonald | CBC Radio to download mp3 of this.
This Week on Quirks & Quarks:
"Womb with a View:" The cutting edge science of fetal surgery.
In recent decades, huge strides have been made in neo-natal care, allowing doctors to operate on newborns, in order to repair a wide range of medical problems and life-threatening conditions. Well, now doctors have taken a step further back, intervening to save the lives of babies, long before they're even born. We're talking about fetal surgery - where doctors open up the wombs of pregnant women, to perform complicated procedures, such as heart surgery, on sick fetuses that might otherwise not survive. But the miraculous surgeries come with complications and ethical dilemmas.
Plus - Martian mixup: looking for life in all the wrong faces.
All this and more on Quirks & Quarks, Saturday right after the noon news on Radio One, or anytime on our web page.

Replies to this message:
 Message 84 by Percy, posted 01-11-2007 10:07 AM NosyNed has not replied

  
Percy
Member
Posts: 22391
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 84 of 86 (376165)
01-11-2007 10:07 AM
Reply to: Message 83 by NosyNed
01-11-2007 9:54 AM


Re: Q&Q 2006 Jan 13
God, I just can't wait until I can return to coding for the website. One of the things I want to do is to make it easy for people to add to pages that have lists of links to things like websites and podcasts. These items you're adding would be perfect for that, a better vehicle for presenting such information than threads like this and Science Programs on Radio, TV and Internet. Not that they couldn't be posted here, too, but it's easier to find what you want in a page of links instead of trying to remember what thread you stuck it in last year.
My deadline for my day job project is July. Let us pray. Or, as some might ask, why am I posting instead of coding? Good question, bye now!
--Percy

This message is a reply to:
 Message 83 by NosyNed, posted 01-11-2007 9:54 AM NosyNed has not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 85 by Phat, posted 01-11-2007 10:14 AM Percy has not replied

  
Phat
Member
Posts: 18262
From: Denver,Colorado USA
Joined: 12-30-2003
Member Rating: 1.1


Message 85 of 86 (376168)
01-11-2007 10:14 AM
Reply to: Message 84 by Percy
01-11-2007 10:07 AM


Re: Q&Q 2006 Jan 13
Percy, for a guy as busy as you are, you take a lot of time to make good posts. I saw the one you made documenting The Mystics antics...how elaborate! Keep up the good work and believe that your coding has a universal purpose beyond mere numbers
BTW Ned...thanks for keeping us informed of Q & Q through the years. It is a good thing that you do!

This message is a reply to:
 Message 84 by Percy, posted 01-11-2007 10:07 AM Percy has not replied

  
Minnemooseus
Member
Posts: 3941
From: Duluth, Minnesota, U.S. (West end of Lake Superior)
Joined: 11-11-2001
Member Rating: 10.0


Message 86 of 86 (394551)
04-12-2007 4:12 AM


A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder...
Not a Q&Q, but something I thought worth listening to at least once.
1 hour of audio. A couple of supplemental mp3 files also available at playlist link.
See WFMU: The Ed Shepp Radio Experiment: Playlist from April 5, 2007 . Links for 2 varieties of audio archive available there.
They are:
128kbs mp3 version (available for about 2 weeks):
http://www.wfmu.org/listen.m3u?show=22625&archive=34351
RealAudio version (available forever):
http://www.wfmu.org/listen.ram?show=22625&archive=34350
Supplemental mp3's:
http://edshepp.terapad.com/.../sounds/MESS%20EXCERPT%201.mp3
http://edshepp.terapad.com/.../assets/sounds/EXCERPT%202.mp3
Moose

Professor, geology, Whatsamatta U
Evolution - Changes in the environment, caused by the interactions of the components of the environment.
"Do not meddle in the affairs of cats, for they are subtle and will piss on your computer." - Bruce Graham
"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness." - John Kenneth Galbraith
"I know a little about a lot of things, and a lot about a few things, but I'm highly ignorant about everything." - Moose

  
Newer Topic | Older Topic
Jump to:


Copyright 2001-2023 by EvC Forum, All Rights Reserved

™ Version 4.2
Innovative software from Qwixotic © 2024