“The greatest obstacle to discovering the shape of the earth, the continents and the ocean was not ignorance but the illusion of knowledge.” — Daniel Boorstin

The Scale of the Universe

I thought this was a nice reference tool x3



A flash animation on newgrounds.com:

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/525347

Lady Ilustrators from Japan

I came across some really interesting pictures, all of them made by female ilustrators from Japan, and wanted to share them:

by: Zain7


by: Aya Kato


by: Geco Hirasawa

Logical Paradoxes

Achilles and the Tortoise

Achilles and the Tortoise is one of Zeno’s paradoxes. It appears to demonstrate that even the fastest of runners, Achilles, could not catch the slowest of creatures, the tortoise, if the tortoise were given a head start.

To get from one place to another takes time. If the distance between the two is very small, or the speed of travel is very fast, then it may take a very short amount of time, but it will take some time nevertheless. It is impossible to move from one point to another instantaneously.

To catch someone, you need to cross the distance between you and them, you need to move from where you are to where they are. If there is any distance between you at all, then this will take time.

Suppose that the person that you are trying to catch is moving away from you, then in the time that it takes you to get from where you are to where they are, they will have moved on. If you begin at point A, and they begin at point B, then by the time you reach point B they will be at point C. The person that you are trying to catch will no longer be at the point that you have reached.

To catch them, then, you will need to reach the point that they are now at, you will have to get from point B to point C. Doing so, though, will again take time. Point C is at a distance from point B, and so by the time you have reached point C, your target will have reached point D. This process can be repeated ad infinitum, without you ever catching your target.

Zeno illustrated this with the example of Achilles and the tortoise. If, in a race, the tortoise, who moves slowly, is given a head-start on Achilles, then no matter how quickly Achilles runs he will never catch the tortoise.

The Paradox of the Stone

God is all-powerful, or as theologians put it, “omnipotent”; there is nothing that he cannot do. This is part of the definition of “God”.

So can God create a stone that is so heavy that he cannot lift it? Either he can or he can’t.

If God can’t, then he isn’t all-powerful. If God can’t create a stone that he can’t lift, then there is something that he can’t do: create the stone.

If God can create a stone that is so heavy that he can’t lift it, though, then he also isn’t all-powerful. If God can create a stone that is so heavy that he can’t lift it, then there’s something that he can’t do: lift that stone.

There is, therefore, no way of answering the question above that preserves God’s omnipotence. If there is an omnipotent God, then he neither can nor can’t create a stone so heavy that he cannot lift it. This, though, is absurd; he must be either able or unable to perform this feat.

This is the paradox of omnipotence. Many critics of theism have used it to argue that the concept of omnipotence is self-contradictory, that there can be no omnipotent being, and so that God cannot exist.

2012

I think that a bit of humor has never hurt anyone, have a nice day =)

"The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding." - Leonardo da Vinci
~
"El más noble placer es la alegría de comprender." - Leonardo da Vinci

Family Accidentally Discover Church Under Home

An inquisitive family have uncovered a bizarre church which has been hidden under their Victorian home in Shropshire for 100 years.

The Farla family made the discovery while investigating what was under a metre-long rectangle metal grid in their hallway.

The hole under the grid was just big enough for son Gareth, 20, to squeeze down and see what was under their living room.

And he couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the dark chapel complete with a large wooden cross on the floor.

But that was nothing compared the the shock the rest of the family got when he followed a staircase in the chapel and came out of a cupboard in the dining room.

There was also large chest which was filled with old newspapers dating back to the early 1900's and old wine and sherry bottles.

Speaking of the find Matthew Lathan, who also managed to squeeze down, said: "We only discovered it because we were drunkenly fooling around and decided to have a look at what was beneath the grid - It was amazing.

"The first thing we came across in the middle of the basement was an old, open chest and in it were old newspapers and bottles dating back to the 1930s.

"There were also some sort of brick seats around the walls which looked like something you might find in a church."

It's thought the room dates back to the 1700s and could have been used as a clandestine Catholic church.

This is what I consider a personal paradise =)
~
Esto es lo que yo considero un paraíso personal =)

News: Australian physicist spots dictionary error

Source: Yahoo! News

University of Queensland academic Stephen Hughes found that entries for the word 'siphon' incorrectly said atmospheric pressure is the force that allows the device to move liquids from one place to another, having first spotted the error in the Oxford English Dictionary last year.

