In Honshu, the Japanese Alps, where there’s 56 feet of snow.
Month: November 2011
The American Geophysical Union blog has a link up to a very interesting table, and I feel strongly enough about this topic that I want to share it with you. It’s a list of words scientists use when writing or otherwise communicating science, what the scientists mean when they use that word, and most importantly what the public hears.
[Click to enverbumnate.]
I’ll admit, when I read it I laughed. But then my chuckle dried up when I realized just how dead accurate this is. And the smile pretty much left my face when I read that this table is from an article called "Communicating the Science of Climate Change," by Richard C. J. Somerville and Susan Joy Hassol, from the October 2011 issue of Physics Today.
Yup. I think they have a pretty good point.
My career at the moment could pretty much be called "Science Communicator". I do it here on this blog, I do it on Blastr and in Discover magazine, and when I give talks. Before that (and I guess it’s an occupation that never really leaves you) I was a professional scientist for many years. My training ran deep: 4 years undergrad, 6-7 in grad school, then a decade or so of research after that. I could toss around the phrase "Don’t over-iterate the Lucy-Richardson deconvolution algorithm or else you’ll amplify the noise and get spurious data spikes" with the best of ‘em.
As a science writer, though, I can’t use that! I have to say, "Cleaning up a digital image means using sophisticated mathematical techniques that can sometimes mess the image up and fool you into thinking something’s there that really isn’t."
I hope you can appreciate the difference.
So when I write, I try pretty hard to make the science topic accessible without "dumbing it down". I assume my reader is intelligent, but unfamiliar with the concepts I might be discussing. I try to define words if a reader might not know them, or link to someplace they can get more info if they need it.
But as that table shows, there are plenty of words I use all the time that someone else might know, and think means something else. And this is incredibly important, especially if a science writer — as happens more and more often these days — needs to defuse some sort of political spin thrust upon a topic. A classic example in the wholly-manufactured Climategate "controversy". A lot of hot air was generated over the use of the word "trick" in the stolen emails — which most people interpreted as meaning the scientists did something underhanded and sneaky to hide something important. In reality, we use that word to just mean a method of doing something that’s clever. It’s like saying, "The trick in never losing your car keys is to always hang them on a hook by the door that leads outside." See the difference?
But over that, political battles are won or lost.
There are times I fret over a word in a post. It took me a while to start using the word "denier" instead of "skeptic", for example, but the difference is important. I’ve fought for years to teach people that skepticism is not cynicism or denial; it’s asking for and looking at evidence logically and rationally (in a nutshell). What’s funny is that now the media uses phrases like "climate skeptic" when talking about some people who are not skeptics, in that they are not looking at the evidence logically and rationally. They look at evidence so they can figure out how to spin it, cast doubt in the mind of the public over something that is actually a fact.
That’s why I call it "denial". The word fits, and I intend to continue using it when it does.
I could go on and on.
But here’s the point: communication isn’t simply casting out information from atop a tower. There are two parts to it: presenting an idea to someone, and them understanding it. Sometimes we have to change the way we word things to make that second half happen. Otherwise we’re shouting all the facts in the Universe to an empty room.
Tip o’ the thesaurus to Joanne Manaster.
And it always looks like he’s making fun of my shortcomings. ~Not-So-Handy Andy
Submitted by: Unknown
McIntosh est une variété de pomme devant son nom à John McIntosh qui la découvrit en 1811 au Canada.
Le nom de cette pomme est à l’origine du nom de la gamme Macintosh du fabricant d’ordinateurs Apple.
Modern technology has made life much easier with various portable systems that can easily be carried around. Although the market is clogged with various devices that are foldable, the personal mobility section has largely remained untouched by such innovations. Since bicycles are being anticipated to make personal transportation green in the future, as it did in the past as well, several designers are looking towards folding bikes that take up limited space and can easily be carried in the boot of your car. Here is a list of some of the finest folding bicycles that might transform personal transportation for ever.
• Dubike:
Designed by David Fionik, the Dubike is a concept folding bicycle that can be folded into a cube to allow its user to carry it with ease. The bike is designed for urban people who love to ride a bicycle, but don’t want to use it on a regular basis. The Dubike can easily be folded into a cube measuring 580 x 463 x 406 mm, and can be carried into the trunk of a standard personal car.
• Zoomla:
Designed by Eric Stoddard of SpeedStudio Design, the Zoomla is a folding bike that is designed to be a better alternative for those looking for quick, portable, around-town transportation. The bicycle features a TorqSteer mechanism that eliminates the conventional steering tube for better looks and performance. he 5kg bicycle can fold into a trolley in just 2 seconds, making it a better alternative to other folding bikes available on the market today.
• Db0:
Designed ROBRADY Design, the db0 electric bicycle has been awarded a Gold Spark award in the Mobility category of Spark Awards. The design firm has partnered with DK City to help the bike reach the real world. The folding bike is scheduled to be made available in the first quarter of 2010 and is the first in a series of electric bikes that embody the mission to design a series of clean, bold and innovatively simple folding bikes.
• Everglide:
The Everglide by Frag Woodall is a lightweight bike that can fold into a compact package that can be carried as a backpack or can be wheeled around like a suitcase.
