This post applies Thomas Flint's notion of "collapsing counterfactuals" to a survey stating that the average American would trade 10 years of their life for an Olympic gold medal. The conclusion is that this would not be a very good deal for at least one particular American, as it would entail his nonexistence.
(PhysOrg.com) -- Berkeley researchers have combined the scientific fields of transformation optics and plasmonics to demonstrate that with only moderate modifications of the dielectric component of a metamaterial, the physical space through which light travels can be altered with promising results, such as the creation of a 180 degree bend that won't alter the energy or properties of a light beam as it makes the U-turn, or a plasmonic version of a Luneburg lens.
Big in the news right now is Ardi — the oldest known hominid skeleton. This finding is thought to cast new light on early ancestors to humans and the upright origins of humankind. This post uses quotes from the scientific report on the Ardi findings as a case study in how science hedges syntax. Some interesting conclusions about the Ardi findings come out of this case study.
The arguments over the forthcoming revision of the psychiatrists' diagnostic manual, the DSM-V, have just been heated up again by an unusually acerbic response from the American Psychiatric Association attacking their main critic.
The article that condemns the new diagnostic manual committee by ex-DSM chairman Allen Francis' has just been officially published, alongside an interview where he furthers his damning criticism.
