Science
Weinberg reviews God Delusion
Steven Weinberg reviews Richard Dawkins’ God Delusion in Times Literary Suppliment
The reviews of The God Delusion in the New York Times and the New Republic took Dawkins to task for his contemptuous rejection of the classic “proofs” of the existence of God. I agree with Dawkins in his rejection of these proofs, but I would [...]
Waking up to a nano revolution : CNR Rao
Hindustan Times has this op-ed by C.N.R. Rao, Chairman of Scientific Advisory Board to PM of India. He opens with the statement;
We missed the semiconductor revolution in the early 1950s. We had just gained independence. But with nanoscience and technology, we can certainly be on an equal footing with the rest of the world.
There [...]
Booting your brain
Arise and Awake - penis or brain, it is all nitric oxide!
Your Brain Boots Up Like a Computer
Paint-on laser could rescue computer chip industry
Paint-on laser could rescue computer chip industry
But this isn’t a laser in the stereotypical sense — no corded, clunky boxes projecting different coloured lights. In fact, Professor Ted Sargent, of the Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, carries a small vial of the paint used to make this laser in his [...]
Prominent US Physicists Send Letter to President Bush
Prominent US Physicists Send Letter to President Bush
Thirteen of the nation’s most prominent physicists have written a letter to President Bush, calling U.S. plans to reportedly use nuclear weapons against Iran “gravely irresponsible” and warning that such action would have “disastrous consequences for the security of the United States and the world.”
Fetuses can’t feel pain
“The absence of pain in the fetus doesn’t resolve the morality of abortion, but does argue against legal and clinical efforts to prevent such pain during an abortion,” Derbyshire said. “A mandate to provide pain relief before an abortion may expose women to inappropriate interventions, risks and distress.”
Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience [...]
Accelerated Evolution: in-vitro conversion of RNA Enzyme to DNA Enzyme
The Scripps Research Institute reports in-vitro catalytic conversion of RNA enzyme to DNA enzyme providing a snapshot of early evolutionary process.
“This “evolutionary conversion” provides a modern-day snapshot of how life as we understand it may have first evolved out of the earliest primordial mix of RNA-like molecules—sometimes referred to as the “pre-RNA world”—into a more [...]
Scientists Don’t Want to become Desktop Publishers
David K Lynch, who himself was former section editor of Journal of Optical Society of America is angry that publishing houses are more and more pushing scientists to do the work of typesetting. In a letter to the editor of Physics Today titled Scientists Dont Want New Careers in Desktop Publishing (Physics Today 20 March [...]
Indian R&D Budget
Abi guesstimates R&D budget of India
Just how much does India spend on Science and Technology?
Second IISc near Kolkata
Deccan Hearld has reported that West Bengal will get the second Indian Institute of Science. Here is the news;
A second centre of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) will come up near Kolkata with an investment of Rs 500 crore, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee said on Tuesday.
The Centre, on the [...]