• The ‘One’:
A design concept by industrial designer Thomas Owen, the One is a folding bike that when open is a comfortable stylish bicycle, which when folded turns into a smooth, light and compact case free system.
• Backpack Bicycle:
Designed by Chang Ting Jen, the Backpack Bicycle weighs just 5.5kg and would minimize weight using plastics in the main frame instead of metals. No sacrifice would be made in terms of features incorporated, and a head light, a brake light and turn signals, all find a place in the design.
• Tetris:
The Tetris by designer Danilo Mangini is designed with a motive to cater to the urgent need to improve mobility within cities and especially in historic places. The Tetris is transformable and when not riding it can be converted into a trolley.
• Minivelo AF2014:
Designed by renowned Korean fashion designer Andre Kim, the Minivelo AF2014 can easily be enclosed in your car’s boot to allow you to carry it easily. The bike is available in white and black color at a suggested price of 385,000(KRW) or about $300.
• Urban Street Concept Bike:
Gregor Dauth, a student at the Coburg University of Applied Sciences in Germany has designed the super-flexible Urban Street Concept Bike in collaboration with Cube bikes that can be folded down to fit inside a rucksack! Fully fitted with front lights integrated into the brake levers, the bike also features a dynamo in the front wheel hub that automatically turns on the lights in the darkness apart from integrated rear and stop lights in the seat.
• Sun Fold Bike:
The Sun Fold bike is powered by solar energy and can be collapsed into a compact handy structure. Designed by CaO Dawei the bike focuses on two elements, which are optimizing and utilizing solar energy plus saving space.
• The Contortionist:
Dominic Hargreaves, a 24-year old student from Battersea, London, wanted a truly compact bike that could fold into its own wheel. Lacking options, the inventor designed a bike for himself that can fold into its own wheel with a 26-inch circumference. Moreover, the bike can be folded into a compact package in just 20 seconds.
• Eco // 07:
Designed by Industrial designer Victor Aleman, the Eco // 07 folding bike also features folding wheels. The bike carries a reinvented wheel system that is composed of six modules, each of which has a double pivot in the joints. These pivots allow the user to fold each wheel into six different parts to become smaller. The frame on the other hand is a double triangle structure that is composed of expandable modules, each of which collapses into a smaller dimension.
• Rad Bike:
Mardjetko Gonzalez and Jimena Guadalupe have designed the Rad bike that can be folded into a trolley and kept in the trunk of your car and unfolded whenever you’re in the market to ensure that your shopping doesn’t hurt the environment.
• Electric Folding Bike:
The Electric Folding Bike by designer Thorsten Wickert is a folding bike that you can carry through a narrow stairway and into an elevator as well. The folding mechanism is concentrated around the pedal unit, which serves as the center of rotation. There is no mechanical drive unit, i.e. there is no chain. Therefore, the hub motor makes the whole work and the pedal moving just charges the battery.
• Capella:
The Capella by Truong Minh Nhat, a Ho Chi Minh City University of Architecture student, cuts on space, provides hassle free transport and helps in keeping the environment clean. This electric bike has a top speed of 30 kmph. As a matter of fact, this bike needs 2 hours charging to keep it going for 12 kilometers.
• Grasshopper Bike:
The Grasshopper Bike from the design house of David Gonçalves does much more than keeping you fit and saving some cash you would have spent on fuel for your car. The bike generates electricity through regenerative braking and stationary pedaling.
• Urban Folding Bike:
Conceptualized by Chicago-based designer Ryan Mather, the Urban Folding Bike collapses to half its original size with minimal steps involved. Ideal for short city commutes, the urban folding bike can be taken anywhere and is easy to store and transport. A collapsing function makes it easier place into a car or store by the seat if riding a train or bus.
• Suitcase Folding Bicycle:
The Suitcase Folding Bicycle is easy and brisk to operate. You may effortlessly wrap and unfold the unit within 10 seconds. Operating the Suitcase Folding Bicycle is a fun activity for kids, who most of the time keeps away from heavy luggage and bags, and it also keeps the stuff safe within the hard container.
• iF Mode:
Designed by Mark Sanders the iF Mode avoids oily chains and complex tubes with hidden dirt traps. The iF Mode boasts the company’s iF (Integrated Folding) technology that offers a single-action, automatic fold, with no need for tools or removal of parts.
• Rotation:
The Rotation by designer Yirong Yang is more of a combination between unicycle and bicycle. The rider can sway on choice as to what he has to ride and accordingly adjust the axis in between to give desired shape. Most of the affixations you see on this city bike cum bicycle cum unicycle are adjustable be it the handlebar, the saddle or even the front wheel. When you are done with your riding routine you can simply fold it and walk away carrying it easily unlike the conventional ones, that have to be ridden at all times whilst you don’t intend to harness it.
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Genius idea
Bold innovation or terrible idea? Your guide to the experiments that only sound scary-and the lab work you truly should lose sleep over
In labs around the world, scientists are working to expand our understanding of the weird, the unexpected, and the potentially dangerous. Their aim is true, yet, many of these boundary-pushing projects carry serious potential for things to go wrong. Horribly wrong.