Recently in guestblog
Maker Jim Henson in 1969: HOWTO make a puppet
Andrea James is a Los Angeles-based writer and troublemaker.
Video link. Jim Henson teaches viewers how to make puppets from tennis balls, spoons, socks, cardboard tubes, envelopes, and other common household items. Lots of interesting commentary on puppet aesthetics and utility, too! Hearing his voice, which isn't a stretch from Kermit's, is always a treat.
A Morose and Downbeat Woman is My Co-Pilot
Clifford Nass is the Thomas M. Storke Professor at Stanford University and director of the Communication between Humans and Interactive Media (CHIMe) Lab. Corina Yen is editor-in-chief of Ambidextrous Magazine.
For the first century of the automobile's use, passengers were always people or pets. However, in the past decades, automobiles have begun to carry a new "passenger": a voice-based computer agent used to give directions, warn of problems (e.g., "your oil is low"), control entertainment (e.g., "you are now listening to KQED"), and make suggestions (e.g., "the closest Starbucks is 2.3 miles away"). As a social scientist who studies human-technology interaction, I've guided my design of and research on these "virtual passengers" by studying real passengers. By leveraging those attributes that make passengers likeable and non-distracting, one can then make GPS systems, voice-activated controls, and other voices in the car more desirable and effective. For example, we've found that people adjust their way of speaking to match the situation in the car: when the driving is dangerous passengers unconsciously shorten and simplify their sentences. There are now GPS systems that do the same. Similarly, when BMW found that German drivers wouldn't take directions from a female voice and had to have a product recall, they found a voice that better matched their brand: a male "co-pilot."
One of the most important issues to address in car interfaces is how to deal with upset drivers, as negative feelings are among the primary causes of accidents on the highways. Unfortunately, there is little known about effective strategies that passengers can use when dealing with an upset driver. In particular, should a passenger -- real or virtual -- in a car with an upset driver sound happy and upbeat or depressed and morose?
Thanks for reading and "May the scientific method always be with you."
David Ng (Twitter) is a science literacy academic based at the Michael Smith Laboratories at the University of British Columbia. He is currently on sabbatical at London’s Natural History Museum, and encourages you to check out the PHYLO project.
Phylomon cards: "EUROPEAN HONEY BEE, I CHOOSE YOU!"
I had a great experience here at Boing Boing, and want to send on a big thanks to Mark, Cory, Xeni, David, Rob and the rest of the crew for letting me spend some quality time here. I'm also grateful to the many museum folks who let me chat with them, and so graciously showed me their projects. Kudos especially to Bob Bloomfield for the warm welcome and the many discussions on biodiversity advocacy. Hopefully, my posts didn't dilute the overall awesomeness here at Boing Boing, and at the every least, I hope a few more people are interested in Nagoya COP10. Also, it was fun to do my part to increase the Chewbacca quotient (even if only slightly) here at the site.
With that, I'd like to end with two last requests. Both related to biodiversity: one is kind of worthy, the other a little goofy. One requires folks of the artistic bent, the other maybe a more scientific approach.
Nagoya COP10 Primer #4: with reference to Twitter
David Ng (Twitter) is a science literacy academic based at the Michael Smith Laboratories at the University of British Columbia. He is currently on sabbatical at London’s Natural History Museum, and encourages you to check out the PHYLO project.
Continuing from:
Nagoya COP10 Primer #1: with references to Star Wars
Nagoya COP10 Primer #2: with a reference to Kevin Bacon
Nagoya COP10 Primer #3: with a small reference to LOL cats
So what should be done at Nagoya? This is the 20 million species plus question. And for all of the criticism that I've (and others) have proffered, we should appreciate that the task at hand is going to be quite the challenge. If nothing else, this is immediately clear from the often anthrocentric (humans rule the Earth and are just playing our role on the evolutionary front, so deal with it!) commentary left on biodiversity pieces throughout the internet.
There is a somewhat official Strategic Plan document out there, one that (with a remarkable lack of brevity) highlights 2020 goals and attempts to identify the process and partners to be involved. It's worth a look, although probably best absorbed by taking in the tables shown on page 19 on. It involves a list of some 20 different target statements. Some of which are short, bouncy, although still vague like a twitter tweet:
1. By 2020, everyone is aware of the value of biodiversity and what steps they can take to protect it.
Others are more to the point:
11. By 2020, At least 15% of land and sea areas, including the most critical terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats, have been protected through effectively managed protected areas and/or other means, and integrated into the wider land- and seascape.
A few establish direct talking points for individual COP members:
16. By 2020, Each Party has an appropriate, up-to-date, effective and operational national biodiversity strategy, consistent with this Strategic Plan, based on adequate assessment of biodiversity, its value and threats, with responsibilities allocated among sectors, levels of government, and other stakeholders, and coordination mechanisms are in place to ensure implementation of the actions needed.
