A rendering of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, which promises to offer “the biggest movie ever.”

"When completed in 2014, the telescope — 330 inches in diameter and armed with a three-billion-pixel detector — will survey the entire night sky visible from its intended perch on Cerro Pachón in northern Chile once every three nights, allowing astronomers to monitor changes in stars and the motions of asteroids and everything else that moves in the sky. It will also allow researchers to map dark matter and the effects of the mysterious dark energy that is speeding the universe’s expansion."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/science/space/05scope.html?ref=science

Does anyone ever wonder: "Is mathematics a branch of philosophy?" Consider this statement:

"As German mathematician Georg Cantor demonstrated in the late 19th century, there exists a variety of infinities—and some are simply larger than others."

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=strange-but-true-infinity-comes-in-different-sizes

"Often spinal cord injuries result in the severing of the long nerve fibers connecting the brain to the spinal cord, disrupting one's ability to walk, among other things. But even with the primary top-to-bottom signal highway rendered out of order, the nervous system can, over time, reroute itself, finding neural detours and side streets that restore movement, according to a new study out of the University of California, Los Angeles (U.C.L.A.)."

scientific american magazine

"A physicist, a biologist and a mathematician walk into a bar. Bartender says, “Any of you believe in God?” Which of the three is most likely to say yes? Answer: the mathematician. Mathematicians believe in God at a rate two and a half times that of biologists, a survey of members of the National Academy of Sciences a decade ago revealed. Admittedly, this rate is not very high in absolute terms. Only 14.6 percent of the mathematicians embraced the God hypothesis (versus 5.5 percent of the biologists)."

From a book review of 'Irreligion,' a book by mathematician, John Allen Paulos in which he considers arguments for the existence of God. The reviewer, Jim Holt, writes a good review, sympathetic to people who put faith above 'logic.' Mr. Holt is currently at work on his own book about the 'puzzle of existence.' If it is as well written as this review it will be a most interesting book!

"Read the review at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/books/review/Holt-t.html?_r=1&8bu&emc=bu&oref=slogin

And read the 1st chapter of the Mr. Paulos's book, 'Irreligion' at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/books/chapters/1st-chapter-irreligion.html?ref=review

"Today, a new field is using illusions to unmask a sixth sense, the moral sense. Moral intuitions are being drawn out of people in the lab, on Web sites and in brain scanners, and are being explained with tools from game theory, neuroscience and evolutionary biology."

- from an article by Steven Pinker at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/magazine/13Psychology-t.html?ref=science

A really fantastic new discovery:
"Source of Mysterious Antimatter Found"
- Article By Charles Q. Choi, Special to SPACE.com

Read the article at http://www.livescience.com/space/scienceastronomy/080111-antimatter-space.html

"Research shows that teenagers’ body clocks are set to a schedule that is different from that of younger children or adults. This prevents adolescents from dropping off until around 11 p.m., when they produce the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin, and waking up much before 8 a.m. when their bodies stop producing melatonin. The result is that the first class of the morning is often a waste, with as many as 28 percent of students falling asleep, according to a National Sleep Foundation poll. Some are so sleepy they don’t even show up, contributing to failure and dropout rates."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/14/opinion/14kalish.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

A bright light can cause some people to sneeze.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=looking-at-the-sun-can-trigger-a-sneeze

This reaction is caused by the "photic sneeze reflex."

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=why-does-bright-light-cau

For today a beautiful picture:
Jupiter's moon, Io.

From Scientific American Magazine: 60-Second Psych - January 17, 2008

"Bisexuality is a Distinct Sexual Orientation

Results from a 10-year study show that bisexuality in women is not a transitional phase enroute to lesbianism, but rather a distinct and long-term sexual orientation.

In 2005 a paper in Psychological Science debunked the idea that men have bisexual attraction (they’re either gay or straight the study concluded). Ok, still up for debate.

But what about women? Does bisexuality legitimately exist in women?

This week the American Psychological Association published the first longitudinal study of female bisexuality. Dr. Lisa Diamond studied 79 women over a 10-year period, in an attempt to define female bisexuality.

She found no evidence for the commonly held view that bisexuality is an experimental phase, enroute to lesbianism or heterosexuality.

Rather she found that bisexuality in women is a distinct and consistent sexual orientation.

Interestingly, she also found that as women age, they become more aware of their sexual fluidity, and thus tend to turn more toward bisexuality than away from it.

And check this out: even though bisexuals continue to be attracted to both sexes as they age, they are more likely than heterosexuals or lesbians, to settle into monogamous relationships.

Hm. The more fluid you are sexually, the more stable you become behaviorally.
What’s up with that?"


http://www.sciam.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=8902D6F8-F97C-E6FE-74B6D67845F05FEA