Friday, October 01, 2004
"Good Heavens Miss Yakamoto, You're Beautiful!"
Those are some puzzling "lyrics" from the huge 80's song "She Blinded Me With Science." Why is it in the 80's that an entire song could make absolutely ZERO sense, and yet rise to the top of the charts (and have a special place in our memories as a "good" song)? Worse yet is that within a song that already made little sense, that there were bizarre interjections such as the title of this blog. Weird. I guess that was the 80's version on Lil John screaming "Yeaaah!" "Skeet Skeet Skeet!" or "What?!" in the background of a hip hop song. But, let's get back to the point... science!
I love science, as anyone who knows me can tell you. I am obsessed with evolutionary biology and anthropology, and I am very curious about everything from why stars twinkle to how the mind manages "memory." It has been killing that there have been a lot of great scientific stories this week, and I haven't had time to blog on them. I really ought to be studying my Biochemistry right now, but I will try to make a few comments of the world of scientific achievement.
1) SETI. Some of you may already be familiar with SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence). SETI is a series of super-powered listening stations that probe deep space for anything that resembles radio activity. Not radio activity as in a Martian version of Howard Stern, but radio activity as a repeating and structured signal. The project has even developed an "at home" version that amateur sky watchers can participate in. All you have to do is take a short certification course, and download some software. The software collects data from signals received at one of the thousands of wavelengths monitored, and its up to you to review it, and to look for characteristics that may point to intelligent and purposeful transmission.
Over the last month, SETI @ home has found some signals worth looking further into. There has been a row over whether the signals merit real scientific interest, or if it is just more fodder for conspiracy buffs, abductees, and X-Files fans. New Scientist magazine (a somewhat respectable magazine) jumped the gun a bit and announced that these were significant findings. The truth is, these signals have appeared before, and while they are being placed on a "keep an eye on" list, no true astrologer is getting too excited over it... yet. I brings up a great deal of interesting questions. Do you think that there is life out there? Do you think monitoring wavelengths of radio activity is a good way to reach them? Do you think even if we found some nugget of "proof" that there is transmittance out there, that we could ever convince the public, scientific community, and the religious sects that there is intelligent life beyond Earthbound humans?
2) Homemade rockets. Once again, I think this stuff is great. Another homemade spacecraft was launched that left the Earth's atmosphere. In the last year, we have increased the number of vessels (and humans) that have been to space without NASA's help! :) There is a contest for a privately funded group to design a viable spacecraft for commercial use (or, in layman's terms, to invent the first space bus for tourism). This week's launch was like the previous one; there was a moment where nothing but Providence kept the amateur astronaut alive.
The craft entered into a violent spin, and somehow the pilot was able to ride it out and finish the ascent. The ground control station was adamant that the pilot abort, but he continued anyway... risking death to "leave home." And he succeeded. This spirit of exploration and ingenuity is very exciting to me. Some think that the attempts are foolish (due to the danger), but I think it shows the better side of the human spirit. As a closing note, this week's flight was termed "unofficial," so the craft and pilot will once again launch in the near future (with "contest" officials on hand to verify the flight). Keep in mind, there are millions of dollars at stake here, well beyond the initial prize money for the accomplishment. Would you pay to visit space if/when it is commercially available to do so?
3) Vioxx. Vioxx is a popular non-steroidal drug that is used for arthritis. It was voluntarily pulled from production and usage by its manufacturer this week. It is a good example of how subsequent studies (after the initial approval process) can prove that something is harmful, and that it shouldn't be used. It isn't the first drug to be pulled after FDA approval. Thalamide was another failure (years ago). It caused ghastly birth defects, such as flipper-like appendages. This was probably the source of the joke used on The Kids in the Hall's Brain Candy (if you saw it, you'll know what I am referring to).
Anyway, I wanted to point out that the process that was followed with Vioxx is analogous to how all fact-based disciplines should work. Data was collected, the drug was introduced, more testing was done, data was collected and interpreted, then the drug was recalled. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, Stephen Hawking did the same with his theory of black holes. Science works best when NOTHING is held as dogma; when there are no beliefs that are beyond scrutiny. There are no sacred cows, not even in the world of pharmaceutics; a world that all too often is ruled by the dollar and not ethical treatment of illness.
