Note: This is a spoiler-free comment on Avengers: Age of Ultron. If you have seen any trailers for the film or are at all familiar with the character of Ultron, none of this should be news. Assuming a single weekend doesn't allow for many repeat viewings, roughly 25 million people in the US alone have already seen Avengers: Age of Ultron. It's hard to imagine any other science topics getting wider exposure. Films like this are great opportunities to glimpse how the broader public approaches various scientific topics, … [Read more...] about Science Corner: A Vision of Science
artificial intelligence
Science Corner: Which bird gets the LEGO worm?
The tiny worm Caenorhabditis elegans has been a boon to science. Adult worms have a consistent number of cells, and we have been able to work out where each one comes from during the developmental process. They also have a consistent set of neurons, and the way that they connect to each other has been mapped out as well. So, naturally, someone reproduced those connections in a software simulation and got that running on a LEGO Mindstorm robot kit. The robot sensors were set up to correspond to certain sensory inputs on … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Which bird gets the LEGO worm?
Random Notes on Doctor Bot Ed
This post is a patchwork of tattered reflections on a slew of topics ranging from humans behaving like robots to robots behaving like humans, mind-reading technologies, maybe cyborgs and so forth. There is no grand thesis tucked away in a prose that finds low triviality and high seriousness equally endearing. The hope here is that the reader, if any, would walk away feeling enough esprit to want to grab somebody gently and engage in debate until the Holy Spirit returns our souls to the still waters. “Be Still and know … [Read more...] about Random Notes on Doctor Bot Ed
Week in Review: Science, Religion, and Waffles Edition
Welcome to this week's Week in Review! If you have your own link or suggestion, please add it to the comments, or email it to Tom or Mike. From Tom I received a forward of the First Things online survey of religion at America's colleges and universities. What do you think of online surveys? Below's the point of the survey First Things online survey. Question: Do you have any stories to share, like the one in the comments section, i.e., Seal of approval? Presence of Moses on KU symbol gives rise to burning … [Read more...] about Week in Review: Science, Religion, and Waffles Edition