Kristin's Playground » Science http://proxc.net Tue, 27 Apr 2010 03:04:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 The First Drawings of the Moon (through a telescope) http://proxc.net/2009/01/19/the-first-drawings-of-the-moon/ http://proxc.net/2009/01/19/the-first-drawings-of-the-moon/#comments Tue, 20 Jan 2009 03:00:40 +0000 beautyredefined http://proxc.net/2009/01/19/the-first-drawings-of-the-moon/ This year is the “International Year of Astronomy,” in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first astronomical observations with a telescope. However, this week I’ve seen a lot of news about Thomas Harriot, an English astronomer and mathematician. As a launch event for the International Year of Astronomy, the Royal Astronomical Society has been touting Harriot’s first drawing of the moon as seen through a telescope. It’s a rough drawing, but it clearly shows some well known features of the moon. What’s more, is that it’s dated at the 26th of July, 1609, months before Galileo’s first drawings done in December. Since Harriot never published his work, he has been much less well-known than Galileo, and the RAS is doing its best to promote the English astronomer’s accomplishments.

This whole thing reminded me of a talk I’d heard a couple of years ago. John David Jackson, author of the infamous Classical Electrodynamics textbook, came to Michigan and delivered a talk entitled “The Zeroth Theorem of the History of Science” (pdf). The premise of this theorem is that any scientific idea or phenomenon named for someone was usually discovered by someone else. He gave 5 specific examples during his talk, and it was interesting to see what names survived and who was lost in the details. Makes you wonder what other historical events are attributed to the wrong people.

This post was inspired by the History Nugget Meme from the Markeroni Blog:

The History Nugget meme is a place to write about history. All entries are welcome, whether you write about a photograph you took or want to enter a full-blown article. The only “rule” is that it has to be about the past in some way.

How to play:

  1. Write about something or someone historical in your blog or website.
  2. Come to the current week’s post to post your link, title and text for how you want your post described.
  3. At the start of the next week’s meme, I or somebody else will compile the entries from the previous week into the next week’s meme to encourage others to come read what you write. We’ll also encourage others to post the list of links on their blogs, so we all get more link love.

Entries from last week

  1. Aran Knitting Knugget by Kristin.
    A brief history of the aran sweater.

  2. No more chocolate in the two-kilo size by Linda R. Moore
    The demise of Woolworth’s in the UK after nearly a hundred years.
]]> http://proxc.net/2009/01/19/the-first-drawings-of-the-moon/feed/ 0 The data clearly indicate… http://proxc.net/2008/03/14/the-data-clearly-indicate/ http://proxc.net/2008/03/14/the-data-clearly-indicate/#comments Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:09:23 +0000 beautyredefined http://proxc.net/2008/03/14/the-data-clearly-indicate/ According to my preliminary observations, the current 24-hour period is Talk Like a Physicist Day! The day coincides with the anniversary of the birth of one Albert Einstein, as well as the day on which we celebrate the transcental number π. Under the assumption that I am not a physicist, it would be necessary to use a perturbative approach to alter my speech patterns to more closely match that of other physicists. However, that assumption is only valid for cryogenic temperatures, and it breaks down under typical laboratory conditions.

On a side note, the ambient temperature lately has been orders of magnitude warmer (on an arbitrary temperature scale), and the average amount of solar radiation penetrating the atmosphere to reach the surface has increased in statiscally significant quantities. These effects jointly combine to improve the author’s temperment. Of course, the data could be compromised by the increased concentrations of caffeine in the author’s bloodstream. This effect, however, is beyond the scope of this blog entry and will be discussed in future work.

]]> http://proxc.net/2008/03/14/the-data-clearly-indicate/feed/ 5 Life is for the Living http://proxc.net/2008/03/12/life-is-for-the-living/ http://proxc.net/2008/03/12/life-is-for-the-living/#comments Thu, 13 Mar 2008 02:43:40 +0000 beautyredefined http://proxc.net/2008/03/12/life-is-for-the-living/ I just watched the premeire of Life is for the Living, a documentary about embryonic stem cells and the hope they could provide for people with debilitating diseases. It featured individuals and families affected by juvenile diabetes, Parkinson’s, and spinal cord injuries, as well as discussion of the science and the politics surrounding the issue. It was quite emotional and powerful to see people’s lives devastated by these diseases: young girls learning how to repeatedly prick their fingers to check their blood sugar, people whose lives were changed in an instant from a spinal cord injury, people slowly losing control over their bodies because of Parkinson’s.

The documentary discusses the basic science of embryonic stem cells – just what exactly makes them so powerful. They also discuss stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood and adult stem cells. While these latter types of stem cells are useful in their own right, neither of them have the potential of the embryonic cells, which can become any type of cell. The film points out that embryos that would be used for stem cell research are embryos that would otherwise be discarded, for instance, those embryos that are left over from in vitro fertilization treatments or are unfit for implantation. Advocates of embryonic stem cell research do not promote the creation of embryos solely for research; rather, they fight for federal funding for research on embryos donated for medical research by couples who have completed IVF treatment and no longer wish to keep the excess embryos.

The federal government currently allows federal funding on 21 embryonic stem cell lines – those that were created before August 9, 2001. These cells will never be able to be used for human treatment, however, as they became contaminated with animal cells during the cell-growth process. Public support for embryonic stem cells is high, and Congress has passed (more than once, in fact) bills that would expand federal funding for embryonic stem cells. Unfortunately, these bills have been consistently vetoed by President Bush, and the bills do not enough congressional support needed to override the vetos. The next president will hopefully understand these issues well enough to realize the potential that embryonic stem cells hold, but in the meantime, we will continue to waste valuable time, and our research will be years behind.

The film was engaging, urgent, sad and yet hopeful all at once. There is much work to be done in the area, and the sooner we allow it to continue, the better. Michael Rubyan, the film’s creator hopes to bring it to more theaters across the country, and I hope he does. Currently, the only other scheduled showing is in East Lansing, MI, but there are already requests for it in nearby states, so keep an eye out for it.

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