I do not accept a priori subjective conditions, imposed in advance, as constituting “scientific knowledge”, or as bounding either the external world, or our capabilities of comprehending it. The history of science has always gone in precisely the other direction; the imposition of such conditions has always proved to be wrong. This is essentially what I have called complexity; a system (mathematical or physical) is complex to the extent that it does not let itself be exhausted within a given set of (subjective) limitations.
— Robert RosenThe Limits of the Limits of Science

Archive for the 'Uncategorized' Category

Independence Day 2010

Sunday, July 4th, 2010

The Declaration of Independence

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to […]

Remarkable: Chitosan could repair spinal damage

Sunday, April 18th, 2010

From the Journal of Experimental Biology (via EurekAlert!), a very encouraging story entitled “CHITOSAN REPAIRS DAMAGED SPINAL CORD” [1]. The story references a paper published by JEB in January, entitled “Chitosan produces potent neuroprotection and physiological recovery following traumatic spinal cord injury” [2]. The abstract of the paper:
Chitosan, a non-toxic biodegradable polycationic polymer with low […]

The Arrow of Time in Category Theory

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

The folks at the n-Category Café have been discussing the possible relationships between time and category structure. For example, these comments from John Baez on the post “Kan Lifts”:
Why is Set so different than Setop? It’s because the morphisms are functions: relations that can be many-to-one, but not one-to-many.
Why do many-to-one but not one-to-many relations […]

iRobot’s Soft Mobile Morphing Robot

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

Because in the encyclopedia of nature, wheels are rarely mentioned.
 

Independence Day 2009

Saturday, July 4th, 2009

The Declaration of Independence

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station […]

Two QM papers by Gabriele Carcassi

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

Recently, two papers by the same author appeared on arXiv which offer some clarity to some of the aspects of quantum mechanics. Whilst there is sometimes an effort among authors toward hyperbolic romanticization of the “mysteries” of quantum mechanics, this author instead offers some welcome and insightful perspective on QM. The papers do not offer […]