Haibane.info

Category: Stranger than fiction

  • branch large support

    I recently came across the following phrase in Kanji: 枝大支

    The Fish translates this as “branch large support” but that’s just the literal translation; I am sure this is some kind of reference to something else but am unable to find out what. I wonder if anyone might know what the phrase really means. I am reminded of my favorite Chinese restaurant, which has the symbols 大四川 emblazoned across it, which a Chinese friend tells me means, “big four rivers” (a reference to Szechuan province cuisine). Oddly, according to the Fish, 川 is Japanese kanji and not traditional Chinese. I confess that I have ni idea what I am talking about. At any rate,I suspect that the kanji above also have some meaning beyond the literal, and any help in figuring this out would be much appreciated.

  • Anamnesis

    In the course of some friendly trash-talk during a hypercompetitive game of Go, my esteemed opponent Arwen taught me a new word: anamnesis. From context and the similarity to amnesia, I understood the context, but it also rang a bell somewhere in the depths of my mind, piquing my curiosity enough that I turned to Google. In a modern medical context, it means reclaimed memory and experiences, but it turns out that the term was in fact coined by Plato (who just recently made an appearance here on Haibane.info, my three regular readers may recall). From Wikipedia:

    (more…)

  • Engines of our Ingenuity #2206

    animatedlogo2.gifProfessor John H. Lienhard of the University of Houston has been narrating episodes of this radio series for NPR since 1988. Broadcast by KUHF FM at UH, the show is simply one of the best on public radio. As the website describes it, “… Engines of Our Ingenuity is a radio program that tells the story of how our culture is formed by human creativity.” But it’s more than that; it’s a vehicle for Leinhard himself, who is a sage and a poet as much as he is a scientist and engineer.

    You can get the podcast off NPR, or visit the show’s website for transcripts of every episode.

    This morning’s episode, # 2206, is Leinhard’s thoughts after reading Mankind So Far, a critical review of the origins of man and the theory of evolution by William Howell, written in 1944. Leinhard is full of praise for the meticulousness of Howell’s approach, noting:

    A theory it is, of course, but in the true scientific sense. It is no mere supposition.

    What’s fascinating in Howells’ book is how squarely he looks at holes in the prevailing account of our evolution. Most of his questions have since been resolved. The hallmark of any science is that it’s driven, not by what we presume to be true, but by pin-pointing what we don’t yet know.

    That’s typical of Leinhard – to always invoke the context of science. And no episode of Engines would be complete without his final insight; in this case, he masterfully turns the modern-day controversy on its head:

    [Howell] wonders what we’ll evolve into in a million years. While we cannot know, there’s no shred of doubt that we’re far from finished — that the creation continues. And there lies the great beauty behind the hard fact of evolution.

  • Kid Fusion

    What’s a normal teen like 17-year old Thiago Olson to do nowadays? play video games? hang out at the mall? build a working fusion prototype in his parents’ basement?

    My favorite part:

    “Originally, he wanted to build a hyperbolic chamber,” [Thiago’s mom] said, adding that she promptly said no. But, when he came asking about the nuclear fusion machine, she relented.

    A hyperbolic chamber, eh? Yeah, right. Mom, you got rolled. Kid: ask for a DeLorean next.

  • no one knows my plan

    This They Might be Giants song is off their John Henry album. Lyrics courtesy of TMBW:

    In my prison cell I think these words
    I was careless
    I can see that now
    I must be silent
    Must contain my secret smile
    I want to tell you
    You my mirror
    You my iron bars

    When I made a shadow on my window shade
    They called the police and testified
    But they’re like the people chained up in the cave
    In the allegory of the people in the cave by the Greek guy

    No one understands
    No one knows my plan
    Why the dancing, shouting
    Why the shrieks of pain
    The lovely music
    Why the smell of burning autumn leaves

    I was always fascinated by the reference to the allegory of the people in the cave, but never moved myself to investigate until recently. It turns out that it’s a reference to (obviously) the Allegory of the Cave, in Plato’s Republic. The implication is that the narrator of the song possesses the key to reality (Plato’s Forms).

    How is this significant? I don’t know. Do you? leave a comment and speculate.

  • my visual DNA

    (h/t to Baraka at Truth N Beauty)

  • what the heck is nanotech?

    So, it seems that 80% of the public has no clue what “nanotechnology” really is, even though 90% of them have an opinion about it. But is the fault of the public or the nanotech evangelists? Case in point, later in the article at TGD about this, they say,

    Nanotechnology is typically defined as the ability to measure, see, manipulate and manufacture things usually between 1 and 100 nanometers. Among others, the microprocessor industry has entered the nanotechnology space several years ago: For example, Intel’s 90 nm processors were introduced in 2003.

    If the Intel 90nm process counts as nanotech, then we’ve had nanotech for a lot longer than 2003 – only, we called it “biotechnology“. The above is a useless definition because it’s way too broad.

    A more rigorous definition of nanotech comes from Foresight, which has been the Slashdot of the nanotech world for over a decade. They describe nanotech in terms of fabricating devices and materials to atomic specifications – ie, single-atom manipulation. The classic text on nano is Drexler’s; the classic science fiction is Diamond Age – those are the benchmark by which we should evaluate the concept.

    I don’t see Intel CPUs running out of control and turning the planet into a gob of gray goo.

  • virtual prayer

    A gamer visits the masjid (mosque) for friday prayers. Online. Second Life, indeed!

  • nuckin’ futz

    JibJab reviews 2006.

    That about sums it up. This category “stranger than fiction” at Haibane.info certainly got a workout, eh?

  • The Poincaré drama

    The greatest unsolved problem in mathematics was solved this year – namely, the Poincaré Conjecture. This achievement has now been named by Science magazine as the Breakthrough of the Year. Ars has a nice writeup of the background of the Conjecture and the road to the solution by Russian mathematician Grisha Perelman, including a layman’s description of the proof itself.

    What’s intriguing however is the underlying drama. Perelman actually refused the Fields medal for his work – the most prestigious award in mathematics. There have been accusations of ethical lapses and intellectual dishonesty, and even the threat of lawsuits. The sordid details – of the story behind a mathematical proof! – are best outlined in this classic piece at The New Yorker, which features the only interview with Perelman on record.