Fabric of the Cosmos with Brian Greene starts tonight - A 4 part Nova miniseries on PBS.
I've read most of Elegant Universe and I'm really excited for this miniseries adapted from his new book. Unfortunately I doubt I have the initiative to slug through another one of his books though.
I would highly recommend tuning in.
Hah, you made it further than me. I made it 1/4 of the way through Elegant Universe and said "this books is way too smart for me" and sort of gave up. Maybe I should try it again, but I remember it being a tough read for me.
Scientists said Tuesday they had transformed age-worn cells in people over 90 -- including a centenarian -- into rejuvenated stemcells that were "indistinguishable" from those found in embryos....
...Lemaitre and colleagues decided to alter the standard genetic starter kit used to generate adult stemcells by adding two new ingredients -- known as transcription factors -- called NANOG and LIN28. Experiments with human subjects ranging in age from 74 to 101 showed that the new cocktail worked. Several critical markers of ageing in cells were "reset", including the size of telomeres, the tiny protective caps found on the ends of chromosomes that wear down with age, the researchers reported.
Still a long way from any practical application but an important step nonetheless.
CLIFFORD JOHNSON (University of Southern California): The information content of all the stuff that fell into that black hole can be expressed entirely in terms of just the outside of the black hole. The idea, then, is that you can capture what's going on inside the black hole by referring only to the outside.
BRIAN GREENE: And here's the truly mind-blowing part: space within a black hole plays by same rules as space outside a black hole or anywhere else. So if an object inside a black hole can be described by information on the black hole's surface, then it might be that everything in the universe, from galaxies and stars, to you and me, even space itself, is just a projection of information stored on some distant two-dimensional surface that surrounds us. In other words, what we experience as reality may be something like a hologram.
LEONARD SUSSKIND: Is the three-dimensional world an illusion, in the same sense that a hologram is an illusion? Perhaps. I think I'm inclined to think yes, that the three-dimensional world is a kind of illusion and that the ultimate precise reality is the two-dimensional reality at the surface of the universe.
The stars are projectors, yeah
Projecting our life down to this planet earth
The stars are projectors, yeah
Projecting our minds down to this planet earth
(Modest Mouse)
Last edited by troutman; 11-15-2011 at 12:52 PM.
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CLIFFORD JOHNSON (University of Southern California): The information content of all the stuff that fell into that black hole can be expressed entirely in terms of just the outside of the black hole. The idea, then, is that you can capture what's going on inside the black hole by referring only to the outside.
BRIAN GREENE: And here's the truly mind-blowing part: space within a black hole plays by same rules as space outside a black hole or anywhere else. So if an object inside a black hole can be described by information on the black hole's surface, then it might be that everything in the universe, from galaxies and stars, to you and me, even space itself, is just a projection of information stored on some distant two-dimensional surface that surrounds us. In other words, what we experience as reality may be something like a hologram.
LEONARD SUSSKIND: Is the three-dimensional world an illusion, in the same sense that a hologram is an illusion? Perhaps. I think I'm inclined to think yes, that the three-dimensional world is a kind of illusion and that the ultimate precise reality is the two-dimensional reality at the surface of the universe.
The stars are projectors, yeah
Projecting our life down to this planet earth
The stars are projectors, yeah
Projecting our minds down to this planet earth
(Modest Mouse)
Scientists and security specialists are in the midst of a fierce debate over recent experiments on a strain of bird flu virus that made it more contagious.
The big question: Should the results be made public?
Interesting story. Influenza researchers are trying to understand the mechanisms which enable influenza viruses to jump from birds to humans.
A research group has found that as few as 5 mutations may be necessary for human adaptation. They use a ferret model to study the infectivity of their viruses.
Quote:
It's just a bad idea for scientists to turn a lethal virus into a lethal and highly contagious virus. And it's a second bad idea for them to publish how they did it so others can copy it.
- Dr. Thomas Inglesby
The work reminds me of I am Legend.
Interesting debate. I disagree with Inglesby first comment in the quote. I am not sure how I feel about the second comment.
Radley
__________________
"And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should."
Scientists at the world's biggest physics lab said Friday they have ruled out one possible error that could have distorted startling measurements appearing to show particles traveling faster than light.
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Not exactly news, but for anyone interested in "Best pop-science book in Evidence Based Science, ever" (as described by Ben Goldacre, author of "Bad Science" book, blog and column), the second edition is available here:
