thoughts on the ups and downs of life

In this amazing video of the solar system, the asteroids that were discovered from 1980 to 2010 appear in the sequence as they were discovered. The red ones have orbits elliptical enough to cross the earth’s path, while the gray ones get pretty close. The green ones are at a safe distance in the astroid belt. It’s pretty cool to watch the process of discovery, but pretty scary too.

We often think of scientific ideas, such as Darwin’s theory of evolution, as fixed notions that are accepted as finished. In fact, Darwin’s On the Origin of Species evolved over the course of several editions he wrote, edited, and updated during his lifetime. The first English edition was approximately 150,000 words and the sixth is a much larger 190,000 words. In the changes are refinements and shifts in ideas — whether increasing the weight of a statement, adding details, or even a change in the idea itself. The second edition, for instance, adds a notable “by the Creator” to the closing paragraph, giving greater attribution to a higher power. In another example, the phrase “survival of the fittest” — usually considered central to the theory and often attributed to Darwin — instead came from British philosopher Herbert Spencer, and didn’t appear until the fifth edition of the text. Using the six editions as a guide, we can see the unfolding and clarification of Darwin’s ideas as he sought to further develop his theory during his lifetime.

The Origin of Species is available online here. I have always wanted to read this book, though I would prefer to have it in book form such a classic it is. I don’t think I will ever get used to read a book for a long period of time on a computer screen. It seems so weird to me. I’m just too 20th century. Oooooh.

Imagine an ocean without fish. Imagine your meals without seafood. Imagine the global consequences. This is the future if we do not stop, think and act. The End of the Line, the first major feature documentary film revealing the impact of overfishing on our oceans, had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in the World Cinema Documentary Competition. Sundance took place in Park City, Utah, January 15-25, 2009. In the film we see firsthand the effects of our global love affair with fish as food. It examines the imminent extinction of bluefin tuna, brought on by increasing western demand for sushi; the impact on marine life resulting in huge overpopulation of jellyfish; and the profound implications of a future world with no fish that would bring certain mass starvation. Filmed over two years, The End of the Line follows the investigative reporter Charles Clover as he confronts politicians and celebrity restaurateurs, who exhibit little regard for the damage they are doing to the oceans. One of his allies is the former tuna farmer turned whistleblower Roberto Mielgo – on the trail of those destroying the world’s magnificent bluefin tuna population. Filmed across the world – from the Straits of Gibraltar to the coasts of Senegal and Alaska to the Tokyo fish market – featuring top scientists, indigenous fishermen and fisheries enforcement officials, The End of the Line is a wake-up call to the world. More infos.

Here’s a well-written blog post from John Baez, a mathematical physicist who is now working on less abstract things such as Climate Change and Energy because he realized that “the deep secrets of math and physics are endlessly engrossing — but they can wait, and other things can’t.” He outlines here the interconnected issues we face with population, climate and energy and makes some excellent points. He also uses graphes and gives lots of very interesting links to support his point and explore the different topics.

The first 300 issues of This Week’s Finds were devoted to the beauty of math and physics. Now I want to bite off a bigger chunk of reality. I want to talk about all sorts of things, but especially how scientists can help save the planet. I’ll start by interviewing some scientists with different views on the challenges we face — including some who started out in other fields, because I’m trying to make that transition myself. [...] Starting now, a large portion of This Week’s Finds will be the continuing story of my attempts to answer this question. I want to answer it for myself. I’m not sure what I should do. But since I’m a scientist, I’ll pose the question a bit more broadly, to make it a bit more interesting.

On August 16, 1960, a 32-year-old U.S. Air Force Captain named Joe Kittinger flew in a helium balloon to 102,800 feet (roughly 19 miles) above the Earth … and jumped. His free-fall lasted 4 minutes and 36 seconds. He experienced temperatures approaching minus-100 degrees Fahrenheit. As he fell, Kittinger neared the speed of sound, his pressure-suit-encased body traveling at more than 600 mph before he opened his parachute at 14,000 feet. To this day, he still holds world records for highest parachute jump and longest-ever free-fall.

