Imagine if you will a holiday on which it is customary to bring flowers, chocolates, and the like to another person for whom one has romantic feelings. I know, I know, a preposterous proposition, but sometimes an outlandish thought experiment can be helpful. And so on this holiday, you bring a gift of flowers and observe how happy they make your crush. The next year, you are late to the florist and cannot get flowers so you bring chocolate instead and notice an equally happy reaction. The following year you are extra … [Read more...] about Science Corner: When the Bloom is off the Rose
Science and Faith
ESN Announces: American Scientific Association 2024 Winter Symposium
The Emerging Scholars Network has loved partnering with the American Scientific Affiliation for many years. Elaine Howard Ecklund is a friend and past ESN Conversation guest and so we were very excited to learn of her presentation this weekend at the ASA Winter Symposium. Here are the details! WHEN: Saturday, January 27, 2024, at 1:00 ETCOST: Free (a free-will donation is suggested)SPEAKER: Elaine Howard EcklundTITLE: Why Science and Faith Need Each Other REGISTER: Scan the … [Read more...] about ESN Announces: American Scientific Association 2024 Winter Symposium
Science Corner: I Wanna Live Forever … ?
Apparently, the Santa Fe Institute had a workshop on immortality last fall. There's no evidence of a theological or religious or even much of a philosophical component to the proceedings. That's maybe a little surprising, seeing as how SFI tends to be expansively interdisciplinary. But there's plenty to discuss on the scientific side of things, so fair enough. I learned about it via Sean Carroll's podcast (see below). In this special holiday episode, he shares a version of his contribution to the workshop and comments … [Read more...] about Science Corner: I Wanna Live Forever … ?
Science Corner: Deck the Halls with Balls of Agency
With Christmas less than two weeks away, I imagine many of us have babies on the brain. Apparently I did, because when I went looking for a paper to discuss, what jumped out at me was this paper on infant cognition (Preprint for those without access). It's not an especially splashy paper; it's not getting the news coverage of the latest AI developments or the claims of a theory which can reconcile gravity and quantum theory (a claim which awaits independent verification). But I suppose that's in keeping with the themes … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Deck the Halls with Balls of Agency
Science Corner: Improper Names
The Pythagorean theorem. The Archimedes' screw. Hubble's Law. Numerous ideas and inventions carry human names as a way to honor their discovers or inventors. Plants and animals can be anthropomorphized in this way too: Grévy's zebra or Hirst's panic grass, for example. Well, just as with libraries and university buildings and any number of other eponymous entities, sometimes we reconsider on whom we wish to bestow naming honors. And so plans are forming to change the common names in English of roughly 80 bird species … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Improper Names