That's all I have today. Nothing too sentimental or sweet, and definitely not funny. Have a great weekend everyone, and I will try to be more clever on my next entry!
See ya!
I love science, as anyone who knows me can tell you. I am obsessed with evolutionary biology and anthropology, and I am very curious about everything from why stars twinkle to how the mind manages "memory." It has been killing that there have been a lot of great scientific stories this week, and I haven't had time to blog on them. I really ought to be studying my Biochemistry right now, but I will try to make a few comments of the world of scientific achievement.
1) SETI. Some of you may already be familiar with SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence). SETI is a series of super-powered listening stations that probe deep space for anything that resembles radio activity. Not radio activity as in a Martian version of Howard Stern, but radio activity as a repeating and structured signal. The project has even developed an "at home" version that amateur sky watchers can participate in. All you have to do is take a short certification course, and download some software. The software collects data from signals received at one of the thousands of wavelengths monitored, and its up to you to review it, and to look for characteristics that may point to intelligent and purposeful transmission.
Over the last month, SETI @ home has found some signals worth looking further into. There has been a row over whether the signals merit real scientific interest, or if it is just more fodder for conspiracy buffs, abductees, and X-Files fans. New Scientist magazine (a somewhat respectable magazine) jumped the gun a bit and announced that these were significant findings. The truth is, these signals have appeared before, and while they are being placed on a "keep an eye on" list, no true astrologer is getting too excited over it... yet. I brings up a great deal of interesting questions. Do you think that there is life out there? Do you think monitoring wavelengths of radio activity is a good way to reach them? Do you think even if we found some nugget of "proof" that there is transmittance out there, that we could ever convince the public, scientific community, and the religious sects that there is intelligent life beyond Earthbound humans?
2) Homemade rockets. Once again, I think this stuff is great. Another homemade spacecraft was launched that left the Earth's atmosphere. In the last year, we have increased the number of vessels (and humans) that have been to space without NASA's help! :) There is a contest for a privately funded group to design a viable spacecraft for commercial use (or, in layman's terms, to invent the first space bus for tourism). This week's launch was like the previous one; there was a moment where nothing but Providence kept the amateur astronaut alive.
The craft entered into a violent spin, and somehow the pilot was able to ride it out and finish the ascent. The ground control station was adamant that the pilot abort, but he continued anyway... risking death to "leave home." And he succeeded. This spirit of exploration and ingenuity is very exciting to me. Some think that the attempts are foolish (due to the danger), but I think it shows the better side of the human spirit. As a closing note, this week's flight was termed "unofficial," so the craft and pilot will once again launch in the near future (with "contest" officials on hand to verify the flight). Keep in mind, there are millions of dollars at stake here, well beyond the initial prize money for the accomplishment. Would you pay to visit space if/when it is commercially available to do so?
3) Vioxx. Vioxx is a popular non-steroidal drug that is used for arthritis. It was voluntarily pulled from production and usage by its manufacturer this week. It is a good example of how subsequent studies (after the initial approval process) can prove that something is harmful, and that it shouldn't be used. It isn't the first drug to be pulled after FDA approval. Thalamide was another failure (years ago). It caused ghastly birth defects, such as flipper-like appendages. This was probably the source of the joke used on The Kids in the Hall's Brain Candy (if you saw it, you'll know what I am referring to).
Anyway, I wanted to point out that the process that was followed with Vioxx is analogous to how all fact-based disciplines should work. Data was collected, the drug was introduced, more testing was done, data was collected and interpreted, then the drug was recalled. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, Stephen Hawking did the same with his theory of black holes. Science works best when NOTHING is held as dogma; when there are no beliefs that are beyond scrutiny. There are no sacred cows, not even in the world of pharmaceutics; a world that all too often is ruled by the dollar and not ethical treatment of illness.
That's all I have today. Nothing too sentimental or sweet, and definitely not funny. Have a great weekend everyone, and I will try to be more clever on my next entry!
See ya!
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