First of all, the annual 3QD Science Prize is back for another year. The nominations phase is nearly over now, but time enough remains to visit the page and nominate your favourite science-related blog post from the last 12 months. The voting phase begins soon (keep an eye on the 3QD site if you wish to take part), and this year’s guest judge will be Sean Carroll.
For my part, I’ve nominated “Your Appendix Could Save Your Life” by Rob Dunn at the Scientific American guest blog. Another worthy contender is “What it feels like for a sperm, or how to get around when you are really, really small” by Aatish on Empirical Zeal, which made my shortlist when I was thinking about what to nominate, but was nominated by the author before I got there. (That’s a good thing: helped me to narrow down my nomination.) So that’s a taste of what the standard is like. [Update: You can now go here to vote. Do be sure to read at least part of every entry before you decide. The entries I mention above are at #38 and #66.]
Now, here is the best of what I’ve read on the Internet recently.
- New sense organ found in whales.
- Write a message with galaxies. For example, I wrote this message quoting an Oysterband lyric. Nice idea, but would be better if you could selectively re-generate characters you’re not happy with (the “try a new combination of galaxies” option is an all-or-nothing affair).
- If you don’t read this article, you’re a chicken. That’s because it’s an article about chickens.
- Story of how Phil Plait went dragon-hunting in Western Australia.
- Mark Rosenfelder’s Advanced Language Construction Kit is coming out soon.
- Interview with a guy who has been producing space-themed art for fifty years.
- A video tribute to Hubble. (I LOVE the visuals, but am not so keen on the music, as I explain in a comment.)
- Really big mirror used to create the illusion of climbing a vertical face.
- Stan Carey storifies a discussion on whether people respond to blog comments.
- Three recent and disparate gems from TED Talks: [1], [2], [3].
On a personal note, I’ve got a birthday on Tuesday 12th of June, and a party planned for Friday 15th. Below are some photos from a rehearsal I performed in order to find the best way to move the furniture in the living room to make space for all the people (plus an extra table).
(Also moving one more lounge chair into the kitchen, and putting its cushions plus miscellaneous items on my bed.)
8 Jun 2012 at 5:56 pm
Musical soundtracks to nature videos, including outer space footage, are a longstanding bugbear of mine. So rarely are they suitable, subtle and complementary; so often are they overblown, portentous, and distracting. Kubrick had the right idea.
9 Jun 2012 at 12:50 am
I can’t say I’ve ever thought about it in general terms; I tend to remember the videos I like and forget the ones I don’t (yay for confirmation bias). And I would love to be able to report that I know exactly what music I think would suit the Hubble tribute video, but I can’t … I spent a fair amount of time just now investigating that question, but would probably have to try hundreds of candidates before finding something that feels right.