Had a very interesting lecture today, or rather this evening, touching among other things on the fight for Aleppo. The violence is of course unforgivable but just to make everything clear I am discussing the conquest of Aleppo by the Hittites in the 16th century B.C.
It is said that those who are ignorant of their history are doomed to repeat it. There are a lot of ignorant people because it is sad to find out this evening that a city suffering from war today suffered the same situation some 3600 years ago. It is equally sad that the BBC series Sherlock had no problem moving the story to modern times and still have Watson returning from the war in Afghanistan.
Can we hope for a better knowledge of our history in the future?
Tuesday, 25 March 2014
Thursday, 20 March 2014
Inflated news or not, it is science!
Since you are reading this blog you are probably at least slightly interested in science. That was a deduction not mind reading. And you are then aware of the fact that in the news there have been a lot of information about a recent find that seems to confirm the inflation model of the early universe. You can even see a video of one of the founders of this theory being told about the experimental finding and given empirical evidence for his idea. See it here!
If you missed it you can read about the discovery here.
This is of course very important and exciting news, but so is what you can read in this blog: In the Dark.
When exciting news appears and new evidence emerge what should be done in science is to question it. I am not qualified to say if the critique offered in the blog is valid or relevant, but what I can say is that it is scientifically motivated to try to find other possible explanations for the results of the measurements. It is scientifically motivated to try to challenge the conclusions because all scientists sooner or later need the help of their colleagues to not see only what they want to see in their data.
It is true that the theoretician Andrei Linde is a scientific hero, so are the experimentalists who did the experiment that might have found gravitational waves from the early universe. If their results are correct they will all be receiving even more praise. But the author of the In the Dark blog is also a scientific hero. Unfortunately the media will probably miss the important part that the author of the blog and many other with him play in science by looking critically at the results.
But this is what science looks like, it makes progress because people care about the truth.
If you missed it you can read about the discovery here.
This is of course very important and exciting news, but so is what you can read in this blog: In the Dark.
When exciting news appears and new evidence emerge what should be done in science is to question it. I am not qualified to say if the critique offered in the blog is valid or relevant, but what I can say is that it is scientifically motivated to try to find other possible explanations for the results of the measurements. It is scientifically motivated to try to challenge the conclusions because all scientists sooner or later need the help of their colleagues to not see only what they want to see in their data.
It is true that the theoretician Andrei Linde is a scientific hero, so are the experimentalists who did the experiment that might have found gravitational waves from the early universe. If their results are correct they will all be receiving even more praise. But the author of the In the Dark blog is also a scientific hero. Unfortunately the media will probably miss the important part that the author of the blog and many other with him play in science by looking critically at the results.
But this is what science looks like, it makes progress because people care about the truth.
Monday, 17 March 2014
Old Philosophers
Yesterday I was taking the train up north to spend a few days in Falun and give a talk at my old gymnasium about ”good, bad, and pseudoscience”. On the train I was sitting beside this probably very nice person who was solving some kind of word puzzle in a magasin. From the letters you got left you hade to form the name of an old philosopher. I know this because I was reading over her shoulder. The name had six letters (Swedish spelling, five letters in English) and I quickly checked if A, L, N, O, P, and T were still left and since they were I guessed that I had solved it although there were still other letters left as well.
I had solved it, but my neighbour didn't. I told her the name, which she didn't recognize. I realized that there are people in this world living perfectly happy lives, without knowing about Plato, Socrates, and probably Aristotle as well.
I realised that I take many things for granted. I apparently believe that people don't know about Plato's idealism or about his ideas about how a state should be governed but that they do so out of a choice. The idea that adults in a western country don't know or even recognize the name of Plato, that is just strange. Now I have to try to realise that it is probably I who is strange just because I have friends that have read Plato in the original greek. But I probably also have many friends who have not heared of Plato or at least don't remember that they ever heard of Plato. I never thought of that before.
I had solved it, but my neighbour didn't. I told her the name, which she didn't recognize. I realized that there are people in this world living perfectly happy lives, without knowing about Plato, Socrates, and probably Aristotle as well.
I realised that I take many things for granted. I apparently believe that people don't know about Plato's idealism or about his ideas about how a state should be governed but that they do so out of a choice. The idea that adults in a western country don't know or even recognize the name of Plato, that is just strange. Now I have to try to realise that it is probably I who is strange just because I have friends that have read Plato in the original greek. But I probably also have many friends who have not heared of Plato or at least don't remember that they ever heard of Plato. I never thought of that before.
