31 July 2009

New Edge videos explore the staggering potential of genetics

What is life? Can we create it? Customize it? Edge has just published over six hours of video from their new Master Class on the future of biology, which attempts to answer those and other provocative questions. Featuring geneticists George Church and Craig Venter, the set is a a surprising, challenging look at what science has in store for our world, from the minds of two of the field's most fascinating pioneers.

Summarizes attendee George Dyson,

In this future -- whose underpinnings, as Drs. Church and Venter demonstrated, are here already -- life as we know it is transformed [...] by discovering how to read genetic sequences directly into computers, where the code can be replicated exactly, manipulated freely, and translated back into living organisms by writing the other way.

Visit the Edge Master Class and start watching now >>

You'll notice several familiar faces among the class' pupils, including TED speakers Larry Brilliant, Larry Page, Nathan Wolfe, Nathan Myhrvold and Stewart Brand.

Photo: George Church (left); Craig Venter (right). Credit: Edge.org

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14 December 2008

Can science help solve the economic crisis?

The latest edition of Edge.org is a fascinating discussion on the role scientists might play in difficult financial times. The issue features a few TED speakers, including George Dyson and Michael Shermer. Try this snippet:

In all of this work economists, accountants and financial mathematicians should join forces with complexity theorists and other scientists with the goal of remaking economic theory and modeling so that it can offer reliable guidance for the organization and regulation of stable financial markets. The research has to be carried out in an interdisciplinary and open spirit.

Also note the blurb on John Markoff, who'll now be contributing to the science section of the New York Times.

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24 August 2008

Psychology's final frontier: Staying sane in space

Astrobiology Magazine posts an intriguing report today: The American Psychological Association is looking seriously at the question of astronauts' mental health. It's an issue that has sometimes been swept under the rug, says the APA's press release:

Historically, astronauts have been reluctant to admit to mental or behavioral health problems for fear of being grounded.

But as missions get longer and astronauts are asked to do more, psychologists are looking at ways to help them cope with loneliness and interpersonal conflicts. At Beth Israel Deaconess in Boston, psychologist James Carter (who also studies teamwork in space) and his group are building a tool to help astronauts deal with depression:

... a suite of interactive computer programs, dubbed the Virtual Space Station, using input from 13 veteran long-duration NASA astronauts who have flown on the International Space Station, Mir and Skylab. ... This interactive program will help astronauts prevent, detect, assess and manage their own psychosocial problems. They will learn how to cope with depression and how to resolve conflicts with other astronauts.

Read more about Carter's project >>

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01 August 2008

The Lonely Interplanetary guide to scuba diving

Bored with Earthly beach destinations this summer? Does the word "Carribbean" not ring exactly, well, "exotic" these days? With this week's news that (highly acidic) water has been tasted on Mars and an ethane lake has been discovered on Saturn's moon Titan, perhaps it's time to investigate otherworldly destinations for fun in the surf. Grab your ultraviolet-shielded swimming gear and a good beach read (say, Project Orion by George Dyson, who spoke at TED in 2003), hop aboard Virgin Galactic's newly unveiled SpaceShipTwo, and cruise to these astonishing natural satellites orbiting Jupiter and Saturn, where summer never comes:

Tidally bound to face its mother planet, Europa consistently offers breathtaking views of Jupiter's turbulent atmosphere, while its breezy hardly-there chemise of molecular oxygen is delicate enough to leave the magnificent sight unobstructed. (But, beware the occasional barrage of comets yanked in by Jupiter's gravity.) Adventurers wishing to forgo Europa's "spa experience" will be at home, too: drill through miles of icy crust to access this satellite's vast subsurface ocean of liquid saltwater -- and whatever may lurk there.

Unlike visitors to other Jovian moons, sailors to Callisto can leave their ionizing radiationscreen at home: though excessively pockmarked by impacts, its outer orbit saves it from the effects of Jupiter's monstrous magnetosphere. Hiking enthusiasts can traverse its gigantic basin of concentric rings, Valhalla, spanning 600 kilometers, kicking through wisps of condensed oxygen. This moon's lack of tectonic activity makes for easy access to its likely ocean of liquid saltwater. (Robert Ballard has made the case that Earth's own oceans are still deeply mysterious.)

Athletes and thrill-seekers delight at Enceladus' suite of extreme winter features and low gravity: spirally slalom the slopes of its unforgettable impact craters; gawk at the ivory, propane-scented violence of erupting cryovolcanoes as the panorama of Saturn's rings sets below the horizon; bobsled along thousand-mile escarpments of fresh chemical ice. Meanwhile, geology geeks can enjoy exploring this highly reflective moon's incredible tectonic scars and stripes. But let divers beware: the existence of a liquid subsurface is only speculative.

Titan's atmosphere, unique among moons, makes it a mysterious entity among other natural satellites and an attractive destination for Saturn-bound families seeking an exotic experience without patent danger (asteroid strikes are rare). Visitors willing to endure its unusual weather -- the nitrogen-humid nights with the sky awash in orange; monsoons of methane and other hydrocarbons -- will be rewarded by its Earth-like terrain: newly discovered lakes of ethane, vast sand dunes, a probable ocean of water-ammonia under the surface, and perhaps even microbial life. (Get your vaccinations!)

Our solar system is truly a cornucopia of enchanting and enigmatic phenomena. Make sure your frequent-flyer miles go to good use on your next trek by studying TEDTalks by Carolyn Porco, Bill Stone, George Dyson, Freeman Dyson and other adventurers. -- Matthew Trost

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15 July 2008

"Engineers' Dreams": A short story by George Dyson

Today, Edge 250 publishes a new short story by science historian George Dyson. A born storyteller (watch his TEDTalks on Project Orion and the earliest digital computers), he uses the short story as a persuasive tool -- or so Stewart Brand suggests in his foreword:

How does one come to a new understanding? The standard essay or paper makes a discursive argument, decorated with analogies, to persuade the reader to arrive at the new insight.

The same thing can be accomplished -- perhaps more agreeably, perhaps more persuasively -- with a piece of fiction that shows what would drive a character to come to the new understanding.

It gives nothing away to share this eye-opening line from the story:

Are we searching Google, or is Google searching us?

Read George Dyson's short story, "Engineers' Dreams," on Edge.com >>

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17 June 2008

The birth of the computer: George Dyson on TED.com

Historian George Dyson tells stories from the birth of the digital computer -- from its 16th-century origins to the hilarious notebooks of the first computer engineers. Dyson, a dedicated archivist and crate-digger, has found some stories that haven't been told for 50 years. For instance: in the files of Nils Aall Barricelli, the genius who created the first artificial life within these just-born machines, Dyson found the punchcards containing Barricelli's creatures -- on the verge of being thrown in the trash. Patting the box of cards now, Dyson wonders, would they like to come alive again? (Recorded February 2003 in Monterey, California. Duration: 17:19.)

Watch George Dyson's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances -- including Dyson's 2002 talk on Project Orion, a plan to send a nuclear-powered rocket to Saturn.

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