IdeaFestival

Eat your veggies!

There's more evidence than ever that we really are what we eat, but can food determine gene expression? Recent evidence suggests that the answer may be yes.

Wayne

Doing science out in the open

Scientific American reports on Science 2.0, the use of social media among scientists doing active research. The article is actually a draft slated for publication in several months - and you are invited to help edit the final version. It's a good article, reporting all points of view regarding open source science, and I'd encourage you to read it. But I wanted to share this quote about how science, indeed, how discovery, proceeds.

The technologies of Web 2.0 open up a much richer dialog, says Bill Hooker, a postdoctoral cancer researcher at the Shriners Hospital for Children in Portland, Ore., and the author of a three-part survey of open-science efforts in the group blog, 3 Quarks Daily. 'To me, opening up my lab notebook means giving people a window into what I'm doing every day. That's an immense leap forward in clarity. In a paper, I can see what you've done. But I don't know how many things you tried that didn’t work. It's those little details that become clear with open notebook, but are obscured by every other communication mechanism we have. It makes science more efficient.' That jump in efficiency, in turn, could have huge payoffs for society, in everything from faster drug development to greater national competitiveness (emphasis supplied).

A quick search of the Public Library of Science On-Line Edition (PLOS One), which was referenced in the article, also suggested another significant reason for doing science out in the open. Currently, the ties between science and science funding are not adequately reported.

Wayne

"Jumper" physics tough, but

Just how well do the physics in the movie Jumper measure up? A panel at MIT recently tackled the issue.

[Edward] Farhi, the director of the Center for Theoretical Physics at MIT, said breakthroughs in physics have allowed a particle to be teleported up to two miles. To move a human, though, well, let’s just say, [Jumper star Hayden] Christensen might not like the answer.

'We would have to destroy the actor,' Farhi said in jest as the panel dissected the film’s take on science. 'That’s a very hard protocol.'

Piffle. The whole entanglement thing is a tough problem, but it's not like Christensen has to do it himself. The IdeaFestival is working on the physics one artist at a time and new volunteers are being sought.

Are you listening George Clooney?

Wikipedia and CNN have more if you like the whole scrambled atoms idea.

Wayne

Digital leaders fail better

Using research gathered from participants in massively multiplayer online role playing games, IBM has published this take on gaming and leadership.

The results are fascinating. Among other things, we learned that the transparent environments created in online games made leadership easier to assume. And that leadership in online games is more temporary and flexible than it is in the business world. And finally, online games give leaders the freedom to fail, and experiment with different approaches and techniques, something that any Fortune 500 company that hopes to innovate needs to understand.

Young people today. The company's research has been published under the title "Virtual Worlds, Real Leaders: Online gaming puts the future of leadership on display."

Wayne

Eight different worlds

Theoretical physicist Michio Kaku talked about the multiverse at the last IdeaFestival. But in thanking a recent speaker at an Amsterdam event, Inspire! reminded me that we are already, in a sense, exploring many worlds:

Joseph Pine... talked 1 hour about the emerging Multiverse. The multiverse comprises of eight different (physical/virtual) worlds: Physical Reality, Augmented Reality, Augmented Virtuality, Virtual Worlds, Mirror Worlds (Google Earth), Warped Reality, Alternate Reality (Games/ARGs) and Physical Virtuality (3D printers).

Joseph Pine is the co-author of The Experience Economy: Work is Theater and Every Business A Stage and Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want.

Wayne

Ars et Veritas

Who's afraid of a little visual thinking? Citing a new emphasis on creativity at Stanford and Yale, Harvard has established a working group to find ways to better integrate the arts with the university mission. The basic idea is that while creative pursuits are a major part of the lives of students, the university has thus far failed to emphasize the role of visual and creative thinking university wide.

Wayne

Creativity needs constraints

As jazz great Charles Mingus famously said, 'You can't improvise on nothing, man; you've gotta improvise on something.'

In "Get Back in the Box" Fast Company points out that creativity needs constraints.

Wayne

The wired, wired rest

How will the Internet of the developing world differ from the wired world experienced by most North Americans? This post from Internet Evolution reminded me of points made by Ethan Zuckerman last July when he talked about the "incremental infrastructure." And as Ethan has pointed out elsewhere, notwithstanding cyberutopian rhetoric, the world is not flat.

The "Internet and the Developing World" is a series with sections on telemedicine, "people power" and microfinance. It also profiles the handset-powered Internet in India and on the African continent.

Wayne

Bliss'd out in Iceland

While running through the last of the items in the feed reader today I ran across a Powell's review of the travelogue, Geography of Bliss. It seemed appropriate. The what of happiness may remain a mystery, but the where, less so, thanks to Eric Weiner.

Wayne

Mercury in color

Following its swing by the planet last week, Messenger is returning the best views of Mercury in over 30 years. This is the first color image of the planet to be released. Click to enlarge.

Wayne

Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington