Algebra Quiz 7
Which of these numbers does not have a square root in the form To solve this problem, show that Problem taken from UK Senior Mathematical Challenge held on Tuesday 6 Nov 2012. Continue reading Algebra Quiz 7
Online Courses and the future of universities…
Source: The Guardian Two years ago, I sat in the back seat of a Toyota Prius in a rooftop car park in California and gripped the door handle as the car roared away from the kerb, headed straight towards the roof’s edge and then at the last second sped around a corner without slowing down. There was no one in the driver’s seat. It was … Continue reading Online Courses and the future of universities…
Life behind the Iron Curtain
Source: The New Yorker When Germany invaded Poland, on September 1, 1939, the date that W. H. Auden used for his famous poem—“I and the public know / What all schoolchildren learn, / Those to whom evil is done / Do evil in return”—Poland had commitments in hand from France and Britain to come to its aid if its independence was threatened. In Warsaw, in … Continue reading Life behind the Iron Curtain
Organic Farming
Nature Magazine did a cover story in 2004 on Organic Farming. Interactive Graphics Is organic the future of farming? In its pure form, maybe not. But elements of the organic philosophy are starting to be deployed in mainstream agriculture. In this web focus, Nature’s reporters analyse this trend, assess the extent of organic farming worldwide, and frame the questions on which its wider adoption will … Continue reading Organic Farming
Maximum theoretical wind power
Wind turbines convert kinetic to electrical energy, which returns to the atmosphere as heat to regenerate some potential and kinetic energy. As the number of wind turbines increases over large geographic regions, power extraction first increases linearly, but then converges to a saturation potential not identified previously from physical principles or turbine properties. These saturation potentials are >250 terawatts (TW) at 100 m globally, approximately 80 TW at 100 m over … Continue reading Maximum theoretical wind power
Climate variability and violence
In an earlier post, I have referenced the effect of climate change on health. This week’s issue of PNAS has an article on climate change and violence, which is quite worrisome. Recent studies concerning the possible relationship between climate trends and the risks of violent conflict have yielded contradictory results, partly because of choices of conflict measures and modeling design. In this study, we examine climate–conflict … Continue reading Climate variability and violence
Science Education
Michael Faraday’s lectures at London’s Royal Institution in the early 19th century were so popular that the carriages dropping people off to see him used to choke Albemarle Street in Mayfair – as a result, the street was designated the first one-way road in London. Faraday was a master communicator who thrilled audiences with the latest discoveries in chemistry and electricity. He was as much a brilliant … Continue reading Science Education
Children, Wired: For Better and for Worse
Children encounter technology constantly at home and in school. Television, DVDs, video games, the Internet, and smart phones all play a formative role in children’s development. The term “technology” subsumes a large variety of somewhat independent items, and it is no surprise that current research indicates causes for both optimism and concern depending upon the content of the technology, the context in which the technology … Continue reading Children, Wired: For Better and for Worse
An Asian Elephant Imitates Human Speech
Vocal imitation has convergently evolved in many species, allowing learning and cultural transmission of complex, conspecific sounds, as in birdsong. Scattered instances also exist of vocal imitation across species, including mockingbirds imitating other species or parrots and mynahs producing human speech. Here, we document a male Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) that imitates human speech, matching Korean formants and fundamental frequency in such detail that Korean native … Continue reading An Asian Elephant Imitates Human Speech
Leadership is associated with lower levels of stress
Contrary to what we commonly believe, researchers have found out that Leadership and stress are inversely related. Abstract from PNAS As leaders ascend to more powerful positions in their groups, they face ever-increasing demands. As a result, there is a common perception that leaders have higher stress levels than nonleaders. However, if leaders also experience a heightened sense of control—a psychological factor known to have … Continue reading Leadership is associated with lower levels of stress
Perpetual Motion of Thought 