IdeaFestival

Going rogue, the physics of finance

Can economic systems also act like natural systems? The interdisciplinary practice of econophysics looks for the parallels between the two, and like the recently uncovered fact that rogue light bursts can occur in optical fiber, or the confirmation of towering, unpredicted ocean waves, recent research that suggests the equity markets may also exhibit similar characteristics, the kind of unexpected and devastating events Nassim Nicholas Taleb called "Black Swans" at the 2008 IdeaFestival. Put one way, they are the infrequent but inevitable consequence of open non-linear systems.

Put another, life is unpredictable.

Wayne

Ghosts of Christmas Yet to Come

So it's not the same as having Ray Bradury magically appear to describe how he came to write the Martian Chronicles, but a theatrical trick used to make ghosts appear could lead to holographic video for all sorts of other dramatic interventions - perfect for delivering bad news or, perhaps, escaping same.

Wayne

Black Friday Fugue

Presented in all its 8-bit glory, Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor, for organ, seemed like the perfect theatrical match for the drama of today's events.

Hat tip: Luciano Floridi

Flight to Geyser moon

Planetary scientist Emily Lakdawalla stitched together this gorgeous image from the Cassini fly by of the plumes of the Saturn moon, Enceladus. If you like this image, check out the time-lapse photography of the doughty craft's approach that's also on display on her blog at the Planetary Society.

At the base of these geysers may lie an ocean, a subject of intense astrobiological interest.

Wayne

Credit: NASA / JPL / SSI / mosaic by Emily Lakdawalla

Can't hide from the world

In this video, one of the 20th Century's most influential philosophers, Hilary Putnam, touches on science and ultimate truth. That the facts we discover are conditioned in part on the facts that we bring to bear, which is not the same as saying that physical knowledge is relative, or any other such nonsense. Stars burn, planes fly, cells multiply and these things happen whether or not we're around to witness them.

The point, rather, is narrower. Any final human-readable understanding of the world would require an ability that we don't possess to eliminate our interaction with it. Somewhere along the way there is the inevitable exchange of human energy for information, a point famously and immodestly made in these experiments. Yes, determinism takes a beating. Suns eventually exhaust their fuel supply, planes crash and children sometimes fall ill from unexplained cellular cruelty. There simply is no hiding from the world. But just as certainly and sadly as these things happen we are wonderfully free as well to get what comes next, right at last.

The video is brief, but if the PBS'y wood-panel earnestness and faded videography are too much, fast forward to about the seven minute mark.

Wayne

Seconds on the sixth sense

Integrating information with everyday objects, sometimes referred to as "augmented reality," may eventually help us get rid of dedicated digital device. As Pranav Mistry suggests in this TED India talk, perhaps it will also help us "to be more human, not machines sitting in front of other machines."

Pranav also appears in this TED video about the potential for the technology.

Wayne

The educational power of play, restraint and perspective

This video with neuroscientist Adele Diamond posted at the Speaking of Faith blog describes how dramatic play builds areas of a child's mind responsible for self control and perspective-taking. As Diamond points out, nourishing these executive functions is also crucial to the development of our creative abilities.

Her full interview with Krista Tippett may be found here.    

SoundSeen: Dramatic Play + the Developing Brain from Speaking of Faith on Vimeo.

Culture made the brain

How do the brain and culture interact? One neuroscientists quest to understand how the "number sense" and our brain seeks to the written and numerical symbols of culture has led to a reversal of long held views about the human mind and the culture.

Wayne

Wikipedia: culture

Taking off the Starshades

Writing in SEED Lee Billings (@LeeBillings on Twitter) points out how we might directly image planets in other solar systems. Although more than 400 have been discovered in the only the past fifteen years through a variety of techniques - and Kepler promises to turn up Earth-size worlds in the next couple of years - direct imaging of other bodies that might support life hasn't yet happened. Technology that would filter out the starlight that hides the accompanying bodies we know are there is, however, available and could be used in the next decade. It brings up this question.

How would direct imaging of a terrestrial world in a water-friendly orbit around its star affect those of us on this world?

Wayne

When did we become information?

Why did information become the dominant metaphor for the recent age? David Weinberger provides his take in this video, providing an historical and intellectual background for the surprising depth of our commitment to the idea of information, and how, in an age dominated by technology, that commitment can present a problem. Ethan Zuckerman, who blogged the presentation, provides his abridged version here.

When it come to big ideas, Weinberger's view of miscellany is similarly penetrating and influenced my thinking about the nature of the Internet. Please check it out if you have a few moments. You won't be disappointed.

Wayne