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Category Archives: Science
Bear Necessities
This picture – drawn by my daughter – melted my heart and sums up my week. It captures the beguiling mix of sleepiness, size and sheer cuddliness of the Giant Panda. Like the °0° koala, there is nothing in nature … Continue reading
Posted in Work, Life, Children, Art, Science
Tagged Camping, Ecosystems, Giant Panda, Grizzly, Koala, Conservation
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Physics
I’ve just spent the weekend at @CERN – home, among other things, to the biggest physics experiment on earth, the Large Hadron Collider (above). It’s quite a place. Much like a campus university; a jumble of blocks and walkways, carparks, … Continue reading
Posted in Children, Life, Science
Tagged CERN, Dads and their lads, Human Achievement, Large Hadron Collider, Leonard Susskind, Physics
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Brain Cocktail
Shaken but not stirred, I spotted this fascinating diagram yesterday. It describes moods, mental states and conditions in test tube form. So which comes first – the chemical state or the state of mind? Are we in love or just … Continue reading
Posted in Psychology, Science
Tagged Bayesian Brain, Binary, Brain Chemistry, Difference Engine, Probabilistic
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I am a Scientist
Like most people I guess, I get irritated by folk who are wrong. But unlike most people, I actually don’t mind so much when I am. Perhaps that’s because I believe in a ‘Bayesian brain’. Mash up all the facts, … Continue reading
Posted in Ethics, Life, Politics, Psychology, Science, Work
Tagged Analogue not Digital, Bayesian Brain, Belief, Changing your mind, Facts, Persuasion, Probabilistic, Science
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Crystal Ball
What if the purpose of memory is not to remember things? We generally judge our memory on accuracy and completeness – and we are generally disappointed. Memory is jumbled, retouched and unreliable as a definitive record of the past. But … Continue reading
Posted in Achilles, Life, Psychology, Science
Tagged Autobiographical Narratives, Bayesian Brain, Forgetfulness, Inaccuracy, Memory, Predictive Power
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A Dog’s Life
I’ve just finished ‘In Defence of Dogs’, a fascinating book on the evolution and psychology of our four-legged friends. Packed with insights, perhaps the most important is: they’re not half as complicated as we think they are. That’s not to … Continue reading
Plus ça change
An article in the New Scientist suggests that the pace of human innovation may appear rapid for short periods, but over the longer term is generally quite slow. Why? Simple, we keep on forgetting things. Apparently technological innovations are as … Continue reading
Posted in Achilles, Children, Life, Science
Tagged Bulls' Eyes, Bunsen Burner, Burning Things, Chemistry, Great Experiments, Science Lab, Van de Graaf Generator
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Chameleon
I read this week that science has discovered when a lizard re-grows a tail – having dropped the original to escape a predator – what grows back is not the same. It looks the same. But the new tail has … Continue reading
Facts and Data
Stone me, or rather half a stone me. It transpires that our bathroom scales couldn’t be more wrong. A combination of old age (theirs) and youth – the kids jumping on them – means they turn out to be massively … Continue reading
Posted in Life, Science
Tagged Duff Data, Excess Pounds, Falsification, Good Science, Personal Satnav, Wobbly Belly
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Sugar Solution
In a workshop this week I learnt a bit of the brain science behind ‘fast thinking’ and how it leads to ‘unconscious bias’. I suspect it’s just a different way of framing what I think of as my ‘Bayesian brain’: … Continue reading
Posted in Life, Psychology, Science, Work
Tagged Bayesian Brain, Candyfloss, Confirmation Bias, Fast Thinking, Glucose, Slow Thinking
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