Web Roundup, March 09
While CNN's recent scitech blog seems to think that 'twitter' is science, fortunately the rest of the web has got better ideas. I was ecstatic to see a link to a Wired article on a nice piece of pure science on self assembling magnetic particles on the yahoo front page. It immediately made me think of the linear magnetic chains found in so called magnetotactic bacteria, which are also in the category of truth being stranger than friction (some bacteria carry around what is essentially an iron needle compass inside their bodies). Whether there is ultimately a connection or not is anybody's guess.
This led me to stumble onto Wired's top 10 amazing physics videos and then Wired's top 10 amazing chemistry videos. Why do I get the strange feeling I'm the last nerd to know about these?
No doubt we will be inundated by this story shortly, but why not use science to find bin laden? The rough idea is to apply principles used to hunt for endangered species. One assesses needs in terms of natural resources, shelter, social requirements, etc... and then overlays them on satellite images and computes probable locations where all needs are maximized.
But back to Wired magazine -they'd like to give you advice on how to make a home chemistry lab , and even want to start you off with something that could melt holes in your floor. I admire them for being true to their word and NOT having the 'don't do this at home' disclaimer.