February 05, 2004

» Lewis Wolpert says claims of telepathy amount to "pathological science". Elsewhere, a psychologist announces the discovery of "mindsight".

Wolpert: Pathological science is characterised by having very small effects near the limits of detectability; the magnitude of the effect seems independent of the cause; there is usually a fantastic theory; and criticisms are met with ad hoc excuses. Telepathy fits some of these criteria. For example, attempts to reproduce the card-reading test failed.

Rensink: Mindsight is not simply a precursor to normal visual perception, he argues, because there seems to be no correlation between how long it takes someone to feel the change, and the time taken to identify what it is. The two sometimes happened almost simultaneously, while at other times the subjects did not report seeing any difference until seconds after they were aware of it.

» Anyone willing and capable of doing this deserves a visa

The bright green converted Buick- carrying 11 people - was stopped on Tuesday during its 90 mile (140 kilometre) journey to Florida.

This is the second attempt by at least two of the crew to make a break for the US in a vintage-car-turned-boat.

Last July, they were caught sailing the stretch of water in a 1951 Chevrolet pick-up truck equipped with floats.

» How do pigeons find their way home? By following roads, apparently.

Some pigeons stick so rigidly to the roads that they even fly round roundabouts before choosing the exit to lead them back to their lofts.

» Saxon king found in Southend Pictures here

The chamber, dating from the early 7th century, is remarkably intact. All that is missing is the body of the king, whose remains have dissolved over the centuries.

Among the treasures recovered are the copper buckles from his shoes. They were found alongside 60 beautifully preserved pieces, including gold buckles and brooches, glass vessels and copper bowls: all that a king needed to take him into the next world. Two gold foil crosses indicate that he was an early convert to Christianity.

» Are the Zelda games historical or mythical? (via Blackbeltjones)

The Metroid games, for example, pass both of the above criteria, because they all take place in one consistent universe (outer space in this case), and it's possible to put the games into an order, because events in one game are referred to in others. The Final Fantasy games fail both criteria, since they all take place in different worlds, and don't interact historically at all.

The Mario games pass the first criterion, because they all take place in some derivation of the Mushroom Kingdom. The Mushroom Kingdom is never entirely consistent, however, so it only barely passes this test. The Mario games completely fail the second criterion. There is no way to order the Mario games at all, because the facts are so ambiguous that the games could have happened in any order. No events in any one Mario game are referred to in any of the other Mario games.

» A geisha's obituary

What about sex? Miss Nakamura considered the word carefully. Perhaps, she said, the questioner was thinking of the oiran? Like a geisha, an oiran was a cultured woman but would be available to spend the night with a man for a high fee. The two professions were often confused by westerners. That said, it would be misleading to suggest that a geisha never had sex.

» Wind turbines hit a snag: bats

Some scientists believe that the migrating bats may not be using their echolocation when the collisions occur. Others speculate that the wind turbines may be emitting high-pitched sounds that draw the bats to the site. Still others suggest that the animals may be getting caught in wind shear associated with the turning turbines.

» A buffet for whales

Researchers are now investigating what commercial fisherman have long noticed, that the whales have learned to pluck sablefish off hooks attached to their long fishing lines.

» Reverse ventriloquism

When the circles were small and defined, participants relied on their sight rather than their hearing to gauge the direction of movement. But, intriguingly, when the circles were large and fuzzy, observers were more likely to believe their ears over their eyes, and used the sound to judge the direction of movement. The authors call this effect "reverse ventriloquism", and it occurs because large, blurred blobs are perceived as being less trustworthy than small, sharply defined ones.

» Spirited debate over Cory Doctorow's second downloadable book

I don't know what the future of book looks like. To figure it out, I'm doing some pretty basic science. I'm peering into this opaque, inscrutable system of publishing as it sits in the year 2004, and I'm making a perturbation. I'm stirring the pot to see what surfaces, so that I can see if the system reveals itself to me any more thoroughly as it roils. Once that happens, maybe I'll be able to formulate an hypothesis and try an experiment or two and maybe -- just maybe -- I'll get to the bottom of book-in-2004 and beat the competition to making it work, and maybe I'll go home with all (or most) of the marbles.

» Using the vacuum energy for propulsion

Feigel then showed that the momentum of the virtual photons that pop up inside a vacuum can depend upon the direction in which they are travelling. He concludes that if the electric field points up and the magnetic field points north, for example, then east-heading photons will have a different momentum from west-heading photons.