And this one, almost works as a haiku:
3. By 2020 Subsidies harmfulto biodiversity
are eliminat...
Art, nature, the history of science, and whoa, aren't these are beautiful?
David Ng (Twitter) is a science literacy academic based at the Michael Smith Laboratories at the University of British Columbia. He is currently on sabbatical at London’s Natural History Museum, and encourages you to check out the PHYLO project.
Plate 73 of the John Reeves Collection of Zoological Drawings from Canton, China, 1774-1856. (© The Natural History Museum, London).
Reeves was an English tea inspector, but also amassed a wonderful collection of Chinese drawings of plants and animals during his time in Canton.
A few weeks back, I had a great conversation with Judith Magee, Library Special Collections Curator at the Natural History Museum. From this conversation, as well as others (thanks Peronel, Martha, Bergit), it soon became clear that there were many individuals within the museum that had a passion for things pertaining to the humanities and the arts (see also this previous post).
In particular, the museum happens to house a vast collection of illustrations and paintings, many of which were originally produced as a way to scientifically document new species, new cultures, and other things observed during expeditions. However, it's also clear that apart from their historical value, these pieces of artwork also have immense aesthetic value. They. Are. Beautiful.
And speaking to Judith, you can literally feel the enthusiasm and affection for such pieces. Judith talked to me about writer/artists such as Alexander von Humboldt, John Bartram, as well as the wonderful drawings collected by John Reeves.
Warning: LSD turns hot dogs into screaming trolls with 7 children
Andrea James is a Los Angeles-based writer and troublemaker.
Case Study: LSD, a PSA produced by Lockheed Aircraft (!) in 1969.
Andrea James is a Los Angeles-based writer and troublemaker.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is making its way into the public consciousness. The film Salt has an interrogation scene where a spy spills some secrets while a scientist looks at his brain scan. After a quick glance, the scientist casually says with absolute certainty, "He's telling the truth."
As with any new technology, there's a lot of potential for good, but there's also a lot of potential for pseudoscience and bad science. Remember those kooky Canadians who've used "fruit machines" and peter meters to catch people lying about being gay and what-not? Now they are moving north of the groin and firing up fMRIs. They're already making questionable claims and writing grant proposals based on what parts of the brain "light up" when people view certain stimuli. Lies, thoughtcrimes, and precrime (offense prevention) are all on the list of things they claim fMRI will divulge if taxpayers will just fund their research.
It's the same concept behind privately-held ventures like No Lie MRI in San Diego, which, for a cool $5,000, will administer a "truth-verification" session. Though this Orwellian evidence has so far been successfully deemed inadmissible in US courts under the Daubert Standard, people are still trying to use it. Reporter Mark Harris got tested to see if he is a liar and presented his troubling experiences in the most recent IEEE Spectrum.
MRI Lie Detectors [IEEE Spectrum]
Why natural history museum collections rock!
David Ng (Twitter) is a science literacy academic based at the Michael Smith Laboratories at the University of British Columbia. He is currently on sabbatical at London’s Natural History Museum, and encourages you to check out the PHYLO project.
Photo: Tom Goskar. Used with permission.
So far, it's been a very interesting experience in the month and a bit into my sabbatical at London's Natural History Museum. First off, there was that element of giddiness: coming back to an iconic institution that takes me back to my time as a kid in awe of dinosaurs, blue whales and all the sparkly stuff in the mineral exhibits. Next came, a weird sort of pride - like as if being in the museum's great hall, looking up at the beautiful ceiling, and standing in between a Diplodoccus skeleton and a statue of Darwin, made me feel privileged to be a scientist. I felt as if I was in the best-club-ever: one that carried on the work of so many pioneers whose efforts are housed in this museum. But then a strange feeling of discomfort settled in. This was because the science that goes on here, by and large, is quite foreign to the medically genetic driven projects of my own background. In other words, the bench tops here do not always require pipettemans and overpriced electronics. However, after having had the privilege of meeting some lovely people at the museum and viewing a few of these collections, I've come to really appreciate the importance of biological curation.
1. The collections serve as the physical and open portal to specimens needed for biodiversity research.
Chic apartments for London birds
David Ng (Twitter) is a science literacy academic based at the Michael Smith Laboratories at the University of British Columbia. He is currently on sabbatical at London’s Natural History Museum, and encourages you to check out the PHYLO project.
