The Ever Project

Science: The Curious and the Spurious

1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic (by 0 people)   Your rating: 1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic

Stranger Than Fiction

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Sometimes science is just plain strange.  And other times, it's the scientists who are strange.  This lens may discuss "fringe theories", but it will also discuss unusual phenomena easily explained by conventional science.

I challenge readers of this lens to make up your own minds, and not take anything for granted as fact or falsehood. This means you should personally investigate both conventional and unconventional scientific claims, and reach your own conclusions rather than easily relying on or readily dismissing the conclusions of others.

I intend to feature items here that are both educational and entertaining, and occasionally lighten the mood with science-themed humor.

The icon I have chosen to represent this lens is an interrobang, an unconventional punctuation mark, which seems thematically appropriate.

"Cargo Cult Science" 

Don't be spurious while investigating the curious; learn more on Wikipedia!

Note from B7T: Calling something a science doesn't make it so; in order to separate true science from dubious claims, scientists should adopt a level of investigative integrity, and not fall victim to what physicist Richard Feynman dubbed "cargo cult science".

You may also want to read the following Wikipedia articles:

Scientific method
Pseudoscience

Cargo cult science is a term used by Richard Feynman in his 1974 Caltech commencement address to describe work that has the semblance of being scientific, but is missing "a kind of scientific integrity, a principle of scientific thought that corresponds to a kind of utter honesty".

The speech is reproduced in the book Surely Youre Joking, Mr. Feynman! and on many web sites. He based the phrase on a concept in anthropology, the cargo cult. Just as cargo cultists create mock airports that fail to p...

read the rest of the Wikipedia article

Curious Science Links 

science, technology, weirdness, speculation, and educational fun

Time Cube
One of the strangest theories out there; even those willing to take it seriously may find the presentation hard to understand.
The Journal of Irreproducible Results
This is the website for the infamous science humor magazine.
Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories
entertaining science and technology projects, and other amusing projects with a science theme
The CandyFab Project - The Revolution will be Caramelized.
an Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories project that caramelizes sugar to make inexpensive three-dimensional prototypes from computer models
Time Travel: Eternally Cool
my Ever.com lens on time travel, in science and story
Uncovering the Secrets of Ireland's Ancient Breweries - Wired Magazine
Two archaeologists about to excavate one of the 5,000 grassy mounds in Ireland known as fulacht fiadhs, dating from 1500 to 500 BC, propose the Bronze Age relics might just be Ireland's first breweries.
Latest "faster than the speed of light" claims wrong (again) - Ars Technica
A paper submitted to the physics arXiv has been picked up by a number of major news outlets (e.g., the Daily Mail) because the paper suggests that its authors have measured something traveling faster than the speed of light. Unfortunately, the claim is worse than weak; it is silly.
Edison's Quest to Talk to the Dead - Paranormal Insider
As the holder of one thousand and ninety-three patents, one might be tempted to believe that Edison was a hard-nosed man of science, utterly dedicated to the cold, hard truths of technology. And yet the "Wizard of Menlo Park" not only had a passion for science and electricity, he also expressed a marked fascination with the realm of the paranormal.

Curious Experiments of Spurious Merit 

Don't try these in your kitchen!

Patrick Michaud may be best known these days for his wiki software, but at one time he was better known for blowing up grapes and toasters!
Fun with Grapes - A Case Study
White seedless grapes, halved and heated in a microwave, yield spectacular sparks!
Strawberry Pop-Tart Blow-Torches
Perhaps there is educational value here, and follow-up experimentation may actually yield interesting data. But is it really worth the destruction of a household appliance?

Curious: The Klein Bottle 

from Wikipedia

Note from B7T: A Klein bottle only has one side; its inside is also its outside. If you're interested in seeing some real Klein bottles (or purchasing one of your very own), visit Acme Klein Bottle.

in three-dimensional space.]]

In mathematics, the Klein bottle is a certain non-orientable surface, i.e., a surface (a two-dimensional topological space) with no distinct "inner" and "outer" sides. Other related non-orientable objects include the Möbius strip and the real projective plane. Whereas a Möbius strip is a two dimensional object with one side and one edge, a Klein bottle is a three dimensional object with one side and no edges. (For comparison, a sphere is a three dimensional object with no edges and two sides.)