Sunday, 16 March 2014
Even in death
I don't know much about law. A bit perhaps about laws of nature, but not this humans-make-up-the-rules-as-they-go-along kind of laws. But this is about an interesting law I didn't know of before.
After a writer, composer or artist have been dead for some time what they did will become public domain. Anyone can reproduce it but apparently, at least in Sweden, there are limits.
A manufacturer of auto-mobiles (Mercedes-Benz) is using a poem by Karin Boye to sell their cars. Now the Swedish Academy, yes those who hand out the Nobel prize in literature, are threatening to take Mercedes-Benz to court. Apparently they are one of three institutions in Sweden that can take people to court for using important texts or works of art in a way that ”kränker den andliga odlingens intressen” (almost ”violates cultural interests” but more literally “violates the interest of the cultivation of the spirit” - spirit is used in a non-religious way).
Basically this seems to be a law that will protect the integrity of a work of art after the death of the creator. I don't know how common these laws are in the world but I think I approve of this law as long as it is not used to prevent other artists from finding new uses for existing art.
Source (in Swedish)
A manufacturer of auto-mobiles (Mercedes-Benz) is using a poem by Karin Boye to sell their cars. Now the Swedish Academy, yes those who hand out the Nobel prize in literature, are threatening to take Mercedes-Benz to court. Apparently they are one of three institutions in Sweden that can take people to court for using important texts or works of art in a way that ”kränker den andliga odlingens intressen” (almost ”violates cultural interests” but more literally “violates the interest of the cultivation of the spirit” - spirit is used in a non-religious way).
Basically this seems to be a law that will protect the integrity of a work of art after the death of the creator. I don't know how common these laws are in the world but I think I approve of this law as long as it is not used to prevent other artists from finding new uses for existing art.
Source (in Swedish)
Tuesday, 11 March 2014
Out of body memories
A recent study from two Swedish universities appear to be showing that how well our memories work depend on where our ”self” is located. Unfortunately according to the Swedish news agancy Tidningarnas telegrambyrå (TT) the study isn't published yet so this comment is only based on what is reported in the ordinary press, and we all know how warped science reporting can be. The findings will be published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) next week according to TT.
What they appear to have done is to show some events to people divided into two groups, one group present in ”themselves” and one group present outside of ”themselves”. The out of body experience was created using VR-goggles, an interesting and well tested technique to achieve this effect. They later tested the participants memories of the events and found that the people who were present in “themselves” remembered the events much better than the ones using the VR-goggles.
This reminded me about a similar study made concerning the effect of the environment on memory. The experiment was conducted as following. Half of the participants learned some information on land beside a pool and the second half learned the same information under water in the pool. For the memory test phase half of the people in the pool did it on land, and half of the people on land did the memory task under water. It was found the what was important for a good recall of the information was that the retrieval of the memory was in the same environment as the one you learned the information.
I haven't read the study so I don't know if they in some way took this into account but the study would be flawed if the memory test was not made using the same division of the subjects in the learning phase and the test phase as described above. If the memory test was made without the VR-goggles for all the participants it is not a surprise that the people who learned the information without the VR-goggles had the best result.
What they appear to have done is to show some events to people divided into two groups, one group present in ”themselves” and one group present outside of ”themselves”. The out of body experience was created using VR-goggles, an interesting and well tested technique to achieve this effect. They later tested the participants memories of the events and found that the people who were present in “themselves” remembered the events much better than the ones using the VR-goggles.
This reminded me about a similar study made concerning the effect of the environment on memory. The experiment was conducted as following. Half of the participants learned some information on land beside a pool and the second half learned the same information under water in the pool. For the memory test phase half of the people in the pool did it on land, and half of the people on land did the memory task under water. It was found the what was important for a good recall of the information was that the retrieval of the memory was in the same environment as the one you learned the information.
I haven't read the study so I don't know if they in some way took this into account but the study would be flawed if the memory test was not made using the same division of the subjects in the learning phase and the test phase as described above. If the memory test was made without the VR-goggles for all the participants it is not a surprise that the people who learned the information without the VR-goggles had the best result.
Monday, 10 March 2014
Welcome to COSMOS
Yesterday in the US there was something happening relating to the popularisation of science that hopefully will be as successful as it's predecessor. It was in 1980 that Carl Sagan was the guide to the COSMOS and now Neil deGrasse Tyson has taken over the helm of the spaceship of fantasy.
