Videos of talks from MIND08; the Design and the Elastic Mind Symposium.
Collaboration between science and design is yielding a radical new way of visualizing, understanding, and manipulating the natural world. MIND08 is a conference […] which aims to catalyze this convergence. Bringing together an eclectic group of speakers and participants, including leading scientists, designers, and architects, the conference will explore topics such as the personal genome, brain visualization, generative architecture, and collective design. MIND08 is an opportunity to interact with the ideas and thinkers transforming our visual and intellectual landscape.
Seed Magazine’s inaugural ‘State of Science’. Features include:
Considering that science is fundamental to the world’s productivity, we collectively spend very little on it. On average, nations spend about 2.3 percent of their GDP on scientific research and development, or roughly one trillion dollars a year worldwide. This number quickly dwindles when divided between every researcher on Earth—especially considering not all research yields immediate returns in terms of money or knowledge. Ultimately, the pressure for practical results placed on science investment can create conflicts of interest. In light of 2008’s massive economical turmoil, finding new ways to make sound investments and manage risk in scientific research has become crucial.
The Royal Society of Chemistry is offering £1,000,000 to anyone who can produce a 100% chemical–free substance.
Why? Because they have grown tired of the word chemical being used negatively, perpetuating the idea that anything containing ‘chemicals’ is inherently bad.
The Royal Society of Chemistry is today reclaiming the word chemical from the advertising and marketing industries.
It has been misappropriated and maligned as synonymous with “poison”.
The truth, as any right-minded person will say, is that everything we eat, drink, drive, play with and live in is made of chemicals - both natural and synthetic chemicals are essential for life as we know it.
[…]
“Should anyone do this, we will see thousands of years’ worth of knowledge evaporate before our eyes. We would have to tear up the textbooks, burn the degree certificates and retrain the teachers.”
To see how bad the situation is, here’s a Google search for “chemical free”.
via Richard Holden
Foreign Policy presents five physics lessons for Obama, written by Richard Muller, lecturer and author of Physics for Future Presidents (the book, the website, the lecture series and podcast at UC Berkeley).
There are lessons on terrorism, energy (oil), nuclear energy, space and global warming.
via Kottke