Observations on the world and its inhabitants
Buckle up. It’s that time again. We’re about to dive into the gloriously absurd world of redefining a second. Yes, scientists are spending their lives—literal decades—trying to make the concept of “one Mississippi” more accurate. Because apparently, your microwave’s clock being off by a nanosecond is a cosmic tragedy!! 😱 🧪 Welcome to the Lab ...
This post will not give a full biography of Alan Turing (23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954). For more on Turing head to Wikipedia. I will be summarising what’s important to me. For a full biography read the book Alan Turing: The Enigma or the YouTube vid below (27 min). The Imitation Game – ...
Introduction In the vast corridors of time, humanity emerged as a beacon of intelligence and innovation, casting a shadow across the cosmos that intrigued the imagination of both the dwellers of Earth and, perhaps, extra-terrestrial beings. We, the inhabitants of the blue planet, had embarked on a journey of unearthing the secrets of the universe, ...
Dog-bathers are running for cover!! OMG! Like 3 hours of video? “No way!”, I hear them screaming as they zip off like The Roadrunner from Looney Tunes! ?? Or there is the other group who want everything in 5 words. GET LOST NOW! Well the shear stupidity of large systems and people in the above ...
Sometimes you (meaning me) needs a calculator fast. One might think of calculators as for doing sums – and that’s fine (as they say). However, calculators can do far much more. Obviously, this is not going to be lecture involving lists of reasons why ‘one’ may need a calculator. If you’re on a laptop or ...
It’s not for everybody!! And this is not a book review. Do your own reading. Or avoid it!
Errrh.. most of us know that we’re made of atoms and molecules and stuff. If I was to say “That’s nonsense!” as I did many moons ago, I’d be shouted down and called arrogant etc. That happened. It is still happening. Well, I’ve had to wait 40 years to be correct! Oh yes. When I ...
If you’re looking for a lecture on ‘post-truth’, stop – then move on quickly to avoid wasting your time! I’ve been reading around the concept of post-truth for some time. I made passing mention of it here on 25th December 2019. There are several books on the topic, out there. I recently came across Lee ...
The photographs will be an instant distraction in this post. Yeah some saw a boiled or poached egg on plate, and will have thought ‘What’s great about that?!! FFS‘. Except that it isn’t ‘a boiled or poached egg’ in the usual sense of how eggs are boiled or poached (using water in a pot)!! It ...
To be clear at the outset, I do not like the COVID-19 virus. It has caused a large number of deaths, chronic disabilities and economic chaos. Technology & work Right – once that’s out of the way, what I will say is that COVID has pushed all sorts of systems to adapt. You don’t ...
Some big questions arise after reading an article in the Financial Times: Is Earth the only living planet? “Lisa Kaltenegger is among the scientists hoping to find evidence of life on worlds that orbit stars beyond our sun.” – they say. Tough if anybody cannot access the article – and I’m not going to breach ...
Recently I’ve become re-addicted to Star Trek Voyager. In fact I had not seen Series 5 to 7 so it was just great to catch up. Voyager is like no other Star Trek spin off. Those who still recall and admire the original Star Trek and can’t unstick themselves from Captain Kirk, Dr McCoy and ...
This issue is explored extensively in certain Sci-Fi movies – and immediately many will have clicked on some other link, ruled by System 1 thinking. Those blessed with an innate or acquired portion of System 2 thinking may stay on a bit longer. Sci-Fi is only a stage upon which we can explore issues that ...
Human nature absolutely fascinates me!! As I have said in various ways before, we’re still ‘animals’ confused by the demands of a modern world requiring cognition. Some will get my drift by observing the following conversation – and others will argue blindly that it was a reasonable mistake to make. The scene is me shopping ...
I just bought George Gamow’s book ‘One, Two, Three Infinity.’ I had been toying with the idea of buying this book for months. The book is/was important to me. At around the age of 12 – 17, I used to spend many hours after school reading and trying to understand what was in this book. ...
Facing the existential vacuum is not everybody’s cup of tea (especially on a Sunday morning, when this is written). Sure – most ‘normal’ people will be in a building designed for religious believers, learning how great God is and re-confirming ‘his’ goodness and purpose. Instead, my thoughts this morning do quite the opposite. I’m considering ...
You should see a set of photos below with what might at first glance appear to be dots. But as you look closer you should notice that they are tiny spiders. They were about 1mm across at the widest diameter. I call them robots – ‘bots’ for short – for the rest of this post. ...
I’m giving a few simple tips on making your cooked food last longer. Well no, you can’t eat it and have it – and this is not about eating more slowly. The short message is avoid as much as possible getting human spit or germs into your food. I’m not in the business of providing ...
Just follow this guide to the letter and you are bound to succeed in achieving and maintaining insomnia. I am so confident that my guide works that I’m backing it with a £1000 guarantee!! If you provide reliable video and audio evidence that you have tried all items on this guide on three days per ...
I’m aiming to lose14 lb (1 stone ) before 24 December 2011!! As I have always been one to apply science and math to things, this represents my analysis of the situation. Weight loss will take place if the Present Total Calorie Need (PTCN) is not met over some long period. PTCN = Basal Metabolic ...
“BULLSHIT may have gone unnoticed in breaking the light-speed barrier. Howzat? Some assert that ‘thought’ can travel faster than the speed of light.” — Captain Walker
Over the last week there has been excitement in the media about the speed of light barrier being broken by speeding neutrinos. This in essence means that the laws of physics as written/discovered by Einstein may have to be re-written. A neutrino is a very tiny particle with a very low mass – lighter than ...
Captain Walker
Captain Walker
