Category Archives: Theology

People know their assassins

I am quoting from a PLoS one press release of brain’s ‘Hate Circuit’ identified:

People who view pictures of someone they hate display activity in distinct areas of the brain that, together, may be thought of as a ‘hate circuit’, according to new research by scientists at UCL (University College London). Continue reading People know their assassins

Would you like to be a centenarian?

I am currently working on a literature survey on the genetics of ageing when I came across a series of nice monographs at the Max Planck Institute in Rostock.

… the Deluge swept away the pluricentenarians. Ernest (1938) mentioned that the semi-divine persons of the Hindu Sagas lived hundred of thousands of years, and that on average each of ten rulers of Ancient Babylon lived about 43,000 years. Continue reading Would you like to be a centenarian?

46andyou

I have no idea how 23andme got its name but the business model of this company seems to rely on a rather haploid view of the world.
I had the pleasure this weekend to listen to a talk by Joanna Mountain(senior research director at 23andMe, the company that was founded by Googles Sergey Brin‘ s wife Anne Wojcicki). For whatever reasons Brin Continue reading 46andyou

Science magazine on bible references

Yes, a somewhat unusual topic, but a HONORABLE MENTION in the “2008 Visualization Challenge“shows an

illustrated Bible with a modern twist. Römhild started with a list of verses in different versions of both the Old and New Testaments that referred to figures or ideas from earlier passages, then combed through both books for additional examples. Using a custom-built computer program, Harrison translated the trove of data into “Visualizing the Bible.” … “It almost looks like one monolithic volume”.

true observation or wishful thinking?

The logic of science?

Edge has a wonderful article about statistics:

… statistical and applied probabilistic knowledge is the core of knowledge; statistics is what tells you if something is true, false, or merely anecdotal; it is the “logic of science”; it is the instrument of risk-taking; it is the applied tools of epistemology [and epidemiology Continue reading The logic of science?

The largest experiment of the world

Physics gets now a lot of attention with the largest experiment ever done with the LHC (pictures+data).
* largest machine (26.659 m diameter)
* largest freezer (60 tons helium)
* fastest runaway (99,99999 % speed of light)
* highest energy consumption (7 TeV)
* most lonely place – vaccum (10^-13 at)
* hottest place 100.000-fold temperature of the sun
* coldest place onearth (-271,3°C)
* largest supercomputer

Gratulations from the biomedical field that produced much less records in this week.

Dissent over descent

Having a free copy of the Lancet at the moment, I found a nice book review about “Dissent over Descent” by Steven Rose.

[He] takes a pleasure, which in part I share, in puncturing the often hyperbolic claims of natural scientists to be unimpeachable purveyors of absolute truth Continue reading Dissent over descent

dum eadem res intelligatur

Reading now Jan Assmann’s brilliant “Moses the Egyptian” I found Varro quoted (116-27 BC) –

Nihil interesse censens quo nomine nuncupetur, dum eadem res intelligatur

names may be of less interest as long as the “right things” are being meant.
The book was recommended to me by a guide in the new Munich synagogue as an unorthodox view of Moses and the origin of monotheism. Continue reading dum eadem res intelligatur

Fund the best science, by the best scientists

Enhancing peer review is the main purpose of a new NIH website

there had been a pervasive sense that peer review service has become more of a chore than a stimulating and privileged experience. […] As we contemplated possible changes, we were guided by two fundamental principles. Continue reading Fund the best science, by the best scientists

German Science blogging

The German blogosphere is now being mapped but with a few exceptions German science blogging doesn’ play a major role (in contrast to knitting that shows a large cluster Continue reading German Science blogging

A protestantic view of science

The 2006 document on perspectives of the German Protestant Church (EKD) briefly touches also the relation to science on p. 44 Continue reading A protestantic view of science

Evolutionary psychology and science: The full error list

The appendix of Frey includes a list of errors based on evolutionary psychology (EP) – some acquired during development of our species, some acquired during individual ontogenesis. It is certainly the best what I have read since the famous study biases Continue reading Evolutionary psychology and science: The full error list