I have no idea if it will be shown on Swedish Television but these are my thoughts about the first episode. Neil is a great presenter, which he has proven earlier. Perhaps his best part was the homage to Carl Sagan at the end of the episode.
As in the original series the first episode was devoted to establishing both deep space and deep time. The cosmic calender is still there as in the original. In the new version they spend a lot of time on Giordano Bruno and his persecution by the catholic church. It is a very good illustration of how people throughout history have been persecuted even if they were correct.
Not that Bruno had any scientific evidence for his believes but I doubt he would have been treated any differently by the inquisition if he did. It is not even sure why Bruno was executed, it might have been for other reasons than his ideas about the universe. But what believes he died for is irrelevant since no one should have to die for what believes they hold true.
There was one thing that I didn't like with the story of Bruno, it was animated. I love animation but I most say I loved the re-enactments in the original version more. It will be interesting to see if they will continue with the animations throughout the series when they discuss past events.
It is true that in the original they had the library in Alexandria as a drawn background or perhaps created in a computer. But there were many actors involved in portraying famous scientists and I think that brought more of a feeling of “reality” to the series.
People that love the original, and I know a few that do, may also miss the music. What they have for the new series is not as “interesting” as the music by Vangelis.
I final thought is that the episodes appear to be a bit shorter than in the original, I don't know if that implies more episodes but I guess the reason is that they need to get the commercials to fit in.
I have no idea if it will be shown on Swedish Television but these are my thoughts about the first episode. Neil is a great presenter, which he has proven earlier. Perhaps his best part was the homage to Carl Sagan at the end of the episode.
As in the original series the first episode was devoted to establishing both deep space and deep time. The cosmic calender is still there as in the original. In the new version they spend a lot of time on Giordano Bruno and his persecution by the catholic church. It is a very good illustration of how people throughout history have been persecuted even if they were correct.
Not that Bruno had any scientific evidence for his believes but I doubt he would have been treated any differently by the inquisition if he did. It is not even sure why Bruno was executed, it might have been for other reasons than his ideas about the universe. But what believes he died for is irrelevant since no one should have to die for what believes they hold true.
There was one thing that I didn't like with the story of Bruno, it was animated. I love animation but I most say I loved the re-enactments in the original version more. It will be interesting to see if they will continue with the animations throughout the series when they discuss past events.
It is true that in the original they had the library in Alexandria as a drawn background or perhaps created in a computer. But there were many actors involved in portraying famous scientists and I think that brought more of a feeling of “reality” to the series.
People that love the original, and I know a few that do, may also miss the music. What they have for the new series is not as “interesting” as the music by Vangelis.
I final thought is that the episodes appear to be a bit shorter than in the original, I don't know if that implies more episodes but I guess the reason is that they need to get the commercials to fit in.
Tuesday, 4 March 2014
What is wrong with this picture?
Well it is not a regular screenshot but that is not the point. This was close to the top (very close) at the web page for Svenska Dagbladet (Svd), one of Sweden's largest newspapers.
Basically it is all about the effects that the Russian occupation of Crimea will have on the Swedish economy. On the left hand you have the Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed at the Red Square and to the right you have a determined person outside a Swedish bank. Underneath you have two headlines the top promise you information about the effect on the interest rates in Sweden and the lower is a declaration from chief economists ”We are prepared if it escalates”, it is unclear which chief economists but a guess is the top bank's.
I am usually not fond of opinion pieces in the press or on blogs, I prefer some information. But here is my opinion about having the economic angle at the top when reporting about this.
IT IS WRONG! When the Russian military is invading a neighbouring nation I don't want to know that the Swedish economists are prepared and are following the situation carefully. I want to know that the Swedish diplomats are working around the clock, I want to know that the Swedish military is on top of the situation, and that our politicians are informed about what is happening.
After that I want detailed analysis from academics that are studying Russia and/or Ukraine. People that know something about the history of the nations and the mentality of the people involved. I want in-depth reporting by journalist who know the region as the back of their hands. Maybe even someone who talks about democracy and sovereignty. Not this!
When did a culture that used to care about liberty, freedom and brotherhood, a culture that had values, ideals and visions become so focused on exceeding the profit plan for the next quarter that Putin can safely invade Crimea as long as he promise not to touch our money? Because that is the bottom line here. As long as Putin promises business as usual he will get away with this. Standing up to bullies is just too costly for the economists.
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