Khan Academy, with Khan as the only teacher, appears on YouTube and elsewhere and is by any measure the most popular educational site on the web. Khan’s playlist of 1,630 tutorials (at last count) are now seen an average of 70,000 times a day — nearly double the student body at Harvard and Stanford combined. Since he began his tutorials in late 2006, Khan Academy has received 18 million page views worldwide, including from the Gates progeny. Most page views come from the U.S., followed by Canada, England, Australia, and India. In any given month, Khan says, he’s reached about 200,000 students. “There’s no reason it shouldn’t be 20 million.”

Apparently, Bill Gates has been enjoying them with his kids and says it’s amazing. I have watched a few of them about Biology and History and I think what Sal Khan is doing with Khan Academy is pretty great, too. Click here to visit this amazing website.

Director: Jim Jarmusch
Genre: Romance, Drama
Country: France / USA
Release Date: August 5, 2005
Rating:

As the devoutly single Don Johnston is dumped by his latest girlfriend, he receives an anonymous pink letter informing him that he has a son who may be looking for him. The situation causes Don to examine his relationships with women instead of moving on to the next one, and he embarks on a cross-country search for his old flames who might possess clues to the mystery at hand.

I watched Broken Flowers yesterday and I quite enjoyed it. I am a fan of the films about loneliness and existential angst. Broken Flowers deals with some of the same concepts (regret, longing, loneliness) as Lost in Translation, and the character he plays is terribly similar to his characters in this film. Actually, a big part of the reason why I liked this movie is Bill Murray. I feel like I could watch Murray for hours, just sitting on the living room couch as he often does in this film. It’s hard to describe the persona Murray has evolved in his recent work for Sofia Coppola, and now Jarmusch. He’s moody and melancholic, in contrast to the comedy that first made him famous in the mid 1990s. Here, Murray plays Don Johnston who finds himself alone in midlife. Early in the film Johnston receives an unsigned letter from an ex-lover with news that he may have a nineteen year old son. Unwilling to admit that he is affected by this, Johnston allows his neighbor to encourage him on a search for the sender and possibly his son. Johnston comes up with five potential candidates and leaves. This straight forward idea becomes an adventure where Johnston will meet his exes after more than 20 years without any contacts. Overall, I liked the movie. I didn’t enjoy this film as much as Lost in Translation but for me, even if it can be very slow-moving, this is one of the best kind of film. Like Lost in Translation or Virgin Suicides, I find it very “ambient.” Not a lot happens but the atmosphere created around the characters is very charming. The dialogues and situations are smart, funny and sincere. I was quite disappointed with the ending though. It generates lots of questions that I wish were answered, when in Lost in Translation I did not really need or want to know what was next. Anyway, Broken Flowers is a slow-burner, but a pretty good movie. I think if you enjoyed Lost in Translation or Bill Murray, you will enjoy this one.

I love podcasts. I usually listen to them at home or in bed at night. They changed my life. Instead of needing to listen at exactly 10:00am -which I usually can’t do- to catch my favorite show, I have a free subscription through iTunes and download every show so I can listen to it when I’ve got the time. A few weeks ago, I heard about a show called Radiolab. I put it on the download list, gave it a try and was blown away. When I listen to RadioLab I feel like my skull has opened up and my mind is as large as a star-filled sky. I experience moments of revelation for every single episode. And I mean hair-rising, eyes opening wide, moments of stillness and silence in my mind. I learn something new every time. Radiolab is a radio show on WNYC that discusses a wide range of scientific topics in a unique form. Each episode explores one big idea through research, anecdotes, science, humor, and lots of beautiful sound design. The audio of the show is amazing, integrating interviews, sound effects, music and narration in a really innovative way. They use sounds and soundscapes to play with their ideas to create an immersive experience. I have learned a lot listening to their archives for the past few weeks, some of which has forever changed the way I look at the world. This is a great radio show, one of the best I have ever listened to. It’s deep, insightful and always entertaining. Each and every episode hits you with this crazy insider scientific knowledge that you didn’t even know that you wanted to know. I highly recommend everyone to check it out. Here is one of the beautiful videos they produce to introduce their shows.