Take a look at this art project entitled, "Spontaneous City in the Tree of Heaven"
In the sought-after London boroughs of Chelsea and Islington, inner city birds often have to claim their nesting space quickly! However, birds that are open to changing their wild ways might be convinced to try out the innovative bird-housing concept developed by the artists at London Fieldworks. The "Spontaneous City in the Tree of Heaven" opened recently as part of the Secret Garden Project by UP Projectsand hopes to develop into a haven of biodiversity and create a new public awareness of the ecological and cultural value of urban green spaces. (via Inhabitat)
These look very pretty, although I am curious as to how they fare when the tree moves or when it grows.
As an added layer of biodiversity speak, there's a bit of irony in the title of the project. Turns out the "Tree of Heaven" or Ailanthus altissima is actually a tree species of much botanical interest in London, and elsewhere in England generally. Essentially, a lot of folks are quite concerned that this ornamental turn invasive species is poised to rocket in numbers. It's one of the fastest growing trees around, it's allelopathic (meaning it produces a chemical that inhibits the growth or other plants), and its seed production capabilities are almost unmatched. In fact, the female tree is capable of producing upwards of 30,000 seeds per kilogram of tree! That would be akin to a small tree as heavy as me (at about 160 pounds), being able to produce 2.2 million seeds!
Why is this tree a particular interest these days? Well, over the years, climate has been steadily getting warmer and sunnier in England, and given that the Tree of Heaven is shade-intolerant, the extra sunlight is possibly giving the opportunistic tree the small push needed to expand greatly in numbers.
Anyway, perhaps this means more places for the birds to live?
Chewbacca, Han Solo and R2D2 drawn as if part of A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh
David Ng (Twitter) is a science literacy academic based at the Michael Smith Laboratories at the University of British Columbia. He is currently on sabbatical at London’s Natural History Museum, and encourages you to check out the PHYLO project.
Illustrations by James Hance, used with permission.
I'm surprised I didn't catch this earlier, but James Hance has recently released a series of lovely images. Here, he re-imagines Han Solo as Christopher Robin, Chewbacca as Pooh Bear, R2D2 as Piglet, and even (this is cool) an AT-AT as Eeyore.
Definitely go to his Cartoon page to see the images in their full glory. Also this just in - James writes:
The first Wookiee the Chew book gets published today (September 1st) and will be available from either my website or comic stores in Jacksonville. My main hub is at Cafe 331, downtown Jacksonville. I'm there every Saturday with prints, paintings and books.Link
Nagoya COP10 Primer #3: with a small reference to LOL cats
David Ng (Twitter) is a science literacy academic based at the Michael Smith Laboratories at the University of British Columbia. He is currently on sabbatical at London’s Natural History Museum, and encourages you to check out the PHYLO project.
(Continuing on from previous primers: 1. Star Wars | 2. Kevin Bacon)
O.K. now on to business... Here are the Convention on Biological Diversity's three basic objectives:
1. The conservation of biological diversity2. The sustainable use of the components of biological diversity
3. The fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources
They also have - or had rather - a goal, a biodiversity target, which was the following:
In April 2002, the Parties to the Convention committed themselves to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national level as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on Earth.
This was also the reason why 2010 was proclaimed as the International Year of Biodiversity.
Can crowdsourcing produce funny humor pieces? The next step
David Ng (Twitter) is a science literacy academic based at the Michael Smith Laboratories at the University of British Columbia. He is currently on sabbatical at London’s Natural History Museum, and encourages you to check out the PHYLO project.
In case you missed it, here is the set up.
And from the comments from that previous post, there were many great titles. Some lend themselves more to an essay type humour piece, whereas others were just funny as one-liners. It was tough choosing, but I'm going to go with two titles. One is a tweak, but seems to involve a subject matter near and dear to Boing Boing readers, plus should be good for a funny list (from edthehippie). The other seemed to win the popularity contest, and is definitely a title with great potential and hopefully providing some creative space for folks who like to write a little more than one sentence (from artiefx0).
Anyway, without further ado, here are the titles!
CHAPTER TITLES FROM MY UNICORN PHYSICS TEXTBOOK
and
AN OVERVIEW OF ANIMALS THAT WOULD EXIST IF THE WORLD WERE SIGNIFICANTLY MORE AWESOME THAN IT ACTUALLY IS
Game on! (Note: please use the keyword "unicorn" or "awesome" to let me know which piece your comment is alluding to).
Advertise • Policies • Comment Policy
J/K to scroll posts • 100 latest comments
Mark
Read free sample chapters from my new book, Made By Hand.
Cory
Latest novel: For the Win
[Donate a copy to a library or school]
Australia: World Science Fiction Convention/Melbourne Writers Festival, Sept 2-5
Germany: Little Brother tour, Sept 13-23
Netherlands: PICNIC/Bits of Freedom (Dutch Makers launch), Sept 23-25
Xeni
Check out Boing Boing Video's YouTube channel, full of video goodness.
Rob