The Klein bottle was first described in 1882 by the German mathematician Felix Klein. It was originally named the Kleinsche Fläche "Klein surface"; however, this was incorrectly interpreted as Kleinsche Flasche "Klein bottle", which ultimately led to the adoption of this term in the German language as well.

read the rest of the Wikipedia article

Curious: Electronic Telepathy? 

Curious that in this demonstration, the emphasis of the usefulness of this device is on its ability to keep others from having to listen to your cell phone conversation, rather than on its ability to aid those who have trouble speaking!

Wireless neckband allows first voiceless phone call

Read more http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn13449 A neckband that intercepts nerve signals allows you to talk on the phone without emitting a sound Footage courtesy Texas Instruments, recorded at the TI Developer Conference 2008, Dallas More info - http://www.theaudeo.com

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Curious View: Astronomy Picture of the Day 

from NASA

The thumbnails in this feed of course don't do the images justice; I recommend you visit the page to see the large images, especially since they are usually accompanied by informative text that may better explain what you are looking at, including unusual scientific phenomena, or the photography techniques used to capture the images.

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News for the Curious from Scientific American 

Horse Racing's Cripple Crown?: Industry Works to Prevent Fatal Injuries [News]
Tomorrow, the eyes of the horse racing world will turn to the 133rd annual Preakness Stakes, the middle jewel of U.S. horse racing's Triple Crown. But the dust has barely settled from the tragedy at the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago, where vets were forced to euthanize the promising gray thoroughbred filly, Eight Belles, when she collapsed on the track after completing the race at Churchill Downs, suffering from two shattered ankles in her front legs. [More]
The Changing Fortunes of Wild and Captive Animals in China [Slide Show] [News]
BEIJING--The plight of stray cats in Beijing has long drawn the sympathy of Juan "Crystal" Wang. The demure, soft-spoken young woman has spent the past few years placing forlorn felines in good homes. View a slide show of the animal market [More]
Live from ISEF: And the winners are asteroids! [Sciam Observations Blog]
The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair has just concluded with its grand awards ceremony. [More]

Curious or Spurious?: Latest Stories from Cryptomundo 

Cryptomundo reports on cryptozoology, the study of creatures about which little is known; sometimes that includes proof of their very existence!

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Curious or Spurious?: Nikola Tesla 

Nikola Tesla was a revolutionary and controversial scientist and inventor, and contemporary and rival of Thomas Edison; Tesla may be the epitome of both "curious" and "spurious" scientific thought.
Nikola Tesla - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Tesla is best known for his many revolutionary contributions to the discipline of electricity and magnetism in the late 19th and early 20th century. Tesla's patents and theoretical work formed the basis of modern alternating current electric power (AC) systems, including the polyphase power distribution systems and the AC motor, with which he helped usher in the Second Industrial Revolution."
Forgotten Genius
"With all due respect for Thomas A. Edison, Nikola Tesla was an equal, if not greater, American inventor. Edison is highly lauded. Tesla is nearly forgotten."
Thomas Edison versus Nikola Tesla: Who was more productive?
"Should we really care who was brighter? Or is it productivity that really counts? Who was the more productive of these two famous men?"

Shopping for the Nikola Tesla enthusiast 

Vote for your favorite, or add what's missing!

#1

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My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla by Nikola Tesla

My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla by Nikola Tesla

Originally published in 1919 in Electrical Experim more...0 points

#2

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The Secret of Nikola Tesla - The Movie (UFO TV Special Edition)

The Secret of Nikola Tesla - The Movie (UFO TV Special Edition)

Digitally Re-mastered. Long shrouded in mystery an more...0 points

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Nikola Tesla American Electrician and Inventor Born in Croatia of Serbian Parents Photographic Poster Print, 24x18

Nikola Tesla American Electrician and Inventor Born in Croatia of Serbian Parents Photographic Poster Print, 24x18

AllPosters.com is the world's #1 seller of posters more...0 points

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Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla : Biography of a Genius (Citadel Press Book) by Marc Seifer

Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla : Biography of a Genius (Citadel Press Book) by Marc Seifer

Seifer's vivid, revelatory, exhaustively researche more...0 points

Questions and Suggestions 

speak for yourself on the subject

Seen any curious or spurious science on the web? Perhaps there's something you'd like me to add to this lens? If you know of any links to videos of unusual phenomena in action, I'd especially appreciate these; not everything is on YouTube yet!