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As Marty mentioned in a previous post, the new Delicious design is a little wonky, and no longer pumps content to our blog and Twitter account. So here’s a roundup of articles I’ve stumbled across over the past month that you may find interesting:
- Two sides of an argument/book review about the value of unpaid internships in the modern workforce
- Compelling infographics on voice recognition applications, inspired by the launch of the iPhone 4S
- Scott Adams (Dilbert) on creativity, and the stifling thereof
- A press release for an academic article on learning while sleeping
- We’ve posted several entries about publishers moving content online, but here are some folks who are moving in the opposite direction
- On confidence
- The End of the Future
- “Creative Class” around the globe
- There is no evidence supporting auditory and visual learning…(some psychologists say…)
- The back story on Lorem Ipsum
- Tumblr on the up and up
A team of theoretical physicists affiliated with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) has recently published a study with potentially interesting implications for computing technology.
It deals with entropy, a thermodynamic concept that seeks to explain how energy within a system tends to distribute towards balance…A good illustration of entropy are ice cubes in a glass of water. Heat will transfer from water to the ice, ultimately melting the ice cubes and equalizing the molecular energy of substance within the glass. Another thing to know about entropy – the energy that’s being applied to this process of distributing energy throughout a system can’t be used to do any other form of ‘work’ (mechanical processes that consume energy).
This notion is central to the ETH’s published study. Up till this point, it has been assumed that, like all computations, deleting data from a computing system is work, one that releases energy. Just like the edits you’re, say, making to a spreadsheet on your laptop when you notice that the device is warming up.
The team at ETH has invoked quantum mechanics, however, to demonstrate that a computing system is actually tied to its operator – And so when data is deleted, by law of entropy the energy that is dissipated from that work can be absorbed by the operator. Moreover, the more entangled the operator is with (or in other words, the more knowledgeable of) the computing system , the greater the amount of energy they can absorb from this deletion task.
This is fairly heady stuff, but it doesn’t take too much to see some significant applications – You know what I mean if you’ve ever seen an IT team meltdown due to an overheated server room. While the this knowledge is still far from being harnessed for practical utility, it’s still pretty neat to consider.
Infomous is a dynamic and intuitive navigation solution – perhaps soon to pop up on websites you visit. Web developers for content-rich sites have integrated word cloud and tablet-style flip navigation over the past few years, but this is a solution that seems to combine aspects of both: reference triggers and dynamic script. The tool is currently available in preview/beta version through a relationship with the provider, but will roll out later this year, ready for embed. More info at Infomous – they have a demo up for world news, a version for sports news, entertainment news, science news. It’s easy to explore and find links to try.
Okay, this one’s a little obtuse… 
Check the article too, whew!
Wired: World’s Most Precise Clocks Could Reveal Universe is Hologram
I had the opportunity to attend TEDxRaleigh a few weeks back. While the event was interesting enough, there was one thing that has really stuck with me. As filler, they showed some videos from other TED events, one of which was David Blaine’s TED talk about how he held is breath for 17 minutes. It’s a great video, filled with the trial-and-error of any innovation process.
The moment that really stuck with me is when, after going to great lengths to create the illusion of holding his breath, he has a revelation: Just figure out how to hold your breath for a really long time. There’s the simple solution.
Sometimes, looking for the shortest route from point A to point B isn’t the best solution. More often, you just need to do it. It’s a hard lesson to learn, and even harder to put into practice.
An exhibit currently running at the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences presents an interesting – and illuminating – intersection of art and science.
Noted Salt Lake City, Utah, artist Amy Caron has established residency at the Institute to present her interdisciplinary work Waves of Mu, which investigates the phenomenon of “mirror neurons.”
Mirror neurons are neurons which fire signals to the brain not only when an animal acts, but also when it observes another animal’s actions. The implications are wide ranging – certain scientists have posited that these neurons provide a neurobiological basis for complex learning (think language) which is based on mimicry. For this reason, the discovery of mirror neurons is considered one of the more important recent discoveries in the realm of neuroscience.
Caron believes that the mirror neuron has particular bearing on artists like her. In her words, “…as a performer, emotional exchange is a big part of performance. I was interested to learn that there’s actually a neurobiological basis for this, and a function that’s not just purple fluffy stuff and feelings.” Caron feels that the emotional resonance that draws people to art and performance has its roots in the so-called “empathy neuron,” too.
She explores this idea in her installation, which is constituted of an elaborate construction of the brain’s internal architecture and an interactive performance in which Caron engages her audience in various ways to try and get their mirror neurons firing. If you’re interested in learning more about the exhibit, check out it’s site here.
They’re still “seeking”:
- an oceanographer
- a chemist
- a marine engineer
- and at least one expert on the problem
(yeah, might need at least one of each of these…)
but a group of Dutch architects and engineers has started up a research project to explore the idea of creating a sustainable island nation out of the trash floating in the Pacific. The project has been heralded “Recycled Island,” and the goal is a livable and scalable habitation the size of Hawaii’s big island.
The early mock-ups bring Venice, Dubai, and science fiction to mind, but the project is still very much in the early R&D stages and far from a reality. People love Dutch design for architecture and urban planning, not to mention their credibility in environmental solutions, so despite the distance from the potential island, this idea has sparked in the Netherlands. And why not beckon the world’s greatest minds through online publishing and networking? The project has been spreading across magazine websites, blogs, and press releases this week (I saw it here), and the group networks through Facebook to various other sustainable design groups.
Some virtual ships, machines, and robots and things building Recycled Island in Waterworld, er, the Pacific