"It is gravity that moves the fluid in a siphon, with the water in the longer arm pulling the water up the shorter arm," he said.

"An extensive check of online and offline dictionaries did not reveal a single dictionary that correctly referred to gravity being the operative force in a siphon," he added.

He said a spokeswoman for the Oxford English Dictionary had told him he was the first person to question said definition, which dated from 1911 and had been written by non-scientists. She said his views would be taken into account as they updated the entire reference book, (which, according to their website, is now up to letter R).

A siphon is a tube -- often u- or v-shaped -- that is used to move liquids from one container to another. It is commonly used to drain fish tanks or petrol tanks.

___________________

Discussion:

At times I'd be reading over some entries in the dictionary and pondered about the text's accuracy... I mean, have you ever wondered whether there'd be errors, and how many could there be, in a reference text of such magnitude? (And the idea that they could've remained unnoticed for so long o.o)

Even with constant revisions through the years, there's still room for human error... (Especially when it comes to scientific misconceptions).

"In preparing for battle, I have found that planning is essential, but plans are useless."

Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969)

Volcanic eruptions

Fire and Ice

ver. 2 - Mon, Feb 11, 2008 at 8:46:57 PM

By Heidi Schultz

It wasn’t until 1784 that a scientist suggested that volcanic eruptions could affect global climate. It was a year after the Laki fissure zone in Iceland erupted for eight months—the greatest outpouring of lava in historic time. Ash and sulfur dioxide spread through the atmosphere. Haze reduced sunlight, and acid rain destroyed crops and livestock. The scientist, residing in Paris at the time, puzzled over the strange weather and postulated to the philosophical society in Manchester, England, that the “universal fog” was a result of an Iceland eruption. That scientist was none other than Benjamin Franklin.

Bibliography

Schulz, Heidi. “Fire and Ice.” National Geographic (March 2005).

Update

Last month's updates:

1. A post on some of last year's developments in the field of nanotechnology in Itonis Science :

• Nanotechnology... Sponges and muscles. (Mar. 26th)

2. Una excelente pieza informativa sobre la nobleza y sus rangos, escrita en español y en inglés en Itonis Humanidades / An excellent informative piece on nobility and its ranks, written both in English and Spanish in Itonis Humanities ::

• Nobility (Mar. 27th)

"No hay que confundir nunca el conocimiento con la sabiduría. El primero nos sirve para ganarnos la vida; la sabiduría nos ayuda a vivir."

Sorcha Carey (1943-?) Profesora de arte clásico inglés.

News: AP: "Prodigy, 13, claims age discrimination by UConn"

Holy crap O.o

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100325/ap_on_re_us/us_prodigy_study_abroad

"Colin Carlson, 13, says the University of Connecticut is discriminating against him by barring him from traveling to South Africa for course work because of his age."

(link to photo slideshow)

"Colin skipped two grades in public school and began taking psychology, history and other courses at UConn when he was 9. He graduated from Stanford University Online High School at age 11, and soon after enrolled full-time at UConn."

"Colin is a sophomore at the University of Connecticut, seeking a bachelor's degree in ecology and evolutionary biology and another in environmental studies. But he's been knocked off course by the university's rejection of his request to take a class that includes summer field work in South Africa."

"He said that once he's completed his undergraduate studies, he wants a Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology and a degree in environmental law for a career in conservation science. He intends to earn the two degrees by age 22."

He's also "an honor student with a near-perfect 3.9 GPA."

(Apparently... The mom "offered to release UConn from liability and accompany her son as a chaperone at her own expense." But Wow.)

"Colin, who said he is fascinated by natural ecosystems, has traveled extensively. He has gone sea kayaking off Nova Scotia and Ecuador, hiked in numerous national parks and, with his mother, has traveled across the U.S. by car.

"It's important to have a very wide world view," he said. "Biology is fundamentally about the diversity of life, with a focus across the planet.""

Update

Although we've been pretty slow posting ^.^' the latest additions--some time ago--have been:

1. News in Itonis Science :

• Studies of the first known vegetarian spider (released in Oct. '09)

2. Y un texto fascinante que medita sobre la filosofía, historia e importancia del sueño en la historia de la cultura humana y la mitología en Itonis Humanidades :

• Hipnos (Feb. '10)

Update

First posts on Itonis Science were posted in 'o8 ^_^' :

• Two news:

1. Astoundingly-preserved Baby Woolly Mammoth found in Siberia.
2. Toyota premieres a violin-playing robot.

"I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death."

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)