Among the holidays widely observed in the United States, Christmas strikes me as the one most concerned with curiosity. Several Christmas songs are posed as questions: "What Child is This?" and "Do You See What I See?" and "Mary, Did You Know?" OK, that last one has a real 'more of a comment than a question' energy, but still. There are the magi on a quest of discovery. There is the mystery and anticipation of a wrapped gift. And so I thought the science of curiosity would be an apt topic for this Advent season. … [Read more...] about Science Corner: The Case of a Curious Christmas
Science Corner: Who is My Neighbor?
By the time you read this, the United States will be learning the outcomes of midterm elections. Obviously I don't know the results to comment. Regardless of the outcome, though, I think it is likely we will continue to hear about the partisan divide or variations thereof. And that is a topic which science can offer some insight into, specifically the impact of social media on polarization--specifically, our increased sorting into homogeneous groups with little in common between them. If you suspect social media isn't … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Who is My Neighbor?
Science Corner: Dawn – A Proton’s Tale of All that Came to Be
Stop me if you've heard this one: a biophysicist, a writer, a theologian walk into a bar. OK, so that's not actually how Dawn was written, but the diverse backgrounds of the three co-writers--Cees Dekker, Corien Oranje, and Gijsbert van den Brink respectively--do sound more like résumés for the cast of a niche joke than for collaborators on a novel. And not just any novel, but one that spans 14 billion years--from the instants after the Big Bang until the moment the manuscript was sent to the printers (or so it seems, … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Dawn – A Proton’s Tale of All that Came to Be
Science Corner: Imperius Rex?
Everything is simpler in the comic books. Consider dominion of the world's oceans. In both Marvel and DC comics, the sunken city of Atlantis (a public domain concept, after all) serves as a capital city for the seven seas. Namor typically sits on the Marvel Atlantean throne (in the upcoming Black Panther film, Namor will hail from TlÄlÅcÄn instead), vigorously defending the interests of the oceans and meeting all surface-dwelling challengers with a hearty "Imperius Rex!" His opposite number at the Distinguished … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Imperius Rex?
Science Corner: A “Have-Done” Attitude
I've had the chance to watch more baseball this season than usual, specifically New York Mets games. Baseball lends itself to extensive data collection and precise situational adjustments. For example, teams can record where each individual hitter tends to hit the ball when thrown different types of pitches. When a given hitter has strong tendencies in one direction, the other team can shift their defense to that side and possibly adjust their pitching to favor that tendency. Opposing teams were making those kinds of … [Read more...] about Science Corner: A “Have-Done” Attitude